Russian natural gas began flowing again at a reduced volume through a critical pipeline into Europe on Thursday, buying time for governments to decouple from the Kremlin’s exports amid what they expect will be an increasingly unreliable supply of energy from Moscow heading into the winter, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The number of Russian citizens who have declared bankruptcy and faced liquidation in the first half of 2022 rose by 37.8% over the same period from last year, a Russian Ministry of Economic Development report shows, the Egypt Independent reported. From January to the end of June, 121,313 Russian citizens filed for bankruptcy and had their assets liquidated to pay off debts, the report stated. Among them, the largest number of bankruptcy declarations were from Moscow at more than 6,000 individuals, followed by the region surrounding the capital, with more than 5,600.

As the 17 July 2022 deadline for Slovenia to implement the Directive (EU) 2019/1023 on Restructuring and Insolvency is fast approaching, it is still not entirely clear exactly when and how its provisions will be transposed into Slovenian law, Mondaq reported. A draft amendment of the main Slovenian insolvency law, the Financial Operations, Insolvency Proceedings, and Compulsory Dissolution Act (the "Insolvency Act"), which (among several other topics) provides for transposition, has been in circulation among various state authorities and the interested public for over a year.

Russia's foreign ministry on Thursday said that the latest round of European Union sanctions were illegitimate and would have "devastating consequences" for security and parts of the global economy, Reuters reported. European Union diplomats on Wednesday agreed on a new round of sanctions against Moscow for invading Ukraine, including a ban on importing gold from Russia and freezing the assets of the country's top lender Sberbank.

The European Central Bank will raise interest rates for the first time in 11 years on Thursday with a bigger-than-flagged move seen as increasingly likely as policymakers fear losing control of runaway consumer price growth, Reuters reported. With inflation already approaching double-digit territory, it is now at risk of getting entrenched above the ECB's 2% target, requiring rate hikes even if that slows — or crashes — an economy already suffering from the impact of Russia's war in Ukraine.

Debt-laden Italy finds itself in markets' crosshairs again, as the prospect of a collapse in its national unity government coincides with the European Central Bank preparing to deliver its first interest rate rise in 11 years, Reuters reported. Like other indebted eurozone countries, Italy has spent the past few years when cash was cheap and plentiful trying to reduce its vulnerability to rising rates and market panic. But it is more exposed to increasing borrowing costs than it might appear, according to a Reuters review of its debt profile.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s offer to resign has sent unsettling ripples through financial markets, bringing back bad memories of Europe’s debt crisis a decade ago and complicating the European Central Bank’s job as it raises interest rates for the first time in 11 years to combat record inflation, the Associated Press reported. Draghi, a former ECB president, has pushed policies meant to keep Italy’s high levels of debt manageable and boost growth in Europe’s third-largest economy.

Europe must drastically cut its use of natural gas immediately, and by a total of 15 percent between now and the springtime, to prevent a major crisis as Russia slashes gas exports, the European Union’s executive branch said on Wednesday, calling for hard sacrifices by the people of the world’s richest group of nations, the New York Times reported. “Russia is blackmailing us,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said as she introduced the E.U.’s plan to reduce gas consumption.

The energy crisis unfolding in Europe is starting to weigh on a growing number of the continent’s oil, gas and utility companies, The Epoch Times reported. Uniper, Germany’s struggling natural gas utility giant, recently filed a bailout application to the government after facing significant financial challenges, according to Finnish majority owner Fortum.

The EU is set to add Russia's top lender Sberbank and the head of giant zinc and copper firm UMMC to its list of individuals and companies banned for supporting Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, according to draft documents, Reuters reported. The 48 individuals and nine entities to be added to the sanctions list, prepared by the EU foreign affairs service, also include a motorcycle club, actors, politicians and family members of previously sanctioned businesspeople.