Germany and the European Union are in a position to decide on further sanctions against Russia in the event of a complete Russian invasion of Ukraine, which cannot be ruled out, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Scholz said Russia's recognition of the two breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine was not compatible with international law and endangered the sovereignty of Ukraine. "We cannot accept this," Scholz was quoted as saying by broadcaster RTL, adding that respecting borders was important for peace in Europe.
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A possible Russian invasion of Ukraine is threatening to deepen a continuing economic crisis in nearby Turkey, which faces the prospect of soaring energy prices and disrupted trade with its two Black Sea neighbors in the event of war, the Wall Street Journal reported. Turkey’s economy has already been shaken by inflation that is among the highest in the world, after a series of unorthodox economic steps and a collapse of the currency’s value over the past year. Turkey is dependent on imported Russian oil and natural gas, as well as tourists from both countries.
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NATO allies are bolstering the alliance’s eastern flank in response to Russia’s military buildup around Ukraine, as the European Union set out plans for loans and grants for Kyiv worth more than $1.3 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. The moves are part of sharpening efforts by the U.S. and its allies to gird for what they believe could be an imminent military invasion of Ukraine, which Russia denies it is planning.
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Ukrainian sovereign dollar bonds tumbled into distress territory and Russian bonds suffered sharp falls on Monday as fears of another Russian military foray into Ukraine showed no sign of easing, Reuters reported. The premium investors demand to hold Ukraine bonds over safe-haven U.S. Treasuries as measured by the JPMorgan EMBI Global Diversified index surged past 1,000 basis points for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in March 2020.
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President Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that the U.S. and its allies would meet a military escalation into Ukraine with a series of actions, including strong economic measures, bolstering Ukrainian defenses and fortifying support for Eastern European nations, as allies work together to prevent renewed conflict in Eastern Europe, the Wall Street Journal reported. For more than two hours on Tuesday, the leaders held a secure video call to address what the U.S. has described as large and unusual troop movement near Russia’s border with Ukraine in recent weeks. The U.S.
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Ukraine has appealed to the European Union for additional financial aid as the country struggles to meet its obligations and faces the threat of a potential invasion from Russian troops massing on its borders, Bloomberg News reported. “We have formally requested from the European Commission a long-term, macro-financial program to ensure sustainable financing in the upcoming years,” Yuriy Butsa, Ukraine’s commissioner for public debt management, said via WhatsApp.
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Russia succeeded in overturning part of a judgment for a record $50 billion to former shareholders of Yukos Oil Co., meaning the 16-year legal saga that raged between the Kremlin and the owners of what was once Russia’s biggest oil company is set to continue, Bloomberg News reported. The ruling by the Netherlands’ highest court Friday overturned a prior opinion into the bankruptcy of Yukos. The Dutch Supreme Court said in a judgment that a lower court should review one ground of the case again.
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A Moscow inspection of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) filed a bankruptcy application against the owner of the Tavern Taras Bulba restaurant chain, Yury Beloivan, who had been put on the international wanted list in a tax-evasion case, according to the Moscow Commercial Court’s records, RAPSI reported. Earlier, the court had scheduled Beloivan’s claim for his own bankruptcy for November 8.
The Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals has dismissed an appeal filed by ex-president of VIM Airlines Rashid Mursekayev and his wife Svetlana against a ruling declaring them bankrupt, according to court records, RAPSI reported. The Moscow Commercial Court declared the spouses bankrupt in late May. The asset-sale procedure was introduced in their case for six months. In November 2020, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow issued an arrest warrant for co-owner of VIM Airlines Svetlana Mursekayeva in absentia on scale credit fraud charges.
Federal Law No. 241-FZ of July 1, 2021 has introduced a number of changes to criminal prosecution under Articles 195 ("Unlawful Actions in Bankruptcy") and 196 ("Deliberate Bankruptcy") of Russia's Criminal Code, according to a Dentons' analysis on Mondaq.com. Only one or two dozen people a year are currently prosecuted under these articles. On the one hand, the changes are intended to harshen punishment and expand practice in application of these articles. To this aim, a number of qualifying elements with harsher types and amounts of punishment have been devised.
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