Page 8 - bne_newspaper_October_05_2018

The Regions This Week
October 5, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 8
Eastern Europe
Russia’s controversial data storage law
or "Yarovaya Law" is not being properly implemented by telecom and internet operators, even though it came into effect on October 1, as they are not ready to implement the massive data storage systems, Vedomosti daily reported.
The Ukrainian government extended the so- called public service obligations (PSO) for the sale of natural gas for the needs of households and municipal heat supply companies at a reduced price until October 18.
US Congress is unlikely to pass any new sanctions on Russia until after the November mid-term elections, including proposals that would affect Russian sovereign debt and energy projects, Bloomberg reported citing unnamed sources. Although the White House has been maintaining Russian sanction pressure in the past weeks, since August the greatest sanction risks has been from the "crushing" measures from the US Congress.
Russia's manufacturing sector saw no change with regards to its overall performance in September according to the latest PMI index report, while "overall stagnation did however mask a return to growth of both output and new orders," IHS Markit said.
The external state debt of Belarus totalled $16.6bn as of September 1, down by $173mn or 1% from early January, according to the finance ministry in Minsk.
A package of measures aimed at lowering Russia's dependence on the US dollar was
prepared by the Central Bank of Russia, the finance ministry, and the Ministry of Economic Development, the head of the latter Maxim Oreshkin told the press.
Belarus will consider the possibility of new talks with the IMF about a new loan in 2020, after talks were suspended last year, Belarusian Finance Minister Maxim Yermolovich told Reuters.
Internet-based businesses became the fastest growing advertisers on Russian TV in January- September 2018, boosting the volume of ads placed 2.5-fold year-on-year, Vedomosti daily reported citing estimates from the National Advertising Alliance (NRA).
Russian state oil major Rosneft filed a com- plaint against the country’s second-largest oil producer, private Lukoil, to the Federal Anti- monopoly Service (FAS), claiming that Lukoil is abusing its control of the Varandeysk terminal though which oil from the Trebs and Titov oilfield is being exported.
One of the world's largest B2B cocoa producers and grinders Swiss Barry Callebaut acquired Inforum, Russia's largest producer of industrial chocolate, compound coatings and fillings. Russia is the second-largest chocolate market globally, with 4.8kg of chocolate consumed per capita annually.
The EBRD is attracting new financial institutions to its local currency lending initiative in
Belarus launched in August. The latest bank
to join the programme is Priorbank, which has maintained its long-term relationship with the EBRD since 1996.
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