ROUNDUP: Tui-Groaktionr Mordaschow rearranged participation
HANNOVER/MOSKAU – The Russian TUI major shareholder Alexej Mordaschow reorganized his shares in the travel group shortly before the EU sanctions were imposed. From his previous 34 percent stake, which he had held through Unifirm in the EU country of Cyprus, he transferred a 4.1 percent stake to his Russian holding Severgroup, as Tui announced late Friday evening in Hanover. He sold his shares in Unifirm, which he had held through two subsidiaries, to a company in the British Virgin Islands called Ondero Limited. Both happened accordingly on February 28th.
ROUNDUP: Liquid gas terminal for Brunsbüttel – federal government with 50 percent stake
BERLIN/BRUNSBTTEL – The signal is clear: the federal government has a 50 percent stake in the first operating company for a German terminal for importing liquefied natural gas (LNG). According to dpa information, the share costs around 500 million euros. It is necessary to “reduce dependency on Russian imports as quickly as possible; at the latest, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine makes this imperative,” Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) was quoted as saying in a statement from his house on Saturday.
ROUNDUP 2: World’s largest credit card issuers shut down operations in Russia
WASHINGTON – Visa, MasterCard and American Express have suspended business with Russia because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The three US companies announced this at the weekend. For customers of the world’s three largest credit card providers, this means that they can only pay in Russia with Visa, Mastercard or American Express credit cards issued by Russian banks. Cards issued by non-Russian banks no longer work in Russia.
ROUNDUP 4: ARD and ZDF are suspending reporting from Moscow studios for the time being
KLN/MAINZ – ARD and ZDF are suspending reporting from their Moscow studios for the time being. They are reacting to a change in the law that the Russian parliament passed on Friday. With this, the dissemination of alleged false information about the Russian armed forces can be punished with high fines and up to 15 years in prison.
Puma closes its stores in Russia
HERZOGENAURACH – The sporting goods manufacturer Puma is closing its stores in Russia. The company announced on Saturday in Herzogenaurach that operations would be “temporarily suspended”. Puma operates more than 90 stores in the country, and the sporting goods manufacturer recently stated that the number of employees was over 900.
ROUNDUP: Smartphone market leader Samsung stops deliveries to Russia
SEOUL – Electronics giant Samsung has halted shipments to Russia over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The South Korean group is the market leader in memory chips, smartphones and televisions. In Russia, his crops are in high demand. According to figures from the analysis company IDC, Samsung’s market share for smartphones was 34 percent.
Paypal cuts off Russia
SAN JOSE – Payment service PayPal is halting its remaining services in Russia amid the war of aggression in Ukraine. This affects international transfers, among others. The US group had already discontinued its domestic business in mid-2020. “Paypal supports the Ukrainian people and joins the international community in condemning Russia’s violent military aggression in Ukraine,” company CEO Dan Schulman said in a statement Saturday. The company will allow withdrawals from Paypal accounts in Russia for a limited time.
ROUNDUP: Is Tesla turning off the tap? – Water Judgment could have an impact
STRAUSBERG – Following the approval of the state of Brandenburg for the Tesla plant in Grnheide near Berlin, a court ruling could cause problems with the water supply at the “Gigafactory” site. Due to a procedural error, the responsible water association Strausberg-Erkner (WSE) is not allowed to pump water after a court decision in the Eggersdorf waterworks. The association spoke of a “fiasco” on Saturday. The worst case has occurred, because it is about the total volume in the waterworks of 3.759 million cubic meters per year, which may not be promoted, spokeswoman Sandra Ponesky told the German Press Agency. “If the country doesn’t react quickly now and issue a toleration for water production until the procedure has been caught up on, in principle we no longer have enough for the public drinking water supply, and therefore not for Tesla either.”
Zara parent company Inditex is also closing all stores in Russia
MADRID – After the withdrawal of numerous large companies, the Zara parent company Inditex is now also ceasing operations in Russia until further notice because of the Ukraine war. The Spanish company announced on Saturday that all 502 stores in Russia were temporarily closed. “Under the current circumstances, the continuity of operations and business conditions in the Russian Federation cannot be guaranteed,” it said.
Several international media have stopped working in Russia
LONDON/WASHINGTON/OTTAWA – In response to a new media law in Russia, several international broadcasters and agencies have suspended all or part of their work in the country. “CNN will stop broadcasting in Russia while we continue to assess the situation and our next steps,” a spokesman for the US broadcaster said on Friday evening (local time). The British BBC, Canada’s state broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada and the US news agency Bloomberg have also stopped reporting on the territory of the Russian Federation for the time being.
ROUNDUP/Moscow Authority: Facebook blocked in Russia
MOSCOW – The media regulator in Moscow has blocked the Internet communication platform Facebook (Meta Platforms (ex Facebook)) in Russia. The Roskomnadzor authority announced on Friday in Moscow that it was a reaction to the shutdown of several Russian media pages on Facebook. Several independent media outlets had previously been shut down or blocked.
ROUNDUP: VW supervisors approve factory plans for Trinity future model
WOLFSBURG – The Supervisory Board of Volkswagen (Volkswagen (VW) vz) has finally initiated the construction of a new plant for the future central electric model Trinity in Wolfsburg. The group is spending a good two billion euros on the factory, and work is scheduled to start in spring 2023. As already indicated in earlier decision-making rounds, the completely redesigned production site will be built in the immediate vicinity of the headquarters: on the north side of the previous site in the Warmenau district of Wolfsburg.
Austrian OMV considers exit from Russian gas field
VIENNA/Kyiv/MOSCOW – Russia’s attack on Ukraine is also causing the partially state-owned Austrian oil company OMV to reconsider its Russia strategy. There will be no more investments in Russia in the future, the 24.99 percent stake in the Yuzhno Russkoye natural gas field will be “strategically reviewed,” it said in a statement on Saturday evening after a board decision: “This review includes all options, including the possibility of a sale or exit”. OMV acquired the stake from the German power plant operator Uniper in 2017 for around EUR 1.7 billion.
Russia’s Sberbank wants to secure supply without Visa and Mastercard
MOSCOW – Russia’s largest bank – Sberbank – wants to ensure that people can pay with their cards and withdraw money even after the deactivation of Visa and MasterCard credit cards. But anyone who lives abroad should now quickly withdraw money from the cards or pay for larger expenses before the systems stop working, the bank said on Sunday. According to the information, the money cards with the Mir logo should continue to work in Turkey, Cyprus and some other countries. Mir is a payment system of the Central Bank of Russia.
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Additional Reports
-Ministry of State: Maintenance of Nord Stream 2 not at risk
-Smartphone market leader Samsung stops deliveries to Russia
-Tiktok restricts features in Russia
-Funke media group wants to terminate membership in the publishers’ association
-Declaration of intent signed for LNG terminal in Brunsbüttel
-HHLA remains calm despite restrictions due to the Ukraine war
-Vivawest instead of Gazprom: Schalke finds new sponsor
– World’s largest credit card issuers suspend deals with Russia
-More gas supplies – Italy strengthens partnership with Qatar
-Russia also blocks Twitter
-Lindner: Lifetime extension for nuclear power plants difficult – coal has priority
-Leased planes to remain grounded in Russia
-Even before EU sanctions: Tui-Groaktionr Mordashov reorganized participation
-US radio station Radio Free Europe also stops working in Russia
-Media regulators impose penalty payment on German RT program
-ROUNDUP: Bremerhaven Lloyd Werft sold to Rnner-Zech Group
-Bremerhaven Lloyd Werft sold to Rnner-Zech Group
-Facebook blocks advertising system for ads from Russia
-Bara President denies direct negotiations with Haaland
Customer note:
ROUNDUP: You are reading a summary in the company overview. There are several reports on the dpa-AFX news service on this subject.
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