Saudi Arabia and Indonesia have reportedly been raising concerns over their own reserves held in the West The confiscation of frozen Russian assets could set a dangerous precedent in international law, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia warned the EU at a recent meeting of G20 finance ministers, the Financial Times reported on Friday. The US and its allies have blocked around $300 billion in Russian central bank assets as part of sanctions imposed on Moscow over the Ukraine conflict. Most of the funds are held in the EU and, while Washington has insisted that international law allows for the appropria ..read more

Raiffeisen Bank will start a sharp reduction of its Russian business by the end of this year, its CEO has announced Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), one of the last major Western lenders in Russia, will start its withdrawal from the country in the third quarter of this year following pressure from the EU regulator, CEO Johann Strobl announced on Thursday.    The Vienna-based lender said in April it was expecting to receive a request from the European Central Bank (ECB) to speed up its business reduction in Russia. The ECB’s draft of the requirements demands that RB ..read more

Gazprom’s record net loss follows a decline in revenues, according to an earnings report Russian energy major Gazprom reported its first annual loss since 1999 on Thursday, in the wake of dwindling gas exports due to the Western-sanctions pressure. According to the state-owned company’s earnings report, Gazprom Group posted a net loss of 629 billion rubles ($6.7 billion) in 2023, its first annual loss in 25 years. The result comes in contrast to a net profit of $13.2 billion in 2022. The firm’s total revenue fell to $92 billion in 2023 from $126 billion in the previous year. According to the r ..read more

The Russian economy is growing faster than those of Western countries, the chair of the Treasury Select Committee has admitted A senior British MP and chair of the Treasury Select Committee has admitted that sanctions on Russia are not working, as the country’s economy is growing faster than many of those in the West. Harriet Baldwin told the Financial Times on Monday that sanctions had failed to weaken Russia as Moscow had found ways to work around them.  “There’s a general consensus that sanctions are not working in terms of their stated intent – causing real trouble for the Russian eco ..read more

Elon Musk has joined up with Chinese internet giant Baidu to develop autonomous driving technology, according to media reports Shares in Tesla have surged following reports that CEO Elon Musk has agreed to partner with Chinese tech giant Baidu for mapping and navigation features to support autonomous driving technology in the world’s biggest auto market. Shares rose nearly 14% in premarket US trading, while Baidu jumped by more than 5.5% in Hong Kong. Baidu, China’s main internet search company, has agreed to provide the US electric vehicle (EV) maker with access to its mapping license for dat ..read more

Raiffeisen, UniCredit and others with a presence in Russia have seen profits increase threefold since 2021 The largest EU-based banks operating in Russia saw profits soar last year and paid four times more in taxes than before the start of the Ukraine conflict, the Financial Times reported on Monday. A number of foreign banks have left Russia since 2022 due to the West’s Ukraine-related sanctions. However, several lenders, including some from the Eurozone, opted to remain but reduced their operations. The European Central Bank (ECB) has been pressuring the remaining lenders to quit the Russian ..read more

The Tesla CEO has met with Prime Minister Li Qiang to promote autonomous driving technology Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing on Sunday morning and met with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang to discuss the company’s further operations in the world’s biggest car market.    Neither Musk nor Chinese officials had announced plans for the visit, which coincides with the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, China’s largest auto show, which kicked off two days ago. Tesla is not exhibiting its models at the event and last attended in 2021.    Reuters earlier re ..read more

Market for middlemen is reportedly flourishing amid US threat of sanctions against Chinese banks Up to half of transactions between Russia and China are facilitated by means of intermediaries to avoid exposure by Chinese lenders to the risk of secondary sanctions, Reuters reported on Friday, citing trade consultants and bankers, as well as importers and exporters. In December, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order that takes additional steps against facilitating transactions with Russia. At the time, the US Treasury was calling on foreign banks to boost compliance with anti-Russia s ..read more

Banning Russian liquefied natural gas will benefit US producers but hit the bloc’s industrial sector, Dmitry Peskov says Russian producers will seek ways to overcome potential sanctions against Moscow’s exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov told journalists on Saturday. On Thursday, Western media cited unnamed diplomatic sources as saying the EU’s 14th package of Ukraine-related sanctions would propose curbs on Russian LNG – which so far hasn’t been targeted by any bans. The new measures are expected to include a prohibition on trans-shipments in the bloc, an ..read more

The grim warning comes as growth falls short of estimates The latest macroeconomic data released by the US Department of Commerce indicates that the country’s economy could be moving towards stagflation, Business Insider has reported. The gloomy signs hint at tough challenges ahead, the outlet added.    Thursday’s report revealed that American GDP increased at an annualized rate of only 1.6% in the first quarter of the current year, well behind projections of 2.5%. The slower than expected growth followed a 3.4% gain recorded in October-December 2023 and 4.9% in the previous quarter ..read more