Bilateral trade between Spain and Russia has shrunk in value, signaling a clear decision to decouple from the sanction-ridden nation, EuroNews.com reported. The Kremlin's decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost four years ago has had an undeniable effect on Spanish companies that aspired to open up markets in Russia, with the result that the volume of their exports has plummeted sharply since the beginning of the conflict.
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For three years, a crack team of detectives gathered each weekday morning around a whiteboard at the German Federal Police headquarters in Potsdam, near Berlin. Now their investigation into who was behind the greatest act of sabotage in modern history—the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines—is threatening to splinter support for Ukraine, the country they hold responsible, the Wall Street Journal reported. Poland already has refused to extradite one of the suspects to stand trial in Germany.
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Lukoil's international operations faced mounting disruptions on Friday as a U.S. deadline for companies to cut off business with the Russian oil company looms and after a hoped-for sale of the operations to Swiss trader Gunvor collapsed, Reuters reported. The U.S. Treasury, which would have to approve any sale as Lukoil is under U.S. sanctions, on Thursday labelled Gunvor a Kremlin "puppet" and signaled its opposition to the deal.
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U.S. sanctions on Russian oil producer Rosneft have rekindled discussions in Germany about nationalising the company's business there, including a refinery that Berlin depends on for most of its fuel, two sources familiar with the talks told Reuters. The situation highlights the complex web linking Germany with Russia, which supplied Europe's industrial powerhouse with energy in the decades leading up to the war in Ukraine. The U.S. Treasury said on Wednesday it had issued a licence exempting Rosneft's German arm from the U.S.
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The U.S.’s new sanctions hit at the core of Russia’s faltering war economy, bringing Washington and Europe into alignment in their pressure on Moscow for the first time since the start of the Trump administration, the Wall Street Journal reported. Analysts say the impact of blacklisting Rosneft and Lukoil—Russia’s biggest oil producers—will hinge on three things: how well they are enforced, the reaction of major markets in India and China, and whether Moscow can circumvent the measures. The new U.S. sanctions “mark the most material move to date by the U.S.
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The European Union has agreed on a new raft of sanctions against Russia targeting its shadow fleet of oil tankers and banning its imports of liquefied natural gas, the Danish EU presidency announced Thursday, The Canadian Press reported. “Today is a good day for Europe and Ukraine,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said in a statement, as EU leaders were gathering for a summit in Brussels.
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Russia’s Federal Tax Service has filed a bankruptcy petition against the Tobol Timber Company, the largest timber firm in Siberia’s Tyumen region, over unpaid taxes exceeding 14.6 million rubles ($174,000), Russian media reported Tuesday, the Moscow Times reported. The Federal Tax Service asked a regional arbitration court to initiate bankruptcy proceedings after Tobol’s bank accounts were frozen on Sept. 12, according to Ura.ru.
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The European Union proposed sanctions against Chinese and other foreign companies buying Russian oil, as part of a package of measures intended to show President Trump the bloc is ramping up economic pressure on Russia and its backers, the Wall Street Journal reported. The EU also would impose new banking sanctions, blacklist additional companies aiding Russia’s military and speed up its plan to phase out purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas. The measures will need the backing of all 27 member states, which isn’t guaranteed.
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Nearly 20% of Russian property developers are on the brink of bankruptcy due to falling sales and high interest rates, and that figure could soon exceed 30%, Pravda.com reported. The most vulnerable are companies that build mass housing and are dependent on mortgage demand. More than 19% of property developers are officially postponing completion dates, and delays of more than six months put projects in the "problem" category, the FISU said. Investment in property fell by 44% in the first half of 2025.
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Russia’s government is preparing a moratorium on bankruptcies in the metals sector to support heavily indebted companies hit by sanctions and high borrowing costs, the Kommersant business daily reported Wednesday, citing draft measures by the economy and industry ministries, The Moscow Times reported. Analysts told the newspaper that the proposal is aimed primarily at coal and steel producer Mechel, which is controlled by Igor Zyuzin.
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