Eight charts that sum up 2014 December 22, 2014 This year will be remembered for the fragmentation of mainstream politics, Scotland's near exit from the 307-year old union and an economy which the Bank's chief economist Andy Haldane described as "writhing in both agony and ecstasy." What does all that look like? Here are eight charts that sum up the year. (Source: Getty) 1. [...]
UK plays down German talk of Urenco floating December 21, 2014 THE GOVERNMENT has distanced itself from reports that it is testing market interest in uranium enrichment company Urenco, which it part owns alongside Germany and the Netherlands. The UK government announced it was selling its third of the firm, which is the world’s second largest nuclear fuel vendor after Russia’s Tenex, in April 2013. It [...]
Man once known as “Putin’s banker” loses £1.3bn battle in UK high court December 19, 2014 Vladimir Putin's former "banker" has lost a $2bn (£1.3bn) legal battle in the UK courts. The man in question is Sergei Pugachev, a former Russian senator. Pugachev had sought to overturn a UK court order issued in July this year that froze his global assets due to a $2bn claim made against a collapsed bank he [...]
Putin and the rouble: EU leaders stick to their guns over sanctions December 19, 2014 Even as the rouble continues its inexorable decline, hand in hand with global oil prices, EU leaders are refusing to budge over sanctions on Russia. At a summit meeting in Brussels all the talk was of “stay[ing] the course” and taking “further steps if necessary,” not relaxing the sanctions swaddling the Russian economy. Chief among [...]
Markets cheer on Santa Rally December 18, 2014 Global stock markets shot up yesterday, eating into recent losses and giving investors hope of a traditional end-of-year Santa Rally. Shares across Europe soared to their biggest one-day gain in over three years, while across the pond the S&P also recorded its biggest two-day advance since November 2011. “We’re now well set up for the [...]
Is Vladimir Putin right that Russia’s economy will be back on its feet within two years? December 18, 2014 Steen Jakobsen, chief economist at Saxo Bank, says Yes. Russia’s citizens have been here before – they know the drill. Everything looks terrible now, but the positive spin is that we could see a new start in 2015. A solution to the Ukraine crisis is a pre-condition, laying to rest the political and financial stand-off [...]
Security threats mapped: Here are the riskiest countries to do business in December 18, 2014 In recent years, the government has become increasingly keen to encourage UK businesses to trade with developing economies – but with the world still reeling after two major terror attacks in a single week, how safe is it to do business abroad? Risk consultancy Control Risks has put together a map showing the world's most [...]
Putin: Effects of the rouble crisis will “last two years under the most unfavourable circumstances” December 18, 2014 Buoyed, presumably, by the triumph of being named Russia’s man of the year for the 15th year in a row just hours ago, this morning Vladimir Putin climbed on to the podium to give a press conference to 1,300-odd journalists in what has become known as his answer to a “state of the nation address”. [...]
General Motors pulls out of Russia amid rouble volatility December 18, 2014 General Motors is the latest business to have stopped selling its products in Russia amidst the rouble's erratic movements. A spokesman for the car business told City A.M that GM Russia had “decided to temporaraily suspend wholesaling of vehicles to dealers in Russia” as of Tuesday this week (December 16). This decision had [...]
How will the end of the US-Cuba trade embargo affect the two countries? December 18, 2014 With Russia's economy imploding after several months of economic sanctions (and the small matter of falling oil prices), the timing of the end to a 50-year-old trade embargo between the US and Cuba could not be more interesting. In the short term, analysts do not expect much impact on either the US or Cuban [...]