Russia

Russian airlines could be frozen out of the aircraft leasing market well beyond the Ukraine conflict, one of the industry's biggest players warned on Tuesday, blaming what executives have described as a default involving hundreds of Western jets, Reuters reported. Global leasing companies had until Monday to sever ties with Russian carriers under Western sanctions imposed over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, but executives say only a fraction of the more than 400 jets directly involved have been returned.

All Irish lessors terminated their Russian airline leases by Monday's European Union sanctions deadline and have so far had limited success in recovering their aircraft, the representative body for the sector in Ireland said, Reuters reported. Aircraft Leasing Ireland (ALI), members of which include SMBC Aviation Capital, Avolon, Aircastle and AerCap Holdings , which is the world's biggest aircraft leasing company, said that all of its members have complied fully with the sanctions.

Germany released a report on Friday showing that the country was cutting its dependence on Russian energy sooner than many thought possible, the New York Times reported. Robert Habeck, the vice chancellor and economic minister, said Germany expected to cut its imports of Russian oil in half by the midsummer and nearly end the imports by end of this year. The need for Russian coal could be halved in “the coming weeks,” he said. And he estimated that Germany could be free of Russian gas by the middle of 2024, if all goes well.

Some holders of a $3 billion Russia bond received an overdue interest payment, signaling that the heavily sanctioned nation will once again sidestep a default, Bloomberg News reported. The $66 million interest payment started showing up in accounts on Thursday, according to two international bondholders, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. The payment was in dollars, one of the people said. A third bondholder reached Thursday said they had yet to see the payment.

German business morale plummeted in March as companies worried about rising energy prices, driver shortages and the stability of supply chains in the wake of the war in Ukraine, pointing to a possible future recession, a survey showed on Friday, Reuters reported. The Ifo institute said its business climate index dropped to 90.8 in March from a downwardly revised 98.5 in February. A Reuters poll of analysts had pointed to a March reading of 94.2.

After losing two years to the COVID-19 pandemic, shopkeepers in the heart of the Turkish Riviera had hoped for a strong tourism season this year to help keep their businesses afloat. But Russia’s war in Ukraine is fast dampening their spirits, the Associated Press reported. “We’re trying to earn our bread through tourism, but it looks like the war has finished off this (tourism) season, too,” Devrim Akcay said outside his clothing shop in the resort town of Belek, along the Mediterranean coast’s Antalya province.

Russian steel giant Severstal was racing against the clock on Wednesday to avoid becoming the country's first major corporate default since the Ukraine crisis began, with international payment lines snarled by sanctions, Reuters reported. Severstal, whose main shareholder Alexey Mordashov is one of a number of wealthy Russians now sanctioned by the European Union, has until the end of the day to get an already overdue $12.6 million loan 'coupon' payment to its creditors.

Foreign holders of Russia’s sovereign bond maturing in 2029 are watching as the latest debt payment from the sanctioned nation draws closer to completion, Bloomberg News reported. The $66 million coupon due March 21 was processed Tuesday by Russia’s National Settlement Depository, it said in a statement. Earlier in the day, the Finance Ministry said it had transferred the cash to the NSD, thus meeting its obligations “in full.” Four bondholders in Europe said they hadn’t received the payment as of 3.40 p.m. in London.

Annual inflation in Russia accelerated to 14.53% as of March 18, its highest since November 2015 and up from 12.54% a week earlier, the economy ministry said on Wednesday, as the battered rouble sent prices soaring amid unprecedented Western sanctions, Reuters reported. Inflation accelerated sharply as the currency fell to an all-time low earlier in March and demand for a wide range of goods, from food staples to cars, rose sharply on expectations that their prices will rise further.

EU companies affected by sanctions imposed on Russia can get up to 400,000 euros ($440,360) in state support and compensation up to 30% of energy costs under looser EU state aid rules, the European Commission said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. From airlines to carmakers to tourism businesses, thousands of companies across the 27-country bloc have reported severe disruption due to the sanctions. Companies in the agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture sectors can get up to 35,000 euros while businesses facing a liquidity crunch can get state guarantees on loans, subsidised loans.