Saturday 1 March 2014

BBC News - The tenants buying back rented homes in Dubai ghost town

BBC News - The tenants buying back rented homes in Dubai ghost town:





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Gazprom Mulls Cancelling Ukraine Gas Discount Over Debt | World | RIA Novosti #EuroMaidan

Gazprom Mulls Cancelling Ukraine Gas Discount Over Debt | World | RIA Novosti:



"MOSCOW, March 1 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s state-run energy giant Gazprom said Saturday that Ukraine is $1.55 billion in arrears on payments for natural gas deliveries, which the company said may force it to cancel a discount on the fuel agreed in December.



Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told RIA Novosti that although relations with Ukraine remained good and that gas for onward delivery was being transited as required, payments still needed to be respected.



“What is owed is huge, not just for last year, but also debts for current deliveries,” he said, noting that Russia has issued a $3 billion line of credit for the express purpose of covering its gas debts.



Kupriyanov said “agreements on discounts mandated full and timely payment for deliveries.”"



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Abu Dhabi's TAQA to acquire 2 Jaypee Power plants - Moneycontrol.com

Abu Dhabi's TAQA to acquire 2 Jaypee Power plants - Moneycontrol.com:



"Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (TAQA)-led consortium is planning to acquire Jaiprakash Power Ventures ’ two hydropower units in Himachal Pradesh, sources, privy to the development, told CNBC-TV18, adding that the deal will be announced shortly.



The enterprise value of the hydro units, which have a combined capacity of 1400 MW, is pegged at Rs 10,500 crore, including Rs 6,500-crore debt. Jaypee Power is expected to get around Rs 4,000 crore cash from the deal, sources said.



Post deal, TAQA will own 51 percent, Canada’s PSP will own 39 percent and IDFC will hold 10 percent in the hydropower units. TAQA will operate both units.



Ernst & Young is the M&A advisor to Jaypee Power for the deal and Vaish & Assoc & Bansi S Mehta are its legal advisors. Trilegal is the advisor to TAQA."



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Why it’s looking good for the Gulf economy | GulfNews.com

Why it’s looking good for the Gulf economy | GulfNews.com:



"Still rumbling today like a simmering volcano, the global financial crisis no doubt left a lasting legacy around the world, and the Gulf was not unscathed. With cyclical recovery of some sort well in play, what the region experienced needs duly to be recognised.



Thus, it was especially notable and heartening last week that Dubai, most prominently affected by this earthquake in economic history, went public with an acknowledgement of the faultlines that existed in previous thinking, and the lessons that are there to be learned.



Ironically relatively bereft of the oil resources that so richly sustain the rest of the region, the emirate has acknowledged that its strategic plan has to beware the toxic effects of pure momentum, and ensure the solidity of its productive foundations."



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Ukraine Says Reserves Enough to Cover Debt Payments - Bloomberg

Ukraine Says Reserves Enough to Cover Debt Payments - Bloomberg:



"Ukraine’s new government said it had enough reserves to pay all creditors as the country started negotiations for an International Monetary Fund loan.



Ukraine is ready to meet all of the Washington-based lender’s demands and is seeking additional foreign currency in the short term to increase reserves and stabilize its finances, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told reporters in Kiev today. An IMF mission will arrive next week, central bank Governor Stepan Kubiv said.



The hryvnia plunged to a record low this week as ethnic tensions at home and Russian military maneuvers nearby rattle investors. Ukraine’s new government, confirmed by lawmakers yesterday after a bloody uprising toppled the administration of ex-President Viktor Yanukovych, is seeking as much as $35 billion in international aid over the next two years to avert a default. The U.S. and the European Union pledged assistance."



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Qantas CEO Star Dims as International Business Bleeds - Bloomberg

Qantas CEO Star Dims as International Business Bleeds - Bloomberg:



"Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN) Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce promised last year that an alliance with Emirates would prove a “turning point” for the 93-year-old carrier. It isn’t working out.



Losses in Qantas’s international unit hit A$262 million ($234 million) in the six months ended December, the carrier said yesterday, wider than those over the preceding 12 months. Joyce yesterday abandoned a goal to turn the division profitable by next year, meaning the earliest the Sydney-based company is estimated to post a profit is in 2016.



Irish-born Joyce, 47, is cutting 5,000 jobs, canceling or deferring 50 plane deliveries, freezing pay and ending some overseas routes as he struggles to turn Qantas around. Success with this strategy is key for him to win the support he’s sought from Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s government as three foreign airlines help boost finances at Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd. (VAH)"



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