2024-12-30 10:29
CHISINAU, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean ordered his government on Monday to start preparing for the possible nationalisation of gas company Moldovagaz, which is 50%-owned by Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) , opens new tab. Gazprom has said it plans to suspend gas exports to Moldova from 0500 GMT on Jan. 1 due to unpaid debts. Speaking at a government meeting, Recean told his justice minister to prepare legislative changes that would allow the nationalisation. "We should act in strategic sectors. By the way, these facilities were also taken away from us once ... And we should return them to state ownership," Recean said, referring to the ownership structure when the company was set up in 2013. In addition to Gazprom's stake, pro-Russian enclave Transdniestria holds about 13%. Moldova's government owns 35.6%. Russia supplies Moldova with about 2 billion cubic metres of gas per year. It is piped via neighbouring Ukraine, whose gas transit deal with Russia expires on Dec. 31. Kyiv has refused to extend the gas transit deal as its war against Russia approaches its third year. Moldovagaz transports Russian gas to Transdniestria, where it is used to generate cheap power that is sold to government-controlled parts of Moldova. Moldova disputes it is in arrears for previous gas shipments and accuses Russia of destabilising the country, which Moscow denies. Moldova and Transdniestria have imposed economic states of emergency, including measures to reduce power consumption at peak hours. Analysts said that parliamentary approval would be required to allow any nationalisation to go ahead. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/moldova-prepares-possible-moldovagaz-nationalisation-2024-12-30/
2024-12-30 10:11
MUMBAI, Dec 30 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee slipped to its weakest closing level on record on Monday, pressured by a decline in the offshore Chinese yuan and broad-based dollar bids amid a prevailing bearish bias on the local currency. The rupee ended at 85.5350 against the U.S. dollar, down marginally from its close of 85.5325 in the previous session. While the local unit touched a peak of 85.44 during the session, it surrendered its gains in the latter half of the day in the face of broad-based dollar bids from banks and as its regional peers declined, traders said. On the day, Asian currencies were mostly lower while the dollar index gained 0.1% to 108.1. The offshore Chinese yuan was down 0.2% at 7.31, pulled down by rising U.S. bond yields. The dollar-rupee pair is "is expected to remain in a range of 85.30-85.60 with dips to be bought," said Anil Bhansali, head of treasury at Finrex Treasury Advisors said. The rupee's near-dated volatility expectations also rose on Monday, with the 1-month implied volatility touching a more-than-16-month peak of 3.7%. This came on the back of rising expectations of the Reserve Bank of India loosening its hold on the rupee in 2025 as the currency is at its strongest against peers in at least two decades in trade-weighted terms. A popular options trading strategy points to a growing bearish bias on the rupee versus the dollar in the face of multiple headwinds such as the anticipation of higher-for-longer Federal Reserve policy rates, tepid capital inflows, and the risk of global trade tariffs under incoming U.S. President Donald Trump. The 1-month dollar/rupee risk reversal has risen to 0.4, the highest since August 2024. A rise in the risk-reversal signals that investors are willing to pay more to bet on the rupee's fall than its rise. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/rupee-slips-record-closing-low-weaker-yuan-broad-based-dollar-bids-2024-12-30/
2024-12-30 09:27
HELSINKI, Dec 30 (Reuters) - The Finnish coast guard said on Monday it was deploying one of its patrol vessels and a tugboat to assist an oil tanker that suffered engine failure in the Gulf of Finland, seeking to prevent environmental damage. The 183-metre (600 feet) Panama-flagged M/T Jazz oil tanker had been drifting south of Finland's Hanko Peninsula before anchoring in the area, the coast guard said in a statement. The incident was not believed to be related to the recent damage to undersea power and telecoms cables in the area, and seabed infrastructure was not at risk when the ship anchored, the coast guard said. The Jazz was en route to the Russian port of Primorsk and did not carry an oil cargo at the time, the coast guard statement said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/finland-coast-guard-secure-oil-tanker-after-engine-failure-2024-12-30/
2024-12-30 08:42
JOHANNESBURG, Dec 30 (Reuters) - South Africa's government said that the petrol pump price would increase by up to 19 cents a litre and the diesel price would rise by up to 10.50 cents a litre from January 1. South Africa's fuel prices are adjusted monthly due to factors including global oil prices and the rand exchange rate. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-africas-petrol-diesel-pump-prices-rise-january-2024-12-30/
2024-12-30 08:18
ISTANBUL, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Turkey's tax hikes for fuel and tobacco next year will be set in a way that will not endanger the country's 2025 inflation plans, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said. Turkish annual inflation stood at 47.1% in November, higher than expected but at its lowest level since mid-2023. A Reuters poll forecast that it will fall to 26.5% by end-2025, higher than a central bank prediction of 21%. Taxes on fuel and tobacco are increased each year based on the producer price index and have a major impact on inflation. Simsek told reporters in Sanliurfa on Sunday that the government was determined to sustain the recent decline in inflation. He also said that the country's foreign currency-protected deposit scheme, known as KKM, will be terminated without creating any volatility in the markets. The central bank previously announced that it would end in 2025. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkeys-fuel-tobacco-tax-moves-will-not-harm-inflation-goal-simsek-says-2024-12-30/
2024-12-30 08:02
SANLIURFA, Turkey, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Turkey is ready to supply electricity to Syria and Lebanon and a team of government officials is already in Syria working on how to resolve its energy issues, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said. Turkey, which backed rebels in neighbouring Syria who toppled Bashar al-Assad this month after a 13-year civil war, has reopened its embassy in Damascus and already conducted high level contacts with new de-facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa. "Maybe the electricity that Syria and Lebanon need will initially be met by exporting it from Turkey, and of course we can see the picture a little more after seeing the situation in the transmission network," Bayraktar told reporters in Turkey's southeastern city of Sanliurfa. The ministry delegation arrived in Damascus on Saturday and, according to Bayraktar's previous comments, was going to discuss possible energy cooperation including transmitting electricity to ease power shortages. He said Syria's pre-war installed power of 8,500 megawatts had fallen to some 3,500 megawatts. "The vast majority of people meet their electricity needs with generators, so there is actually a very serious need for electricity," he said, adding that the ministry team was looking into how Syria's own oil and natural gas resources may be used. President Tayyip Erdogan has said that Ankara would do whatever necessary for the reconstruction of Syria. Turkey currently provides electricity to some parts of northern Syria where it has mounted four military operations since 2016. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkey-ready-supply-power-syria-lebanon-energy-minister-says-2024-12-30/
