Russia's gas price dispute with Ukraine escalated Tuesday, disrupting deliveries to the European Union in the midst of a bitter cold spell, with a number of countries reporting that gas supplies had been suspended or reduced, and Germany predicting a possible shortage, the International Herald Tribune reported. Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Macedonia, Turkey, Greece, the Czech Republic and Austria reported that gas supplies had been suspended or reduced after Gazprom, the Russian gas monopoly, reduced gas shipments through Ukraine.

The quickening pace of Russia's rouble devaluation is piling pressure on the currencies of its neighbours and putting those without Moscow's sizeable reserves at risk of foreign debt default and further capital flight, Forbes reported. Investors are shying away from currencies such as Ukraine's hryvnia as the world economic slowdown crushes demand for its exports, global risk aversion shines a harsh light on Kiev's turbulent politics and Russia demonstrates its stranglehold on the country's energy supplies.

Ukrainian state energy company Naftogaz said on Tuesday it has published its 2007 audited accounts, allowing it to avoid technical default on a $500 million Eurobond, Reuters reported. Bondholders had agreed in November to extend the deadline for receiving the accounts--one of the conditions of the bond--until the end of this year after the financially ailing company missed a summer deadline.

China's Lenovo Group, the world's No.4 personal computer maker, is considering a restructuring because of tough economic conditions, China Business News reported on Wednesday. The influential business newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying Lenovo might merge its Greater China and Russia operations with its Asia Pacific operations. David Miller, president for the Asia Pacific region, is expected to resign and Chen Shaopeng, now president of the Greater China region, would head the merged operations, the newspaper said.

The collapse of a US bailout of the three American car giants sparked a new global share battering Friday, Agence France-Presse reported. With Russia officially entering recession, Bank of America and other international companies making more mass layoffs and European production falling faster than expected, the grim data built up around the world. Talks among US senators on salvaging a $14 billion deal fund for Ford Motor Co, General Motors (GM) and Chrysler collapsed late Thursday. GM has hired lawyers for a potential bankruptcy filing.

PIK Group, one of Russia’s largest residential construction companies, plunged as much as 43 percent in London on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded the developer to "underweight" from "overweight" on concern that it may default on some debt, The Moscow Times reported today. The developer may be unable to repay $700 million of debt due this year as the Moscow city government seeks to overturn housing orders PIK won in October and renegotiate prices, Elena Jouronova, a property analyst at JPMorgan in Moscow, wrote in a note to clients Monday.

Russian stocks plunged and Kuwait suspended trading as a slump in oil to below $55 a barrel roiled emerging markets and increased concern that Moscow will be forced to devalue the ruble, Bloomberg reported today. Russia's Micex Index fell as much as 17 percent and was 8.6 percent lower at 1:09 p.m. in Moscow after it reopened following a 30-minute trading suspension. A court in Kuwait ordered a shutdown as traders lobbied for support after a sixth day of declines.

An international bail-out of crisis-hit Iceland appeared to be unravelling on Tuesday night as the International Monetary Fund withheld official backing for the $6 billion plan, the Financial Times reported yesterday. Iceland has also been left with a $500 million shortfall in the funds for the plan that it had hoped to raise from other international donors.