H&M is looking for business buyers, Austria is against the gas embargo, and Russia is exporting someone else’s seeds. Top economic news of the day
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is one of the worst economic crises in modern Russian history. The Russian service of the BBC talks about the main economic events of the day.
H&M is looking for buyers for its Russian business
Clothing chain H&M, which announced its exit from Russia, is trying to find a new owner for its assets in the country. Kommersant wrote about this, later the information was confirmed to Interfax by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The department clarified that the state is ready to support new owners, who can become Russian companies, as well as investors from “friendly” countries.
However, market participants, who spoke with anticipation to Kommersant, doubt that without demand it is possible to take over the management of the fabric network. Most likely, the company will sell stock and sell rights gradually, for example, by size or by city.
On July 18, H&M Group said it was staying due to the military aggression in Ukraine.
It became known that there is a high profitability of the clothing and home goods chain, and other brands are leaving its country, for example, Cos, Monki and And Other Stories chains. The liquidation of the Russian business will cost the company about $191 million.
Russia was the sixth largest market for H&M. The BBC Russian Service wrote at the end of June about the market share and revenue of integral companies that have decided to leave Russia.
Austria against the gas embargo
Imposing an embargo on Russian gas is impossible – such a government was made by Austrian Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer at a press conference with Lung Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
“From him [газа] depends not only on Austrian industry, but also on Germany. And if the German industry is shaken, mass unemployment will begin in our country,” he said (cited by Interfax).
Nehammer also stressed that the EU has raised the question of the introduction of new assemblies of Russia too early, since “it takes time for” the established restrictions to already come into force.
On Thursday, the pumping of Russian gas through Nord Stream was once again observed – up to 31 million cubic meters in daily terms (from 65 million cubic meters on Tuesday).
Russian side turned off another turbine Siemens for repair, and another not forgotten, which, despite the award, had to return from Canada via Germany.
Interruptions in the supply of Russian gas to Europe since the beginning of June.
EU energy ministers are cutting gas use this week. We are talking about reducing dependence on gas by 15% from August to March, although for some countries the agreement ultimately implies a less dramatic deterioration in health.
Reuters, citing two sources in the EU, previously reported that only Hungary opposed this organization.
Russia exports from Ukraine not only grain, but also sunflower
As the BBC Russian Service was chosen, Russia exports not only grain, but also sunflower from Ukraine.
Ukrainian farmers who left the occupied territories say that the harvest was “plundered” and agricultural equipment was stolen. Others say that seed and grain farmers were sold at a discounted price.
Sunflower, judging by the ads, is exported to Russia to oil production plants, for example, to Verkhnaya Khava in the Voronezh region or the Gigant village in the Rostov region. Factories in the occupied territories are also used.
Before the war, Russia and Ukraine were the main rivals in the informal struggle for solar leadership in world exports of sunflower oil.
Meanwhile, the first vessel with grain under the signed agreement between the UN, Turkey, Russia and Ukraine may leave the Ukrainian port tomorrow (July 29). About it announced Thursday UN Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths. According to the party, the issue is also being considered that within the framework of this transaction it would be possible to transport products.
New fines for Internet services
The World Court of the Tagansky district of Moscow found several owners of international Internet services in Russia guilty of refusing to detect the data of Russians and professors to fine them, Interfax reports.
So, WhatsApp LLC will have to pay 18 million rubles, Snap Inc. (owner of the Snapchat messenger) – 1 million rubles, Match Group LLC (Tinder application) – 2 million rubles, Hotels.com, LP – 1 million rubles, Spotify AB – 500 thousand rubles. For WhatsApp LLC, the violation became repeated.
A law is expected, which is expected in September 2015.
In addition, on Thursday, Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky Court ruled that the bailiffs’ recovery of a turnover fine from Google in the amount of more than 7.2 billion rubles was legal.
Back at the end of December 2021, a Google LLC scientist received this fine for repeated refusals to remove content prohibited in Russia. At the end of May of this year, it became known that Russian bailiffs had achieved a full recovery of the fine.
In 2022, a company in Russia received two more turnover fines, one of them this week.
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