Latest News
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Siemens files claim in Texas against Citgo Petroleum parent
Siemens Energy Inc. has actually submitted a lawsuit in a Texas court versus Citgo Petroleum's. parent, PDV Holding, looking for to recover about $200 million from a. promissory note defaulted by Venezuela, according to a court. file seen on Wednesday. Lenders that belong to an auction of Citgo parent's. shares in a Delaware court to pay billions of dollars for. expropriations and debt defaults in Venezuela have begun turning. to other U.S. courts to impose their claims, a technique to acquire. concern when the auction's proceeds are paid. The auction's 2nd bidding round was completed last month. with the choice of an affiliate of Elliott Financial investment. Management as the winner. If the judge ratifies the $7.3 billion. deal, there might not suffice cash to pay more than a. handful of the $21 billion in financial institution claims before the court. Citgo and PDV Holding are U.S. subsidiaries of. Caracas-headquartered state oil company PDVSA. The. dispute between PDVSA and Siemens originates from a deal under. which engineering firm Dresser-Rand Company, acquired by Siemens. Energy, was entitled to get some $166 million pursuant to a. promissory note. SEI got a judgment versus PDVSA from the Southern. District of New York and now seeks to hold PDV Holding responsible as. PDVSA's alter ego for the total of the judgment, which now. surpasses $200 million, the file filed by Siemens said. Gramercy Distressed Opportunity Fund and 2 related. companies have submitted similar lawsuits in Texas and New York City. courts this year, threatening to derail the auction in Delaware,. which is arranged to be completed in the coming months. A court officer designated to supervise the auction has. requested U.S. Judge Leonard Stark block the creditors from. resorting to other courts to pursue the exact same properties. His. decision is pending.
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Rainy roads slow arrivals of cocoa at Ivory Coast ports
Exporters and buyers say that the damage caused by heavy rains in Ivory Coast’s west, southwest, and coastal regions hampers harvesting, drying, and transporting cocoa beans from ports. Six exporters, six buyers and five cooperatives said that cocoa arrivals in ports have decreased and the quality has deteriorated. Hamed Coulibaly who purchases cocoa from the regions of Duekoue Guiglo and Man said, "Since last week, we've noticed a return of heavy rains which have blocked roads and rendered village tracks completely impassable." He claimed that he had not been able yet to recover the 60 metric tonnes of the commodity his middlemen had already collected in different villages. Seydou Koate, a buyer from Guiglo, said: "I have two cocoa trucks that have been stuck in the tracks toward Blolequin since six days... We can't do anything." Exporter figures estimate that cocoa bean arrivals at ports will be 13,000 tons between October 1 and 6, 2024. This compares to 50,000 tons the previous year. Rain has caused plantations to flood and roads to be cut off in the western Ivory Coast towns of Man and Danane. Geyo Yabayo Buyo in Ivory Coast's main cocoa-producing region have also suffered similar conditions. Lack of sunlight and poor storage conditions have also caused damage to cocoa beans. They turn black and ferment when stored in bad conditions. The quality of the beans arriving is what concerns us most, said an exporter in San Pedro port. He has received 55 tons so far compared with 300 tons at the same time last year. Exporter in Abidjan, who received 45% less cocoa this season than last year, said: "We're receiving very poor-quality products. They are poorly fermented and dried. And they are too humid." The Ivory Coast Coffee and Cocoa Council, however, blamed a delayed seed stock for the reduction in cocoa that has been available this season. Unnamed CCC officials said: "We need to put things in perspective. There is less chocolate in the ports right now because there is less cacao at the moment. It is not due to the condition of the roads." Another CCC official stated that "normally, September's stock is what supplies the first week of October. This year, this has not been the case." "There is no cocoa yet, but we have to be patient." (Reporting and editing by Portia Crowe and Christina Fincher; Ange Aboa, Reporter)
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Air France opens internal probe after airplane flew over Iraq throughout Iranian attack on Israel
Air France stated on Wednesday it had actually opened an internal examination after one of its planes flew over Iraq on Oct. 1 during an Iranian missile attack on Israel. The business said flight AF662 from Paris to Dubai was travelling at the time of the attack through a special corridor used by all airlines in southern Iraq and fifteen minutes later it left the nation's air area, which was not near airplane traffic up until 1756 GMT. Without waiting on instructions from the Iraqi authorities, Air France has chosen to suspend overflight of the nation's airspace by its aircraft from 1700 GMT, the airline company stated. An internal investigation has actually been released into this occasion, it added. Air France likewise stated that another flight returned to Paris, while a third, from Singapore to Paris, made an additional stop in Delhi to get more fuel to take a longer route. The story was initially reported by TV channel TF1 Information.
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Russia's Novak states ball remains in Ukraine's and EU's court on gas transit deal
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday that there are proposals from European Union partners to continue Russian gas purchases after completion of this year, however that the ball remains in the court of Ukraine and the EU. Despite the war, Russia continues to deliver gas by pipeline throughout Ukraine to other European nations. But Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal stated this week that Kyiv will not extend the gas transit contract with Russia after it ends at the end of 2024. Novak, Russia's point male for energy, said Russia was happy to continue supplying gas after the agreement expires. We have actually consistently revealed our position that the ball is on the side of, let's say, our buying partners and, appropriately, our associates from Ukraine, through which transit is brought out, Novak informed reporters. We have gas, we will supply it, he added. Russian gas deliveries to Europe via Ukraine have actually slowed dramatically given that the start of the war, which prompted the EU to cut its dependence on Russian energy. However nations like Slovakia, Austria and the Czech Republic continue to get Russian gas. Asked if buyers in the EU had actually approached Russia about renewing the offer, Novak said: There specify proposals of willingness, however there is no such information about it being translated into legal actions or files. The EU and Ukraine have actually asked Azerbaijan to help with discussions with Russia regarding the gas transit offer, an Azerbaijani presidential advisor informed Reuters in June. Novak said on Wednesday that there were no conversations on swap handle Azerbaijan for gas transit.
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More Kazakh farming exporters complain of concerns with transit to Russia
Some Kazakh rice and corn exporters are not able to deliver their products to Russia, Kazakhstan's Grain Union said on Wednesday, in what appeared to be an expansion of a Russian block on grain transit from Kazakhstan after Moscow implicated Astana of breaching plant health regulations. Russia is a key transit nation for major Kazakh exports such as oil and uranium, and trade tensions might make market players worried about the stable supply of those commodities. The Russian state agricultural guard dog, Rosselkhoznadzor, said last week it would block the issuance of phytosanitary certificates for grain, grain products, sunflower seeds, tomatoes, and peppers from Kazakhstan. The Kazakh federal government stated it asked for proof of the purported violations from Russia, and the Kazakh state railway business said grain exports via Russia would continue and even boost this month. But market gamers state Russia's choice has actually affected deliveries. The scenario has actually not been dealt with, as far as I. understand, Yevgeny Karabanov, the head of analytics at the. grain union stated. ( Grain) transit continues through paths where freights do not. require to be unloaded from one methods of transportation and loaded. onto another one. For example, to the Baltic nations,. Azerbaijan, Belarus. However Kazakh grain cargoes are no longer delivered via Russian. ports, Karabanov stated. In addition, there are complaints from business that. supply rice and corn - which were not discussed in the. Rosselkhoznadzor letter - from Kazakhstan to Russia, he stated. Trucks loaded with those items are being turned away at. the border. A Russian market source, speaking on the condition of. privacy because they were not authorised to comment openly,. confirmed that there were problems with Kazakh transit and shared. a document listing items that were banned for import if they. had Kazakh phytosanitary certificates. The list includes not only all major grains, but also wheat. flour, corn, rice, soy beans, lentils, some nuts and melons. Kazakhstan's farming and trade ministries and. Rosselkhoznadzor in Russia did not immediately react to a. ask for comment.
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Pakistan to curb motion of Chinese nationals throughout SCO conference, state sources
Pakistani authorities are looking for to curb motions of Chinese people during the Shanghai Cooperation Company conference next week because of a. security danger from militant groups targeting them, according to. 3 security authorities and an internal security note. The decision has come after the killing of 2 Chinese. engineers in a bombing near Pakistan's Karachi global. airport on Sunday declared by separatist militant group Baloch. Liberation Army (BLA). The meeting of the SCO, which makes up nine full members,. including China, India, Iran and Russia, is scheduled for Oct. 15 and 16 in Islamabad. Chinese Premier Li Qiang is anticipated to. get here in the city prior to the conference. Orders have been gotten from concerned authority that. Chinese relocation of all types including intra-city/ inter-city/. airport etc to be stopped from 14 to 17 Oct 24 in connection with. SCO summit and various delegations go to, the alert, shared. with several Pakistani security agencies and seen ,. said. Three top security authorities who got the alert said it. had actually likewise been conveyed to Chinese authorities. All concerned to ensure that Chinese are conveyed it in. advance so that crucial moves are changed before that. No. violations will be accepted during this period, the alert stated. The Chinese embassy in Islamabad and Pakistan's interior. ministry did not respond to a Reuters ask for remark. The bombing was the current in a string of attacks versus. Chinese nationals in Pakistan over the last four years,. including a March suicide bombing that eliminated five Chinese. engineers dealing with a hydropower project. Beijing contacted Islamabad to carry out more strict. security measures. BLA, the biggest of a number of ethnic insurgent groups that has. combated the federal government for decades, targets Chinese. interests - consisting of the tactical port of Gwadar on the. Arabian Sea - as it implicates Beijing of helping Islamabad exploit. regional resources. It has actually formerly eliminated Chinese citizens and. attacked China's consulate in Karachi. The security officials state the latest attack in an extremely. safe location was a total security failure which all senior. staff accountable for Chinese security in Karachi had been. removed from service. Pakistan's interior ministry is mainly responsible for. the security of Chinese nationals and their interests.
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More airlines fly over Afghanistan in last week as Middle East tensions rise
Airline companies have actually diverted more flights over Afghanistan over the past week to prevent Iranian airspace, information shows, contributing to journey times and fuel expenses in the current disruption for routes between Asia and Europe as tensions in the Middle East escalate. Flights over Afghanistan were already growing in recent months, but expectations of an Israeli action to an Iranian ballistic rocket attack on Israel recently have enhanced that trend, information from flight tracker FlightRadar24 programs. EASA recently released a caution for airline companies to avoid Iranian airspace. FlightRadar24 showed 132 overflights of Afghanistan on Sept. 29. On Oct. 2, the day after Iran assaulted Israel, the number of Afghan overflights rose to 176. On Oct. 6, the everyday number had gradually increased to 222. Taliban authorities stated the variety of overflights were even greater in current days than the FlightRadar24 information showed. Specifically, over the previous five or six days, there have been about 350 transit flights in 24 hours, compared to around 100 transit flights (a year ago) formerly, said Imamudden Ahmadi, the representative for the Taliban-run Ministry of Transport and Aviation. FlightRadar24 on Tuesday revealed British Airways and Singapore Airlines flights using Afghanistan's. airspace. The data did disappoint a breakdown of which airlines were. using Afghan airspace more in the last week. British Airways and. Singapore Airlines did not instantly respond to a Reuters. request for remark. Many airline companies had actually started routing through Iran and the. Middle East after Russian and Ukrainian skies were closed to. most Western providers when the Ukraine war started in 2022. The brand-new rerouting reveals the hard calculus airline companies are. required to make as the security of the airspace throughout the Middle. East becomes more precarious and fears of a local war rise a. year after the start of the Israel-Hamas war. What was currently a really minimal set of route alternatives is now. down to the last few options that there are - for this reason Afghanistan. seeing more traffic, stated Mark Zee, the creator of flight-risk. details sharing organization OPSGROUP. Air traffic control service for carriers flying over Afghanistan has. not been available considering that the Taliban took over three years ago -. leaving airlines to count on standards from regulators. I anticipate that this avoidance of Iran, and perhaps Iraq,. will continue for numerous weeks a minimum of, till either Israel. makes a relocation, or the circumstance soothes, Zee said.
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Portugal consults TAP suitors on plans for airline company
The Portuguese government is settling consultations with airlines thinking about flag carrier TAP to develop their objectives before coming up with a privatisation strategy, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro stated. He told broadcaster SIC late on Tuesday that the government doesn't want to carry out a privatisation without understanding what the market gamers likewise have as their objectives, to ensure the privatisation plan lines up with market sentiment. There are lots of business interested ... we are currently concluding assessments with all interested celebrations who, over time, have revealed interest in the acquisition of TAP's. capital, he said. At least three major airline company operators - Lufthansa. , British Airways owner IAG, and Air. France-KLM - have actually said they have an interest in. state-owned TAP. A month earlier, sources told Reuters that Lufthansa CEO Carsten. Spohr met with the federal government to formally indicate his business's. interest in the privatisation. Among the sources said Lufthansa was eyeing a 19.9%?? stake. in TAP, listed below the 20% threshold that would require approval from. the European Commission. We are studying the best model to be effective and value. the company as much as we can, Montenegro said, explaining. that Portuguese taxpayers paid 3.2 billion euros ($ 3.5 billion). to rescue TAP during the COVID-19 pandemic. I always argued that preferably we could achieve an overall. privatisation, as long as we protect the paths that are. strategic for us and the Lisbon center ... (however) I'm not stating that. the design should be to go from 0% (personal stake) to 100%.
What occurs when Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine stops?
Ukraine will not extend its gas transit arrangement with Russia after it expires after Dec. 31 2024, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal informed Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Here is what occurs if gas is switched off and who will be impacted most.
HOW BIG ARE THE VOLUMES?
Russian gas products to Europe by means of Ukraine are reasonably small. Russia delivered about 15 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas by means of Ukraine in 2023 - only 8% of peak Russian gas flows to Europe by means of different routes in 2018-2019.
Russia invested half a century building its European gas market share, which at its peak stood at 35%.
Moscow lost its share to competitors such as Norway, the United States and Qatar because the intrusion of Ukraine in 2022, triggering the EU to cut its reliance on Russian gas.
EU gas rates rallied in 2022 to tape highs after the loss of Russian supplies. The rally will not be repeated given modest volumes and a small number of clients for the staying volumes, according to EU officials and traders.
UKRAINIAN ROUTE
The Soviet-era Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline brings gas from Siberia through the town of Sudzha - now under control of Ukrainian military forces - in Russia's Kursk region. It then flows through Ukraine to Slovakia.
In Slovakia, the gas pipeline divides into branches going to the Czech Republic and Austria.
Austria still receives most of its gas through Ukraine, while Russia accounts for around two-thirds of Hungary's gas imports.
Slovakia takes around 3 bcm from energy huge Gazprom each year, also about two-thirds of its needs.
Czech Republic practically entirely cut gas imports from the east in 2015, but has actually begun taking gas from Russia in 2024.
The majority of other Russian gas paths to Europe are shut consisting of Yamal-Europe via Belarus and Nord Stream under the Baltic.
The only other functional Russian gas pipeline route to Europe is the Blue Stream and TurkStream to Turkey under the Black Sea. Turkey sends some Russian gas volumes onward to Europe consisting of to Hungary.
WHY DOES THE UKRAINIAN ROUTE STILL WORK?
While remaining Russian gas transit volumes are little, the problem stays a problem for the EU. Numerous EU members such as France and Germany have actually stated they would not purchase Russian gas any longer however the stance of Slovakia, Hungary and Austria, which have closer ties to Moscow, challenges the EU common method.
The nations, who still get Russian gas, argue it is the most financial fuel and likewise blame neighbouring EU nations for imposing high transit fees for alternative products.
Ukraine still makes $0.8-$ 1 billion in transit costs from Russian gas transit. Russia makes over $3 billion on sales via Ukraine based on a typical gas cost of $200 per 1,000 cubic metres, according to Reuters estimations.
Russia's gas pipeline export monopoly Gazprom plunged to a. bottom line of $7 billion in 2023, its very first yearly loss given that. 1999, since of the loss EU's gas markets.
Russia has stated it would be ready to extend the transit deal. however Kyiv has consistently said it will not do it.
Another alternative is for Gazprom to provide some of the gas by means of. another route, for example through TurkStream, Bulgaria, Serbia or. Hungary. However, capacity through these paths is restricted.
The EU and Ukraine have actually likewise asked Azerbaijan to assist in. conversations with Russia concerning the gas transit deal, an Azeri. presidential consultant told Reuters, who declined to offer further. information.
(source: Reuters)