April, 2022

• 8 April

  EU nations freeze $32b in Russia-linked assets

  

  Bloomberg European Union nations have frozen some 29.5 billion euros ($32.1 billion) in assets linked to Russian and Belarusian individuals and entities since the bloc adopted its first sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The EU’s new “freeze and seize” task force said that more than half of the bloc’s 27 member nations have informed it about the measures they ...

  Read More »
• 8 April

  Nigeria ship blast followed $200m debt trail

  

    Bloomberg The owners of an oil-production and storage ship had a history of financial problems before the vessel blew up in Nigerian waters two months ago. The Trinity Spirit, which caught fire on February 2, burned for more than 24 hours and left a stain of crude stretching for miles across the Atlantic Ocean. While the cause of the ...

  Read More »
• 8 April

  France would halt gas power stations first if Russia cuts supply

  

    Bloomberg France would first halt large gas-fired power plants if any Russian supply disruption creates a shortage, while households would be the last in line, according to the country’s main gas-transmission network operator GRTgaz SA. European governments are preparing plans to prevent a massive hit on their economies should an increasingly isolated Russia halt gas flows ahead of next ...

  Read More »
• 8 April

  Germany warns it will act to secure sufficient gas-storage operators

    Bloomberg Germany will step in if gas-storage operators fail to fill facilities sufficiently to comply with new requirements, as the government takes a tougher line to secure supplies for next winter. Under the new rules — approved by the upper house of parliament on Friday and due to take effect from May 1 — operators must fill storage facilities ...

  Read More »
• 8 April

  Putin has fallen victim to the dictator’s disease

  

  Last weekend saw the re-election of the man often thought of as Europe’s proto-Putin: Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister who has attacked his country’s democracy while seeking to weaken the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) from within. Yet Orban should be careful whom he emulates. If Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent performance is any indication, he ...

  Read More »
• 8 April

  Luxury business comes back to US

  

  From Gucci’s 10,000-square-foot store on the site of a former pencil factory in SoHo to Hermes’ two-story flagship in a New Jersey mega-mall, America hearts luxury. And that’s a good thing for the industry, because with Shanghai in lockdown and European demand potentially hurt by the war in Ukraine, the US once again is picking up the bling baton. In ...

  Read More »
• 8 April

  China’s leaders refuse to take Covid ‘lying flat’

    In the US and Europe, the phrase “living with the virus” refers to reopening the economy and trusting that vaccines work. Not in China. In the public discourse, that would be tantamount to “lie flat,” a catchphrase for encouraging inaction — an approach that has grown so popular that it drew a condemnation from President Xi Jinping last year. ...

  Read More »
• 8 April

  Who will buy bonds the Fed no longer wants?

    The bond-market beatings will continue until morale improves. It’s not been much fun investing in fixed income in recent months. The three-year US Treasury yield, for example, has risen fivefold since the start of October; the ascent shows little sign of abating. If bond traders are correct in their prognosis that inflation has raced to become endemic rather than ...

  Read More »
• 8 April

  Kenya Air, SAA plan investor search for pan-African carrier

  

    Bloomberg Kenya Airways Plc and South African Airways are planning a series of investor roadshows to help find a financial backer for a combined airline group they aim to create next year. The campaign to attract a majority investor for a holding company to be modeled on British Airways and Iberia owner IAG SA is likely to start before ...

  Read More »
• 8 April

  DHL jet skids off runway, breaks up in Costa Rica

  

  Bloomberg A Boeing Co 757 cargo jet operated by DHL broke in two after skidding off the runway at Juan Santamaria International airport in Costa Rica. The crew reported hydraulic problems with the 22-year-old aircraft after takeoff and made an emergency landing, according to a statement from DHL. The two pilots escaped without serious injury and the company has launched ...

  Read More »