Russian Market

2023-04-26 21:00:06 Court bans Telegram in Brazil

A court has ordered the suspension of Telegram in Brazil due to incomplete data on a police request about neo-Nazi groups on the platform, the Brazilian news agency G1 reported.

The decision came despite Telegram's efforts to deliver some of the data requested by police on Friday.

Nonetheless, police requested contacts and details of the members and administrators of the group with neo-Nazi content, which Telegram did not provide.

The request for access to the neo-Nazi group's data came after an investigation into an attack on a school in Aracruz that left four people dead, with police discovering the 16-year-old killer's interaction with Telegram groups with anti-Semitic content.

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2023-04-26 20:01:27 Russia’s annual inflation cools to 2.55%

Annual inflation in Russia slowed to 2.55% on April 24 from 2.82% a week earlier, according to the Ministry of Economic Development.

The reading is the lowest since March 2020, when inflation in Russia was 2.5%.

According to the estimates of the Federal State Statistics Service, prices had risen 1.99% by April 24 since the beginning of the year and 0.31% since April.

In 2023, the Ministry of Economic Development projected a significant slowdown in inflation. The figures are likely to be even below the target level of 4% in Q2 2023, "at least for some period," said Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov.

The Ministry forecasts inflation at 5.3% this year, while in 2024-2025, the price growth rate is expected to be at 4%.

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2023-04-26 18:00:53 First store to replace Zara opened in Russia

Maag, the clothing brand that replaces Zara in Russia, has opened its first store in Moscow on Wednesday. Several other Maag stores will open in Moscow tomorrow.

The first details about the successor to the popular mass-market retailer appeared in January 2023. All Maag stores will reportedly be opened in the same places where Zara used to be.

Furthermore, other stores in Russia should soon begin operating under the new names, including Dub (formerly Pull & Bear), Ecru (formerly Bershka) and Vilet (formerly Stradivarius).

Earlier last March, Spanish clothing multinational Inditex closed its stores in Russia and sold its Russian assets to Fashion And More Management DMCC, a free zone company in the United Arab Emirates. It later became known that the group's stores will return to the country under new names.

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2023-04-26 17:01:35 UK regulator blocks Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Wednesday blocked Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard.

The CMA said it opposed the deal because it raises competition concerns in the nascent cloud gaming market, as Microsoft could make Activision's games exclusive to its Xbox Game Pass cloud gaming platform.

Microsoft said it remains "fully committed to this acquisition and will appeal."

Shares of Activision Blizzard slumped 9% in US pre-market trading.

Earlier, some of Microsoft's competitors, including Sony, contested the deal, concerned it may give Microsoft a tight grip on the gaming market.

Microsoft also has yet to convince other regulators not to block the deal. The EU continues to probe the merger to assess whether it hurts competition, while the US Federal Trade Commission sued to block the deal on antitrust grounds.

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2023-04-26 12:00:23 Markets lower amid renewed banking fears on Wall Street

The FTSE 100 and European stocks opened lower on Wednesday after banking fears were reignited on Wall Street.

First Republic Bank's shares closed nearly 50% lower yesterday, a day after the troubled US bank announced a $100 billion drop in deposits in the first three months of the year, raising fears it could become the third bank to fail after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

The shares plummeted 49.4% to $8.10 at the market close on Tuesday and more than 93% since the beginning of this year.

First Republic said Monday it is taking steps to shore up its balance sheet and cut staff after deposits fell to $104.5 billion in the Q1 2023 from $176 billion in Q4 2022, even with the 11 largest US banks depositing $30 billion.

Moreover, First Republic is reportedly considering divesting $50 billion to $100 billion of long-dated securities and mortgages as part of a larger restructuring plan.

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2023-04-26 11:01:32 Bitcoin white paper removed from Apple's macOS

Apple has removed the Bitcoin white paper, penned by the enigmatic Satoshi Nakamoto, from its latest macOS Ventura beta. Tuesday's version of macOS Ventura 13.4 beta 3 for developers thus has no Bitcoin document hidden in the system files.

Users previously discovered that every copy of macOS had the original Bitcoin whitepaper hidden in its internal files. Apple never discussed the reason for this, leading many to speculate about a connection between the company and Bitcoin development, though it was most likely just a joke among Apple engineers.

This largely confirms the theory the Bitcoin white paper was meant to be found by regular users. The most likely explanation is that the engineers previously did not bother to remove it from the public release of macOS since it did not include any sensitive information.

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2023-04-26 10:02:26 Argentina could join BRICS in August

Argentina is considering joining the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) following the group's meeting in South Africa in August, said Argentine Ambassador to Russia Eduardo Zuain.

He added that work on this is going on for a long time. According to the diplomat, even if Argentina will not join the BRICS following the meeting in Durban, the invitation itself is a big step for the country.

Earlier, it became known that negotiations on the possible expansion of the BRICS will take place in the coming months. Algeria, Argentina and Iran reportedly have already applied to join the BRICS. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Tunisia have announced their interest in joining the group.

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2023-04-25 20:00:13 South Africa seeks to leave International Criminal Court

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) party has decided to withdraw South Africa from the jurisdiction of the "unfair" International Criminal Court, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced.

The ANC's decision to quit the ICC was reached "largely" because of what is perceived as the court's unfair treatment of certain countries, Ramaphosa explained.

"We would like this matter of unfair treatment to be properly discussed, but in the meantime the governing party has decided once again that there should be a pull out," he said.

"This ICC does not serve the interest of all but the interest of a few," ANC's secretary general Fikile Mbalula said.

Earlier, on March 17, the International Criminal Court, the jurisdiction of which Russia does not recognize, issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and children's ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova.

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2023-04-25 18:01:48 Italian companies have no plans to leave Russia, says association's head

Italian business has no plans to leave the Russian market. Moreover, Italian entrepreneurs have new investment plans for Russia, said Vittorio Torrembini, the president of the Association of Italian Entrepreneurs in Russia.

According to the association, so far only two Italian companies have sold their assets and left Russia. One is the energy company Enel, while the other unnamed company has been planning to leave for a long time.

Except for companies from the oil and gas sector, everyone stayed. Some have reduced the number of employees, but none has left Russia, Torrembini said.

He noted that more than a hundred Italy's large, medium and small businesses continue to operate in Russia, though they have to face logistical and financial hurdles and pressure from the authorities in their country.

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2023-04-25 16:01:33 US warns Kazakhstan of possible sanctions due to ties with Russia

The risks of the US applying secondary sanctions against Kazakhstan for cooperating with Russia to circumvent restrictions imposed are growing now, said Tuesday in Astana US Treasury Assistant Secretary Elizabeth Rosenberg, who is responsible for countering financial crimes.

She warned the risks are rising not only against the country, but also against Kazakhstani companies and banks.

Rosenberg said the two countries need to take seriously the fact that Russia is trying hard to evade both sanctions and export control measures. In her opinion, Moscow has succeeded quite well.

Rosenberg added that the US is working with its Kazakhstani government and private sector counterparts to be clear about the risks and consequences of Russia's assistance in evading sanctions and export controls.

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