Germany has earmarked 200 billion euros ($220 billion) to fund industrial transformation between now and 2026, including climate protection, hydrogen technology and expansion of the electric vehicle charging network, its finance minister said, Reuters reported. "200 billion euros in funding for the transformation of the economy, society and the state," Christian Lindner told public broadcaster ARD on Sunday, adding that this also included the removal of renewable energy levies.

Bonds issued by the Ukrainian government hit new lows Wednesday despite assurances from foreign governments and global institutions that they would continue to buttress Ukraine’s wartime finances, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. On Wednesday, a Ukrainian government bond coming due in September was quoted between 36 and 40 cents on the dollar, down from 65 cents on Friday, according to data from FactSet. A 2033 bond was quoted between 23 to 26 cents on the dollar Wednesday, down from 45 cents Friday.

Ukraine's central bank decided to postpone a review of its main interest rate and keep it unchanged at 10.0% on Thursday in an effort to maintain financial stability and the smooth operation of the banking system amid the Russian invasion, Reuters reported. It said the bank remained committed to its inflation targeting regime but in the current conditions, with forced administrative restrictions in place, market-based monetary instruments such as the key policy rate no longer play a significant role. "With this in mind, the central bank has postponed its key policy rate decision.

Swiss-based Russian gas pipeline operator Nord Stream 2 AG said yesterday that it has not filed for insolvency, Reuters reported. "We do not confirm the media reports that Nord Stream 2 has filed for bankruptcy. The company only informed the local authorities that the company had to terminate contracts with employees following the imposition of U.S. sanctions on the company," Nord Stream 2 AG said in emailed comments.

Germany will have to forfeit an economic upswing in spring as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, sanctions and high energy prices hurt companies and households, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Thursday, pledging state support to keep firms afloat, Reuters reported. "The consequences of the sanctions and war are noticeable and the situation remains tense," Habeck said after talks with German business leaders, adding that hopes of a return to pre-pandemic levels of growth in the second quarter had been dashed. We had hoped that we would experience an upswing this spring, a recovery phase.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance on Thursday said cardholders of sanctioned Russian banks would not be able to use them on their platform and confirmed that sanctioned individuals have had their access restricted, Reuters reported. Some of the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchanges are staying put in Russia, breaking ranks with mainstream finance in a decision that experts say weakens Western attempts to isolate Moscow following the invasion of Ukraine. Read more.

The European arm of Sberbank, Russia's biggest lender, has been closed by order of the European Central Bank, which had warned it faced failure due to a run on deposits after Russia invaded Ukraine, Austria's Financial Market Authority said, Reuters reported. The European Central Bank's Single Resolution Board (SRB) determined earlier this week that Sberbank Europe, which is based in Vienna, was failing or likely to fail. That prompted Austria's FMA on Monday to impose a moratorium on the bank's activities.

The harsh sanctions imposed on Russia and the resulting crash of the ruble have the Kremlin scrambling to keep the country’s economy running. For Vladimir Putin, that means finding workarounds to the Western economic blockade even as his forces continue to invade Ukraine, the Associated Press reported. Former Treasury Department officials and sanctions experts expect Russia to try to mitigate the impact of the financial penalties by relying on energy sales and leaning on the country’s reserves in gold and Chinese currency.

The eurozone’s inflation rate jumped to a new high in February, presenting the European Central Bank with a difficult choice between supporting flagging growth and clamping down on accelerating prices driven by the threat to energy supplies following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported. Russia accounts for around 40% of the European Union’s imports of natural gas, a key source of energy for the bloc. It also supplies around a quarter of the bloc’s oil imports.