Russia

Bonds issued by the Ukrainian government hit new lows Wednesday despite assurances from foreign governments and global institutions that they would continue to buttress Ukraine’s wartime finances, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. On Wednesday, a Ukrainian government bond coming due in September was quoted between 36 and 40 cents on the dollar, down from 65 cents on Friday, according to data from FactSet. A 2033 bond was quoted between 23 to 26 cents on the dollar Wednesday, down from 45 cents Friday.

Swiss-based Russian gas pipeline operator Nord Stream 2 AG said yesterday that it has not filed for insolvency, Reuters reported. "We do not confirm the media reports that Nord Stream 2 has filed for bankruptcy. The company only informed the local authorities that the company had to terminate contracts with employees following the imposition of U.S. sanctions on the company," Nord Stream 2 AG said in emailed comments.

Germany will have to forfeit an economic upswing in spring as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, sanctions and high energy prices hurt companies and households, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Thursday, pledging state support to keep firms afloat, Reuters reported. "The consequences of the sanctions and war are noticeable and the situation remains tense," Habeck said after talks with German business leaders, adding that hopes of a return to pre-pandemic levels of growth in the second quarter had been dashed. We had hoped that we would experience an upswing this spring, a recovery phase.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance on Thursday said cardholders of sanctioned Russian banks would not be able to use them on their platform and confirmed that sanctioned individuals have had their access restricted, Reuters reported. Some of the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchanges are staying put in Russia, breaking ranks with mainstream finance in a decision that experts say weakens Western attempts to isolate Moscow following the invasion of Ukraine. Read more.

The European arm of Sberbank, Russia's biggest lender, has been closed by order of the European Central Bank, which had warned it faced failure due to a run on deposits after Russia invaded Ukraine, Austria's Financial Market Authority said, Reuters reported. The European Central Bank's Single Resolution Board (SRB) determined earlier this week that Sberbank Europe, which is based in Vienna, was failing or likely to fail. That prompted Austria's FMA on Monday to impose a moratorium on the bank's activities.

The harsh sanctions imposed on Russia and the resulting crash of the ruble have the Kremlin scrambling to keep the country’s economy running. For Vladimir Putin, that means finding workarounds to the Western economic blockade even as his forces continue to invade Ukraine, the Associated Press reported. Former Treasury Department officials and sanctions experts expect Russia to try to mitigate the impact of the financial penalties by relying on energy sales and leaning on the country’s reserves in gold and Chinese currency.

The eurozone’s inflation rate jumped to a new high in February, presenting the European Central Bank with a difficult choice between supporting flagging growth and clamping down on accelerating prices driven by the threat to energy supplies following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported. Russia accounts for around 40% of the European Union’s imports of natural gas, a key source of energy for the bloc. It also supplies around a quarter of the bloc’s oil imports.

Airlines world-wide are altering routes and canceling flights to avoid Russian airspace, changes that will lengthen journey times and raise costs for carriers that were starting to bounce back from their pandemic slump, the Wall Street Journal reported. With Russia banning many European airlines from its skies, flying around the giant country may add hundreds of miles and up to two hours to some flights, incurring higher fuel, labor and maintenance costs, according to airlines and analysts.

Russia demanded the U.K. sell its stake in satellite startup OneWeb Ltd. and threatened to cancel a launch planned for Saturday if it didn’t, retaliating against Western sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine, Bloomberg News reported. Kremlin space agency Roscosmos made the ultimatum in a statement on its official Twitter page on Wednesday and blamed “the U.K.’s hostile stance toward Russia.” It also demanded guarantees that OneWeb’s satellites wouldn’t be used for military purposes and gave a deadline of 9:30 p.m. Moscow time March 4 for answers.

The Swiss-based company which built the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany is considering filing for insolvency, two sources familiar with the situation said, as it attempts to settle claims ahead of a U.S. sanction deadline for other entities to stop dealings with it, Reuters reported. The United States sanctioned Nord Stream 2 AG last week after Russia recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine prior to its invasion of the country, which has prompted a wave of economic sanctions by the West.