Eastern Europe

BRUSSELS. March 2 (Interfax) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, addressing a meeting of the G20 foreign ministers on Thursday, called on the G20 countries to speak up in favor of extending the Black Sea Grain Initiative."It is imperative the G2...

KRASNOYARSK. March 2 (Interfax) - En+ Group has switched all of its charging stations to Russian software since the imposition of sanctions, the head of the group's energy business, Mikhail Khardikov said."We're not seeing any problems. Moreov...

MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - An International Monetary Fund mission will be working in Warsaw from March 8-15, discussing parameters for a potential future program with representatives from Ukraine, Ukrainian media reported, quoted a statement by Ukrainia...

MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - The European Commission has lifted its ban, imposed in December 2019, on the export of apple, plum and quince trees for planting from Ukraine to European Union countries.The reopening of the European market has become possible...

MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - Johannes Tholey has been appointed to replace Martin Schumacher as CEO of Metro in Russia, the retailer said.Tholey joined Metro in October 2022 in the position of deputy CEO. Before joining Metro, he headed Auchan in Russia, ...

MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - The Romanian government, in cooperation with the Moldovan authorities, will build a pontoon bridge across the Prut River on the border in order to facilitate the transportation of goods, mainly grain, from Ukraine, Ukrainian m...

MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - Europe has been using up gas stocks from underground storage facilities and tanks at LNG terminals actively this week. Temperatures in the region are high by day but well below freezing at night.UKRAINIAN TRANSITThe Gas Transp...

MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - Ingosstrakh has begun reviewing the terms of new and existing protection and indemnity (P&I) insurance policies for shipowners after the European Union imposed a tenth package of sanctions against Russia, the Russian insurer t...

MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - No electricity consumption limits have been introduced in Ukraine for Thursday, which means that hourly power outage schedules will be absent for the 19th consecutive day, Ukrainian media said, citing regional distribution sys...

BAKU. March 2 (Interfax) - Baku and Tashkent are preparing to implement projects worth $800 million, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said."You [Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev] have mentioned new projects. It appears to be just a meeting, but we...

MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - Russia has registered 14,096 new cases of Covid-19 and 39 related deaths over the past 24 hours, the coronavirus response headquarters said in a statement on Thursday.Russia "has recorded 14,096 new cases of Covid-19 and 1...

MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - The winter was difficult, but Ukraine was provided with electricity and heat, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said."I held a meeting on the energy sector today [on March 1]. It was attended by everyone who is respons...

MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - The new strategy of Fortum does not include doing business within the Russian Federation, and the company has continued the process of exiting its Russian assets, while considering their sale as the preferred option, the Finni...

KRASNOYARSK. March 2 (Interfax) - The government of Krasnoyarsk Territory and Gazprom Nedra LLC signed an agreement to cooperate on expanding the use of natural gas in the region at the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum (KEF) on Thursday, the regional government...

MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - Russia's plant and animal health watchdog is banning imports of feed beet seeds from German company Feldsaaten Freudenberger GmbH & Co KG effective March 3.Beet necrotic yellow vein benyvirus, which is subject to quarantin...

MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - The price situation on the Russian sugar market is currently stable thanks to the growth of production and accumulated stockpiles, the Agriculture Ministry said.Producer prices as of March 1 were up by 7.5% from a year earlier...

MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - The Grain Exporters Union, together with the Moscow Exchange , has worked out a mechanism for export grain auctions with settlements in rubles that will be open to importers of Russian grain from "friendly" countries, ...

WASHINGTON. March 2 (Interfax) - The SpaceX company's Crew Dragon manned spacecraft with three astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut on board was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, NASA said.The international crew travelling t...

MINSK. March 1 (Interfax) - Belarus and China will use their national currencies more widely in trade, investments, and the finance sector, according to a joint statement following the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Belarusian counte...

MOSCOW. March 1 (Interfax) - Russian authorities have not yet made a decision on granting British HSBC permission to sell its subsidiary bank in Russia, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev told reporters.The departure of foreign banks from the Russian...

MOSCOW. March 1 (Interfax) - Russia's Agriculture Ministry will not revise its volume quota for grain exports in the current season.First Deputy Agriculture Minister Oksana Luth made the announcement at a meeting of grain exporters, the ministry's...

CHISINAU. March 1 (Interfax) - The purchase price of Russian gas for Moldova will be $1,011.73 per 1,000 cubic meters, Moldovagaz board chairman Vadim Ceban said on his Telegram channel.All supplied gas will be directed to Transdniestria.Ceban said earlie...

ASHGABAT. March 1 (Interfax) - Turkmen Foreign Minister Rasit Meredow has called for stepping up energy and transport cooperation in the Central Asian and Caspian region, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said on its website on Wednesday.Speaking at a C5+1 Min...

MINSK. March 1 (Interfax) - Belarus has raised duties on the export of oil and petroleum products from the customs area of the Eurasian Economic Union effective March 1.The export duty on crude oil, fuel oil, petroleum bitumen, petroleum jelly and paraffi...

MINSK. March 1 (Interfax) - Belarus and China signed economic documents in Beijing which provide for the creation of a free trade zone for services and investment, the implementation of a comprehensive strategy for joint industrial development and the pro...

MOSCOW. March 1 (Interfax) - The Russian government as of March 1 has prohibited a number of domestic companies from transferring payment information via nine foreign instant messaging services, including Telegram, WhatsApp, and Viber, the Federal Service...

MOSCOW. March 1 (Interfax) - They key barrier on the path to investments from abroad is the monthly transfer limit for individuals who are residents and citizens from friendly countries abroad, the Finance Ministry said."The most important limitation ...

MOSCOW. March 1. (Interfax) - Ukrainian agricultural holding Continental Farmers Group, or CFG, operating in the country's western regions, started its 2023 production season by topdressing winter crops, for which it allotted 79,600 hectares, Ukrainia...

MOSCOW. March 1 (Interfax) - The Russian Federal Subsoil Resources Management Agency (Rosnedra) has confirmed the reserves of Lukoil's recently discovered Maganov field in the Caspian Sea at a Tithonian structure, the Natural Resources Ministry told I...

TASHKENT. March 1 (Interfax) - Uzbekistan is holding talks with Gazprom on cooperation, though gas imports have yet to commence, the republic's press service told Interfax on Wednesday."The working groups continue to study this based on the roadma...

MOSCOW. March 1 (Interfax) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal discussed the development of Ukraine's gas producing industry with Anthony Marino, new head of the Supervisory Board of Naftogaz of Ukraine."I have congratulated new head of the N...

MOSCOW. March 1 (Interfax) - Russian legal entities with outstanding Eurobonds in circulation could have until the end of this year to provide 'substitute" bonds to the holders of bonds whose rights to them are recorded by Russian depositories.Sou...

MOSCOW. March 1 (Interfax) - The changing weather in Europe since the beginning of the week has seen noticeable nighttime frosts, although daytime temperatures remain relatively mild, resulting in increased gas usage and offtake from underground gas stora...

MOSCOW. 1 March (Interfax) - The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, or CPC, has selected Russian alternatives for most of the foreign-made equipment necessary for the smooth operation of the Tengiz-Novorossiysk oil pipeline, the CPC reports."Views were exch...

MOSCOW. March 1 (Interfax) - JSC KazTransOil plans to transit 20,000 tonnes of Kazakh oil to Germany in March, Shyngys Ilyasov, director of the public relations and internal communications department at KazTransOil, told Interfax."According to the oil...

ALMATY. March 1 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan and the United States have signed a memorandum of cooperation in geology, the press service of the Kazakh Industry and Infrastructure Development Ministry said.The document was signed during the official visit of th...

MOSCOW. Feb 28 (Interfax) - The Rosatom State Corporation plans to supply fuel for the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant under construction in Turkey in the spring, the company's corporate newspaper Strana Rosatom said via its Telegram channel."All of Ro...

MOSCOW. Feb 28 (Interfax) - Russia and Belarus have signed a protocol regulating the formation of prices on Russian gas supplied to Belarus and the commodity's transportation through Belarusian territory in the period from August 1, 2022 through Decem...

MOSCOW. Feb 28 (Interfax) - Russian authorities are considering removing capital restrictions on new investments in order to stimulate both the inflow of investments from friendly jurisdictions and the repatriation of Russian money. The Finance Ministry s...

SUKHUM. Feb 28 (Interfax) - The Abkhaz president reached an agreement on shipments of wines produced in the country to Belarus during his visit to Minsk, Abkhazia's Foreign Minister Inal Ardzinba said."We are also discussing other goods being prod...

MOSCOW. Feb 28 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law suspending Russia's participation in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), the official database of legal information said on Tuesday.The law on Russia's susp...

MINSK. Feb 28 (Interfax) - Belarus has redeemed $800 million of Belarus-2023 bonds in Belarusian rubles, the Finance Ministry said."On February 28, 2023, the equivalent of $800 million of Republic of Belarus Eurobonds, Belarus-2023, were redeemed and ...

MOSCOW. Feb 28 (Interfax) - Alexei Miller, CEO of Gazprom , discussed developing plans for cooperation during a visit to Iran, the Russian gas giant said.There were working meetings with the country's First Vice President, Mohammad Mokhber, Oil Minist...

MOSCOW. Feb 28 (Interfax) - The Asian Chess Federation has approved the Russian Chess Federation's transfer under its jurisdiction in a practically unanimous vote, Russian Chess Federation Executive Director Alexander Tkachyov told Interfax."We ha...

MOSCOW. Feb 27 (Interfax) - Lukoil has launched the delayed coking unit at the Nizhny Novgorod refinery following the incident on February 7, the company said in a statement."Work to prepare the production facility for entering technological modes has...

WASHINGTON. Feb 28 (Interfax) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubayev, Turkmen Foreign Minister Rasit Meredow, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin, and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ...

MOSCOW. Feb 28 (Interfax) - American Freedom Holding Corp., which was controlled by Kazakh businessman Timur Turlov, has completed a deal to sell its assets in Russia, Freedom Finance investment company, now called Tsifra Broker, and Tsifra Bank, formerly...

MOSCOW. Feb 28 (Interfax) - Alexei Skryl, formerly head of Gas of Ukraine, has replaced Denis Mirgorodsky as head of the management board of Gas Distribution Networks of Ukraine, a Naftogaz Ukraine company, Ukrainian media reported, quoting a Gas Distribu...

MOSCOW. Feb 28 (Interfax) - Norway's Aker Energy has completed a comprehensive front end engineering and design study for the Pecan field development and prepared a revised Plan of Development (POD) for the Deepwater Tano/Cape Three Point (DWT/CTP) bl...

MOSCOW. Feb 28 (Interfax) - Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Secretary-General Mathias Cormann has announced the opening of an OECD office in Kiev, Ukraine, on March 1."I can confirm that our formal office will open in Kiev...