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☆ EU seeks to use frozen Russian funds to rebuild Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

OSLO, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The European Union will on Wednesday launch an ad hoc group to investigate how billions of dollars in frozen Russian funds, including central bank reserves, can be used for reconstruction work in Ukraine, the Swedish government said on Tuesday. "The mandate is to contribute to mapping which funds have been frozen in the European Union ... and secondly how to legally proceed to access those funds," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a news conference in Stockholm. "It's Russian tax payers, not all other tax payers, who must bear the cost of the necessary reconstruction work," Kristersson added. Among the key assets will be Russian central bank funds expected to amount to tens of billions of dollars, Ahnlid said. "The EU has never before used frozen funds for the reconstruction of a war-torn country, so we are in a sense chartering new territory," Ahnlid added.

☆ NATO boss: more important Sweden, Finland join soon than together
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Andrew Gray | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Western officials have said they would prefer both countries to join NATO together, partly because it would be easier to integrate them at the same time into military structures. "The main question is not whether Finland and Sweden are ratified together. The main question is that they are both ratified as full members as soon as possible," he told reporters. "I'm confident that both will be full members and I'm working hard to get both ratified as soon as possible." Stoltenberg said Sweden and Finland had already come much closer to NATO in recent months and noted that all alliance members had approved the invitations to join.

☆ Factbox: Will Ukraine get Western fighter jets and what are the challenges?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday several Western countries were ready to provide Kyiv with aircraft to defeat Russia's invasion. Ukraine has been asking allies to provide modern fighter jets - dubbed "wings for freedom" in Zelenskiy's speech to British lawmakers this week - to replace its ageing fleet of Soviet MiG and Sukhoi planes. WILL UKRAINE GET THE FIGHTER JETS? Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson did not rule out sending fighter jets but played down expectations, saying the issue was not on Stockholm's agenda at the moment. The Kremlin has said that Western countries would be moving towards direct conflict with Russia if they send jets.

☆ Germany's Bosch to increase stake in Sweden's Husqvarna to 12%
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Shares in Husqvarna, a garden equipment company, were up 12.6% by 0839 GMT following the announcement of the deal. The garden equipment company makes outdoor power products, consumer watering products, cutting equipment and diamond tools for construction and stone industries. Bosch's power tools division set up a "Power for All Alliance" together with Husqvarna subsidiary Gardena in 2020. The 10-brand alliance features products relating to all home-based activities for the European market, Bosch said. The German company has so far bought less than 5% of Husqvarna shares and has an agreement for around 7% more, a Bosch spokesperson said.

LONDON/FRANKFURT, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Rising borrowing costs are giving a long-awaited lift to Europe's beleaguered banks, but they come with a sting in the tail. Last year central banks ended a decade of rock-bottom interest rates as the U.S. Federal Reserve and then the European Central Bank moved towards tightening. But while rising rates are good news for bank profits, they herald a slowdown in an economy hit by war and runaway prices that squeeze borrowers and could prick pricing bubbles, most notably in property. "On the one hand, interest rates are going up, which is good and helps banks," said Jerome Legras of Axiom Alternative Investments. Germany's financial regulator BaFin recently warned that a rapid rise in interest rates could weigh on some banks, and that loans may sour.

☆ Erdogan to Sweden: Don't expect Turkish support for NATO bid after Stockholm protest
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ANKARA, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Sweden should not expect Turkey's support for its NATO membership after a protest near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm at the weekend including the burning of a copy of the Koran, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday. "Those who allow such blasphemy in front of our embassy (in Stockholm) can no longer expect our support for their NATO membership," Erdogan said in a speech after a cabinet meeting. "But Sweden will respect the agreement that exists between Sweden, Finland and Turkey regarding our NATO membership," he added. Sweden and Finland applied last year to join NATO following Russia's invasion of Ukraine but all 30 member states must approve their bids. Turkey had already summoned Sweden's ambassador about the incident, cancelled a planned visit by Swedish defence minister to Ankara and strongly condemned the event.

☆ Protests in Stockholm, including Koran-burning, draw condemnation from Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Permitting this anti-Islam act, which targets Muslims and insults our sacred values, under the guise of freedom of expression is completely unacceptable," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. The Turkish ministry urged Sweden to take necessary actions against the perpetrators and invited all countries to take concrete steps against Islamophobia. Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said that Islamophobic provocations were appalling. "Saudi Arabia calls for spreading the values of dialogue, tolerance, and coexistence, and rejects hatred and extremism," the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "We will continue our opposition to the Swedish NATO application," Thomas Pettersson, spokesperson for Alliance Against NATO and one of organizers of the demonstration, told Reuters.

☆ Sweden to send infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

STOCKHOLM, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The Swedish government announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine on Thursday that will include armoured infantry fighting vehicles and the Archer artillery system. "Ukraine's victory in this war is of almost indescribable importance," Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a news conference, adding that Ukraine was fighting for the freedom of all of Europe. Sweden will send about 50 of its tracked and armoured Type 90 infantry fighting vehicles. The government did not specify how many Archer systems it would supply. The focus is expected to be on whether Germany will send its Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine or at least approve their transfer from third countries.

☆ Swedish inflation runs red hot in December, raising pressure on Riksbank
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Johan Ahlander | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast headline inflation of 9.9% while the Riksbank saw annual price increases running at 9.1% in its most recent forecast in November. The central bank targets 2 percent CPIF inflation. "This means that headline inflation will probably be close to the Riksbank's forecast again already in January. Central banks around the world have reacted sharply to soaring inflation, jacking up interest rates and squeezing mortgage borrowers. CPI inflation was 2.1 percent on the month and 12.3 percent on the year.

☆ Sweden's LKAB finds Europe's biggest deposit of rare earth metals
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

STOCKHOLM, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Swedish state-owned mining company LKAB said on Thursday it had identified mineral resources of more than one million tonnes of rare earth oxides in the Kiruna area, the largest known such deposit in Europe. Rare earth minerals are essential to many high-tech manufacturing processes and are used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, portable electronics and microphones and speakers. "This is good news, not only for LKAB, the region and the Swedish people, but also for Europe and the climate," LKAB CEO Jan Mostrom said in a statement. The European Commission considers rare earths to be among the most critical resources for the region. Still, the road to mining the deposit in Sweden is a long one.

The proposed new legislation, which still needs to be passed by parliament, would allow new reactors to be constructed at additional locations across Sweden and was seen being in place in March next year. "We have an obvious need for more electricity production in Sweden," Kristersson told a news conference. "What we are doing today is changing legislation to allow for the construction of more nuclear reactors at more places." Any expansion of nuclear power in Sweden could take many years given the complexity of such projects while energy demand is expected to rise sharply in coming years. Sweden currently has six operational reactors, half of what it once had, and temporary closures for maintenance of some of them have contributed to push up electricity prices in the Nordic country in recent months.

☆ Ericsson profit margin to reach low end of target range by 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Company to reach lower end of 15-18% EBITA range by 2024Accelerating cost cuts of 9 bln SEK by end of next yearSTOCKHOLM, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson (ERICb.ST) said on Thursday it was committed to reaching the lower end of its long-term target of a profit (EBITA) margin of 15-18% by 2024 as it outlined strategy to investors. Ericsson reported an EBITA margin of 11.2% for the third quarter as higher investment in technology, selling expenses and one-off costs weighed on profitability. Ericsson forecast the 5G radio access network (RAN) market would see annual growth of 11% over the next three years while the overall market was seen flat. "Ericsson is planning for a flat RAN market and is structuring its cost base and operations accordingly," it said. Reporting by Niklas Pollard, editing by Terje SolsvikOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ericsson sees margin at lower end of target; pushes for cost cuts
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SummarySummary Companies Company to reach lower end of 15-18% EBITA range by 2024Accelerating cost cuts of 9 bln SEK by end of next yearSTOCKHOLM, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson (ERICb.ST) said on Thursday it would reach the lower end of its long-term target of a profit (EBITA) margin of 15-18% by 2024 as several of its more profitable markets show signs of slowing down. While U.S. and other markets are slowing down, Ericsson is hoping newer markets such as India would help it balance some of the lower demand for 5G equipment. The company is now accelerating plans to cut costs by 9 billion crowns ($880 million) by the end of 2023. While demand for 5G equipment has been strong, the early stages of rollouts tend to have lower margins, meaning telecom groups such as Ericsson and Finnish rival Nokia (NOKIA.HE) rely on patent royalties to boost profits. On Wednesday, Ericsson said U.S. regulators had extended its monitoring of the company for compliance following the 2019 settlement for one more year.

☆ Telecom equipment maker Ericsson divests Russian operation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

HELSINKI, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson (ERICb.ST) said on Thursday it had divested a customer support operation in Russia. The new owners of the business, that has some 40 employees, come from the management of Ericsson's Russian subsidiary, the company said in a statement. Ericsson has previously announced it had decided to wind down its Russian businesses that used to employ 400 people. Reporting by Essi Lehto; editing by Niklas PollardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Nobel awards to take place in Stockholm with full glitz and glamour
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NTB/Haakon Mosvold Larsen via REUTERSSTOCKHOLM, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Nobel laureates congregated in the Swedish capital Stockholm on Saturday for the first fully in-person award ceremonies complete with a formal banquet since the COVID-19 pandemic that curtailed events in the past two years. Five of the six Nobel prizes are awarded in Stockholm every year after a nomination process that is kept secret for the next 50 years. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo where separate festivities are held. The Nobel Foundation has also snubbed the ambassadors of Russia and Belarus, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Jailed Belarusian activist Ales Byalyatski, Russian rights group Memorial and Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties won the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.

☆ Swedbank sees income growth outpacing costs as eyes set on ROE boost
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The rival of banks including Handelsbanken (SHBa.ST), SEB (SEBa.ST) and Nordea (NDAFI.HE) said in a statement it would maintain its dividend policy of a 50% payout ratio and that any excess capital would be distributed to shareholders. "A sustainable bank is a profitable bank. Our target is therefore to reach a 15% return on equity," Chief Executive Jens Henriksson said. The bank, which is holding a capital markets day for investors and analysts on Tuesday, recorded a return on equity of 12.4% in the first nine months of this year. Reporting by Niklas Pollard, editing by Anna RingstromOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Buy-now, pay-later kingpin Klarna's valuation dropped from $45.6 billion to $6.7 billion in 2022. Its CEO wants a 'sane market' before IPO.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Buy-now, pay-later firm Klarna wants 'a sane market' before IPO. The company is losing hundreds of millions of dollars annually, but says it is reducing credit losses. Klarna took a valuation haircut to $6.7 billion and carried out two rounds of job cuts in 2022. At one time, the company was the most highly valued startup in Europe with a valuation of $45.6 billion. That plunged by 85% to just $6.5 billion as the company raised again this year in a tougher market.

☆ Analysis: German exit not as shocking as it looks
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Shady Amir | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Data company Nielsen Gracenote gave them a 41% chance of failing to progress on the back of their recent struggles. The second goal was no different. Neuer saved a header from Juan Pablo Vargas but the ball deflected off the German keeper and into the net. On that occasion it was the first time that Germany had failed to pass the group stage since 1938 - which was a different format. After Fuellkrug's introduction they looked more dangerous as he set up Germany's second goal for Kai Havertz.

☆ Spain make one change in defence, Germany replace Havertz
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Steve Keating | Hritika Sharma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AL KHOR, Qatar, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Spain coach Luis Enrique made one change to his starting lineup against Germany in their World Cup Group E on Sunday following their opening 7-0 demolition of Costa Rica, with Dan Carvajal replacing Cesar Azpilicueta in defence. The Spaniards, who will all but qualify with a win over the Germans, were otherwise unchanged in attack with Dani Olmo, Feran Torres and Marco Asensio. Germany, who suffered a shock opening loss to Japan and are in desperate need of points, brought on fullback Thilo Kehrer in the place of Nico Schlotterbeck. Coach Hansi Flick also dropped forward Kai Havertz, boosting his midfield with Leon Goretzka. Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Germany look for great escape against Spain to avoid early exit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Karolos Grohmann | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

They have conceded six goals in their last four internationals but now have to find a way to shut out Spain, who fired seven past Costa Rica in their group opener. Germany backed down despite a promise to wear it only 48 hours prior to their game. Spain, on the other had, have none of the pressure their European counterparts are feeling. After years of being expected to deliver titles, Spain have entered the tournament with a lighter load on their shoulders under coach Luis Enrique and have already set records. Barcelona's 18-year-old Gavi became the country's youngest World Cup player, and the youngest to score since Brazil great Pele in 1958 after netting in their 7-0 win over Costa Rica.

☆ Swedish c.bank raises policy rate to 2.5%, will keep hiking
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

STOCKHOLM, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Sweden's central bank raised its key rate by three-quarters of a percentage point on Thursday to 2.5% and signalled it would tighten policy further next year to fight surging inflation. "The forecast shows that the policy rate will probably be raised further at the beginning of next year and then be just below 3 per cent." Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a 75 basis point hike and that the central bank would raise its rate-path forecast. In the United States, the Federal Reserve may soon scale back the pace of its interest rate rises after four consecutive 75 basis point increases. In Europe, some rate-setters at the European Central Bank argue there is a risk of inflation becoming entrenched.

☆ Swedish c.bank set to hike policy rate to 2.5% this week, poll shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Simon Johnson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

But core inflation continues to pick up speed and thirteen of sixteen analysts in the poll forecast a hike to 2.5% when the central bank announces it policy decision on Nov. 24. "After high inflation in October, most indications point to a rate hike by at least 75 bps," banking group SEB said. The central bank forecast rates would peak at 2.5%. Households are already struggling with a cost-of-living crisis and the economy is expected to slow sharply - banking group Nordea expects a 2% contraction in GDP and the central bank a 0.7% fall in 2023. Furthermore, the European Central Bank (ECB) doubled its deposit rate to 1.5% at the end of October and promised more tightening in the months to come.

☆ Sweden to deliver its biggest military aid package yet to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

STOCKHOLM, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Sweden will deliver new military aid worth 3 billion crowns ($287 million) to Ukraine, its biggest package of defence material to date which included an air defence system, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said. "It's a bigger military support package than all eight previous packages combined," Kristersson told a news conference. Defence Minister Pal Jonson said the new package of military equipment included an air defence system and ammunition from the stock piles of its armed forces, much needed to defend Ukraine against a fierce onslaught of Russian missiles in recent weeks. Sweden's previous Social Democrat government, which lost to Kristersson's right-wing coalition in elections in September, had agreed several tranches of aid to Ukraine, both military and humanitarian, worth well over 1 billion crowns. ($1 = 10.4538 Swedish crowns)Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, Stine Jacobsen and Niklas PollardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Teenager Moukoko, veteran Goetze in Germany's World Cup squad
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

FRANKFURT, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Germany handed a surprise call-up to Borussia Dortmund teenager Youssoufa Moukoko in their World Cup squad on Thursday as 2014 World Cup winner Mario Goetze marked a sensational return to the national team set up after five years. "Mario Goetze is there. Bayern Munich provided a strong midfield core with Thomas Mueller, teenager Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich. Keeper Manuel Neuer will lead the team and remains first choice for the fourth consecutive World Cup. Reus had also missed the 2014 World Cup after suffering an injury on the eve of their departure for Brazil where they won the title.

☆ Every World Cup 2022 squad announced: USMNT, Germany, Belgium and more
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

CNN —‘Tis the season for wall charts and fans gathering around to pick their starting teams for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. “It’s always difficult when a guy helps you get to the World Cup, he scores three goals in World Cup qualifying and isn’t going to be a part of the program. Again, it’s more about who we did add that we felt good about.”All but one of the 26 will be making their World Cup debut at this year’s tournament and, according to the USMNT, it will be the youngest team to qualify for the World Cup. Octavio Passos/Getty Images Europe/Getty ImagesGhanaManager: Otto AddoThe final squad has not been announced yet. READ: Meet Otto Addo, the coach responsible for guiding some of Europe’s brightest young talents (2021)—–PortugalManager: Fernando SantosThe final squad has not been announced yet.

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