Saturday 9 August 2014

Production is not the problem for Dana Gas | The National

Production is not the problem for Dana Gas | The National:



"Perhaps the only thing Dana Gas can be certain of right now is that production in Egypt, Iraq and the UAE is increasing.



The Islamic State has won its first victories against the Kurdish Peshmerga, which raises the prospect of violence drawing closer to Dana’s operations in Kor Mor.



The Kurdistan Regional Government, which has had its attempts to sell oil abroad prevented by American courts and the Iraqi oil ministry, is refusing to pay Dana Gas."



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MSCI Keeps Sberbank, VTB in Russia Index Amid Sanctions - Bloomberg

MSCI Keeps Sberbank, VTB in Russia Index Amid Sanctions - Bloomberg:



"MSCI Inc. has maintained OAO Sberbank and VTB Group in its Russia gauge after the U.S. and European Union imposed sanctions blocking the purchase of new bonds or stocks issued by the lenders.



The index provider, whose gauges are tracked by investors managing about $9 trillion, said in a statement that it consulted with investors and determined that the restrictions on the transactions “are not perceived as an immediate concern.”



The U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia’s state banks, including VTB, on July 29. The measures prohibit U.S. persons from transacting with, providing financing for or otherwise dealing in new debt of longer than 90 days maturity or new equity with the lenders. The European Union on July 31 blocked local investors from buying new stock and bonds issued by VTB and Sberbank, Russia’s biggest bank."



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Etihad Seals $2.4 Billion Deal to Buy 49% of Ailing Alitalia - Bloomberg

Etihad Seals $2.4 Billion Deal to Buy 49% of Ailing Alitalia - Bloomberg:



"Etihad Airways PJSC signed a 1.76 billion-euro ($2.4 billion) deal to purchase 49 percent of Alitalia SpA, giving the Gulf company access to one of Europe’s biggest travel markets and providing a lifeline to Italy’s unprofitable former flag-carrier.



Etihad will invest 560 million euros in Alitalia, while existing core investors have approved a 300 million-euro capital increase and Italian financial institutions will supply the same amount in new loans. Some 598 million euros of short- and medium-term debt will also be restructured. The Italian company will seek to become profitable by 2017, said James Hogan, the Abu Dhabi-based company’s chief executive officer.



“Our entry into Alitalia is to be partners,” Hogan said at a press conference in Rome. “There is no quick fix.”



The deal, which caps months of negotiations between the airlines, bank creditors and unions over questions of debt and job cuts, helps secure Alitalia’s future after Air France-KLM (AF) Group bowed out of a bailout brokered by the Italian government last year. The accord forms the biggest in a string of equity stakes purchase by Etihad in carriers spanning Australia to Ireland which have seen the Gulf airline pitch itself as a “rescue investor” for ailing operators."



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