Thursday 6 June 2013

Tariffs for rail cargo handling to rise by 10% in 2013

"Tariffs for rail freight transportation in Ukraine during 2013 will be increased in three stages, which will lead to an overall increase of 10%."

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Vnukovo Owners Seek to Buy Yermolino Airport | Business | The Moscow Times

"The owners of Vnukovo International Airport are interested in obtaining a controlling stake in Yermolino Airport in the Kaluga Region, which may become the fourth major airline hub serving the capital, a news report said Thursday.

Vnukovo-Invest, which holds 75 percent in Vnukovo International Airport, is prepared to invest 3 billion rubles ($94 million) in revamping Yermolino Airport, Vnukovo-Invest's controlling shareholder Vitaly Vantsev told Vedomosti."

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Gazprom, Novatek Fail to Reach Deal on LNG Ventures | Business | The Moscow Times

"Gazprom and Novatek have failed to agree on the terms of investment in a number of joint ventures in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, Vedomosti reported, citing sources close to both parties.

In April last year, the two companies signed a cooperation agreement  to carry out two liquefied natural gas (LNG) production projects on the Yamal Peninsula and one oil and gas development project on the Gydan Peninsula."

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Guest post: EM is dead… long live EM! | beyondbrics

"Over the last few weeks, there has been a substantial correction in EM assets in general. Although much of this may have had a lot to do with positioning, we believe the current environment also bears various resemblances to the turbulent period for EM assets that began in 1994, when the Federal Reserve tightened monetary conditions after a prolonged “balance sheet recession” that had begun in 1991.

We believe the market’s violent reaction to the mere possibility of any tapering of the growth in the Fed’s balance sheet is a taste of things to come.

Specifically, we see a confluence of three global trends that will make the environment for EM much more challenging than what we have become accustomed during the decade-long bull market:"

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FINANCE - Borsa Istanbul plunges in response to PM’s remarks - #direngeziparki

"Borsa Istanbul, Turkey’s stock exchange, has plunged to its lowest level of this year after prime minister’s uncompromising remarks with regard to the Taksim Gezi Park project.

The sales at BIST accelerated after the The stock exchange, which had been around 78,500, fell to 75,771 points after the joint press-meeting of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Tunisian prime minister, in which the former did not soften his attitude toward protests.

After a slight recovery, the BIST 100 index, which was at around 78,700 points at the opening of the day’s second session, was down to 76,407 with a 4.05 percent loss at 15.33 GMT. "

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8 Ways To Ruin Egypt’s Economy | @REBELECONOMY

"In business, there are skills you learn to do well, and habits you must shed or you risk losing everything.
Suffice to say, the rules of what NOT to do have become critical in business today where a high percentage of companies fail.
Taking inspiration from Donald R. Keough’s book, ‘The Ten Commandments for Business Failure” and a blog post adapted from the book, Rebel Economy applies eight steps of “how to ruin a company” to Egypt’s economy and to the guy in charge, Mohammed Morsi."

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Moscow court upholds Browder's arrest in absentia | Russia Beyond The Headlines

"The Moscow City Court on Wednesday upheld the decision to arrest William Browder, the head of Hermitage Capital, in absentia.
The judicial collegium has declined the appeal filed by the lawyers for Browder, upholding the court's decision, an Interfax correspondent reported.
"I believe the decision made by the Tverskoi Court on William Browder is illegal and was issued with clear violations," lawyer Alexander Antipov told the court."

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Corporate watch: Uralkali and the changing fertiliser world | beyondbrics

"Potash is big business. Developing a major deposit costs billions of dollars and there are only a handful of viable deposits scattered around the world. Yet over the past two decades it has been a quiet business. Three companies – Uralkali in Russia, its partner Belaruskali in Belarus and PotashCorp in Canada – account for just under three-quarters of global production.

However, things have started to change.

A raft of greenfield projects are due to start coming on line from 2018 that will break up a de facto cartel between the three incumbents. And China, the world’s biggest consumer of potash, is already playing hardball over price, injecting uncertainty into what has been a very profitable sector."

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TNK-BP Holding to Waive 2012 Dividends | Business | The Moscow Times

"The board of directors of TNK-BP Holding, the listed unit of TNK-BP recently acquired by Rosneft, has decided to waive dividends on 2012 results, the Russian state oil major said Thursday.

TNK-BP Holding, in which minority shareholders own about 5 percent, was acquired by Rosneft along with its parent TNK-BP earlier this year in a $55-billion deal that created the world's largest publicly traded oil company by output."

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Profit booking snaps two days of bull run on Qatar Exchange

"Profit booking — especially in consumer goods, realty and industrials — yesterday dragged the Qatar Exchange after two days of bull run.

Notwithstanding local retail investors’ buying interests, the 20-stock Qatar Index (based on price data) was down 0.05% to 9,305.81 points.

More than 57% of the stocks were in the red with major losers being Gulf International Services, United Development Company (UDC), Qatar National Cement, Vodafone Qatar and Nakilat; even as Mazaya Qatar, Ezdan Real Estate and Milaha bucked the trend."

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Riabchenko: Ukrtelecom after privatization value less than Hr 10 billion

Riabchenko: Ukrtelecom after privatization value less than Hr 10 billion:

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Investors hopeful on MSCI upgrade for UAE, Qatar seen missing out - Business Intelligence Middle East - bi-me.com - News, analysis, reports

"Investors are betting that the United Arab Emirates will finally be elevated to emerging market status in a review of MSCI indexes next week, but expect Qatar to miss out due to still stringent foreign ownership limits.

After being repeatedly overlooked by MSCI for an upgrade since 2009, UAE's efforts to improve market technology and transparency may be rewarded, analysts say. However, there is still a risk that some of the adjustments may have come too late for this year's index review on June 11.

Index compiler Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) has UAE and Qatar under review for an upgrade to emerging market (EM) from frontier status, a move that could open up their bourses to millions of dollars of inflows from funds that are mandated to invest only in emerging markets."

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Central European floods: A hard lesson learned | The Economist

"IN SPITE of alarming pictures from the Czech capital (see above) improved flood prevention measures look set to hold in Prague and fears of catastrophic flooding are subsiding. Yet elsewhere in the country and the region rivers continued to rise today.

Particularly badly hit is the northern Czech city of Ústí nad Labem, where the river Labe (Elbe in German) peaked overnight on June 5th. The industrial hub of 100,000 sits near the German border and riverside neighbourhoods remain underwater. Some 3,000 people have been evacuated from their homes. All told eight have died and 19,000 evacuated across the country. "Unfortunately it is still not over," said Petr Nečas, the Czech prime minister."

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Ukranian News - May Inflation In Ukraine Estimated At 0.1%

"The consumer prices in Ukraine grew by 0.1% in May, the State Statistics Service has informed.
In particular, food and soft drinks prices remained unchanged in May, garment and footwear prices fell by 0.1%.
The housing and utility services fell in price by 0.1% in May, services related to the healthcare sector and the education sector by 0.2%, and education services remained unchanged."

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Yanukovych says Ukraine should speed up structural reform in national economy in 2013

Yanukovych says Ukraine should speed up structural reform in national economy in 2013:

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Ukrainian parliament ratifies loan deal with EBRD : Ukraine News by UNIAN

"The Ukrainian parliament ratified a deal Wednesday in which the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will help finance construction of a metro system in eastern Ukraine, according to Xinhua.
Under the agreement, the EBRD and the European Investment Bank will jointly provide a 152 million euro (198 million U.S. dollar) loan for construction of the line in Dnepropetrovsk city.
The total cost of the project, which is expected to be completed in 2016, is 479 million dollars.
"

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Yanukovych: Optimization of terms of oil and gas contracts with Russia a central point in talks between two countries

Yanukovych: Optimization of terms of oil and gas contracts with Russia a central point in talks between two countries:

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Bumpy times for UAE bourses - The National

"Investors are bracing for a roller-coaster ride after shares listed on the UAE bourses started to fall this week after an aggressive rally.

The correction came after weeks of strong gains amid expectations of an upgrade to emerging markets status by the international index compiler MSCI.

"The market is overheating," said Mohammed Ali Yasin, the managing director at National Bank of Abu Dhabi's brokerage arm. "The problem is that the new liquidity is bloating like a balloon. We should have had a few IPO's during this time to suck it all out." The markets have benefited from a trading bonanza over the past year, amid renewed investor interest, boosted by a strong economic recovery and an uptick in merger and acquisition activity in blue-chip companies."

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Mubadala targets gas export hubs overseas - The National

"Mubadala Petroleum has been tasked by the Government to look at gas-export facilities abroad to complement an import terminal under construction in Fujairah.

Concerned with establishing a stable supply of natural gas to cater to growing demand and industrial expansion, Abu Dhabi's Government would like to see the integration of liquefied natural gas (LNG) import and export operations.

Mubadala Petroleum is building a gas portfolio in Africa, the Caspian and Asia. It is also involved in Abu Dhabi's two gas-import projects - the Dolphin pipeline and the Emirates LNG floating import terminal that is under way in Fujairah."

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Dubai to become the most competitive Middle East city by 2025 | GulfNews.com

"Dubai is expected to be the most competitive city in the Middle East and North Africa by 2025, when it improves ranking by six to become the 23rd most competitive city in the world, according to a latest Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) report published on Wednesday.
The EIU research, Hot Spots 2025: Benchmarking the Future Competitiveness of Cities, commissioned by Citi, shows Dubai is one of several cities in the Middle East that are among the top climbers in The 2025 City Competitiveness Index — followed by Doha (24th), Abu Dhabi (39th), Muscat (64th), Kuwait City (63rd) and Riyadh (87th).
“Middle Eastern cities will be bolstered by their growing economic strength, including sizable city GDP growth rates and increased integration into global trade regimes investment in education and physical capital, and enhanced global appeal (including increased flight connectivity and conference development) particularly Dubai (23rd), Doha (24th), Abu Dhabi (39th) and Muscat (64th),” the report said."

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Global volatility may prompt Gulf issuers to reassess pricing | GulfNews.com

"Volatility in US Treasury yields and a dip in investor appetite for emerging market credits could put a brake on new issuance from the Gulf Arab region in the near term, as both sides of the market wait for prices to stabilise.
Borrowers from the Gulf have been tapping bond markets actively in the last several weeks amid historically low interest rates and strong global demand, which have allowed issuers to price deals very aggressively.
But regional bonds have not been immune to the sell-off across emerging market credits, and this could cause pricing in the Gulf to become more closely aligned with risk."

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Middle Eastern digital media crisis exposed by Mediaquest takeover of AME Info « ArabianMoney

"At first sight the acquisition of the business news and information website AME Info by Paris-based Mediaquest ought to be a cause for celebration of a necessary consolidation in the digital media space with a local industry pioneer returning to a more entrepreneurially driven home.

Now admittedly this is not in the same league as the consolidation of Dubal and Emal into a $15 billion company announced earier in the week. We are talking millions of dirhams rather than billions of dollars. Then again the Dubal website is not read by 2.4 million readers like AME Info, which is still probably the region’s most widely read English-language website after Al Jazeera and Gulf News."

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