Russia

Russian shopping malls are facing a drop in rental income of around 30% to 50% this year due to international brands shuttering their operations, leaving many facing bankruptcy, a report from Forbes Russia has found, European Supermarket Magazine reported. Marks & Spencer, H&M, Nike, Mango, ASOS and Farfetch are among the international brands that have ceased operations in Russia due to the conflict in Ukraine, with CBRE analysts estimating that the share of closed stores stands at 15% by brand and 20% by area, Forbes said.

The apartments typically go unused, instead acting as an investment vehicle to hold onto money, Africa Business Insider reported. They're often held through a trust or shell company to hide the identity of the true owner. In a small city in South Florida called Sunny Isles Beach, luxury condos tower over the Atlantic Ocean. But high above the busy streets, not all of the city's multi-million dollar apartments light up at night.

A Moscow court said on Monday that Meta was guilty of "extremist activity," but the ruling will not affect its WhatsApp messenger service, focusing on the U.S. firm's already-banned Facebook and Instagram social networks, Reuters reported. Meta did not respond to requests for comment after Moscow's Tverskoi District Court said in a press statement that it had upheld a lawsuit filed by state prosecutors on banning the company's activities on Russian territory.

Russian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been hit by a tsunami of problems in just the first few weeks of the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine, and entrepreneurs that have spent years building up their business are already going to the wall thanks to the multiple shocks hitting the markets, IntelliNews reported. Anecdotal evidence from conversations between bne IntelliNews and business people in the Russian capital is pouring in of widespread difficulties as the war in Ukraine goes into its fourth week.

Taxpayer-backed satellite firm OneWeb has announced it will resume launches after a deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, GrampianOnline.co reported. OneWeb canceled a planned launch of 36 broadband satellites earlier this month because it would have used Russian Soyuz rockets and been overseen by the Russian space agency. The firm has now done a deal with SpaceX, and the first launch is anticipated later this year. The move will allow the firm to resume its plans to add further satellites to its constellation in low earth orbit.

Global equity markets gained on Friday after traders cheered a Russian bond payment that averted a historic sovereign default, while gold prices dropped as demand for the safe-haven metal eased following the start of the U.S. interest rate hike cycle, Reuters reported. The Russian finance ministry announced on Thursday that it had sent funds to cover $117 million in coupon payments on two dollar-denominated sovereign bonds that came due this week.

Russian oil market participants have switched their trading tactics, favoring private deals over public offerings due to new Western sanctions, traders said on Thursday, Reuters reported. About a quarter of Russian oil exports, including flagship Urals and ESPO Blend oil grades, is usually sold on a spot basis, normally via public tenders in which a number of companies generally have been invited. As of March 17, Russian oil companies haven't issued any spot tenders for May ESPO Blend, which would normally be offered in tenders by this time.

As foreign companies seek to exit Russia over the war in Ukraine, they face the prospect that Russian bankruptcy law could be used to seize assets and even lead to criminal penalties, Reuters reported. Here is how that could work. In the U.S., bankruptcy laws are meant to give indebted companies a fresh start. Distressed companies in the U.S. usually enter bankruptcy willingly, and the law lets them retain existing management and control over assets. Russia's law, however, generally prioritizes the needs of creditors who are owed money.

Western companies that maintain a presence in Russia to provide essential goods such as food and medicines are trying to strike a balance between President Vladimir Putin's government and advocates of Ukraine pulling them in opposite directions, Reuters reported. More than 400 companies have withdrawn from Russia since the launch of its attack on Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to a list compiled by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management.

Some creditors have received payment, in dollars, of Russian bond coupons that fell due this week, two market sources said on Thursday, meaning Russia may for now have averted what would have been its first external bond default in a century, Reuters reported. The Russian finance ministry said earlier that it had sent funds to cover $117 million in coupon payments on two dollar-denominated sovereign bonds.