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The Regions This Week
February 2, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 8
Eastern Europe
The combined losses of Russia and the EU from the sanction regime since 2014 exceed €100bn, according to estimates from the University of Keele published by Germany’s Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations. Sanctions were imposed for Russia's involvement in the East Ukraine conflict and annexation of Crimea.
Chinese investment into Russian real estate reached $170mn in the period 2013-2017, according to Knight Frank. Russia is the fourth largest destination for Chinese real estate investment out of the 69 countries participating in the New Silk Road initiative.
President Vladimir Putin confirmed that Russia’s economy grew by 1.4% in 2017, at the lower end of the band predicted by the economics ministry. IFIs are predicting growth of around 1.8% this year, although Goldman Sachs says growth will
be 3.3%.
Wage arrears in Ukraine were up a third (32.2%) in 2017, the State Statistics Service reported, with the disputed regions in the Donbas contributing the most to the backlog. As of January 1, total wage arrears in Ukraine amounted to UAH2.368bn ($84.3mn), the State Statistics Service said.
Sales of luxury cars in Russia in 2017 increased by 18% in 2017, according to the Autostat agency. The Russian car market recovered in 2017 after years of recession, with sales increasing by 12%, and the luxury segment beat the overall market. In 2017, 1,440 luxury cars were sold in Russia, with the single model Mercedes-Benz Maybach S-Class accounting for 45% of the sales, selling 660 vehicles.
Ukraine’s imports from Russia jumped last year by 40%, to $7.2bn, largely due to imports of coal,
oil products and fertilisers. Exports increased by only 10%, to $3.4bn.
Russia's largest state-controlled bank Sberbank is ready to launch cryptocurrency trading operations via its Swiss subsidiary Sberbank Switzerland AG, the bank’s vice president for global markets Andrey Shemetov told Reuters.
A bill with soft terms for another capital amnesty for returning flight capital to Russia was submitted to the State Duma and is almost certain to be made law. The bill will be first deliberated on February 7.
Ukraine's troubled Odesa Port Plant (OPP) has restarted its production facilities following All-Ukrainian Energy Company (AUC)'s decision to supply natural gas to the plant and made an advance payment for its processing.
Russia's largest steel pipemaker TMK Group will IPO its US-based subsidiary TMK IPSCO in an offering worth up to $535mn, the company said. The proceeds would be used to repay TMK's debt.
VTB Bank granted a credit line of RUB37bn ($0.6bn) for the construction of the first stage of Disney’s Ostrov Mechti (Dream Island) amusement park in Moscow. The covered park, flanked by the Moskva River in southern Moscow, will be open all year round and attract over 50mn visitors a year.
Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) raised by a single individual on a Russian platform will be capped at RUB200mn ($3.5mn) annually according to
a crowdfunding regulation bill published by the Central Bank of Russia (CBR).