Headlines

CargoLogic Germany applied for insolvency restructuring on May 10, nearly two months after it was banned from operating in German airspace due to its alleged links to Russian Volga-Dnepr Group, Ch-Aviation.com reported. The District Court of Leipzig has appointed Lucas Flöther as the provisional administrator. He has ample experience with distressed airlines, having overseen the insolvencies of Air Berlin, Niki (Austria), Condor, and SundAir. "We are checking whether it is possible to resume flight operations as quickly as possible, taking into account the sanctions.

The Seoul Bankruptcy Court on Friday selected a consortium led by chemical-to-steel conglomerate KG Group as the designated buyer of the debt-ridden automaker SsangYong Motor Co., the Yonhap News Agency reported. The decision approves the consortium between KG and homegrown private equity (PE) firm Pavilion PE as the new candidate to take over the automaker after a previous sales deal with local electric vehicle maker Edison Motors Co. fell apart. SsangYong has been under court receivership since April 15, 2021, after its Indian parent Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

The Czech branch of the British supermarket chain Iceland has filed for bankruptcy, Expats.cz reported. The chain was heavily impacted by the Covid pandemic and Brexit. The insolvency filing by the company ICL Czech, which operates the Czech branch, follows the news that the chain was closing its Czech stores. Much of the Czech branch's stock was imported from the United Kingdom, and the cost of importing the items increased dramatically due to the UK leaving European Union at the start of 2020.

Tungsram released a statement that the company has filed for bankruptcy protection, Hungary Today reported. The company on Wednesday informed employees, trade unions, works councils and banks of this compulsory measure, as required by law. It was reported that 1,600 employees of the company were laid off at the end of April, 400 of them in Budapest’s Újpest district alone. “Tungsram Operations’ lending partner, Eximbank, exercised its legal right to file for bankruptcy on Wednesday,” the Index article says.

A regional central bank is clamping down on Bitcoin transactions after the Central African Republic adopted the cryptocurrency as legal tender without consulting its monetary authority, Bloomberg News reported. The Bank of Central African States, which already doesn’t recognize cryptocurrencies, is now preventing all lenders from partnering with payment platforms that transact in digital currencies or from recognizing them as an asset.

Colombia's economy could have grown by 7.5% in the first quarter of 2022 versus the year-earlier period, mainly boosted by domestic consumption, though this will begin to moderate amid inflationary pressures, a Reuters poll revealed on Friday. Estimates from 13 analysts for economic growth fluctuated between 6% and 8.30% in the three months ended March 31. If growth is in line with the poll's median forecast of 7.5%, Latin America's fourth-largest economy will have expanded at a slower rate than in the prior quarter ending Dec. 31, when growth hit 10.8%.

Sunac China, once one of the country’s best-performing developers, failed to make an overdue interest payment on a U.S. dollar bond, marking a comedown for founder Sun Hongbin, who had tried for months to prevent his property giant from spiraling into default, the Wall Street Journal reported. Tianjin-based Sunac on Thursday said it couldn’t cobble together enough money to make a $29.5 million bond-coupon payment by the end of a 30-day grace period.

For decades, the world has depended on China as a massive factory floor and market. As the country’s economic growth crumbles, the pain is spreading globally, the Wall Street Journal reported. Lockdowns aimed at stamping out Covid-19 are throttling activity in the world’s second-largest economy. Overseas demand for China’s exports is fading as economies wrestle with surging prices and rising interest rates. The effects of China’s slowdown are showing up everywhere from German factories to Australian tourist spots.

Moscow has imposed sanctions on the owner of the Polish part of the Yamal pipeline that carries Russian gas to Europe, as well as the former German unit of the Russian gas producer Gazprom, whose subsidiaries service Europe's gas consumption, Reuters reported. The entities on a list of affected firms on a Russian government website on Wednesday were largely based in countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, most of them members of the European Union.

European natural gas prices jumped as some shipments from Russia were disrupted, and Germany said Moscow was using energy as a weapon in an escalating clash over supply, Bloomberg News reported. The benchmark contract surged 14% as flows from Russia via Ukraine fell further Thursday following interruptions at a cross-border entry point as a result of the war. It adds to the market’s concerns, as Moscow retaliates to Europe’s penalties with a slew of its own curbs targeting some gas companies in the region.