Evraz’s steel production falls in first quarter but prices improve April 16, 2014 RUSSIAN steelmaker Evraz yesterday blamed scheduled maintenance works for an eight per cent drop in crude steel production in the first quarter, but said prices for its products had started to pick up at the end of the period. The heavily indebted FTSE 250 company, which is drastically cutting costs this year, said it expects [...]
Putin doesn’t need to invade Ukraine to get what he wants April 16, 2014 THE SIMMERING crisis in Ukraine has just been brought to a boil again. Pushed to the point of no return, the fledgling government in Kiev has at last responded to Russian provocations, for the first time deploying troops, aircraft, and armoured carriers in the east of the country. Kiev has explicitly labelled this an “anti-terrorist [...]
Violence spreads in east Ukraine April 15, 2014 THE UKRAINIAN government deployed forces in the east of the country yesterday, as Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned that Ukraine is on the brink of a civil war. Government forces moved into the cities of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, both scenes of violent clashes over the last few days. At the airport in Kramatorsk, Ukrainian [...]
Progress on Petroneft farmout April 15, 2014 Aim-listed Petroneft, the loss-making oil and gas explorer, yesterday said that a long-awaited farmout agreement for a 50 per cent stake in one of the licence areas it owns in the Tomsk region of Russia is set to go ahead next week. It did not reveal which company had bought the farmout. Petroneft’s largest shareholder [...]
Why does it take the threat of a Russian invasion to stop EU protectionism? April 15, 2014 The European Union has proudly announced that it will be lifting €500m worth of tariffs on Ukrainian goods. The EU's magnanimous move covers 94.7 per cent of current tariffs on imports of industrial goods and all tariffs on Ukraine’s agricultural produce. Ukraine will not be required to provide reciprocity, but the EU will be obligated [...]
German investor confidence knocked by Ukraine crisis April 15, 2014 Investor confidence in the Eurozone reached a high last seen in July 2011 this month. The Zew survey, which is released by the Centre for European Economic Research, gave a reading of 61.2 for April, down slightly on the 61.5 seen last month and above expectations of 60.7. But the survey also measures investor sentiment [...]
Asian markets dip as Chinese credit slowdown outweighs US optimism April 15, 2014 Asian shares are in retreat as tensions in Ukraine and the credit slowdown in China tempered investors optimism after improved US economic data. Western leaders have condemned Russia's President Vladimir Putin for escalating tensions in Ukraine where pro-Russian forces ignored warnings to leave areas of the eastern part of the country. Foreign secretary William Hague [...]
West eyes more curbs on Russia April 14, 2014 FOREIGN secretary William Hague has accused Russia’s President Putin of a “gross, deliberate and premeditated violation of the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine,” after pro-Russian forces ignored warnings to leave areas of eastern Ukraine. Arriving for talks in Luxembourg with EU foreign ministers yesterday, Hague said Russia’s claims that it is not behind the recent [...]
Ukraine fatally weakened by failure to embrace real capitalism April 14, 2014 IN the dreadful communist days, Ukraine and Poland used to be equally poor. The former was part of the Soviet Union, and Poland was one of the USSR’s satellite nations, belonging to the Warsaw pact. In 1990, both countries had roughly the same GDP per capita – their economies were eerily similar. A quarter of [...]
Letters to the Editor – 15/04 – Jobs miracle, Airport debate, Best of Twitter April 14, 2014 Jobs miracle [Re: The recovery is being driven by a revolution in the jobs market, yesterday] Have you considered that the reason for the rise in self-employed consultants is the tax system? With a good accountant, moving from PAYE to self-employment, for effectively the same job, can reduce your liability. I find it increasingly difficult [...]