Blackstone defaulted on a €531m bond backed by a portfolio of Finnish offices and stores as rising interest rates hit real estate values in Europe. Blackstone demanded that the bondholders delay the repayment of the debt. But bondholders voted against the extension. European property values are falling as rising interest rates scare away buyers. @banksta
***
The US Department of Justice is expanding its staff to investigate attempts to circumvent anti-Russian sanctions. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal. Thus, the US authorities are trying to “prevent the provision of assistance to Russia in circumventing the sanctions regime by private companies and other third parties,” the newspaper writes. @banksta
***
Cuba will soon begin accepting Mir cards. Preparation of local banks to work with the Russian payment system is close to completion. The use of these cards should have a positive impact on the growth of the flow of Russian tourists to the island. @banksta
***
The UAE, Turkey and Cyprus have become the most popular destinations for Russians to buy overseas real estate, the FT found out. The wealthiest buyers prefer Dubai, with more homes sold for more than $10 million last year than in the previous 10 years. The Russians also transport their supercars to Dubai by plane. @banksta
***
Sanctioned Brokers: What Should an Investor Do? Clients of these companies need to choose a new broker in the near future and transfer their securities there. There are very few large brokers with access to foreign exchanges on the Russian market. Among the most famous are Tsifra Broker and Finam. Both organizations are private, which means that the risk of falling under sanctions is minimal. But then the differences begin, and they are significant. Tsifra Broker is the heir to Freedom Finance, which left Russia. The broker is generally not bad, but foreign transactions are carried out through Belize, and this jurisdiction has an ambiguous reputation (transactions are sometimes muddy). In addition, the owners of the broker and his partner in Belize are different, which carries a certain risk for the investor. Everything is more transparent with Finam: the parent broker is registered in America, and both companies have a common owner. Investors have access to a single account with access to the main exchanges, tariffs below the level of competitors. Very soon, promising India will replenish the line of foreign sites – no one offers this here. @banksta
***
We will double the cashback for new payroll customers in the first three months. In the expanded list of categories — supermarkets, cafes, transport and pharmacies (filling stations for Privilege and Prime+) — we will charge from 4% to 8% cashback depending on the service package. The offer is valid until December 31st. And for payroll clients, the bank has special lending conditions and other pleasant bonuses. How to transfer a salary to us and receive a double cashback – we tell here ????
***
From a successful business to a criminal case and bankruptcy Marina Ignatova, founder and former CEO of AISFeR JSC – the manufacturer of PravochnoyeMoloko, which has won more than 250 gold medals for the highest quality of dairy products, and was also recognized as the best milk in 2022 according to RosQuality. She created the telegram channel “Marina AISFeR”, in which she tells in the first person how a profitable agricultural business is literally “taken away” and destroyed. As the largest agricultural bank illegally declared the company bankrupt and “kills” the dairy enterprise, which annually shows a multimillion-dollar profit. Subscribe to “Marina AISFeR” to find out what mechanisms in modern economic realities can take away a profitable agricultural business Link below ????
***
⚡️ Colleagues from the @MarketOverview telegram channel urgently report that Raiffeisenbank has stopped opening new accounts for legal clients. persons, and existing corporate clients can no longer open additional currency accounts. Market Overview is a unique project about Russian banks that has been monitoring the financial condition of credit institutions on a daily basis for years, providing prompt and detailed information about transactions, potential risks, changes in major shareholders and minority shareholders, resignations and appointments. The channel is read by employees of banks, brokerage and management companies, insurers and sales managers of investment products, who share what is happening in the domestic kitchen outside the traditional media. @MarketOverview have prepared an up-to-date list of commissions for outgoing and incoming SWIFT transfers of all banks and update it daily. Pinned posts – save or forward it to those who are relevant We recommend subscribing https:/t.me/MarketOverview
***
Everyone: buy gifts for March 8. Alpha: returns money for them ???? How is that? We collected the best cashback from partners and return up to 20% for purchases to everyone. Which stores? In Rive Gauche – cashback up to 10%. Last year we paid cashback in Rive Gauche for 100,000,000 (100 MILLION) rubles. Will we pay more for this? And for the first purchase in Calzedonia, Intimissimi, Tezenis or Falconeri 20% cashback. Where is the whole collection? In our application and Alfa-Online. Channel editor: can I get cashback for cashback? ???? @alfabank
***
To detect sanctions circumvention, the US Treasury offered whistleblowers a reward in the form of 10-30% of the fine that the authorities charge for violating sanctions. After that, in just three weeks in 2023, the American financial crime enforcement agency FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) received more than 100 reports from whistleblowers about possible violations of the sanctions regime. The agency received the same number of applications over the previous two years, wrote Bloomberg. @banksta
***
Domclick analysts found out how long it takes in 2023 to sell an apartment in Moscow and what kind of discount a buyer can expect. According to analysts, the majority of apartments purchased in 2023 (81%) were put up for sale about 4 months before the transaction, that is, after October. Discount in the case of such a purchase is about 10%. At the same time, about half of the apartments were waiting for their buyer for less than 1.5 months and were sold at a discount of up to 2%. Apartments put up for sale until autumn 2022 are sold with a 10-20% discount from the original price. The head of the analytical center of the Domclick division of Sberbank, Evgeny Volobuev, noted that the main reason for the appearance of discounts is competition for customers and relatively low demand. And what changes have occurred over the year in the capital market and what forecast Domclick analysts give, you can read here.
***
For the first time in the past eight months, Japan has decided to resume oil supplies from Russia. According to Platts, up to 750 thousand barrels of oil from the Sakhalin-2 project went to Japanese companies. Tokyo has not bought Russian oil since the end of last spring – refiners ENEOS and Idemitsu Kosan did not enter into contracts with Moscow. The delivery has now been taken over by Taiyo Oil. And the main supplier of oil to Japan is still the Middle East, which has already managed to increase its share in imports to 94.4%. @banksta
***
Nabiullina got angry at the limitations of her power and decided to “deal” with one of the Atlanteans of the Russian economy to the detriment of the public good? Why the current policy of the Central Bank can have a destructive effect on the growth of the Russian economy. The main power in the hands of the head of the Central Bank is the refinancing rate. Elvira Nabiullina has long struggled to control the economy through the interest rate. And then suddenly there were people who, in one of the main credit markets of the country, violated its monopoly and began to issue loans at rates that do not depend on the Central Bank rate. It is because of this that the Central Bank is actively resisting the increase in housing affordability and is fighting with developers because of “financial engineering”, and with the Ministry of Construction – because of preferential mortgage programs. However, fighting the Ministry of Construction and financial engineering, the Central Bank increases the inaccessibility of housing and puts pressure on the economic brake – as high rates prevent economic entities from finding resources for their initiatives and consumption. @banksta
***
Oil prices fell sharply on news that the UAE is considering leaving OPEC. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing representatives of the country. @banksta
***
Scholars from the US and Switzerland have argued over a fair estimate of the number of Western companies that have left Russia, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Yale Institute of Senior Executives set itself the task of maximizing the exit of business from Russia, began to put pressure on large multinational companies and urged them to leave Russia (which was never the function of the university). According to the latest data, this week “more than 1,000 companies have curtailed their activities in Russia,” in what scientists called an “exodus” from the Russian market. In January of this year, economists from the Swiss institute IMD and the University of St. Gallen, Niccolo Pisani and Simon Evenett, respectively, published an article with the title “less than 9% of Western firms have left Russia.” In an earlier version of the article, published in October 2022, the Swiss scientists claimed that they “overestimated” the work of their Yale colleagues and concluded that the data they received did not reflect the real situation. Yale also accuses Russia of other sins, such as stealing thousands of children and taking them to Siberia. Among the leadership of the Russophobic University is Professor Timothy Snyder, who explained the Holocaust of the Nazis by the failures of the Germans near Moscow, and then completely accused Russia of fascism. Historians accused him of politicizing history in the interests of the right politicians, a free attitude to numbers and conspiracy theories. But Snyder received an unhealthy amount of awards and accolades from Democratic Party newspapers. And the US Department of Justice withdrew the lawsuit that Yale discriminated against white and Asian students. @banksta
***
Russia’s oil and gas revenues fell by almost half in February compared to last year. According to Bloomberg, budget revenues from taxes on oil and petroleum products decreased by 48%. This happened against the backdrop of Western sanctions and increased discounts on Urals oil. Revenues from gas exports after a sharp drop in its volumes decreased by 42%. @banksta
***
Interros Gets More Transparency from RUSAL Norilsk Nickel Board of Directors Last week, Nornickel announced changes in the composition of the Board of Directors. Denis Alexandrov was elected Chairman of the Strategy Committee, Alexey Germanovich headed the Corporate Governance and Human Resources Committee, and O. Head of the SD Budget Committee – Yegor Sheybak. Prior to this, RUSAL insisted on the re-election of the chairman of the board of directors. And, according to Kommersant, he offered Yevgeny Schwartz, who, however, is not an independent party, since last year he took the post of non-executive director of the RUSAL Board of Directors on environmental issues, and also, according to rumors, was affiliated with Western structures in the past . @fatcat18
***
Indian general insurers are seeking to create a larger insurance pool to cover the risks of maritime transportation of crude oil, edible oil, project equipment and fertilizers from Russia. @banksta
***
“Delicious – and that’s it” continues to actively promote its first persons. The owner of the network Alexander Govor and the head of the company Oleg Paroev in a new interview with RBC spoke about the state of the business at the moment and plans for the future. The main message – at the first stage of the restart, the maximum task was achieved – the technological process was debugged and the market share increased. Now the second stage of development is starting, where the main issues will be import substitution. Vkusno-i Tochka plans to become as autonomous as possible: high-tech equipment, which is used in restaurants of the network, is planned to be produced in the Russian Federation in partnership with the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Curious to follow the evolution of the industry leader @banksta
***
Billionaire Vladimir Lisin, who topped the Russian Forbes rating last year, avoided falling under EU sanctions due to the position of some European countries, EUobserver has learned. According to him, one of these countries was Belgium, where the businessman allegedly owns two enterprises. @banksta
***
Officials continue to cut money despite the difficult situation of the country. The Ministry of Education in Kuzbass, within the framework of the national project, confirmed their low intelligence when embezzled from the budget. They held auctions for 140 million rubles. for the supply of laptops within the framework of the projects “Digital Educational Environment” and “Modern School” of the national project “Education”. Of the three bids, two were deemed non-compliant, the remaining bid was won by the local company Concord LLC. She undertook to supply laptops and interactive panels to schools for 138 million rubles. But in this tender the situation was extraordinary – the laptop had to have at least 10 built-in USB ports (usually no more than 4), devices must be produced in Russia. Where such hybrids will be taken by an unknown firm remains a mystery, but the contract has been concluded. All these wonderful phrases – “Digital educational environment”, “Modern school” – turn into a pumpkin. @banksta
***
China’s investments in US Treasuries in 2022 fell by $173.2 billion (-17%) and reached $862.3 billion, the lowest level since May 2010. @banksta
***
The authorities have complicated the sale of Russian securities bought from foreigners. Investors will have to obtain permission to deal with securities of Russian companies if they were previously purchased from owners from unfriendly countries. The new rules will affect assets acquired after March 1, 2022. @banksta
“Shadow hosts” Sochi and their “puppets”
In Vodokanal “saws” cats, Ovechkin is inactive in the prosecutor's officeDespite the resignation and subsequent arrest of the former mayor...