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SoftBank-backed Metropolis raises $1,6 billion to expand beyond AI parking lots
Metropolis Technologies has raised $1.6 Billion in new capital for its expansion into other sectors, such as retail, gas stations and restaurants. This funding round includes a $500,000,000 Series D equity round, led by LionTree. The company was valued at $5 billion. SoftBank Vision Fund and Vista Equity Partners were also involved in the round. Los Angeles-based company secured a syndicated $1.1 billion term loan led J.P. Morgan and backed by cashflow from its parking operations. In an interview, Chief Executive Alex Israel stated that the new capital would be used to hire and accelerate technical talent, speed up product development and deploy recognition and payment automation technology in new verticals such as drive-through restaurants and gas stations. Israel stated that the goal was to create a "Recognition Economy", whereby a customer’s presence or identity is sufficient to trigger a purchase, thus saving time. Metropolis, founded in 2017, has grown rapidly through acquisitions and integration of its technology. This includes the $1.5 billion buyout of parking services provider SP+ by 2024. It acquired Oosto, a biometrics firm and vision analytics company backed by SoftBank for $125 million. Metropolis operates more than 4,200 parking lots in 40 countries. The company claims to be profitable and processes $5 billion worth of transactions annually from its 50 million customers. Metropolis uses license plate readers and cameras to identify cars whose owners are enrolled in its system. This allows them to enter or exit parking lots with no need to stop and pay. The company plans to charge businesses for software subscriptions and sell the same technology in the hospitality sector to automate check-ins and payments. Other retail automation initiatives have been challenged. Amazon, for example, has reduced its "Just Walk Out", checkout-free system, in its Fresh supermarkets, citing costs and complexity. However, it continues to licence the technology to other third parties.
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Abu Dhabi's AD Ports will buy a minority stake in a Syrian container terminal
AD Ports Group, based in Abu Dhabi, announced on Thursday that it had signed an agreement to purchase a majority stake in a container port in Syria's major commercial port for $22million. This is the latest indication of how Syria continues to attract investment in its efforts to rebuild. AD Ports, a joint venture with the France-based CMA CGM Group shipping company, will purchase a 20% stake at the Latakia International Container Terminal. The terminal is the dominant trader of agricultural and industrial products, handling 95% of Syria’s container volume. Syria is looking to raise money from international investors to help it recover from the 14-year civil conflict and decades of isolation which ended last December with the removal of Bashar al Assad as former leader. Last week, at a conference held in Saudi Arabia, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa positioned his country as an investment corridor that was ripe to attract even more foreign investment than the $28 Billion he claimed it had already received this year. AD Ports stated that it was aiming to restore Latakia’s coastal region's role as "a vital trade portal" for Syria and Eastern Mediterranean. It said that the deal, which was signed on Thursday and builds on an existing partnership, will "drive modernisation of terminals, digital systems and operational performance." The terminal will increase its capacity from 250,000 20-foot equivalent unit TEUs to 625,000 TEUs at the end of next Year. This is the second UAE venture in Syria in the last few months. In July, Dubai's DP World announced a $800 million investment to develop and run the Port of Tartus over a 30 year period. (Reporting by Federico Maccioni; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
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CMA CGM suspends Mali shipments due to safety concerns and fuel shortage
CMA CGM announced that it had suspended all cargo shipments from Mali. The French group also said road transport was experiencing difficulties due to safety issues and fuel shortages. Early in September, the al-Qaeda-affiliated militant group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin announced a ban on fuel imports into this landlocked West African nation. Since then, the group has attacked convoys that were trying to enter the country and reach Bamako. CMA CGM India's website said Wednesday that road shipments from Mali have been suspended until further notice. The group issued a statement saying that it would not accept new bookings of cargo bound for Mali until the current situation was resolved. CMA CGM said that it also offered its clients the option to store or return cargo to Mali. Security analysts claim that JNIM has not yet seized Bamako's 4 million-person city, despite operating within 50 km of it for several months. The military leaders who will take power in 2021 face the greatest challenge to date. This is because the group's plan to gradually starve Bamako, force schools to close and deny businesses diesel-generated electricity presents the most grave threat to them yet. Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian, Mali newsroom. Gus Trompiz contributed additional reporting. Mark Potter (Editing)
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Russia backs down on some of its VAT increases after small business pushback
Mikhail Mishustin, the Prime Minister of Russia, announced on Thursday that the Russian government had softened its plan to raise VAT for small business in 2026. This was after receiving complaints from public businesses. The government first proposed a budget for 2026 in the draft budget. You can find out more about this by clicking here. Businesses with revenues between 10 and 250 millions roubles per year, which are currently exempted from VAT, will have to pay up to 5% VAT. One in ten owners of small businesses would be affected by these increases, according to business lobbyists. They said that many of these business owners might be forced to close their doors. The threshold for tax-free revenues would be lowered to 20 million Russian roubles by 2026, 15 millions roubles by 2027 and 10 million in 2028, from 60 million currently. This will give businesses more time to adjust to the new measure. Mishustin stated that the conditions for small and medium businesses to apply VAT will be eased by a gradual change in payment thresholds beginning in 2026. During the budget debate, the new figures fell short of the compromise business proposal that lowers the threshold for VAT payment to 30 million instead of 10 millions roubles. This increase comes in addition to a proposal that would raise the general VAT to 22%, from 20%. It is estimated to generate around 1 trillion roubles for military expenditures and to address the growing deficit. According to the most recent data available from the Economy Ministry they employ over a fifth (31 million) of Russia's total workforce. Small and medium-sized businesses in Russia are defined as companies with up to 250 employees and revenues of up to 2 billion Russian roubles. The government hopes to raise $200 billion roubles (about $2 billion) through these measures. Reporting by Darya Kosunskaya, Writing by Gleb Stlyarov and Gleb Brnski; Editing Guy Faulconbridge
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Sources say that Lukoil is diverting oil from Azerbaijan into Russia due to sanctions
Two industry sources reported on Thursday that Russia's second largest oil producer, Lukoil has begun diverting Caspian Oil flows from Baku, the Azeri capital, to Makhachkala, the Russian port, to combat Western sanctions. According to one source, the Russian flagged tanker Lady Leila is expected to arrive in Makhachkala later on Thursday with a cargo 5,000 metric tonnes of crude oil from Lukoil’s Korchagin Oilfield located in the Caspian Sea. Last month, the United States and United Kingdom imposed sanctions against Russia's second largest oil company. This has complicated its normal operations. Lukoil shipped its oil from Caspian Sea fields to Azerbaijan SOCAR's oil refinery at Baku, as well as the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. Sources said that Lukoil would send around 30,000 tonnes of oil to Makhachkala in December, and will then divert the entire oil, approximately 130,000 tonnes per month, originally destined for Baku. Lukoil declined to comment on a request. (Reporting and Editing by Louise Heavens).
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Sources say that Russian oil exports to western ports will decline in November.
Shipping and trading sources, as well as estimates by, predict that Russia's oil imports from western ports will decrease slightly in November, despite higher refinery run rates, but remain near the record highs of recent months. The November exports of Urals crude, Siberian Light and KEBCO grades are expected to be around 2.3 million barrels a day (bpd). This includes volumes carried over from September. The November figure is just marginally below October's figure, which was around 2.4m bpd. This included some volume carried over from September. According to industry sources, Russia's western port operated at near capacity in September and October. Participants in the market had anticipated a greater drop in November exports, citing increased refinery processing at home and reduced transport capacity due to storms or external impacts. A recent attack on port infrastructure in Tuapse caused the shutdown of Rosneft’s Tuapse refining plant and could prompt the company boost crude exports. The recent drone attack against Lukoil Volgograd is also expected to release more crude for export. "At first, the November nomination was lower than that of October. But then everything changed. Novorossiisk and the Baltic are going to be big. "Everything is in flux right now," said a source, who noted that seasonal storms may still affect export capabilities. According to data from several sources including LSEG terminals in Novorossiisk, transshipment of Urals and KEBCO grades, as well as Siberian Light grades, reached 0.85 millions bpd, the highest rate in the last decade. LSEG data shows that despite the new sanctions imposed by the U.S., EU and Russia last week, Russian oil exports to western ports are not affected. (Reporting and Editing by Louise Heavens).
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Sources say that Russia's Volgograd refinery has halted operations following an attack by Ukrainian drones
Three sources familiar with this matter confirmed on Thursday that the Volgograd refinery of Russian oil giant Lukoil has stopped operations following a drone strike by Ukrainians. Since several months, Ukraine has been attacking Russian oil refineries and depots. Meanwhile, Russian airstrikes have also targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure in a conflict that is now approaching its fourth anniversary. The primary processing unit CDU-5 with a daily production of 9,100 tons or 66.700 barrels a day, a fifth of total plant capacity, and a hydrocracker that can produce 11,000 tons a day, were both damaged in the attack. Lukoil has not responded to a comment request. The plant has been shut down. CDU-5 was on flames, and there are some damages to the hydrocracker, according to a source who spoke under condition of anonymity. The Volgograd refinery will process 13.7 million tons of oil in 2024, which is 5.1% of all the Russian refineries. At least 75 drones from Ukraine attacked Russia on Thursday. They caused a fire to break out in an industrial zone of Volgograd (in the south of the country), killing one person and stopping dozens of flights throughout the nation, according to Russian officials. Volgograd Governor Andrei Bocharov stated that a 48-year old man died from shrapnel, and a fire broke out in a Krasnoarmeysk industrial district in the city. The district was previously known as Stalingrad. The Volgograd refinery is located in the district. Ukraine has repeatedly attacked this facility. (Reporting and editing by Guy Faulconbridge).
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Slovnaft, a refiner in Croatia, says that Janaf has failed to deliver the contracted oil
Slovnaft - the Slovak division of Hungary's MOL group - said that it had not received an oil shipment contracted for Thursday by Croatia's Janaf, causing uncertainty about its plans to diversify from Russian crude. Janaf has not yet commented, but it previously denied having problems supplying Slovnaft. Slovnaft mainly processes Russian oil. The exemption from EU sanctions which allowed the company to export to the Czech Republic products derived from these deliveries expired in June. This increased its need for diversification. Slovnaft released a statement saying that "Janaf, operator of the Croatian pipe-line system, failed to solve the necessary logistical task." The latest shipment of Arab Light crude, 58,000 tons, was supposed to arrive on the 6th of November. But Janaf has not been able to complete the necessary tasks. Slovnaft expressed its hope that Janaf will quickly find a solution for the logistical problem, and urged the Croatian firm to fulfill its contractual obligations immediately.
US FAA will detail its flight reduction plan on major airports in the US later this Friday
On Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration was working on details of a plan that would cut 10% of flights in 40 U.S. airports with high traffic to address safety concerns about air traffic controllers during a federal government shutdown.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford informed the CEOs of major airline companies late on Wednesday that cuts will begin at 4% this Friday and increase to 10% next Monday.
Plan will exclude international flights, and will only apply to flights that take place between 6 am and 10 pm. FAA also has imposed severe restrictions on general aviation and space launches.
Airline customer service lines were flooded with passengers' concerns regarding air travel. The carriers are also demanding details, such as how the flight cuts will be distributed throughout the day. Some wanted to cancel Friday flights to inform and accommodate passengers.
Bedford stated Wednesday, in an airline call, that airport capacity reductions will start at 4% and increase to 5% on Saturday, 6% on Sunday, then 10% the following week. Some airlines believe the FAA can revise its plan to only require 4% reductions through the weekend.
The FAA has not yet commented.
This shutdown is the longest ever in U.S. History. It has forced 13,000 air-traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents to work for free. Since the shutdown began, tens of thousands flights have been delayed due to widespread shortages in air traffic control. Air traffic control shortages have affected at least 3.2 millions travelers, according to airlines.
Airlines anticipate that the FAA will announce a formal order detailing the implementation of the cuts on Thursday.
Some airline CEOs pressed Bedford to provide more information on the unreported safety data that prompted the FAA's drastic actions.
Rick Larsen, the top Democrat in the committee overseeing the FAA, asked the agency to clarify its "dramatic, unprecedented action." He stated that "the FAA should immediately share with Congress any safety risk assessments and related data on which this decision is based." Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Chizu nomiyama and Hugh Lawson
(source: Reuters)