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The Regions This Week
December 1, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 7
Eastern Europe
Russia’s defence spending will average nearly RUB2.3 trillion ($39.5bn) from 2018 to 2020,
a senior finance ministry official said. Deputy Finance Minister Leonid Gornin told senators that figures have been revised upward to account for spending on defence infrastructure, programme implementation and procurement.
Moscow is to launch world's largest public WiFi network, which will cover public transportation, parks, museums, and central streets, the mayor of the Russian capital Sergei Sobyanin said
on Twitter. The WiFi network is planned to be launched ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2018, and will further boost the development of mobile economy in Russia's largest and richest city.
The value of the top-100 most expensive brands in Ukraine are collectively worth $5.4bn, ac- cording to a report from Novoe Vremia magazine and MMP Consulting. The top-three most expen- sive brands are mineral water Morshinska worth an estimated $507mn, the Mykolaiv-based juice producer Sandora ($312mn), and the confection- ery corporation Roshen ($274mn), that belongs to President Petro Poroshenko.
Eugene Kaspersky of Kaspersky Lab cyber- security major said he would quit Russia if ever pressured to spy on his clients by security and intelligence services. Earlier this year Kaspersky Lab denied claims that it closely cooperates with Russian intelligence.
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov was accused of attempting to bribe the leaders of Montenegro’s Bosniak party to back the pro- Russian opposition Democratic Front (DF) in its efforts to form a government after the October 2016 general election in Montenegro. DF leaders are on trial on suspicion of being part of a thwarted coup attempt ahead of the election.
Ukraine ranks 113th among 137 countries of the world on the World Economic Forum’s
index of organised crime levels. Ukraine is in a group of countries with high levels of organised crime together with the states of Latin America and Africa. El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela have the worst ratings. Russia took the 86th place, Moldova - 94th.
Russian President Vladimir Putin approved amendments to the Budget Code of Russia to give Russia’s struggling regions budget fund credits of up to RUB55bn ($941mn) before the end of this year. The State Duma approved the relevant amendments on November 15, the Council of Federation on November 22.
The debt of Russian regions will to rise 7.7%
to RUB2.5 trillion ($43.4bn) by the end of this year, the Russian Ministry of Finance said. The combined borrowings through issues of securities will jump to RUB352bn in 2017 from RUB154bn rubles in 2016, and the amount of security-issuing regions may rise to 40 from 22.
Ukraine's leading coal and power holding DTEK is squeezing out minority shareholders at DTEK Zakhidenergo after passing the 95% ownership threshold. In August the State Property Fund sold 25% stakes in DTEK subsidiaries to the parent company SCM Group.
Shares of Russian internet giant Yandex hit
an all-time high on the Moscow Stock Exchange on November 24 on the news that merger of
the company's taxi service with Uber had been approved by the local regulator. The company’s share price peaked at RUB2,025 ($35.6) on November 24 and the shares closed
at RUB2,025.
Damage from cybercrime in Russia is estimated at RUB600-650bn ($11bn) annually by Sberbank. Accumulated global damage from cybercrimes currently approaches $1 trillion according to the World Economic Forum.