Headlines

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Wednesday he was confident Moscow's demand that European buyers pay for Russian gas in roubles will not lead to a disruption of supplies, Reuters reported. The European Commission has warned that complying with Russia's scheme might breach EU sanctions, but Draghi said it was a "grey zone" with no official ruling on the matter. Speaking during a visit to the United States, Draghi said he was "quite confident" about the supply situation for "a silly reason" that there was a lack of clarity on the rules after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February.

European judges have postponed a ruling on a Ryanair challenge to Germany’s €320 million bailout of rival airline Condor during the Covid-19 crisis, the Irish Times reported. Ryanair asked the European courts to overturn a European Commission decision to allow the German government to lend Condor €550 million in April 2020 for damage done by Covid flight cancellations. The General Court of the European Union was due to rule on Ryanair’s challenge to the commission’s decision on Wednesday, but postponed its judgment until further notice.

Latin American central banks will likely extend their monetary tightening campaigns beyond what was originally expected after inflation surged past forecasts in April, with steep increases in food and fuel costs stinging policy makers, Bloomberg News reported. Brazil’s consumer prices rose 12.13% from a year prior according to data released Wednesday, the fastest pace in nearly two decades and also above the 12.06% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Headline inflation also topped forecasts in Peru, Colombia and Chile in the same month, as did the closely-watched core index in Mexico.

Ukraine's leading agricultural group, Ukrlandfarming, said on Tuesday Russia's invasion had caused it losses totalling hundreds of millions of dollars, mainly because of the loss of access to land and the destruction of farms, Reuters reported. Ukrlandfarming, which produces grain, meat, eggs and sugar, said in a statement that it had lost control of 40% of its land portfolio. The territory had either been occupied by Russian forces or was located in areas where sowing was impossible because of fighting, it said.

Britain and the European Union were once again at loggerheads over Brexit on Wednesday, after the U.K. government ramped up threats to scrap parts of its trade treaty with the bloc, saying the rules are blocking the formation of a new government in Northern Ireland, the Associated Press reported. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the government would “not shy away from taking action” if it can’t reach agreement with the bloc.

Sri Lanka’s central bank chief imposed more capital controls and threatened to resign if politicians fail to return stability to the nation in the grip of its worst economic crisis since independence, Bloomberg News reported. “I took on this responsibility with expectations that political stability will be established,” Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said at a briefing in Colombo Wednesday. “It’s been more than a month with no progress.

State-controlled carrier Garuda Indonesia has asked a Jakarta court to extend for the third time its deadline to complete its debt-restructuring process, its CEO said, as the verification of claims is still unfinished, Reuters reported. Garuda proposed a 30-day extension time to verify claims and finalise negotiation with the creditors, CEO Irfan Setiaputra said during a creditors meeting at the Central Jakarta Commercial Court on Tuesday.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has ordered the initiation of insolvency proceedings against Birla Tyres Ltd. in a case filed by multi-business chemicals firm SRF Ltd., an operational creditor of the BK Birla group firm, The Hindu reported. A two-member Kolkata bench of the NCLT has also appointed Seikh Abdul Salam as Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) to run the operations of the company after suspending the board and also declared a moratorium as per the procedures of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Board (IBC).

An abrupt halt of Russian gas exports could see economies in emerging Europe, central Asia and north Africa slide back to pre-pandemic GDP levels, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) warned on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Many countries in the EBRD's region of operation, which covers some 40 economies stretching from Mongolia to Slovenia and Tunisia, depend on Russian gas and a sudden ceasing of supplies would lower output per capita by 2.3% this year and 2% in 2023, according to the lender's latest report.

German officials are quietly preparing for any sudden halt in Russian gas supplies with an emergency package that could include taking control of critical firms, Reuters reported. The preparations being led by the Ministry for Economic Affairs show the heightened state of alert about supplies of the gas that powers Europe's biggest economy and is critical for the production of steel, plastics and cars. Russian gas accounted for 55% of Germany's imports last year and Berlin has come under pressure to unwind a business relationship that critics says is helping to fund Russia's war in Ukraine.