East European Countries

Former Ukrainian detainees as well as Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of torturing civilian and military?detainees. They also said that they held them incommunicado, subjected them to electric shocks, and sexually abused thousands of people. Russia has rejected the allegations that were made during an informal U.N. Security Council Meeting. Its Deputy U.N. representative Maria Zabolotskaya called it "a campaign of disinformation" and claimed that Russian prisoners held in Ukraine had been subjected "to torture and degradation, and moral and physically abuse." Khuan Levya-Garsiya is still an active member in the Ukrainian military. He claims that his Russian captors tortured...

Prosecutors announced a 25-year sentence for three former managers of Polish refiner Orlen, and one of its subsidiaries. They were indicted over crude oil contracts that resulted in losses of almost $400 million. Polish prosecutors are investigating the $378 million in prepayments that Orlen made for Venezuelan crude oil and other goods but never received. The defendants are accused of failing to supervise and protect the assets of Orlen Trading Switzerland and Orlen Trading Switzerland by entering into contracts for the purchase crude oil that were detrimental to both companies, prosecutors claim. The defendants, identified by Polish privacy laws as...

Orlen, Poland's largest energy group, posted an adjusted core profit for the second quarter that exceeded analyst expectations on Friday. The company's downstream business was boosted by higher refining margins and petrochemicals. The company's core profits adjusted for?changes of value in its oil inventories, and impairments or?EBITDA LIFO was 13.9 billion Zlotys ($3.7billion) in the third quarter. This is?above what analysts expected in a company compiled consensus. The company reported that refining margins increased as the Middle East conflict drove prices of?refined fuels like jet fuel and diesel up faster than crude oil costs. Orlen's retail business was partially offset...

Sinochem sold a 14% share in Pirelli to Czech billionaire Michal Strnad on Thursday. The Chinese state-owned group has significantly reduced its investment in the Italian tyremaker. Sinochem said it sold shares as part of its 34.1% overall shareholding in a block trade deal, reducing its stake to 20,1%. This made Pirelli the second largest shareholder. Strnad’s investment company Lumina Crown issued a statement saying it had acquired a 14% stake in Pirelli, making it the third largest shareholder. It said that the investment was a “long-term” one. Strnad, the largest shareholder in the Czechoslovak Group (CSG), is a defence...

Regional governors reported on Saturday that waves of Ukrainian drone attacks killed seven warehouse workers and injured dozens more. Another attack caused a fire to break out at an oil depot within the capital region. Evgeniy Pryshov, the governor of Tambov, said that 25 people were hurt after Ukrainian drones crashed?into the warehouse of Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer?in Kotovsk, located 475 km (295 miles) south of Moscow. Pervyshov, a Telegram user, wrote: "Seven night workers died right there on the spot." He added that 28 drones had been?also fired upon as they approached. He said that if they had...

Seven & i shares rose 3% on Friday in Tokyo after the Japanese retailer announced that it is in talks to buy a stake from Polish convenience store operator Zabka Group. Nikkei reports that the '7-Eleven owner may consider acquiring Zabka share held by funds. The investment is likely to be several hundred billion dollars (several billion yen). The deal would expand Seven & i’s reach beyond its strongholds of Japan and North America to Eastern Europe. This is part of the retailer’s efforts to grow under the leadership Stephen Dacus. Naoshi Matsumoto is an analyst with Yamawa Securities. He...

Aleksandar Vucic, the president of Ukraine, said that Serbia would send Ukraine more humanitarian assistance but had not signed a regional agreement calling for more pressure to be put on Russia and for continued security aid for Ukraine. Vucic had earlier met President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and taken part in the regional Southeastern Europe - Ukraine summit. It was the first time in more than a decade that a Serbian president visited the Ukrainian capital. Vucic had also participated in the regional Southeastern Europe-Ukraine summit last year. Belgrade has had a long history of close relations with Moscow. It has refused...

Kyrgyzstan said it was awaiting fuel deliveries from China and Belarus to help deal with the 'knock-on effect' of a fuel shortage in its main supplier Russia. According to local media, Deputy Premier Daniyar Amangeldiev said that Kyrgyzstan has signed contracts with Belarus and China for 3 metric tons jet fuel and 10 metric tons diesel. Last week, Kyrgyzstan - which gets more than 90% its fuel from Russia - appealed for help to ensure stable fuel supplies. It asked Kazakhstan, Belarus and Azerbaijan as well as Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Fuel?shortages are affecting Russia following an attack by Ukrainian drones...

Sberbank's finance chief said on Wednesday that the bank will lower its corporate lending growth forecast for 2026 due to the deteriorating financial position of its borrowers. Taras Skovortsov, CFO of Bank of Russia, told the Bank of Russia Financial Congress in St Petersburg that the country's largest lender had performed better than expected, but that the economy was slowing due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the growth forecast for 2026 is only 0.4%. Skvortsov stated that "it is true?that we performed slightly better than anticipated in the first half. This is primarily due to interest income and...

Four industry sources reported on Wednesday that Kazakhstan agreed to provide 50,000 metric tonnes?of fuel to Russia as humanitarian assistance in July and August. Russia has been stricken by fuel shortages, long queues and soaring gasoline and diesel prices over the last few weeks, as Ukraine has attacked Russian energy infrastructure, including oil refineries, to undermine Moscow's funding for war efforts. Sources in the industry have said earlier that Russia began importing gasoline from India. In summer, the?Russians consume at least 110,000 tonnes of gasoline per day. Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine is trying to create discord among the Russians....

Ukraine has hit a Russian refinery in Ufa for the second consecutive time, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, said on Wednesday. Kyiv is intensifying its strikes in Russia. "Our plan to impose Ukrainian long-range sanction is being implemented every day," Zelenskiy said, referring the Ukrainian attacks deep within Russian territory. "This is a completely just response to everything Russia does against us." Zelenskiy reported that a strike was also carried out on a Russian military-industrial complex he described as "strategic", located in the Penza area, which he claimed made components for missile weapons used by Moscow to attack Ukraine....

Rumen Radev, Bulgaria's Prime Minister, said that the country will veto the latest European Union sanctions package against Russia. This is because they may negatively impact its economy. Also, because their government does not agree with the sanctions against a Russian Bishop. The EU's sanctions list was expanded on Monday by adding a total of?34 people and 47 entities that are linked to Russia’s military and industrial complex. It also includes a shadow fleet?of?oil-and-gas tankers?and others who have been involved in political interference. This includes a Russian Orthodox bishop. Radev said that the operation of Lukoil, the Russian oil company,...

Nuclearelectrica, the state-owned producer of?nuclear energy?in Romania, could close its last reactor working on August 13, as the levels on the Danube continue to drop, the company said on Tuesday. This is despite attempts to divert cooling waters to the plant. Nuclearelectrica was forced to shut down a reactor due to the record-low river levels in late July. Two reactors are located in Cernavoda, on the Danube. They account for about a fifth of the power produced by the country. Romania has taken unprecedented steps to keep its only working reactor operating. These include detonating an obstruction of rocks out...

The Danube River in Romania dropped to its 'lowest level since 1996 at the weekend. This led to a'restriction on irrigation for farmers and a partial disruption of shipping and tourism along the river banks. The 'Climate Monitor' shows that the waterways of Europe are being affected by the prolonged heatwaves this year. The Romanian state agency for water management said that the level of the second-longest European river at the Romanian entry point was 1,700 cubic metres of water per second, compared to a range of 4,700 cubic metres per second in July. The footage shows long stretches of...

Karel Havlicek, Minister of Industry in the Czech Republic, said on Tuesday that they plan to extend both units' lifespans by 20 years. This will take them up to 2080 and 2082. In order to meet the expected increase in electricity demand, Czech Republic's main state-owned energy company CEZ is looking to use more nuclear power over the next few decades. Officials said earlier this year that the life expectancy of the four units at the Dukovany nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic could be extended by 20 to 2065-2067. Havlicek added that it was the correct move to...

The central bank is expected to hold interest rates through 2027, as they weigh domestic political instability, currency weaknesses and geopolitical risk. Data from the National Statistics Board revealed on Monday that consumer prices dropped to 10.42% in June from 10.85% in may, and were below analyst expectations of 10.55%. Prices increased 0.06% from the previous month. Central bank officials expect inflation to drop sharply during the third quarter, once the effects of the higher electricity and tax increases implemented last year in order to reduce the biggest?budget gap in the European Union have faded. Political uncertainty following the collapse...

Norsk Hydro announced 'on Wednesday that its Slovalco aluminum joint venture had reached an agreement with Slovak Government?to partly restart production after?a four-year shut down,?and 'the deal included a new long term power supply contract. Hydro stated that the pact will pave the way for a restart of smelting capacities of 75,000 tons per annum. Production is expected to resume by the fourth quarter of 2026. The remaining 100,000 tonnes of capacity would depend on the conditions after 2030 and any additional power contracts. The resumption of primary aluminium production in Ziar nad Hronom, central Slovakia, would be a huge...

Slovenske Elektrarne, the Slovak utility, has begun fuel loading on the fourth 'unit' of the Mochovce Nuclear Power Plant, nearing the?start of production after almost four decades of construction. The fourth unit, a 471 megawatt unit, will be the last unit to go online at the second nuclear power plant in the country after the grid connection of its third unit is completed in 2023. When the project was restarted last in 2008, it was originally planned that the fourth unit would be completed in 2013. The start-up of the nuclear power plant in Slovakia will mean that it has...

?U.S. ICF International, a global consulting firm, said that the rapid expansion of the electric grid could add another grid to the size of America's largest regional power system in 2030. ICF, a Reston-based Virginia company, forecasts that the U.S. will add 445 gigawatts of capacity by 2030. Grid expansion is accelerating at an alarming rate as data centers, heat pumps and electric vehicles compete for power plants and transmission line access. It is equivalent to 191 GW on a peak demand basis, as intermittent wind and solar energy cannot be dispatched?on-demand. This is approximately equivalent to the PJM Interconnection...

Poland plans to choose a partner and confirm the location of its second nuclear plant by 2027, said its deputy energy minister on Friday. He was presenting an updated plan for nuclear capacity in Poland. As Poland moves away from its coal-based power fleet, the program predicts that it will eventually have 6-9 gigawatts in nuclear?power plant?capacity. Construction of the first plant will begin in 2020. The plant is expected to start supplying electricity in 2036. Wojciech Wrochna said at a press conference that "this schedule is achievable". Poland has chosen Westinghouse Electric, a U.S. company, to build its first...

The Kremlin announced that Russia and Uzbekistan began building a nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan. It is the first one of its kind in post-Soviet Central Asia. This will help meet the growing demand for energy in the region. The Kremlin announced late Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin, Uzbek president Shavkat Miziyoyev and other officials had met in St Petersburg to discuss the annual economic forum of Putin. The project is situated in Uzbekistan’s Jizzakh Region (central-eastern region), which borders Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. The design of the plant combines two types?nuclear?reactors: two large units that can produce 1,000 megawatts...

In an article published a week before his visit to Kazakhstan, Vladimir Putin said that Russia had given the Central Asian country four Amur tigers. Two of these cubs were also handed over to help the country restore the number of the animals. Kazakhstan is rich in minerals and energy, and shares a border and ally with Russia. Putin announced on Tuesday that the four animals caught in Russia's Khabarovsk region, located in the far east, were flown to Kazakhstan and will be released soon into the wild. Putin is not a stranger to using animals as a diplomatic tool....

Karel Havilicek, Minister of Industry and Trade in the Czech Republic, said that the government welcomed a plan to sell a majority stake to investors in CEZ's distribution assets and non-production businesses. Havlicek said to reporters that the plan would provide cash for the government plan to take over the full ownership of CEZ’s production business by a buyout?of minor shareholders. This would not affect their rights or burden the state budget, nor would it significantly hurt CEZ’s cash flow. CEZ is Europe's biggest electricity utility, with a $31 billion market capitalisation. The government took office in late 2018. It...

D'enys Khomenko shows no emotion when he recalls the night of last year,?when a Russian drone ripped into the protective arc surrounding the area of the Chornobyl Nuclear Plant that experienced the world's worst nuclear disaster. This narrowly avoided another tragedy. He said that maintaining composure was crucial to keeping the "stricken" plant powered and protected 40 years later as it slowly decommissioned. "Emotions can get in the path of logic. You need to be calm," said the deputy director of technical operations during a visit to the plant, which is located in a wooded zone 100 km north of...