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Russia considers proposal to buy up to $16bn of yuan in 2022

Russia’s government is considering a proposal which says Moscow could buy $3-4 billion worth of Chinese yuan a month to help stem the rouble’s rise, but that it does not make sense for the country to accumulate illiquid currencies longer-term. Flush with oil income, Russia is looking for ways to replenish reserves under a revived […]

Liz Truss
  • Analysis

Truss appointment as UK PM is good news for Gulf, say experts

Liz Truss is to be the UK’s next prime minister, after beating former chancellor Rishi Sunak in the contest to lead the Conservative Party. Truss secured 81,326 votes to Sunak’s 60,399 in a ballot of party members. She will take office on Tuesday after a meeting with the Queen. The new prime minister’s in-tray is […]

No time to waste, worried Italian business leaders warn politicians

Italy cannot afford weeks of political inertia after an election this month, business chiefs said, adding that sky-high energy prices are already forcing more and more firms to curtail production. Gathered on the shores of Lake Como for the annual Ambrosetti Forum this weekend, business owners lashed out at politicians for ousting Prime Minister Mario […]

Qatar to allow beer at World Cup three hours before kick-off

Qatar will permit ticketed fans to buy alcoholic beer at World Cup soccer matches starting three hours before kickoff and for one hour after the final whistle, but not during the match, a source with knowledge of plans for the tournament said. Budweiser, a major World Cup sponsor with exclusive rights to sell beer at […]

Banks battle back-to-office fatigue with ping pong, indoor gardens

Finance bosses are offering more incentives, including free meals, ping pong and “contemplative spaces” as they battle to get staff back to the office, while concerns about the cost and value of commuting to work weigh on attendance worldwide. Hybrid working policies were introduced across the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, but data seen by […]

Lamp, Collage, Advertisement

Aramco’s VC arm leads $13m funding for satellite operator

Luxembourg-based OQ Technology, a global 5G internet of things satellite operator, has raised 13 million euros ($13.05 million) in its Series A funding round co-led by Saudi Aramco’s Wa’ed Ventures and Greece’s Phaistos Investment Fund, according to a joint statement on Thursday. It is Wa’ed’s first investment overseas, since it expanded its mandate to pursue […]

US firm joins Yankees owners to complete AC Milan takeover

US investment firm RedBird Capital has joined forces with the owners of the New York Yankees to complete the 1.2 billion euro ($1.2 billion) acquisition of Italian soccer champions AC Milan, it said in a statement on Wednesday. Yankee Global Enterprises (YGE), owner of the New York baseball team, will take a minority equity stake […]

Last Soviet leader Gorbachev, who ended Cold War, dies at 91

Mikhail Gorbachev, who ended the Cold War without bloodshed but failed to prevent the collapse of the Soviet Union, died on Tuesday at the age of 91, hospital officials in Moscow said. Gorbachev, the last Soviet president, forged arms reduction deals with the United States and partnerships with Western powers to remove the Iron Curtain […]

Russia’s Ozon opens Turkish office to help cross-border orders

Russian e-commerce firm Ozon said on Tuesday it would open a local office in Turkey and make it easier for consumers to make cross-border orders, helping Russian shoppers to buy goods directly from Turkish sellers on its platform. As Western sanctions have rained down on Russia over its actions in Ukraine, commercial ties between Moscow […]

New deals aim to enhance UK-Qatar trade and investments

The UK has enhanced its relationship with Qatar, its third largest Gulf trading partner, with the announcement of two new agreements to boost trade and investment. UK trade minister Ranil Jayawardena met Qatar’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Thani in London last week to agree the partnerships at the third UK-Qatar […]

Dubai hotel rates surge by up to 75% during World Cup

Dubai Marathon has been forced to move its upcoming race in December 2022 to February 2023, as organisers said the massive demand by football fans to base themselves in the emirate has resulted in a lack of hotel rooms, with average daily rates during the tournament rising by as much as 75 percent. “Thousands of […]

UAE sees dramatic rise in flight bookings from Russia

The UAE has seen a hefty rise in flight bookings from Russia as domestic tourists, shut off from most western countries, flock to the emirates for leisure and business. Air travel from Russia to the UAE during the first eight months of the year exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 27 percent, according to London-based ForwardKeys, a […]

Turks frustrated by ‘deliberate’ visa rejection by European nations

Turkish sports presenter Sinem Okten was surprised to see her visa application to Europe’s Schengen area rejected twice, having visited often to cover matches and interview figures like Italian keeper Gianluigi Buffon and Liverpool’s Juergen Klopp. “I applied first to Germany then to France. Both rejected my application,” she said. “I’ve travelled abroad numerous times […]

Russian central bank eases forex restrictions for banks

Russia’s central bank said on Saturday a slight easing of foreign currency restrictions on banks that took effect this week would boost the supply of cash dollars and euros on the local market. Under current rules, banks have only been allowed to sell foreign currency cash that had been bought from individuals after April 9. […]

Bread, Food, Croissant

Cash-rich Germany criticised by watchdog over money laundering

Germany has been criticised by a global watchdog for failing to do enough to tackle money laundering, such as by prosecuting very few for the crime despite being one of the globe’s biggest cash centres. The report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global body that groups countries from the United States to […]

Car, Automobile, Vehicle

Britain looks to the Gulf as recession looms

At the height of a long hot summer of discontent, the decision by PIF, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, to take a stake in Aston Martin came as welcome relief to British industry.  As inflation soars and recession looms in the UK, it is hoped the £78 million pledge not only signals a turnaround for […]

Person, Human, Crowd

Alabbar to acquire stake in online retailer YOOX Net-A-Porter

Richemont Wednesday announced a long-awaited deal to offload most of its online fashion retailer YOOX Net-A-Porter (YNAP), clearing the way for its labels to sign up for technology run by luxury e-commerce specialist Farfetch. The deal, removing from its books a loss-making business that had become a distraction for the Swiss luxury group, was welcomed […]

Northacre sees ‘pent-up demand’ for London from GCC investors

The Dubai-owned developer behind plans to transform the former Metropolitan Police HQ in London says it is seeing “lots of pent-up demand” from GCC-based investors. Walid El-Hindi, group CEO of Northacre, a subsidiary of Dubai-based Shuaa Capital, told AGBI that London remains a “safe haven” for buyers from the Gulf and wider Middle East region. […]

To get ahead, plastics producers need to be running in circles

The volume of plastics produced globally every year has soared over the past half century, from 15 million tonnes in 1964 to more than 300 million tonnes today. This figure is forecast to double again over the next two decades and nearly quadruple by 2050. But synthetic polymers have one major drawback: they generally take […]

Damac's data centre company Edgnex has started work on a Riyadh facility

Dubai’s Damac to invest $990m in data centres in Germany

Dubai-based conglomerate Damac Group is planning to invest $990 million in data centres and technology acquisitions in Germany. The company is currently on a fact-finding expedition in the European country to identify opportunities. “It’s a very interesting time now in Germany, especially for future-oriented industries and the country has a lot of opportunities in sectors […]

Talks under way to forge UK-GCC trade deal

Discussions to broker a trade agreement between the UK and GCC have begun, with the trade commissioner for the Middle East, Simon Penney, describing the Gulf as an “important region” for the UK.   “Today marks the launch of the first round of negotiations towards a UK GCC Free Trade Agreement,” Penney said.  “The GCC is […]