Page 8 - bne Magazine Apri20

8 I The Month That Was bne April 2020
Business
Eastern Europe
Russia’s Gazprom and China’s CNPC intend to suspend gas flows via
the Power of Siberia pipeline in the second half of March for “maintenance.” However, most analysts believe the flow was stopped due to collapsing demand by China, due to the global pandemic.
The fall in European prices for gas has depressed Gazprom’s export revenues to the point where the company may cut back on exports at these prices to wait for better market conditions, said BCS Global Markets
in a note to clients. Gazprom's export revenues fell $2bn, or 41%, in January to just above $3bn.
Russian airlines could face up to RUB100bn ($1.4bn) in aggregate losses due to the coronavirus pandemic. Boosting regional interconnectivity was one of the measures of Kremlin in supporting the growth oriented spending drive. In the end of 2019 the state support for air carriers of about RUB40bn was pledged, but now the support package could have to increase considerably.
Russian maritime shipping major Sovkomflot reported record-high profit of $225mn under IFRS in 2019, swinging from a loss of $45mn
in 2018 and $113mn in 2017. Record- high financials are attributed to higher income from conventional tanker transportation. The company's strategy until 2025 is still focused on large-scale industrial projects and transportation in difficult Arctic conditions.
Russian retailer Dixy Group will launch online sales on the platform of e-commerce major Ozon, Vedomosti daily reported on March 11 citing unnamed representatives of the companies. In 2019 Dixy Group has merged with liquor store chains Bristol and Red & White to form the third biggest retailer in Russia.
The venture capital and private equity funding volume for Ukrainian and Ukrainian-founded tech startups reached $544mn in 2019, up from $323mn in 2018 and $265mn in 2017, according to AVentures Capital’s latest industry report ”DealBook of Ukraine.”
Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Services (FAS) watchdog approved the merger between utilities Fortum and Uniper. The deal by Finland's Fortum to acquire 20.5% in German Uniper from hedge funds has been tied up waiting for approval since last year.
Central Europe
Hungarian property developer Wingholding has increased its stake in Polish peer ECHO Investment
to 66% through its Polish unit Lisala, the company said on the Budapest Stock Exchange website. Wingholding acquired Lisala last year following approval from Poland's competition office. ECHO Investment focuses its activities in seven major cities in Poland.
South Korean battery maker LG Chem has acquired a factory from the Turkish appliance manufacturer Vestel in Wroclaw, Poland, in order to meet growing demand for batteries for electric cars, Korean media said
on March 3. LG Chem reportedly paid $31.4mn (€28.17mn) for the plant.
Czech brewery company Budweiser Budvar has decided to suspend its beer bottling line due to the new coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, said Budvar´s CEO Petr Dvorak to the Czech News Agency on March 23. The bottled beer has helped the company cover part of its losses from cask beer sales. For the second week in a row the company has had to cut its production by 30% as although its warehouses are full of 90,000 hectolitres of beer, orders have dropped.
Southeast Europe
Russian oil and gas pipe producer TMK announced that it has implemented
a €6mn upgrade of its subsidiary in Romania, TMK Artrom Slatina. The upgrade supports the group’s strategy aimed at increasing the share of premium products and flexibility of industrial gauge pipes production.
Most of the measures the government is considering to shore up the economy relate to the tourism sector, Croatia’s Tourism Minister Gary Cappelli said. Many companies are already saying they are suffering because of the pandemic.
An underpopulated part of Croatia
is offering homes and land plots for as little as HRK1 (€0.13) in an attempt to reverse population decline and fill vacant workplaces.
Eurasia
A total of 1.7mn foreign tourists visited Turkey in February, marking a 3.7% increase on an annual basis,
the country’s tourism ministry has announced. The increase could well
be the last such gain this year with international holidaymakers cancelling huge number of vacations in the face of the coronavirus.
Turkey’s largest fashion retailers have decided to close their shops in the face of the growing impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the country. March 19 saw the official COVID-19 infection count climb by 168 cases to 359 with four deaths attributed to the illness.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering taking stakes in two state-owned Uzbek banks, Asaka Bank and Aloqa Bank, in order to support their eventual privatisation, EBRD executives said last week.
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