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Ukraine is fighting for its survival and is desperate for cash, but that isn’t deterring London hedge-fund manager Richard Deitz from demanding money back from an ill-fated investment there, the Wall Street Journal reported. Mr. Deitz’s VR Capital has a long history of making money in countries going through upheaval. His fund paid $123 million in 2019 to buy distressed loans issued by state-owned Ukrainian Railways, hoping they could work out a repayment and get a double-digit return.

Germany’s economy hasn’t grown for nearly five years. Its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic has been weaker than any major advanced economy. Its ability to fill its energy needs is in question. And now the country once known as the economic engine of Europe is teetering on the brink of a recession, the Wall Street Journal reported. It’s a sharp turn of fortunes for Germany’s large manufacturing sector, which flourished over the past two decades just as other Western nations saw industrial jobs migrate to Asia.

Thai cryptocurrency exchange Zipmex said in a document dated July 27 that its solicitors in Singapore, Morgan Lewis Stamford LLC, filed five moratorium applications, or legal authorization to debtors to postpone payment, under Section 64 of Singapore’s Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 on behalf of the company, Cointelegraph.com reported. Zipmex seeks to protect itself against third party actions, claims, and proceedings for a period of six months while the filing is active.

The bankruptcy court on Thursday allowed a petition to withdraw the insolvency resolution process against Sahara Hospitality, after the company and its operational creditor agreed to settle their dispute, the Economic Times of India reported. Mumbai-based Sahara Hospitality, the owner of Hotel Sahara Star and part of Subrata Roy’s Sahara India Pariwar, was admitted under the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) after operational creditor Delta Electro Mechanical filed a petition claiming a default of over Rs 50 crore by the company.

Brazil created a net 277,944 formal jobs in June, with all sectors of the economy posting growth, figures from the country's labor ministry showed on Thursday, Reuters reported. That number, however, was lower than the 317,812 jobs created in the same month last year, said the ministry, which based its figures on adjusted government data. Net job creation in South America's largest economy reached 1.335 million in the six months of the year, with each month recording growth.

Argentina's central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by eight percentage points on Thursday to 60%, marking its seventh hike this year alone, in a renewed push to tame surging inflation as the country suffers a deepening economic crisis, Reuters reported. The so-called Leliq interest rate set by the country's monetary authority was previously at 52%, but analysts expect inflation could exceed 80% this year as the governing coalition is rocked by growing internal divisions over spending as well as the tightly-controlled exchange rate.

Ukraine’s state-run energy company NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy said it is still trying to negotiate a deal with holders of around $1.4 billion of its bonds after the government forced it to miss a deadline on Tuesday, Bloomberg News reported. The company will “urgently” present a new plan for bondholders, it said in an emailed statement. Naftogaz on Tuesday said it’s on track to default as a grace period to redeem $335 million of bonds due last week expired.

European energy extended a scorching rally as Russia tightened its grip on the region’s supply, further threatening the economy and key markets, Bloomberg News reported. Natural gas increased as much as 14%, and prices are more than 10 times higher than the usual level for this time of the year, as supplies through a key pipeline slumped. The surge is crippling Europe’s industrial output, driving up household bills and pushing inflation to the highest in decades. It’s also fed through to the power market with German futures rising to unprecedented levels, before easing on Wednesday.

Britain’s biggest mortgage lender expects the housing market to slow in the coming year, as rising interest rates make loans more expensive for borrowers and property prices finally begin to fall, Bloomberg News reported. Charlie Nunn, chief executive officer of Lloyds Banking Group Plc, said the bank’s open mortgage book rose just 1% in the three months through June and now stands at £296.6 billion.

The International Monetary Fund says crypto markets could see further selling pressure and more failures of coin offerings, including stablecoins, YahooFinance.com reported. “We could see further selloffs, both in crypto assets and in risky asset markets, like equities,” Tobias Adrian, Director of Monetary and Capital Markets for the IMF, told Yahoo Finance in an interview.