Gazprom warns Ukraine on debt June 12, 2014 Russian natural gas exporter Gazprom warned yesterday that it would cut off supplies to Ukraine on Monday if it failed to pay off part of its gas debts, raising fears of disruptions in gas flows to Europe. Chief executive Alexei Miller said that if Ukraine failed to pay $1.95bn (£1.16bn) of its $4bn debt to [...]
Credit card firm TCS falls further June 9, 2014 TCS Group, the Russian credit card provider, suffered more misery in trading yesterday falling more than five per cent after revealing a 63 per cent dive in pre-tax profits. The business, which listed in London last year, said first quarter profit before tax was 481.3m rubles, down from 1.3bn rubles in the same quarter last [...]
Housing fears rise even as risk of crash recedes June 9, 2014 THE BRITISH economy has the lowest risk of a crash than at any time since at least 2008, but house prices are increasingly concerning financial institutions, according to the Bank of England. In the Bank’s latest systemic risk survey, released yesterday, 46 per cent of respondents said that the likelihood of a high-impact event in [...]
Trans-Siberian Gold’s losses widen June 9, 2014 Trans-Siberian Gold, the Russian miner listed on London’s junior stock market, yesterday said its pre-tax loss had widened to $16.5m last year from $3.4m in 2012, reflecting lower metal prices and a one-off stock inventory impairment. But gold and silver output rose 7.5 per cent and 11.1 per cent respectively. “The main operational issue during [...]
Artificial intelligence is on the rise – and humans must adapt June 9, 2014 FOR the first time ever, a computer programme has managed to dupe experts into thinking that it was a 13-year old boy. This is a major milestone in the progress of artificial intelligence, and thus a hugely important development for labour markets, for the global economy and for all of us. The Russian computer programme [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 09 June 2014 June 9, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Swedes hit Juncker’s EU hopes Jean-Claude Juncker’s ambitions to be the next European Commission president have been dealt a further blow after Sweden’s prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt raised questions about the credibility of the process for filling the top job in Brussels. Russian companies to trade renminbi Russian companies are preparing to switch [...]
Bulgaria stand-off over Russian pipe June 9, 2014 Bulgaria will not resume work on the Russian-led South Stream gas pipeline project until it receives the all clear from the European Commission, Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski said yesterday. In a move that could inflame tensions between Russia and the European Union, the bloc’s executive arm last week asked the Balkan country to suspend work [...]
London’s best flats with square garden access June 5, 2014 Next weekend, over 200 gates will be unlocked, grass will be mown, shrubs will be spruced and marquees will be erected to allow thousands of people to walk around London’s historic garden squares. The annual Open Garden Squares Weekend will kick off on 14 and 15 June to showcase the beauty and grandeur of these [...]
CryptoLocker, GameOver Zeus and the rest of the malware out to get you June 4, 2014 Welcome to the terrifying world of cyber crime. It’s a constantly evolving and increasingly prevalent threat. This week, the Europol’s European Cyber Crime Centre (EC3) has been tackling the CryptoLocker virus, while the US National Security Agency has been pre-occupied with GameOver Zeus. Generally speaking, viruses are malware programs that replicate and wriggle into programs [...]
Russia heading back to recession as Ukraine turmoil hits business June 4, 2014 Russian private sector output has fallen at its fastest rate in five years, according to survey data released today, prompting some to suggest that the country is yet again facing recession. The HSBC purchasing managers' index, compiled by Markit, sees the Russian headline output index fall to a five year low of 47.1 in May. [...]