Page 7 - bne IntelliNews 26th May

The Regions This Week
May 26, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 7
Eastern Europe
Russia on May 25 joined Opec member countries in extending the oil output reduction agreement for another nine months until March 2018. The move comes amid a global glut of crude after prices halved and revenues fell sharply in the past three years.
The EU will effect a visa-free travel regime for Ukrainian citizens on June 11. Ukrainians travel- ling on a biometric passport will not need a visa to visit the EU for up to 90 days within a 180-day pe- riod for business, tourist or family purposes. The measures will not apply to the UK and Ireland.
The chief editor of the Ton-M anti-corruption newspaper in the southern Russian town of Minusinsk was found shot dead in a public bath- house near his home. Dmitry Popkov was the second Russian journalist to be killed this year.
As the Russian authorities move to install tighter controls over the internet, a bill banning anony- mous online messenger apps has been submit- ted to Russia’s Duma, the lower chamber of the parliament. The bill requires that users of popular messenger apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, identify themselves with their mobile phone number. Meanwhile, companies running the apps would have to provide information on their users to government agencies, gazeta.ru reported. The bill stipulates a fine of up to RUB1mn (€15,750) or blocking for failure to comply.
The National Bank of Ukraine cut its key policy rate by 0.5pp to 12.5% per annum from May 26. The NBU in April cut the rate by 1pp to 13% per annum.
Russian banks are still vulnerable to negative changes in macroeconomic conditions, such as external shocks or commodity price fluctuations similar to that experienced in 2014, Sergei Vo- ronenko, head of financial institutions ratings at S&P, said. The level of banking reserves is insuf- ficient and will present a problem if the country's
GDP grows by less than 1.5% and the oil price falls below $50 in 2017, he said.
The Russian Finance Ministry plans $7bn worth of foreign borrowings in 2017, including $3bn net new borrowings and $4bn refinancing of previous issues. VTB Capital investment bank will run the placement of Russia’s sovereign Eurobonds.
Moody's expects Russia’s GDP to grow annu- ally by 1.5% in 2017 and 2018. The agency also expects the general government deficit to narrow to 1.8% of GDP by 2018 from 3.7% of GDP in 2016. The World Bank in turn forecasted the Russian economy to grow by 1.3% in 2017 and by 1.4% in 2018 and 2019.
The GDP of Belarus increased by 0.5% y/y in January-April following 0.3% growth in the first quarter and a 1% y/y decline in January-February, according to the first assessment of the Belstat state statistics committee
Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Taras Kutovy an- nounced his resignation on May 23 amid stalling on efforts to push through a radical land privatisa- tion reform in the former Soviet republic.
Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov reportedly made a $1.3bn bid to buy out his rival sharehold- er in English Premier League football club Ar- senal. Usmanov holds 30% in the club and is said to be trying to secure the 67% stake of US sports mogul Stan Kroenke. Arsenal is valued at $2bn.
The National Bank of Belarus expects to in- crease its international reserves from the cur- rent $5.1bn to more than $8bn by 2020, the regulator's first deputy governor Taras Nadolny said.
Russian state lender Sberbank posted earnings of RUB168bn (€2.65bn) in January-March, surg- ing 41.5% year-on-year. Total revenues of the bank rose 11.9% y/y to RUB422.5bn.