Page 7 - bne_newspaper_March_30_2018

The Regions This Week
March 30, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 7
Eastern Europe
The UK is going to review the visa status of 700 rich Russians living in London and may block Russian bond issues in the capital as Prime Minister Theresa May continues a crackdown following the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.
The cost of the Power of Siberia pipeline
that will carry Russian natural gas from Russia to China has increased by RUB100bn ($1.8bn) from RUB450bn to RUB554bn ($9.7bn). Reportedly the deadlines for all the delivery contracts on the pipeline that is being built by Gazprom shifted from mid-2018 to late 2018.
Belarusian opposition leaders were detained for a couple of hours in Minsk. Former presi- dential candidates Vladimir Nekliaev and Mikalai Statkevich were held by police during a large- scale opposition rally dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of the independ- ence of the Belarusian National Republic.
Ukraine's state debt increased 0.85%, or $0.65bn, to $76.76bn in February, the finance ministry said. In hryvna terms, the debt dropped 2.97%, or UAH63.2bn, to UAH2,069bn. The debt was 69.4% of Ukraine’s 2017 GDP.
Leading private equity fund Baring
Vostok invested in PJ Western, the master franchisee of fastfood chain Papa John's in Russia, the CIS and Central Europe. Baring Vostok acquired 37% in the company, buying out a part of minority shareholder Capman fund and a new share issue.
The capital adequacy of the Ukrainian operations of Russia's state-owned banking group VTB fell below the mandatory minimum levels imposed by the National Bank of Ukraine for Ukrainian lenders as of early March.
Belarus expects to obtain a new tranche from the Russia-led Eurasian Fund for Stabilisation
and Development (EFSD) by late May following a $200mn tranche allocated by the institution in October, Minsk's Deputy Finance Minister Yuri Seliverstov said.
The Russian advertising market grew by
14% year-on-year in 2017 to RUB417bn ($7.3bn) with internet advertising almost overtaking television. Internet was up by 22%
y/y to RUB166bn versus television placements
of RUB171bn (up by 13%). Internet beat the television market in terms of growth pace for the second consecutive year.
Russian flagship air carrier Aeroflot posted 5.0% year-on-year passenger turnover growth in February, reiterating previously released preliminary results that showed below-the- sector average turnover growth.
The Ukrainian beer market stabilised after shrinking for nine years in a row, the director general of Carlsberg said. About 70% of the market is occupied by medium- and low-price segments of beer.
Irish low-cost airline Ryanair inked coopera- tion contracts with two Ukrainian airports, Kyiv's Boryspil International Airport and Lviv's Danylo Halytskyi International Airport, the media office of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.
One of Russia's "big four" mobile
operators MegaFon asked the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) for permission to buy Svyaznoy handset and electronics retailer. MegaFon previously acquired 100% in the country's largest handset retailer Euroset.
Russia’s economic recovery is reaching into the regions where more than a dozen new shopping mall projects have started to go up – almost
all in the 11 cities with more than one million inhabitants. No new shopping malls were opened in the first quarter of this year.