Author: Steven Sahiounie

A financial aid package aimed at helping German businesses and households deal with the energy crisis will cost the federal government more than €16.6 billion ($18 billion) by the end of May, a document seen by Reuters shows. Berlin is expected to spend some €14.5 billion ($15.75 billion) to set an electricity price cap, and an additional €2.14 billion ($2.33 billion) on subsidizing transmission network costs over the next two months, according to a document signed by Finance State Secretary Florian Toncar, addressed to parliament’s budget committee. The electricity price cap, which is projected to relieve the pressure of skyrocketing…

Less than 9% of companies from the EU and G7 countries that owned subsidiaries in Russia have left the country since the introduction of sanctions last year, research by economists from Switzerland’s University of St. Gallen has found. The study, based on information from OBRIS, a global database containing information on millions of companies, showed that 36,000 international companies, including 3,444 subsidiaries of foreign entities, were operating in Russia as of April 2022, with a total of 2,405 subsidiaries owned by 1,404 EU and G7 companies. The researchers then checked how many of these companies had given up their stakes…

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine will cost Europe’s largest economy €175 billion ($190 billion) this year, which equates to €2,000 per inhabitant, Deutsche Welle reported on Monday, citing a report by the Institute of German Economics (IW). Authors of the study compared the current situation to an imaginary scenario in which there was no military operation in Ukraine or problems related to it, such as skyrocketing energy prices, spiraling inflation and supply disruptions. They calculated that the real loss to the German economy from the conflict in Ukraine will be as high as 4.5% of the GDP next year. The…

The cost of flights in the UK has been soaring at the fastest rate since records began, in a sign that budget travel is coming to an end, Bloomberg reported this week. In December, air fares surged by 44.4% compared with a year earlier in a sharp acceleration from a rate of 24.3% in November. According to the British Office for National Statistics, it was the largest year-on-year increase in air fares since at least 1989. Air carriers say travel demand remains high in the UK in the wake of Covid-19 restrictions even with the cost-of-living crisis and grim economic…

The Dutch government is set to stop production at the Groningen gas field later this year, the state secretary for extractive industries, Hans Vijlbrief, has told the Financial Times. The site is already producing only a fraction of its capacity, and it is “very dangerous” to keep operating it, according to the official. “We won’t open up more because of the safety issues…. I’m not going to do it because it means that you increase the chances of earthquakes, which I don’t want to be responsible for,” he told the news outlet. “It’s very, very simple: everybody who has some…

Payment for Russian According to Youmna El Hamaki, a professor of economics at Ain Shams University in Cairo, such a move “would bring the expected economic breakthrough”CAIRO, January 23. /TASS/. A possible transition to paying for grain supplies from Russia in rubles would help Egypt moderate the surge of the dollar rate against its national currency, the Asharq al Awsat newspaper citing economists’ comments on such a decision. According to Youmna El Hamaki, a professor of economics at Ain Shams University in Cairo, such a move “would bring the expected economic breakthrough.” “The volume of trade exchange between Egypt and…

Natural gas deliveries to Prometheus Gas under a contract with Gazprom Export began in October 2016MOSCOW, January 23. /TASS/. The Board of Directors of Gazprom will discuss the termination of the holding’s participation in the Greek company Prometheus Gas S.A. at a meeting on January 27, the Russian company reported. Prometheus Gas S.A. was established in 1991 as a 50-50 joint venture of Gazprom Export and Copelouzos Bros Group Ltd to develop Russian-Greek cooperation in the gas sector. Deputy Chairman-Mgmt Board of Gazprom, General Director of Gazprom Export, Elena Burmistrova chairs the Board of Directors of the Greek-Russian joint venture…

The total foreign trade turnover of Uzbekistan increased by 18.6% compared to 2021 and amounted to $50.008 blnTASHKENT, January 23. /TASS/. The trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Russia in 2022 increased by 23% compared to 2021 and amounted to $9.28 bln, this is the largest indicator in the foreign trade turnover of the country, the press service of the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan reported on Monday. According to the report, by the end of 2022, Russia has become the largest trading partner of Uzbekistan. It was also reported that the total foreign trade turnover of Uzbekistan increased by 18.6%…

Grain harvest last year reached 153.8 mln tons, according to RosstatThe volume of grain sales by Russian agricultural businesses in 2022 increased by 7.4% compared to the figure for 2021 and amounted to 66.1 mln metric tons, according to the Russian State Statistics Service (Rosstat). At the same time sales of wheat increased by 12.5% to 45.2 mln metric tons. Corn sales decreased by 4.7% to 6.9 mln metric tons. Sales of oilseeds by agricultural organizations increased by 12.3% to 13.2 mln metric tons, sunflower – by 5.5% to 7.4 mln metric tons. Potato sales decreased by 5.7% to 2.5…

Russia’s December Fiscal Deficit at Record-HighRussia’s monthly fiscal deficit reached a record 3.9 trillion rubles in December amid the EU-imposed ban on seaborne crude oil exports and the increasing operational cost of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to preliminary budget data analyzed by Bloomberg. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov on Tuesday also confirmed that Russia’s total budget deficit in 2022 amounted to 3.3 trillion rubles ($47 billion) or 2.3% of the country’s GDP, making it the second-largest deficit in modern Russian history, surpassed only by that recorded in 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Siluanov nevertheless remained optimistic about…