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☆ Ukraine's fighter jet fleet is slowly growing, but its weapons to bring down Russian jets are dwindling, leaked US document shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The jets will bolster Ukraine's fighter fleet, which is still under fire from Russia's larger air force. But air-defense ammunition is a more urgent need, one underscored in recently leaked US documents. Berlin approved Warsaw's request to send jets to Ukraine on Thursday, the same day it was received. Both air forces have shifted tactics and now operate farther from the front line, playing to the advantage of the Russian aircraft, which have an edge at longer ranges. Without the threat posed by those interceptor missiles, Russian aircraft would have greater freedom to attack Ukrainian aircraft and bomb Ukrainian targets, including in support of Russian front-line troops, the leaked document says.

☆ Exclusive: ECB policymakers converging on 25-bps rate hike in May - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Balazs Koranyi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The ECB has raised rates by at least 50 basis points each at six successive meetings -- the fastest pace on record -- to fight stubbornly high inflation. The sources said that some are advocating no change in May - mostly the same Southern European policymakers who did not support last month's 50 basis point increase, while others - also a small group - argue for another 50 basis point hike. Klaas Knot of the Netherlands said it was unclear whether 50 basis points would be needed or if 25 was enough. Slovakia's Peter Kazimir said the ECB could perhaps slow down the pace of its increases while Austria's Robert Holzmann meanwhile backed another 50 basis point move. Markets currently price 25 basis point hikes each in May and June, while a third such increase is fully priced in by September.

☆ Ukraine is getting Soviet-era fighter jets from Poland after Germany approves transfer
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Poland will provide Ukraine with five Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets. The jets originally belonged to East Germany during the Soviet era and were sold to Warsaw. Poland obtained the MiG-29 jets from Germany in the early 2000s, according to media reports. Poland has said it was willing to provide Ukraine with its entire fleet of 28 MiG-29s. "So far, everyone has agreed that it's not the time to send fighter jets," Pistorius said just last month.

☆ Exclusive: ECB policymakers converging on 25-bps rate hike in May , sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Balazs Koranyi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

☆ Amid risk of stalling in EV race, Spain's rebooted aid scheme gets warm reception
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Joan Faus | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Madrid will launch a new, more flexible version of the PERTE scheme around July, worth 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) after last year's initial funding round flopped, with only 27% of an earmarked 2.9 billion euros allocated. Stellantis already manufactures EVs in Spain and received 67 million euros from the first PERTE, but could request more funds to boost production. Griffiths said using the EU funds is "essential" for Spain's future as some investments would otherwise be non-viable. Unlike Germany, Europe's leading car producer, Spain lacks a domestic manufacturer to champion the EV cause. In last year's PERTE round, VW-SEAT received the highest payout, of 357 million euros, but had hoped for more.

☆ Ukraine resumes exporting electricity to Europe after Russia fails to destroy its power grid
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Exports stopped in October after Russia attacked Ukraine's power grids, a move some said amounted to war crimes. Russia ramped up infrastructure attacks in September, when waves of missiles and exploding drones destroyed about half of Ukraine's energy system. Ukraine needs funding to repair damaged generation and transmission lines, and revenue from electricity exports would be one way to do that. The first country to receive Ukraine's energy exports will be Moldova, he said. Engineers sped up the process to link Ukraine to the continental grid, allowing it to decouple its power system from Russia.

☆ Russian technicians appear to have sabotaged MiG-29 fighter jets headed for Ukraine, Slovakia says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russian technicians appear to have sabotaged MiG-29 jets headed to Ukraine, Slovakia's Defense Minister said. Slovakia offered its Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine late last month. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyRussian technicians appear to have sabotaged MiG-29 fighter jets headed to Ukraine, Slovakia said. Weeks ago, Slovakia and Poland pledged to send Ukraine fleets of MiG-29 fighter jets. The Biden administration has repeatedly said the US isn't planning to provide fighter jets.

☆ Romanian farmers block borders in protest over Ukrainian grain imports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BUCHAREST, April 7 (Reuters) - Thousands of farmers protested across Romania on Friday over the impact of Ukrainian grain imports on prices, blocking traffic and border checkpoints with tractors and trucks and urging the European Commission to intervene. Anger is rising among farmers in Central and Eastern Europe over a flood of cheap Ukrainian grain imports, exempt from customs fees until June 2024, which have hurt prices and sales of local producers. Across the country, thousands of farmers used tractors, trucks and other machinery to block roads and borders. It decided to hand out compensation worth 56.3 million euros to Polish, Bulgarian and Romanian farmers, with more to come. On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he expected decisions to be announced in coming days and weeks to alleviate anger among Polish farmers.

☆ Ukraine says coveted F-16s 'four or five times' better than its Soviet jets
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, April 6 (Reuters) - A top Ukrainian air commander said Ukraine was in dire need of F-16 fighter jets, which he described on Thursday as "four or five times" more effective than the Soviet-era planes currently used by Ukraine. Serhiy Holubtsov, one of the most senior commanders in the Air Force, said that while donations of Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets by allies were an "important step," the planes did not fully meet Ukraine's battlefield requirements. NATO members Poland and Slovakia recently began to hand over MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, as Kyiv prepares for a much-vaunted counter-offensive to retake territory occupied by Russia. Washington has ruled out sending F-16 jets to Ukraine for now, and U.S. officials have estimated the most expeditious time needed for training and delivery at 18 months. Holubtsov said there was a possibility of having foreign pilots fly Ukrainian jets, but that they would only be useful when flying aircraft which they have already been trained on.

The EU has slapped 10 rounds of sanctions on Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but hundreds of millions of euros worth of trade with Russia's nuclear energy industry has not been directly affected. All EU countries must agree for the bloc to impose sanctions and Budapest - where Rosatom is to expand the Paks nuclear power plant - has vowed to oppose any curbs on the Russian nuclear energy industry. It was not clear when the EU would impose any new sanctions on Russia. EU nuclear agency Euratom said Russia provided a fifth of the uranium used by EU utilities in 2021, the latest data available, as well as a fourth of conversion and a third of enrichment services. “The future dependence on Russia in the nuclear fuel cycle depends on investment in the ‘global West’,” Euratom told Reuters.

☆ Cineworld drops major sale plan and proposes new debt deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Cineworld, which operates 9,000 theatres in 10 countries, has warned that a lack of blockbusters is hurting admissions. Cineworld has scrapped plans to sell its U.S., UK and Ireland businesses after failing to find a buyer, the cinema chain operator said on Monday, as it proposed a new debt restructuring plan. Under a new tentative deal with lenders it said it aimed to reduce debt by about $4.53 billion, mainly through creditors getting equity in a reorganized group. It had net debt of $8.81 billion including lease liabilities as of June 2022. The company reiterated that shareholders will be wiped out under its restructuring plans.

☆ Cineworld shares tank after Regal Cinemas owner ditches plans to sell US and UK businesses
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Shares in Cineworld plunged more than 30% Monday, hitting their lowest level since late August, after the owner of Regal Cinemas said it planned to terminate efforts to sell its US, UK and Irish businesses. The world’s second-largest movie theater chain also announced a debt restructuring plan with lenders to help it exit bankruptcy. Cineworld — which, like many cinema operators, was hit hard by the pandemic — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September. In addition to the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland, Cineworld operates cinemas in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Israel. After two rounds of closures in the United States, around 500 Cineworld theaters remain across the country.

Humanity will prevail," Zelenskiy said, leading a ceremony at which the Ukrainian flag was raised in Bucha. Zelenskiy described Bucha as a "symbol of the atrocities" of Russian occupying forces. Fighting rages on in the east and south of Ukraine, where Russian forces hold swathes of territory captured after they invaded on Feb. 24, 2022. Ukrainian forces have dug in and held out for now in the city of Bakhmut and are expected to launch a counteroffensive soon. This is part of Russia's planned strategy to destroy Ukraine as a state and Ukrainians as a nation," he said.

☆ East Europe governments urge tech firms to fight disinformation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

PRAGUE, March 29 (Reuters) - Ukraine and seven other central and eastern European nations have called on the world's top tech firms to act to fight disinformation on their social media platforms by hostile powers which they say undermine peace and stability. "Big tech companies should be vigilant and resist being used as means of advancing such goals. The letter was signed by the prime ministers of Ukraine, Moldova, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and released by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala's office. The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), whose members include Meta, Twitter and Google (GOOGL.O) among others, said it backed measures to fight disinformation such as Europe's Digital Services Act (DSA). Platforms should dedicate enough staff and funding for content moderation, address the growing threat of deepfakes and artificial intelligence-generated disinformation, it said.

☆ How Ukraine's closest allies turned the tide on sending advanced tanks, and could do the same for military jets
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Their success, an expert told Insider, shows how Europe's balance of power has shifted eastwards since Russia's invasion in February 2022. Sergei Grits/APEstonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu told Insider that Ukraine's allies had been "too slow" when deciding to send weapons to Ukraine. AP Photo/Martin Meissner, FileReinsalu, Estonia's foreign minister, told Insider that he had repeatedly engaged with his German counterpart about the decision. Kallas and Šimonytė, the two prime ministers, both told Insider that they support Ukraine getting military jets. "Ordinarily, on less critical matters, peer pressure happens but the public sees very little of it or none of it," he told Insider.

☆ Peru's Garcia Leon breaks 35 km race walk world record
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

March 25 (Reuters) - Peru's Kimberly Garcia Leon broke the 35 km race walk world record on Saturday with a time of two hours 37 minutes and 44 seconds in Dudince, Slovakia. The world champion in both the 20km and 35 km walk broke the previous record of 2:38:24 set by Russian Klavdiya Afanasyeva in 2019, in a warning to her rivals ahead of the Paris Olympics next year. China's Liu Hong came in second in an Asian record of 2:40:06 while Magaly Bonilla from Ecuador took third place. At Paris 2024, there will only be one race of 20km for the women and a 35km mixed team race walk. Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk Editing by Toby DavisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukraine's air force is now allowing foreigners to sign up as pilots as it pushes for Western fighter jets
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine's Air Force will now allow foreigners to serve as pilots, engineers, and specialists. Ukraine said that its air force has been inundated with offers from people willing to fight Russia. Yurii Ihnat, a spokesperson for the commander of Ukraine's air force, said in a statement Thursday that foreign citizens will be able to join if they have suitable military training. Despite bipartisan calls in the US for President Joe Biden's administration to send F-16s, Biden himself said on February 24 that Ukraine "doesn't need F-16s now." Serhii Holubtsov, chief of aviation of Ukraine's Air Force, however, told The Times of London that Ukrainian fighter pilots would be ready to fly F-16 jets after fewer than six months of training.

☆ Zelenskiy tells Europe: Be quicker with military aid or face a long war
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Nick Starkov | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Although Ukrainian officials have repeatedly urged partners to step up supplies of weapons, Zelenskiy's comments represented an unusually open display of frustration. "If Europe waits, the evil may have time to regroup and prepare for years of war. "We cannot keep delaying the transfer of weapons to our soldiers ... we need modern aircraft. Is there truly any rational motivation in delays concerning modern aircraft?" Zelenskiy also complained that the EU appeared to be in no hurry to impose more sanctions against Russia.

☆ Even with F-16s, Ukraine's pilots still wouldn't be 'out of the woods' against Russia's air force, US officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Polish and Slovakian MiG-29s would add to Ukraine's fleet and be familiar to Ukrainian pilots but won't bring much more capability than Ukraine's current MiG-29s. 'The hard work'A pilot exits a Polish Air Force F-16 at an airbase in Poznan in November 2006. If the US or another NATO country elected to supply Ukraine with F-16s, Kelly said his first question would be "what sustainment depot are they going to use? "Again, that's just for the short-term of being able to launch or recover aircraft," Baum said. Ukraine's new jets would also be flying against Russian air-defense weapons that have claimed dozens of Ukrainian aircraft and continue to contest the airspace around the front lines.

☆ Slovakia gets U.S. helicopter offer after sending jets to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A Bell helicopter Ah-1Z Viper helicopter is seen outside a hall at the 30th International Defence Industry Exhibition in Kielce, Poland September 5, 2022. REUTERS/Kacper PempelMarch 22 (Reuters) - The United States has offered to sell Slovakia 12 new Bell AH-1Z Viper helicopters at a two-thirds discount after Bratislava sent its retired MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad said on Wednesday. Last week it became the second of Ukraine's allies, after Poland, to provide fighter jets, which Kyiv believes are crucial to repel Russia's year-long invasion. Alongside the offer of U.S. equipment, Slovakia will receive 250 million euros ($269 million) in European Union compensation, Nad said. Nad said the helicopter offer was partly due to its support for neighbour Ukraine and also indirect compensation for the delayed delivery of F-16 fighter jets which the country ordered in 2018 that are now due to arrive in 2024.

☆ VW's Skoda would cut 3,000 jobs if 'Euro 7' implemented in current form
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PRAGUE, March 19 (Reuters) - Czech carmaker Skoda would have to cut 3,000 jobs and axe some models if the European Union's "Euro 7" emissions scheme is implemented in its current form, a Skoda board member warned in a TV debate on Sunday. Daimler Trucks (DTGGe.DE) chief Martin Daum for instance said on March 10 it would cost the industry "billions". Overall, more than 10,000 jobs would be at risk in the Czech Republic, including at Skoda's suppliers, Jahn said. The three smaller models represented nearly a third of Skoda's deliveries to customers in 2022. Transport ministers from the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia met on Monday to discuss their efforts to change the Euro 7 proposal.

☆ ECB likely to keep boosting interest rates, Belgian central-bank chief says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

FRANKFURT/BRUSSELS, March 18 (Reuters) - The ECB is likely to keep raising interest rates as a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis is unlikely with European banks subject to tougher rules than regional U.S. banks, Belgian central bank chief Pierre Wunsch said. It will meeting by meeting," Wunsch said. "If you look at the Belgian banks, they are more solid than the average of European banks. "We do neither see a risk of contagion nor a risk of instability if we look at the figures from a rational perspective," the central bank governor said. Asked about the future of Credit Suisse, Wunsch said he only saw a "very low" likelihood that the bank might go bankrupt.

☆ Slovakia to Send 13 MiG Jet Fighters to Ukraine Ahead of Counteroffensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Isabel Coles | Georgi Kantchev | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Slovakia said it would send 13 MiG-29 jet fighters to Ukraine after Poland pledged to supply four, marking a significant boost in support for Kyiv as it builds up for a counteroffensive against Russia’s invading forces. Poland on Thursday became the first Western nation to say it would supply warplanes to Kyiv, underscoring Warsaw’s leading role in European policy-making on Ukraine.

☆ Slovakia, Poland to send Ukraine MiG fighter jets in major shift; China's Xi to visit Russia next week
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Slovakia's government approved a measure to send its Soviet-era MiG jets to Ukraine, officials said. The Eastern European NATO member announced it would send 13 of the jets to Ukraine, one day after Poland said it would supply Kyiv with four of its jets. Ukraine has long requested fighter jets in order to protect its skies against Russian attacks and combat Russian forces in the country. just approved sending 13 #MiG29s to #Ukraine! fighter jets, I said we'll do our best.

☆ Russia says it will destroy fighter jets sent to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 17 (Reuters) - Russia said on Friday that all fighter jets supplied to Ukraine by Western nations would be destroyed after NATO members Poland and Slovakia pledged to send MiG-29 jets to Kyiv. Since Russia's invasion last year NATO countries have sent billions of dollars of military aid to Ukraine, as Kyiv asks for weapons it says are vital to fend off Russian advances. Moscow has accused the West of directly participating in the conflict through supplying weapons to Ukraine, and has warned before that NATO weapons were legitimate targets for its forces. "It feels like all of these countries are thus engaged in the disposal of old unnecessary equipment," he said. Slovakia ordered F-16 fighter jets from the United States in 2018 to replace its ageing MiG-29 planes.

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