East European Countries

Shell published a survey on Tuesday that showed drivers are less willing to switch from combustion engines to electric vehicles. The trend is more prominent in Europe than the United States. According to a survey of 15 000 drivers from around the world, including Britain and China, Germany, and the United States, the main obstacle is the cost. David Bunch, Shell’s director of mobility and convenience, said: "Europe surprised us." The cost of the car is the biggest barrier. The range anxiety is still present but it is diminishing. Electric cars are 30% more expensive on average than internal combustion...

Keith Kellogg - the envoy of U.S. president Donald Trump - scolded on Wednesday, a Russian official, for inciting fears of a third world war after Trump warned that President Vladimir Putin "played with fire" regarding Ukraine. Trump warned that Russia would have suffered "REALLY BAD things" if not for Trump's post on Truth Social. What Vladimir Putin does not realize is that without me, a lot of bad things, and I do mean BAD, would have happened in Russia. Trump stated in a Truth Social posting on Tuesday that "He's playing with flames." Former president Dmitry Medvedev dismissed Trump's...

Gazprom, the state-owned Russian energy giant, announced on Thursday that it had decided not to pay a dividend for 2024's results. This was in accordance with the position of the government and despite last year's return to profitability. The government is not helped by the absence of dividends, since it owns just under half of the share capital. It faces a number challenges, including falling oil and gas revenue, rising inflation, increased military spending, and a budget gap. Gazprom shares fell 4.42% to 130.5 roubles at the Moscow Stock Exchange as of 1335 GMT after the announcement. According to the...

Rosneft, the country's biggest rare earth metal deposit and largest oil company, acquired Tomtor on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin urged the development of this field to be accelerated last year. Tomtor is located in the northern part of Siberian Yakutia region. It's a major project for Russia to increase production of metals used in the defense industry, mobile phones, and electric cars. Rosneft, according to the official Russian state registry, took control of Vostok engineering, the project operator, on May 20, 2018. Rosneft didn't immediately respond to a comment request. In November, Putin accused Tomtor's operator of delaying its...

Andriy Sibiha, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, said that Ukraine wanted the Group of Seven Advanced Economies to lower its price limit on Russian oil shipped by sea to $30 per barrel. The G7's current price cap is $60 per barrel. This was imposed because of Russia's conflict in Ukraine. Sybiha, a journalist from Brussels, told reporters that the reasonable price cap for oil is 30 dollars. The European Union (EU) and Britain (UK) announced new sanctions against Russia on Tuesday. They said that the sanctions would target the "shadow fleet" in Moscow of oil tankers, financial firms and other companies...

Donald Trump said that he would be meeting with the presidents from Russia and Ukraine to discuss stopping the "bloodbath" in Ukraine. What are the obstacles that the U.S. President faces when he is trying to negotiate a peace agreement with Russia and Ukraine? SECURITY GUARANTEE Ukraine, which has been subjected to a full scale invasion in 2022, and witnessed Russia annex Crimea, needs security guarantees from major powers, primarily the United States. Sources involved in the talks say that the problem is that a security agreement without teeth could leave Ukraine vulnerable. Diplomats talked about a "robust" security guarantee,...

What are the possible contours of a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine? SECURITY GUARANTEE Ukraine, which has been subjected to a full scale invasion in 2022, and witnessed Russia annex Crimea, needs security guarantees from major powers, primarily the United States. The Budapest Memorandum of 1994, in which the U.S., Russia and Britain agreed to refrain from using force against Ukraine and respect Ukrainian sovereignty was not enough for the Ukrainian government. The powers agreed to take the matter to the United Nations Security Council in the event of an attack on Ukraine. Sources involved in the talks say...

TotalEnergies announced on Wednesday that it has signed an agreement with Norwegian investment company HitecVision to sell 50% of Polish producer Polska Grupa Biogazowa. The French energy company stated that the agreement represents a value of 213.6 million euros (190 million Euros). Stephane Michel, TotalEnergies' President of Gas, Renewables & Power, said that the deal would help Polska Grupa Biogazowa continue its growth in Poland, where biogas development is booming. Erlend Elliottsen, CEO of HitecVision and Managing Director, said that the companies have complementary skills which they will use to "scale" PGB in the coming years, through greenfield projects, as...

According to LSEG and market sources, the number of Russian diesel and gasoil seaborne exports decreased in April due to refineries performing seasonal maintenance. The industry also held back supplies for the expected increase in domestic demand over the summer months. Calculations based on LSEG data and other market sources showed that the total diesel and gasoil exported from Russian ports dropped to about 3.3 millions metric tons in March, a 10% drop. Shipping data shows that in April, the two main importers of Russian gasoil and diesel were Turkey and Brazil. Last month, diesel and gasoil exported from Russian...

In a ceremony broadcast on state television, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a strategic agreement with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Interfax, a Russian news agency, reported that the two leaders also spoke about energy and oil in their meeting at Moscow. In the agreement, Russia & Venezuela stated that they would promote joint efforts within OPEC +, the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, and other organisations involved in the energy industry. The agreement stated that "the parties will promote an equitable and stable development of global markets for energy without using unfair competition instruments." The two companies agreed to work together...

These are the most popular stories from the Financial Times. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch their accuracy. Headlines After three years of negotiations, UK and India reach a trade agreement UK closes on US trade deal with lower tariff quotas and cars After rival complaint, a Czech court stops an $18 billion deal for nuclear reactors Brussels wants to force EU gas companies to reveal their Russian contracts View the full article Britain and India have signed a free trade agreement that has been long sought after. The tariff wars sparked by U.S. president Donald...

Uniper said Tuesday that it had recovered more claims from former Gazprom main supplier during the first quarter. This is the latest update in the ongoing legal dispute between the two groups. According to EU officials, the news comes at a time when the European Union will publish plans to phase out the remaining gas supply agreements with Russia in the bloc by the end 2027. Uniper is locked in a legal battle with Russia's Gazprom. The two have been at odds since the delivery of its natural gas stopped in 2022. This forced Berlin to bail out the German...

China's President Xi Jinping has signed a treaty that will strengthen ties with Central Asian countries. Beijing is looking to deepen its cooperation with this resource-rich area in the areas of trade, energy, and infrastructure. Beijing has intensified its efforts since Russia invaded Ukraine to strengthen economic ties with Central Asian countries, which are traditionally in Russia's spheres of influence. This is due to their strategic location and abundant energy resources. Xinhua, the official news agency of China, reported that at a regional summit held in Astana, Kazakhstan's capital, Xi hailed a landmark by signing a treaty establishing "permanent friendship...

Zlatko Kokoanovic, a Serbian farmer in the Jadar region of Serbia, is determined not to allow Rio Tinto to develop a lithium project. The European Commission has identified it as a strategic project this week, as its goal is to reduce dependency on China's mineral resources. Lithium is an important component of batteries used in electric vehicles and mobile phones. If the mine in Jadar valley is built, it would meet 90% of Europe’s lithium requirements. Kokanovic, like many protesters and farmers who have tried to stop the development of this project over the past few years, is concerned about...

Rio Tinto is revising the cost of its Serbian lithium project that the European Commission identified as one of 13 strategic new critical material projects, Chad Blewitt, managing director of the Jadar lithium mine, said on Wednesday. The project is contested by green groups and many Serbs on environmental grounds, and sparked massive street protests in 2022 which led the government to revoke all Rio Tinto's exploration licences. The Constitutional Court overturned the decision last year and reinstated the licences. "The last time we went out to market and looked at the budget, it was over 2.55 billion euros ($2.91...

A senior official at Germany's IG Metall union said that a fifth or more of the jobs at Thyssenkrupp are at risk. This is in response to recent plans by the conglomerate to become a holding company. Thyssenkrupp announced on Monday that it will pursue plans to divest minority stakes in at least three of its five business divisions. The other two, submarines and steel, are already being spun off, or partially divested. The plans could result in the loss of more than 20,000 jobs, Juergen Kerner told Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Thyssenkrupp announced that it would cut or outsource as many...

The Russian government announced on Friday that it has agreed to support a struggling coal industry by deferring taxes and limiting bonuses and dividends to the top management. Russian coal producers are facing a number challenges, such as international sanctions in relation to Ukraine. According to the Russian government, coal exports dropped by almost 8% last year to 213 millions tonnes, but production increased 1.3% to reach 438 million tons. In 2022, the European Union, who previously relied on Russia to provide around 45% its coal imports for their own use, will ban supplies from Russia. According to the government's...

Barrick Mining asked the World Bank arbitration tribunal to intervene in the legal proceedings in Mali as it faces the possibility that the Loulo-Gounkoto Mine could fall under the Mali government's control. Barrick made its move as a Mali court is set to rule on Tuesday, June 2, on the government request to place the Canadian miner’s gold mine in a temporary administration. In the event that the Mali court rules in the government's favor, an individual will be appointed to take control of the mine and reopen the facility. Barrick's Mali gold mine has been closed since January of...

A source familiar with this matter stated that the Indian steel ministry favors extending import restrictions on low-ash metallic coke due to the fact that there is enough domestic supply. This comes as a blow for steelmakers who are opposed to restrictions on overseas purchases. India, the second largest crude steel producer in the world, placed quantitative restrictions on December 1, 2006, regarding imports of low ash met coke. The country set specific quotas, and capped purchases to 1.4 million tons from January to June. The source declined to name herself as the deliberations weren't public. The source stated that...

Anti-LGBTQ+ legislation spreading throughout Europe Hungary's Pride ban latest rollback of rights The European Commission is moving too slowly, say activists Lucy Middleton Hungary is leading the charge on LGBTQ+ censorship under Premier Victor Organ. In 2021, a law was passed restricting LGBTQ+ content in schools and media. Since then, similar laws to Hungary's were proposed or passed in five other EU member states - Italy. Bulgaria, Poland. Romania. In mid-2022, the European Commission sent Hungary to the EU Court of Justice over its antilog+ laws. This was the first time that the CJEU had taken an EU member state...

Serhii Marchenko, Ukrainian Finance Minister, said that there is a financial gap in the budget of Ukraine for next year. However, he added that Ukraine was stronger than a year earlier and able to continue defending itself. Marchenko said that the recent mineral deal signed between the United States and Ukraine could also help Washington to better understand Ukraine. He said that the United States had made "very good progress" in strengthening their relationship. This was during a panel at the annual meeting for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development held in London. I hope that it will definitely...

Scott Bessent, the U.S. Treasury secretary, said this week that Switzerland and Britain were in the lead for a deal with the United States. He warned the European Union to move "much more slowly". Brussels isn't too worried. The EU believes that its size is an advantage when it comes to trading. Senior EU officials claim that as one of the top three economies in the world, the EU won't back down and is looking for a better trade deal with Washington. The clock is ticking. The EU is trying to prevent a trade relationship worth $1.7 trillion from escalating...

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, said that in a phone call with Donald Trump on Thursday he had told him a 30-day truce was a real indicator of progress towards peace between Russia and the United States. Kyiv is ready to implement this ceasefire immediately. Zelenskiy talked to Trump during a three-day truce declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin, coinciding the commemorations of World War Two's 80th Anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany. Zelenskiy dismissed the three-day break as meaningless, and both sides accused each other of violating the rule. Zelenskiy stated in his video nightly address that "Ukraine will...

Igor Shuvalov, the head of VEB's Russian state-owned development bank, said that VEB will provide funding worth around 3.5 trillion Russian roubles (42.74 billion dollars) for joint projects between Chinese companies and Russian businesses. The two countries held discussions in Moscow on Thursday. China is Russia's largest trading partner. The increased trade between both countries has given Moscow an economic lifeline as it navigates the sweeping Western sanctions over its war with Ukraine. China has been increasing its exports, especially of cars and machinery to Russia. Vladimir Putin, Russian president, said that the comprehensive cooperation between Moscow and Beijing was...