The Ukrainian government will provide state guarantees to revitalise its export credit agency, a move designed to help domestic exporters and lift the economy after 14 months of war, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Before Russia's full-scale invasion in February last year, Ukraine's economy was export-led, but Moscow's war in Ukraine has disrupted supply chains and logistics. "We are intensifying the work of the export credit agency. We want as many Ukrainian businesses as possible to export their products abroad," Shmyhal told a government meeting.

Across eastern Europe, the financial toll of Vladimir Putin’s 14-month-old war on Ukraine is piling up. Energy subsidies are being doled out, armies built up and refugees housed, schooled and fed, Bloomberg News reported. To help pay those bills, Ukraine’s neighbors are tapping international debt markets like never before. Governments in eastern Europe have borrowed nearly $32 billion already this year, triple the amount from the same period last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

UBS said on Tuesday it had set aside more money to draw a line under its involvement in toxic U.S. mortgages, halving its first-quarter profit as the bank girds itself for the "hard" task of swallowing fallen rival Credit Suisse, Reuters reported. Sergio Ermotti, brought back as UBS chief executive to steer the takeover, said it aims to close the deal with fellow Zurich-based bank Credit Suisse by May but warned that it could take four years for a full integration. "There is much to do and there will difficult decisions to be made in the coming months," he said during a call with analysts.

P&O Ferries is confident of avoiding a fine for sacking nearly 800 seafarers without notice. The annual report of the DP World-owned ferry operator, seen by the PA news agency, said its directors think an ongoing inquiry by the Insolvency Service will not result in any punishment, PAMedia reported. Some 786 of the company’s workers were made redundant without consultation on March 17 2022, leading to widespread criticism from politicians and trade unions. They were replaced by cheaper agency staff. A criminal investigation into what happened did not result in a prosecution.

Corporate insolvencies in the Republic rose by 22 per cent in the first quarter of 2023, according to Deloitte. The consultancy said there were 146 business failures recorded in the first three months of the year, up from 120 in the same quarter last year, the Irish Times reported. However, Deloitte noted the number of insolvencies was marginally down from 152 reported in the final quarter of 2022, “which means we are not currently experiencing a steep increase in corporate insolvency activity, which many have forecasted”, it said.

Credit Suisse Group AG gave a glimpse of its chaotic final weeks before a rescue last month by UBS Group AG in a first-quarter earnings report that showed operating revenue diving and customers rushing to pull deposits, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Swiss bank lost more than $2 billion from its businesses in the first quarter, but posted a prodigious net profit because of the paper gains realized from writing off $17 billion in bonds. Customers withdrew around $75 billion in deposits, in a run that the bank says has moderated since the UBS deal announcement on March 19.

Switzerland's UBS said on Monday it will retain Christian Bluhm as chief risk officer for the "foreseeable future" as it bolsters controls during the takeover of Credit Suisse, Reuters reported. Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti is reshaping the ranks of UBS as it works on integrating Credit Suisse, the 167-year-old Swiss banking rival which it rescued in March. UBS had said in November that Bluhm, who has been its risk chief since 2016, would step down to focus on his photography business. Damian Vogel, who currently overseas risk in its wealth management unit, was set to replace Bluhm in May.

Italy's Treasury and Germany's Lufthansa have agreed to extend exclusive talks over the sale of ITA Airways until May 12 from the previous deadline of April 24, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Monday. State-controlled ITA officially replaced the money-losing Alitalia airline in 2021. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Treasury granted Lufthansa's request for extra time for the talks. ITA's chairman said last week the main elements of a deal were defined and the parties hoped to announce it soon.

The economic problems in the German fashion industry are getting more and more companies into trouble. The men's fashion manufacturer Ahlers announced that it would file for insolvency at the District Court of Bielefeld for Ahlers AG and seven subsidiaries due to impending insolvency, IndoNewYork.com reported. The trigger for the decision was essentially the business development, which was below planning, said company boss Stella Ahlers.

Credit Suisse Group AG bondholders have launched a legal challenge in Switzerland against regulators’ decision to write down $17 billion in securities as part of UBS Group AG’s rescue of the troubled bank last month. Bondholders holding about 4.5 billion Swiss francs ($5 billion) of Credit Suisse’s canceled debt want the decision to write down their bonds revoked or amended, according to an outline of their appeal made in a Swiss administrative court and reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.