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☆ EU top court adviser backs FX borrowers, Polish bank stocks fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Anna Koper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The country's KNF financial watchdog has warned that the banking sector could face a 100 billion zlotys hit in case of an unfavourable ruling. He added that if Polish courts grant remuneration to consumers the additional cost would be similar in the worst case scenario. Hundreds of thousands of Poles took out mortgages in foreign currencies, mainly in Swiss francs, attracted by lower interest rates. Many mortgage holders took banks to court, while banks started offering settlements to find an out-of-court solution. The total stock of foreign currency mortgages in Poland stood at almost 79 billion zloty in December based on the latest available KNF data, with Swiss franc mortgages accounting for over 52 billion zloty.

☆ Mobile games developer Huuuge stock leaps on buyback plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 16 (Reuters) - Mobile games developer Huuuge Inc (HUGP.WA) plans to launch an up to $150 million share buyback this quarter following a review of strategic options, it said late on Wednesday, sending the stock sharply higher at the market opening. U.S.-registered Huuuge, which debuted in Warsaw in 2021, launched the review of strategic options in August and shortly afterwards suspended an earlier buyback. It said could still postpone or cancel the new buyback depending on market conditions and the company's circumstances. Huuuge has yet to disclose price details of the buyback. Last week, the maker of Huuuge Casino and Billionaire Casino games reported preliminary core profit up 28% to $82 million following lower marketing spend.

☆ EU sues Poland over violations of EU law by Constitutional Tribunal
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Jan Strupczewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 15 (Reuters) - The European Commission sued Poland on Wednesday in the EU's top court over violations of EU law by the Polish Constitutional Tribunal and its case law, the Commission said in a statement. The Commission's move on Wednesday was triggered by rulings by the Polish Constitutional Tribunal from July and October 2021 that provisions of EU Treaties were incompatible with the Polish constitution, expressly challenging the primacy of EU law over national law. "The Constitutional Tribunal with these rulings breached the general principles of autonomy, primacy, effectiveness, uniform application of Union law and the binding effect of rulings of the Court of Justice of the EU," the Commission said. Primacy of EU law ensures equal application of EU law across the Union," the Commission said. The Constitutional Tribunal is charged with checking if laws passed by parliament and signed by the president into law are compatible with the Polish constitution.

☆ Heineken sees 2023 profit increase despite Europe weakness
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Heineken alcohol free beers are seen in a refrigerator in Warsaw, Poland on 01 September, 2022. The world's second-largest brewer reported a higher-than-expected 2022 profit as beer demand recovered from the pandemic. Heineken , the world's second-largest brewer, repeated its forecast of a profit increase this year despite weakness in Europe, as it reported a higher-than-expected 2022 profit on the back of a recovery in beer drinking to pre-pandemic levels. Chief Executive Dolf van den Brink said beer sales in Europe had proven resilient, with a rise in the fourth quarter from a year earlier. "But given the price increases that will have to be taken due to the enormous increase in energy costs, particularly in Europe, we still expect declining volumes in Europe for the year 2023," he told Reuters in a telephone interview.

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskiy met JPMorgan bankers over rebuilding efforts
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with bankers from JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) last week to get their advice on rebuilding the country and weathering the financial impact of the war, according to a statement from the president's office. "The full resources of JPMorgan Chase are available to Ukraine as it charts its post-conflict path to growth." The bank also convened a virtual investment meeting attended by 200 corporations, investors and financial firms as Ukraine steps up efforts to lock in financial support from businesses to help rebuild the country. Global ratings agency Moody's last week downgraded Ukraine's sovereign rating to 'Ca' from 'Caa3', as it expects the war with Russia to create long-lasting challenges. JPMorgan has helped the country raise about $25 billion in sovereign debt since 2010, and was the sole purchaser of $350 million of Ukrainian bonds in March 2019.

☆ Olympics row deepens as 35 countries demand ban for Russia and Belarus
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Andrius Sytas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

With war raging in Ukraine, the Baltic States, Nordic countries and Poland had called on international sports bodies to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in the Olympics. "At the same time, we know that 70 percent of Russian athletes are soldiers. He said that most participants had been in favour of an absolute exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes. The IOC has opened the door for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals. While Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of host city Paris, has said Russian athletes should not take part, Paris 2024 organisers have said they will abide by the IOC's decision on the issue.

☆ Polish c.bankers see CPI falling from Q2 -minutes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WARSAW, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Most members of Poland's Monetary Policy Council (MPC) said inflation in will start to gradually return towards the central bank's target rage from the second quarter of 2023, according to minutes from the sitting. The National Bank of Poland (NBP) left its main interest rate unchanged at 6.75% in January. Reporting by Alan Charlish, Pawel FlorkiewiczOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Belarus says Poland closing border crossing point is 'catastrophic' decision
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 10 (Reuters) - Belarus on Friday slammed a decision by Poland to close a border checkpoint between the two countries as "catastrophic", saying it could lead to a "collapse" on both sides of the border. "The actions of the Polish authorities could lead to a collapse on both sides of the border," Belarus' border committee said in a statement shared on social media. After the closure comes into force, only two of six major land crossing points along the two countries' 400-km (249 mile) border will be open, Belarus' border force said in a statement. "With the closure of another Polish checkpoint, the situation will become catastrophic," Belarus' border force added, pointing to already existing long lines at border crossings. Minsk also said it believed the decision was purposefully designed to "further aggravate the situation at the border and limit citizens' travel."

☆ IMF to meet Ukraine officials in Warsaw next week -source
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - International Monetary Fund staff will meet with Ukrainian officials in Warsaw next week, a source familiar with the plans said on Friday, as Ukraine presses for a multi-billion dollar borrowing program to cover its funding needs given Russia's war. The Interfax Ukraine news agency earlier this month quoted Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko as saying that Ukraine hopes to start negotiations with the IMF during the second quarter of 2023. At the time, the IMF said "program monitoring with board support", or PMB, "should help pave the way toward a possible full-fledged IMF-supported program." The scope of that program is a source of ongoing debate, given existing IMF constraints on lending to a country at war. Experts say the country's needs could be far higher, given the extent of damage caused by Russian attacks in recent months.

☆ Moody's downgrades Ukraine rating on prolonged effects of Russia war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 10 (Reuters) - Global ratings agency Moody's downgraded Ukraine's sovereign rating to 'Ca' from 'Caa3' on Friday, as it expects the war with Russia to create long-lasting challenges for the country. The Moody's downgrade comes amid a new Russian offensive ahead of the first anniversary of the war that started on Feb. 24, with Russia hitting Ukraine's power grid and gaining ground in the east. The agency said challenges arising out of the ongoing war increase the risk to the country's debt sustainability. "Despite large financial support from international partners, Moody's expects that the war will continue to keep Ukraine's public finances and external position under severe pressure," the ratings agency said. Ratings agencies Fitch and S&P currently rate Ukraine at 'CC' and 'CCC+', respectively.

☆ 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.

☆ Too early to talk about rate cuts, says Poland's Glapinski
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Inflation in Poland should start slowing sharply after the first quarter and could fall to an annual rate of 6% by December, but it is still too early to talk about rate cuts, Central Bank Governor Adam Glapinski said on Thursday. It is too early to discuss rate cuts." Analysts said that despite Glapinski stressing that the bank has not officially closed its rate hiking cycle, limited rate cuts in the second half of the year could not be excluded. "We see increasing chances for some initial rate cuts before the end of 2023." Romania's central bank kept its benchmark interest rate on hold at 7.0% on Thursday, the first pause after a 16-month hiking cycle as it expects inflation to fall.

☆ Egypt opens 4,000-year-old tomb on Luxor's West Bank, oldest open to public
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities/Handout via REUTERSCAIRO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Egypt has restored, documented and opened to tourists the Middle Kingdom tomb of Meru, the oldest site accessible to the public on Luxor's West Bank, home to some of its most spectacular Pharaonic monuments including the Valley of the Kings. Meru's rock-hewn tomb was restored by the Polish Centre for Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Warsaw and Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. "This is the only decorated room of the tomb, with an unusual decoration of painting on lime plaster," Yassin said. Meru's tomb had been known since at least the mid-19th century, according to the Polish Egyptian archaeological mission. Some of the Middle Kingdom's most prominent officials were buried at North Asasif, the statement said.

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.

☆ Biden Expected to Visit Poland Around Anniversary of Russia’s Ukraine Invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Sabrina Siddiqui | Annie Linskey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

President Biden speaking in Warsaw last March about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. WASHINGTON—President Biden is expected to visit Poland this month around the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to people familiar with the plans. The trip isn’t yet finalized and is subject to change, the people said. A National Security Council spokesman declined to comment.

The potential sale includes High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), which Kyiv has praised for their battlefield successes such as destroying Russian warehouses and command posts. The package includes 18 HIMARS launchers, 45 of the 185-mile (297-km) range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles and more than 1,000 Guided Multiple Rocket Launch System (GMLRS) rockets. The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the potential sale on Tuesday. In May, Poland requested an additional 500 HIMARS launchers from the United States, but, according to Polish media, Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) said it was possible to offer around 200. In October, Poland signed an agreement to buy 288 Chunmoo rocket launchers from South Korea.

☆ Google announces Bard A.I. in response to ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

CEO of Alphabet and Google Sundar Pichai during press conference at the Chancellery in Warsaw, Poland on March 29, 2022. They included a chatbot called "Apprentice Bard," as well as new search desktop designs that could be used in a question-and-answer format. Google on Monday announced an artificial intelligence chatbot technology called " Bard " that the company will begin rolling out in the coming weeks. Bard will compete directly with rival ChatGPT , an AI service created by OpenAI. Google's prime business is web search, and the company has long touted itself as a pioneer in AI.

☆ U.S. President Biden to visit Poland, Polish president's adviser says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Feb 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will visit Poland, the Polish president's foreign policy adviser said on Saturday. "We already know for sure that President Joe Biden will respond positively to President Duda's invitation and will come to Poland," Marcin Przydacz said on public TV. Przydacz said that preparations are underway for the visit which "meets the expectations of both the White House and the expectations of the Polish side". "But for us it will be very important and crucial to continue supporting Poland's security ...," he added. President Biden said on Monday that he would visit Poland but did not know when.

WARSAW, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Poland aims to get training time on Leopard 2 battle tanks down to five weeks at a centre where Ukrainian soldiers are likely to be taught how to operate the Western battlefield workhorse against Russia's invasion. The village of Swietoszow in western Poland, near the German border, hosts one of just three Leopard training centres in Europe - the others are in Germany and Switzerland. "If we intensify training (by maximising the number of) instructors, our time and our weekends, we can train an entire crew in five weeks," Major Maciej Banaszynski, Poland's Leopard training centre commander, told Reuters on Tuesday. "Leopard tanks are third-generation tanks. Banaszynski said Polish instructors were running Leopard training courses for tank crews and for drivers.

☆ Russia's war in Ukraine backfired by uniting NATO, even as cracks emerged over nearly a year of fighting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Jake Epstein | John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

When Putin invaded Ukraine, he miscalculated the response from Western countries. NATO has been largely united in its response to Russia's war, consistently providing Kyiv with military aid. Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively succeeded in remaking the Western bloc, Araud said, adding that "the Western alliance is back." After the Soviet Union collapsed, both Finland and Sweden became NATO partner countries but stopped short of pursuing full membership. Even under the intense pressure of war, the alliance is "holding the way that they have in the past," he said.

☆ A fungus pandemic is unlikely, but not impossible. There's real science behind the mushroom zombies in HBO's new series 'The Last of Us.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The new HBO Max series "The Last of Us" depicts a zombie apocalypse caused by a fungus pandemic. Here's the science fact and fiction behind the show, and the possibility of a fungal pandemic. The new scenario, first realized in the video game that the show is based on, is making viewers wonder whether a fungus pandemic can happen in real life. "A fungal pandemic is definitely possible," Norman Van Rhijn, a mycologist researching fungal infections at the University of Manchester, told Insider in an email. Still, fungal infections are on the rise worldwide, and researchers are concerned that more and more people are at risk.

WARSAW—In a sprawling factory complex surrounded by derelict buildings, hundreds of technicians are working around the clock on one of the biggest challenges of Ukraine’s war: repairing artillery and heavy armor and returning it to the front line. Mechanics buzz around the football-field-sized workshop housing three AHS Krab guns, the air thick with the smell of metal dust and automotive grease. Two of the Krabs, which look like tanks but are self-propelled 155-caliber howitzer guns, are missing parts of their caterpillar tracks and are riddled with bullet holes and contorted metal.

☆ Poland to send 60 modernised tanks to Ukraine in addition to Leopards
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Poland sent 250 tanks as the first country half a year ago or even more than that," Mateusz Morawiecki told CTV News. In April last year, two months after Russia invaded Ukraine, Poland said it had sent tanks to held Kyiv fend off the assault. "Right now, we are ready to send 60 of our modernised tanks, 30 of them PT-91. And on top of those tanks, 14 tanks, Leopard 2 tanks, from in our possession." Canada on Thursday announced that it would send four Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine.

☆ The DOJ's antitrust case against Google is ambitious but risky
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

But alongside the possibility of great reward comes significant risk in seeking to push the boundaries of antitrust law. "All antitrust cases are an uphill battle for plaintiffs, thanks to 40 years of case law," said Rebecca Haw Allensworth, an antitrust professor at Vanderbilt Law School. But, Allensworth added, the government's challenges may be different than those in many other antitrust cases. Like all antitrust cases, this one is unlikely to be concluded anytime soon. "This is clearly the blockbuster case so far from the DOJ antitrust division," Francis said.

☆ Germany U-turns over battle tanks, saying it will send Leopard 2s to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Wednesday that Germany will provide Ukraine with 14 Leopard 2 tanks out of its own Bundeswehr (German armed forces) stocks. Germany said its goal was to "quickly assemble two tank battalions with Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine. As a first step, Germany will supply a company with 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks from Bundeswehr stocks. Reports emerged late Tuesday that Chancellor Scholz was ready to agree to send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, while the Biden administration was potentially prepared to provide a couple dozen M1 Abrams tanks. Warsaw on Tuesday sent a request to Berlin, asking permission to re-export 14 of its own Leopard tanks to Kyiv.

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