Latest News
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Rheinmetall CEO: VW not currently in negotiations with Rheinmetall over Osnabrueck Site
Armin Papperger, the CEO of Rheinmetall, said that on Thursday his company was not in negotiations with Volkswagen over its Osnabrueck factory. Volkswagen announced last year that it was looking at alternative scenarios for future uses of the site, which raised hopes for a possible sale to protect workers and reduce the costs associated with restructuring. He told an association of foreign journalists that the investment in the factory by Rheinmetall depends on a specific contract. He said: "At this time, we do not intend to continue negotiations because the plants that we currently have at Rheinmetall are able to meet the current and future orders." Papperger visited this factory in early 2014 to see if it was a good candidate for conversion to military production. Rheinmetall announced that it will repurpose certain automotive sites into mainly making defence equipment to get away from the loss-making civil division and to take advantage of an increase in defence spending. Papperger said that the company could take over automakers such as Volkswagen, if conditions were right. Rheinmetall is growing quickly and has invested in new plants and acquisitions, as European countries pour billions of Euros into defence after Russia's invasion. The company is expanding its capabilities through the acquisition of the Luerssen Group’s warship division NVL and establishing a naval division. Papperger stated on Thursday that there are no plans to make any further acquisitions in order to boost the business of naval vessels.
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Italy sends Ukrainian suspect for Nord Stream blast to Germany
German federal prosecutors confirmed that a Ukrainian man suspected of coordinating sabotage against the Nord Stream Gas pipeline in 2022, who was handed over by Italy's highest court last week after it had approved his transfer, arrived in Germany on Friday. The explosions in the Baltic Sea that destroyed the pipeline three years ago, severely reduced the Russian gas transit into Europe and squeezed energy supplies on the continental although Russia had already stopped delivering. Both Russia and Western nations have said that the incident was an attack of sabotage. Investigators spent many years trying to solve the mystery. SUSPECT DENIES ROLE IN ATTACKS Serhii, the man identified by German privacy laws, which generally prohibit full identification of suspects. He denies involvement in any attacks. His lawyer Nicola Canestrini said he was confident that his client would be acquitted in a German trial. German prosecutors accuse the man of being part of a group that planted devices near the Danish Island of Bornholm, in the Baltic. The suspect had been detained in Italy in Rimini on an arrest warrant issued by the European Union in August. He had also resisted attempts to have him transferred to Germany. The suspect faces charges including collusion in order to cause an explosive, anti-constitutional destruction and destruction of significant structures. The accused was transported from Italy today. "He is due to appear tomorrow before the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice at Karlsruhe," said prosecutors. A court in Poland last month ruled that a second Ukrainian suspect sought by Germany for the bombings should not be handed over and ordered his release. (Reporting and writing by Tilman Blsshofer Editing by Ludwig Burger, Peter Graff and Madeline Chambers)
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Netherlands increases tax on private jets
The Dutch parliament approved on Thursday a plan for a tax increase on private jet travel starting in 2030. The rules will be applicable to aircraft that have 19 seats or less. Passengers on flights up to 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles), will be charged 420 euros (486 dollars). The fee for those travelling between 2,000 km and 5,500km is 1,015 euro, while journeys over that distance are charged 2,100 euros. Private jets will be taxed based on distance in 2027, when all aviation taxes will move to a weight-based system. Between 2027 and 2030 the taxation of private jets will be the same as that for commercial flights. Distance-based pricing will see passengers paying just over 70 Euros for commercial flights that exceed 5,500 km. Short-haul flights will cost around 29 Euros, and long-haul flights will be roughly 47. The legislators who proposed this measure said that the principle "the polluter pays" should apply to even the richest and biggest emitters. Oxfam, The Guardian and the Stockholm Environment Institute conducted research that showed the richest 1 percent of the population emits more greenhouse gases than the 66% poorest. In their request for an increase in the distance-based private jet tax, the lawmakers stated that a significant portion of these emissions can be attributed to the use private aircraft. In June, France, Kenya and Spain, as well as Barbados, had pledged to tax private jets and premium-class flights. ($1 = 0.8633 euros) (Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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Russia's central Bank says G7 attempts to unlock Moscow's frozen assets are driving gold demand
The Russian central bank stated on Thursday that the G7 was trying to use billions in frozen Russian assets to increase their reserves. Gold is on track to have its largest annual rise since 1979. It has risen 59% this year, after reaching a record-high of $4,381 per troy ounce in October, on the back of safe-haven demands driven by geopolitical turmoil and U.S. Tariff uncertainty. According to the central bank, investor interest in gold is increasing due to global uncertainty. The central bank stated that "at the same time the precious metal receives additional support due to the steady demand of central banks from emerging market economies who continue to diversify international reserves amid discussions between the G7 regarding the use frozen Russian assets." Euroclear is a central securities depository in Brussels that holds 185 billion euro of the 300 billion dollars in frozen Russian assets. As of November 14, Russia's gold reserves and foreign exchange reserves totaled $734.1 billion. (1 euro = 0.8630 dollars) (Reporting and editing by Guy Faulconbridge; Maxim Rodionov, Writing).
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Germany's DET will repeat LNG capacity auctions if no bids are received
The German Deutsche Energy Terminal (DET), which failed to assign any slots at its November 25-26 auctions, announced on Thursday it would re-run the auctions of liquefied gas landing capacities for Wilhelmshaven terminals 1 and 2. DET stated on its website that the regasification slots are for the remaining capacity in December 2025 and the first, second, third and fourth quarters of 2020, as well as the first quarter 2027. DET operates and markets floating terminals which convert LNG into gas, and feeds it into Germany's gas pipeline network. The European Union decided to stop relying on Russian fossil fuels in 2027 and has a sharply decreased the imports of pipeline gas from Russia. This will increase demand for seaborne LNG. DET announced that the capacities were sold at 0.56 euro ($0.6488) MMBtu (a measure used in the gas industry of British thermal units). The same conditions would apply to the next auction. DET said the terminal at Wilhelmshaven 2 will be down for several days to perform maintenance on the floating storage unit and regasification (FSRU), Excelsior. This will begin November 27. DET will inform the market when this is complete. Separately the Brunsbuettel Terminal, also under DET, has received its floating storage unit and regasification (FSRU), Hoegh Ganet, which is now ready for the upcoming winter months. The upgrades were completed in September to reduce noise and carbon emissions. ($1 = 0.8631 euro) (Reporting and editing by Vera Eckert)
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Black Sea CPC blend oil exports will jump 17% in December m-o -m, according to sources
Sources say that Black Sea CPC blend oil exports will increase to 1.7 millions barrels per day in December, from around 1.45 million barrels in November. Calculations show that daily shipments of CPC Blend are expected to increase by 17% compared to November's plan. CPC is the main export route of Kazakh crude oil to international markets. The majority of volumes are shipped to Europe and Asia. Russia also provides smaller volumes of crude oil to the CPC system. One source stated that the increase in CPC Blend exported in December is due to an expected higher production in Tengiz, where maintenance was performed in October and Novembre. Another source said that Russian oil producers would increase oil shipments through the CPC system during December. Two sources have said that the December loading schedule could be revised upwards due to multiple disruptions of CPC Blend oil in November, which may result in a poor performance for this month's sales and some volume being rolled over into December. Conor Humphries, Conor Humphries (Reporting)
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Prosecutors say that on Thursday, the suspect in the Ukrainian Nord Stream case will be extradited from Italy to Germany.
The German Federal Prosecutor said that a Ukrainian man suspected to have coordinated the sabotage in 2022 of the Nord Stream Gas Pipeline will be flown into Germany on Thursday, after Italy's highest court approved his expulsion last week. The explosions that occurred in the Baltic Sea, three years ago, were described by both Moscow, and the West, as acts of sabotage. They essentially cut off Russian gas supplies to Europe. The investigation took years to solve the mystery. SUSPECT DENIES ROLE IN ATTACKS The suspect, who is identified by German privacy laws as Serhii k., denies playing any part in the attacks. His lawyer Nicola Canestrini said he was confident that his client would be acquitted following a German trial. German prosecutors accuse the man of being part of a group that planted devices near the Danish Island of Bornholm, in the Baltic. He is accused of conspiring to cause an explosive, of anti-constitutional acts of sabotage, and of destroying important structures. The suspect was arrested in Italy in Rimini on an arrest warrant issued by the European Union in August, but refused to be transferred to Germany. A court in Poland last month ruled that a second Ukrainian suspect sought by Germany for the explosions should not be handed over and ordered his release immediately. (Reporting and writing by Tilman Blsshofer, Editing by Ludwig Burger.)
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Talks are ongoing, says a Hungary official about MOL and Serbia's NIS.
The chief of staff to Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that talks were ongoing regarding the possibility that MOL, a subsidiary of Hungary's MOL, could purchase a stake in Serbian NIS's Russian owned refinery. Serbia must find a buyer of NIS. This company is subject to U.S. Sanctions due to its Russian ownership. They have stopped crude oil supplies from Croatia's JANAF pipe. Belgrade warned that Serbia’s sole oil refinery would have to close this week if sanctions were not postponed. Orban of Hungary, who will meet Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on a trip to Serbia, wrote in a post on Facebook that "Hungary would do all it can to assist Serbia's energy supply", but did not give any further details. Gergely Gulyas, his chief of staff, told a press briefing that there could be a chance for a market transaction. However, these discussions are in progress. It is in the best interest of NIS to end Russian ownership. Gulyas said that MOL could play a larger role in the transaction. He added that Hungary was "willing" to help with it if needed. Vucic stated on Tuesday that Belgrade will give Russian owners of NIS, Gazprom Neft & Gazprom, 50 days to sell or their stake in NIS. Otherwise the government will take over the operations and offer to purchase them. Gazprom Neft owns 44.9% and Gazprom 11,3% of NIS. Serbia holds 29.9% of NIS, and the rest is held by small investors. Peter Szijjarto, Hungary's foreign minister, said that MOL will deliver to Serbia two-and-a half times as much crude oil and diesel than usual during December. (Reporting and editing by Krisztina than and Anita Komuves)
Trafigura claims Gupta stole money from metals fraud to fund his distressed companies
Lawyers for commodity trader Trafigura accused Indian businessman Prateek gupta of siphoning funds from an alleged metals fraud worth $600 million to prop up their struggling business empire.
Trafigura, a Geneva-based company, sued Gupta more than two years ago. It claimed that he was behind a scam where he and his firms agreed to deliver pure nickel but instead delivered scrap steel or other metals.
Gupta claims that Trafigura employees designed the scheme at the heart of the case. Trafigura, however, has denied this claim repeatedly.
Gupta admitted on the second day of his testimony in the long-running trial at a London High Court that the UG Group was going to run out of money by March 2021. This is partly because of problems related to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Nathan Pillow, a Trafigura lawyer, also confirmed that his company was paid $500 million for pure Nickel but sent containers of lower-value metals.
Gupta responded that a portion of the profit went towards increased shipping costs when Pillow asked.
Where is the money?" "Did you steal it?" Pillow asked Gupta.
The Trafigura fraud scheme was crucial to your survival.
Gupta testified via video link from Dubai, where he resides: "I wasn't running the cashflow".
Gupta repeatedly stated during his testimony, that he was not aware of operational details. Others were to blame.
Gupta stated in a court filing that the trading with Trafigura for shipments labeled as nickel totaled 22,500 metric tonnes from October 2017 through May 2019. This will jump to 57.222 tons in 2020, and to 69.165 tons in 2021.
Trafigura's lawyers claimed that Gupta had been involved in fraudulent transactions before the alleged Trafigura fraud.
Gupta admitted that he was under investigation in India for fraud, but denied all allegations.
His defence is based on his accusation that Trafigura staff devised a secret plan to replace metals in order to boost Trafigura’s position in the nickel markets.
He claims that the undercover plan was devised in 2019, when he was told to boost nickel trading by Sokratis ikonomou, then the head nickel trader.
Oikonomou denied being involved in fraud during testimony this week. (Reporting and editing by Emelia Sithole Matarise; Eric Onstad)
(source: Reuters)