DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

Schwedt has traditionally supplied 90% of the gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and fuel oil used in Germany's capital city. Moscow last month retaliated against their bilateral efforts by halting oil flows to Poland via the Druzhba pipeline, thereby squeezing Poland’s ability to free up oil for Schwedt. Polish state-controlled refiner PKN Orlen now needs to use more capacity at the Gdansk oil terminal to feed its own Plock refinery. ROSNEFT STAKEGermany and Poland started discussions about shipping non-Russian oil to Schwedt via the port of Gdansk, Polish pipelines and Druzhba in early spring 2022. KEBCOIn a move that further complicated talks with Poland, Germany late last year approached Kazakhstan about supplies for Schwedt, sparking new concerns in Warsaw.

☆ Russia and Belarus boxers should compete, IBA president says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 3 (Reuters) - Russia and Belarus athletes should be able to compete under their flag, said International Boxing Association (IBA) President Umar Kremlev on Friday. The IBA lifted a ban on Russian and Belarusian boxers last October, against the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) guidance following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year. Each international association should have these standards," Kremlev told Reuters. "We, as an international association, must protect each athlete. Kremlev disciplinary actions targets USA Boxing CEO Mike McAtee, President of Boxing Canada Ryan O'Shea, Czech Boxing Association President Marek Simak, Swedish Boxing Association Chairman Per-Axel Sjoholm and Boxing New Zealand President Steve Hartley.

☆ Russia halts pipeline oil supplies to Poland, PKN Orlen CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Russia has halted supplies of oil to Poland via the Druzhba pipeline, Daniel Obajtek, chief executive officer of Polish refiner PKN Orlen (PKN.WA), said on Saturday. PKN Orlen said it could fully supply its refineries via sea and that the halt in pipeline supplies would not impact deliveries of gasoline and diesel to clients. The pipeline, which supplies oil to Poland and Germany, as well as to Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia, was excluded from sanctions to help countries with limited options for alternative deliveries. Following the invasion of Ukraine and before the EU embargoed seaborne supplies from Russia, Orlen stopped buying Russian oil and fuels via the sea. Its capacity tops volumes that can be processed by Polish refineries and is in part used to supply oil to refineries in eastern Germany that are linked to Druzhba.

☆ Poland has delivered tanks to Ukraine, government announces on war's first anniversary
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Poland has delivered four Leopard tanks to Ukraine already and is prepared to deliver more quickly, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday, as Western nations increase their support to Kyiv a year after Russia invaded the country. We will definitely not leave you, we will support Ukraine until complete victory over Russia," Morawiecki said during a visit to Kyiv, standing next to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Warsaw's commitment to its neighbour has been instrumental in persuading European allies to donate heavy weapons to Ukraine, including tanks, a move opposed by several governments, including Berlin, until recently. Poland said last month it aimed to get training time for Ukrainian soldiers on Leopard 2 tanks down to five weeks. Reporting by Marek Strzelecki, Anna Koper, Pawel Florkiewicz Editing by Alex Richardson, Tomasz Janowski and Frances KerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Poland curbs border traffic as Belarus expels three Polish diplomats
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Poland announced more curbs to road traffic with Belarus on Monday, hours after saying Minsk was expelling three Polish diplomats, as relations between the two nations deteriorate. Citing "state security", Poland said on Feb. 9 it was closing a border crossing into Belarus at Bobrowniki, driving already hostile relations between the two countries to a new low. Freight traffic for Belarusian vehicles at the Kukuryki-Kozlowicze border crossing will be suspended as of 7 p.m. Tuesday, the Polish Interior Ministry said on Monday. The decision was linked to Minsk curbing traffic for Polish road freight on Belarus' borders with Latvia and Lithuania, the ministry said. Belarus has called the decision to close the Bobrowniki border crossing irrational and dangerous.

☆ Poland to close Belarus border crossing until further notice
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Poland is to close a key border crossing with Belarus until further notice, the Polish interior minister said on Thursday, as relations between Warsaw and Minsk sink to new lows. Bobrowniki, more than 200 km northeast of Warsaw, is one of the main crossing points between Poland and Belarus. In 2021, Poland and the European Union said Minsk had engineered a migrant crisis on its borders, an accusation Belarus denies. More recently, Poland has condemned the vandalism of Polish graves in Belarus. Thousands of people of Polish origin live in Belarus as the west of the country was Polish territory until the borders were redrawn after World War Two.

The most contentious reforms for those in Poland's ruling camp concern the judicial system. To become law, the bill needs to be signed by President Andrzej Duda. "We will now continue to follow the next steps in the legislative process," Didier Reynders, EU Commissioner for Justice, said on Twitter. Relaxing rules on wind farm investment is also among the milestones Poland has to pass to unlock the EU funds. The amendment will slash potential onshore wind investments by 60-70%, effectively discouraging them, according to the Polish Wind Energy Association which groups some 150 investors.

☆ Britain’s NHS was once idolized. Now its worst-ever crisis is fueling a boom in private health care
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Private hospital groups flourishTo keep up with growing demand for their services, private health care providers are expanding at a rapid clip. CEO Justin Ash estimates that the market for private health care in the United Kingdom has doubled since before the pandemic to 15 million people. Ash said that appetite for private health care spans a much broader set of ages and incomes than in the past. “We’ve clearly moved into a world in which we’re all NHS patients but have episodes of private care,” he said. There is no universal health care in America and most people have private health insurance because health care is very expensive.

The Baltic nations and Poland earlier Thursday called on international sports bodies to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in the Olympics and other events while the war in Ukraine continues. "Efforts to return Russian and Belarusian athletes to international sports competitions under the veil of neutrality legitimize political decisions and widespread propaganda of these countries," it added. They called on "all international sports organizations and federations" to remove Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions until the war ends. Latvia joined Kyiv on Wednesday in threatening to boycott the 2024 Olympics and qualifiers if Russian and Belarusian athletes are included while the war continues in Ukraine. The Paris Olympics will be held from July 26-Aug. 11 next year and the Paralympics from Aug. 28-Sept. 8.

The EU froze funds earmarked for Hungary and Poland over their nationalist governments' track record of undercutting liberal democratic rules. Portugal had disbursed 1.4 billion euros, or 8.5% of the total recovery funds assigned to it, to project promoters by the end of 2022. Romania and Portugal are the two countries pushing hardest to extend the 2026 deadline and Spain and other Eastern European countries are supporting their demands, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said. Some countries are devising workarounds for projects that are particularly important and look like they are unlikely to meet the deadline, said a source. This would imply budgeting and allocating funds before the projects have been commissioned in order to meet the 2026 deadline, the person said.

The Romanian central bank said slower economic growth and cheaper energy would help bring inflation down to single digits this year from over 16% now, earlier than previously forecast. "So the main question is when inflation in the region will fall enough that central banks will be willing to start normalising monetary conditions." Inflation is still expected to rise in early 2023 in some central European countries, based on central bank forecasts, before returning to single-digit territory by year-end. "This will help to improve external positions and lower inflation pressures in Central and Eastern Europe." "Given the dovish bias around the growth-inflation trade-off at Poland's central bank, we think the risk of premature policy easing is greatest there."

☆ Polish regulator accuses T-Mobile of misleading advertising
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Polish regulator UOKiK has accused the Polish unit of T-Mobile of misleading advertising relating to a free mobile data offer, with the company potentially facing a fine of 10% of annual revenue. "After reading the advertisement, the consumer should have a general, but realistic, idea of the presented offer," the head of UOKiK Tomasz Chrostny said in a statement. "The T-Mobile promotional slogan may suggest receiving a one-time data package of 1200 GB, and not a dozen or so smaller packages, provided that the fee is paid periodically." T-Mobile Polska did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment. ($1 = 4.3822 zlotys)Reporting by Alan Charlish, Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Poland ready for Russian oil ban, says minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Group of Seven (G7) nations and allies including Poland this month agreed a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude. In response, President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a decree that bans the supply of crude oil and oil products from Feb. 1 for five months to nations abiding by the cap. Poland has been gradually reducing its intake of Russian oil, and after the start of the war in Ukraine stopped buying seaborne Russian oil, top refiner PKN Orlen said. "We are prepared to process all types of crude oil, this is our advantage," Minister of Climate and Environment Anna Moskwa told a news conference. Moskwa also said that she believed the next EU sanctions package would include a decision on banning Russian oil.

Ukraine has shared a list with European countries of some 10,000 items it urgently needs to maintain power. Since early October, Russian forces have targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, causing blackouts and forcing millions of people to endure sub-zero temperatures with little or no heating. As stockpiles of state-owned European power grids dwindle, Lorkowski expected the private sector to become more important in meeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure needs. A first tranche of U.S. power equipment worth $13 million has been shipped to Ukraine, officials said, and two more planeloads were due to leave shortly. Olena Osmolovska, director of the reform support team at Ukraine's energy ministry, said it would cost tens of billions of dollars to fully restore the energy system.

From almost nothing five years ago, the institutional residential property market has grown to the point where investors say housing is starting to challenge office buildings as a focus for their cash. And higher yields and scope for growth are spurring new projects, market players say. "We are currently surprised ourselves by the speed of the change and how the market is changing," he told Reuters. "Many institutional investors are looking to gain the first mover advantage and moving in," Wysokińska-Kuzdra told Reuters. The war in Ukraine has also created uncertainty, so that some investors are focused only on finishing current projects.

☆ Top 25 roundup: No. 5 Houston deals No. 2 Virginia first loss
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

2 Virginia its first loss, 69-61, Saturday in Charlottesville, Va.Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark added 13 points each, while Jamal Shead had 11 points and four assists. Furst finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Smith posted 10 points and 12 rebounds. Sam Mennenga led Davidson (7-4) with 14 points and Foster Loyer, Fletcher's brother, had 11 points. Kevin McCullar contributed 11 points, 11 rebounds and five steals, while KJ Adams and Jalen Wilson added 11 points apiece. Trayce Jackson-Davis had 13 points and a career-high nine blocked shots for Indiana (8-3), which lost its second straight game.

REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte/File PhotoDec 13 (Reuters) - For the energy industry, 2022 will be remembered as the year Russia's invasion of Ukraine accelerated a global energy crisis. The world's top energy companies beat a hasty retreat from Russia and wrote off tens of billions of dollars in assets. WHY IT MATTERSRussia's invasion of Ukraine caused European countries to re-evaluate their relationship with that nation, long the continent's primary supplier of natural gas. "We are seeing nothing less than the termination of a successful 50-year partnership on gas between Russia and Europe," said Michael Stoppard, special adviser and global gas analyst at S&P Global Commodity Insights. As the year comes to a close, costs for natural gas and heating fuel have ebbed as economic activity declines.

☆ Czech president: will appoint new members of central bank board on Dec. 14
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PRAGUE, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Czech President Milos Zeman will appoint new members to the Czech National Bank board on Dec. 14, the president said on Sunday. President Zeman did not say who would replace two board members - Vice-Governor Marek Mora and board member Oldrich Dedek - whose terms expire in mid-February. "In the case of the new members of the central bank board, whom I will appoint on Wednesday, the appointment comes some time before they take office, that is a common practice," Zeman said in an interview broadcast live on Czech Radio. Under the Czech constitution, the president has sole power to appoint central bankers. Several board members, including Governor Ales Michl, suggested that inflation might be already peaking, in line with the central bank staff macroeconomic forecast.

Lignite contains several times more sulphur and ash, and five times more mercury, than black coal, and provides three times less energy. It also loosened restrictions on selling coal waste, which can be highly polluting, taking Poland back to the days before 2018, when the rules for coal were tightened to fight smog. In September, PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski even told residents of Nowy Targ, the town with the lowest air quality in Poland in 2020, to burn pretty much whatever they wanted. Smog has been intense over the past days and we have a lot of children in need of intensive treatment," she said. COAL RUSHAbout 80% of the coal used by European Union citizens to heat homes is burned in Poland.

☆ Exclusive: Poland seeking German support to sanction Russian Druzhba oil pipeline
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The EU has pledged to stop buying Russian oil via maritime routes from Dec. 5 but Druzhba is currently exempt from sanctions. The southern section of the pipeline supplies Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic which, unlike Poland and Germany, would struggle to diversify their oil imports. Poland and Germany promised in spring to try to end Russian oil imports via Druzhba's northern leg by the end of year but Orlen remains tied to its contract with Russian oil and gas company Tatneft. The company has already cut its reliance on Russian oil to 30% of its requirement, replacing it with deliveries from Saudi Arabia and Norway among others. Kommersant newspaper reported earlier this month that Orlen had submitted an application to the Russian oil pipeline operator Transneft for the supply of 3 million tonnes of oil to Poland through Druzhba in 2023.

☆ EU countries unhappy with 275 euro gas cap proposal
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The long-standing disagreements were holding up other policies to alleviate the acute energy crisis, such as the launch of joint EU gas purchases and a quicker permit process for renewables. Polish Climate Minister Anna Moskwa called the 275 euro blueprint put forward by the European Commission "a joke". "It could help us reduce gas prices and therefore reduce electricity prices, which is a major challenge in Europe this winter," he said. Energy minister Miriam Dalli said the strict conditions needed for the mechanism to kick in made it "next to impossible". But the issue of whether and how to cap gas prices has split the bloc.

☆ Polish climate minister says EU gas cap proposal is a 'joke'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The European Union's gas price cap proposal is a 'joke', Polish climate minister Anna Moskwa said on Thursday. Moskwa's criticism followed disagreement among the 27 European Union countries on Wednesday over a proposal to cap future gas prices at 275 euros per megawatt hour (MWh). read more"The gas cap proposal is key, but what emerged the day before yesterday is a joke. it was presented at the last moment and deviates from what had been proposed before and isn't acceptable as it's higher than current market prices," Moskwa said in Brussels. As many as 15 EU countries including Poland, Italy and Greece want a cap, while a camp led by Germany argues that a cap could hamper gas supplies.

☆ Polish regulator to appeal after Gazprom Nord Stream 2 fine annulled
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, Nov 21 (Reuters) - UOKiK will appeal a ruling that annulled fines it imposed on Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) and five other companies responsible for building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the Polish regulator said on Monday. UOKiK in 2020 fined Gazprom more than 29 billion zlotys ($6.33 billion) for building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline without Warsaw's approval. It also imposed a total fine of 234 million zloty spread across five other companies involved in financing the project. The other companies affected by the fines were Engie Energy (ENGIE.PA), Uniper (UN01.DE), OMV (OMVV.VI), Shell (SHEL.L) and Wintershall. Poland was a staunch opponent of the Nord Stream 2 project because it feared Russia could use energy supplies to exert influence over European countries.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Wednesday that access to the site of the explosion would require the agreement of both countries leading the investigation, Poland and the United States. "The Ukrainians asked for access to the site of the investigation. You see shots over Ukraine, fighting over Ukraine, and at some point, in a very short time, you see a certain sequence of events," he added. Police officers walk near the site of an explosion in Przewodow, a village in eastern Poland near the border with Ukraine, November 16, 2022. Przewodow is less than 10 kilometres away from one of the two power lines linking Poland and Ukraine.

KYIV/WARSAW/LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Ukraine has few viable options currently to boost grain exports by rail, road or river barge anytime soon if a United Nations-brokered deal with Moscow to export by sea runs into trouble. Ukraine has shipped grain by truck and train via its western border and through small Danube river ports in the south west. But the capacity on those routes is much smaller than from its sea ports - meaning there is no significant plan B if the sea corridor falters. "Rail and truck capacity can maybe be increased 3-5% but no more, because the infrastructure of Europe can't absorb our grain. They are not ready on truck, on rail, on river barge, on storage, to accept this grain at volume," he said.

Search resuls for: "Marek"

25 mentions found