Ukraine’s economic and political crisis may be heating up, but Kiev still has enough emergency cash reserves to cover its obligations for the next two months, The Wall Street Journal Real Time Economics blog reported. But what would it take to push the country into default? Tensions escalating over Russia’s Crimea incursion, Moscow increasing natural gas prices and any delay in international bailout talks, say economists. “The military stand-off heightens Ukraine’s risk of default,” says Lilit Gevorgyan, a senior sovereign risk analyst at the IHS consultancy, in a research note.

As Russia's military secured the Crimean peninsula, its currency hit a record low and its stock market plunged in the face of U.S. and European warnings of sanctions over the incursion into Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Obama administration took the first steps late Monday, suspending military cooperation with Russia as well as talks aimed at boosting trade and investment, in a bid to isolate Moscow. President Barack Obama said Russia is "on the wrong side of history" as well as international law.

The liquidator of two companies formerly controlled by businessman Philip Marley has written to creditors in recent days to tell them of matters “simply extraordinary” and of “great concern”, the Irish Times reported. Creditors owed substantial sums by Ely-related companies include the Revenue Commissioners; Zolfo Cooper, the liquidators of a British company called Space Student Living Ltd; IBRC; Investec; landlords; an accountancy firm; and an estate agent among others.

The management of German rooftop PV installer and module manufacturer Centrosolar has unveiled an insolvency plan, which has been approved by the company’s creditors’ committee. The main thrust of the plan is that Centrosolar will in future focus on the US market, trading as Centrosolar America. The plan still requires several further stages of approval before it can be implemented, PV-Tech reported. Centrosolar said that in order to save costs, the parent company will be “slimmed down” considerably.

Italy's new government approved a new decree Friday aimed at staving off a default by the city of Rome while insisting that the capital must still seek ways to curb its perennial deficit, The Wall Street Journal reported. The new decree, which must be approved by parliament, offers €575 million ($788.32 million) in cash, which will cover more than half the capital's 2013 shortfall. That is more than the amount pledged by the previous government's so-called "Save Rome" decree, which languished in parliament until being withdrawn earlier this week due to a parliamentary filibuster.

OAO Gazprom’s threat to end natural gas discounts for Ukraine adds to the financial burden on the near-bankrupt government in Kiev and makes Europe’s energy supply part of the escalating crisis, Bloomberg News reported. Russia’s gas-export monopoly said on March 1 it may end last year’s agreement to supply Ukraine at a cheaper rate unless it’s paid $1.55 billion owed for fuel. It’s the first time since the otherthrow of pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych last month that Russia has directly used its position as Ukraine’s dominant energy supplier to pressure the new regime.

Part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland is working on a plan to salvage its troubled Irish business, Ulster Bank, by merging it with a number of rivals, the Sunday Times newspaper reported. Attempts to find a buyer for the business have failed and a team inside RBS is looking at tie-ups between Ulster and other lenders, such as Permanent TSB or the Irish units of Danske Bank or KBC, the newspaper reported. Bolting the institutions together could allow the new Ulster Bank to strip out costs and mount a credible challenge to Ireland's top players.

Spain launched the privatization of its largest bailed-out lender, Bankia SA, marking a turning point in the country's revamp of its banking industry, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Spanish government is to sell 7.5% of its stake in Bankia by Friday, according to a regulatory filing posted after the close of trading Thursday in Madrid. The sale is a first step as the government seeks to whittle down its 68% holding in the bank.

Ukrainian officials today notified the International Monetary Fund of the country’s request for financial support, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said in a statement, the Irish Times reported. “We are ready to respond and, in the coming days, will send an IMF fact-finding team to Kiev to undertake a preliminary dialogue with the authorities,” Ms Lagarde said in a statement.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's bankruptcy estate has struck a deal to resolve a five-year-long dispute involving its Swiss affiliate, clearing the way to distribute $1.8 billion to creditors, Reuters reported. The deal would enable the estate of Lehman to resolve one of its largest outstanding claims since the investment bank's September 2008 collapse, a major spark in the global financial crisis, and close a settlement from last year with Lehman Brothers Finance AG, the Swiss affiliate that specialized in equities derivatives. The settlement with the Swiss unit was approved by the U.S.