Archives for December 2015

In the first six months of 2014 there were 252 suicides in Alberta. In the same period in 2015, there were 327, and could reach 654 suicides this year if the trend continues, reports CBC.

Financial world shaken by 4 bankers’ apparent suicides in a week

“This is staggering. It’s far more, far exceeds anything we would ever have expected, and we would never have expected to see this much this soon,” Mara Grunau, who heads the Centre for Suicide Prevention told CBC.

David Kirby, a counselor at Calgary Distress Centre, says the number of calls to the organization have increased since this year’s layoffs in the energy sector.

“For me it says something really about the horrible human impact of what’s happening in the economy with the recession and the real felt effect, the real suffering and the real struggle that people are experiencing,” he said.

This has made Alberta increase its mental health budget.

“In the budget we saw money specifically earmarked for mental health and we’re hoping that some of it will be directly put into suicide prevention,” said Grunau.

On Monday, the Canadian dollar dropped to 11-year lows. This happened after OPEC decided on Friday to practically abandon its long-time strategy of limiting production to control prices.

The Canadian currency is down 15 percent from a year ago. Until this year oil was the country’s biggest export. According to last week’s data, Canada’s unemployment rate unexpectedly increased in November.

As of 10.00am GMT on Tuesday, Brent benchmark was trading at $41.10 per barrel, which is 37 cents higher than the previous close, but is down almost 40 percent from the same day in 2014.

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/325078-alberta-suicide-rate-oil-prices/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

PwC will work “in close cooperation” with the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy, headed by Australian Cardinal George Pell, said a statement.

Holy deal: Vatican signs US tax evasion law to rehabilitate its scandal-marred bank

Two recently published books allege financial fraud at the highest levels of the Holy See.

“This sad fact [the books] will certainly not divert me from the reform work that we are pursuing with my collaborators and with the support of all of you,” Pope Francis said last month.

The Vatican has been trying to regain the trust of investors since 2013, the moment when it was cut off from the international investment. Pope Benedict XVI and continuing with Pope Francis have been hiring external specialists to help the Vatican’s ailing finances.

“If we don’t know how to look after money, which you can see, how can we look after the souls of the faithful, which you can’t see?” Pope Francis allegedly told clerics in 2013.

Before hiring PwC, the Institute for Religious Works, also known as the Vatican Bank, called KPMG to audit its accounts.

​Two men caught with $4.1tn worth of fake bonds at Vatican Bank

Last year, Pope Francis replaced all the cardinals appointed by his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI. He practically cancelled the decree of Benedict to reform the bank. His team shut down many of the suspicious accounts held in the bank and asked the Promontory Financial Group to audit the institution and bring it up to international standards.

In October 2013, the Vatican Bank for the first time in its 125-year history disclosed its annual financial report to the public. It then showed a total of €4.98 billion in assets and €769 million in equity funds.

Earlier this year, the Vatican said it incurred a loss of €26m in 2014, and its goal was to return to profit.

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/324986-vatican-audit-pwc-holy-see/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Investors from abroad have withdrawn $7.6 billion in assets this year, according to Bloomberg. This includes $1.4 billion in November, the month President Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (JDP) managed to win back the majority.

‘Honeymoon’ over for lira after Turkey shoots down Russian jet

At first, market reaction was positive to Erdogan’s party win, but the escalation of tension with Moscow over the downed Russian warplane in Syria has shaken investors’ nerves. Russia responded with measures intended to hit the Turkish economy where it hurts most, its tourism industry and exports to Russia.

“Markets have indeed welcomed the recent election, but I think they may be overly sanguine,” William Jackson, senior emerging markets economist at London’s Capital Economics told Bloomberg.

Big external debt makes Turkey vulnerable to shifts in investor feelings once the US starts hiking interest rates, weighing on the Turkish lira and government bonds, he said.

Analysts predict the lira will also continuing its descent. According to Per Hammarlund, chief emerging markets strategist at SEB in Stockholm, the currency will fall 3.7 percent to three lira against the US dollar in December.

London’s Capital Economics’ Jackson predicts an 11 percent decline by the end of 2016 for the lira, saying it will fall to 3.25 against the dollar.

In September, the lira fell to a record low of 3.0752 against the greenback. The Turkish currency won back eight percent through November 20, but last week’s slowdown extended the slide to almost 20 percent this year.

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Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/324962-turkey-outflow-lira-economy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

“This week, we have received an official rejection from the US government to provide guarantees for Ukraine’s obligations. In this regard, we have no other option but to take legal action against Ukraine in case the borrower fails to fulfill its credit obligations in full before December 20,” Russia’s financial ministry said in its statement, adding that such a situation would amount to national bankruptcy for Ukraine, TASS reports.

Ukraine’s sovereign debt to Russia currently stands at $3 billion. It dates back to a deal between President Vladimir Putin and former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich that was struck in 2013 and envisaged Moscow buying $15 billion worth of Ukrainian bonds. Russia bought $3 billion worth in December 20, 2013, and the debt is supposed to be repaid by December 20, 2015.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk has repeatedly said that Ukraine will not repay its debt to Moscow without restructuring.

At the G20 summit in Turkey’s Antalya, Vladimir Putin announced a proposal to restructure Ukraine’s debt, allowing it to repay $1 billion per year over the course of three years – from 2016 to 2018, if the US, EU or a “first-class international institution” would provide guarantees for Ukraine.

Russia has repeatedly stressed that the terms proposed were even better than those stipulated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), adding that a decision concerning the proposal should be taken as soon as possible.

However, Russia has received no official answer to its proposal from Kiev, Deputy Financial Minister Sergey Storchak said on December 1, adding that Russia still hopes to receive an answer by December 8.

“We proceed from the intention to reach an agreement before December 8, as on December 8 the IMF will vote on changes in its policy,” Storchak said, as quoted by TASS. If adopted, those changes would allow countries with past-due sovereign debt to still borrow from the IMF. At present, if a country has defaulted on sovereign debt, they are not able to receive further funds.

Meanwhile, Ukraine runs the risk of missing out on its next tranche of loan money from the IMF, as it has still not met the requirements the Fund has said are necessary to fulfill in order to receive it.

“Now, there are risks that Ukraine will not get the next tranche from the IMF, as it has still not adopted a budget for 2016 that would be compliant with the Fund’s requirements, because of the absence of a consistent tax reform project, as well as a lack of some other structural reforms,” the Russian Ministry of Finance said in its statement.

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/324877-russia-sue-ukraine-debt/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

According to the report which cited an unnamed OPEC delegate, Riyadh would consider reducing output under certain conditions. The decision won’t be agreed during OPEC’s meeting on Friday where the group is to discuss its production policy.

Venezuela warns OPEC of oil price drop to mid-$20s

One of the main conditions is for other producers like Russia, Mexico, Oman, Kazakhstan and Iran to cut their output. Iraq would have to freeze production at current levels or agree to leave the group, the report added.

“In order for there to be a cut in production non-OPEC must participate, Iraq has to participate and the Iran output picture has to be clear,” the delegate was cited as saying.

Iran’s envoy to OPEC, Mehdi Asali said on Wednesday that an OPEC majority wants to reduce crude oil production from the current more than 31 million barrels a day to spark a price recovery. However, he added, it was unlikely that Saudi Arabia and its allies would reduce output.

The group of 12 OPEC countries account for about 40 percent of the world’s crude production. Its output hit a three-year high in July, when the cartel pumped 31.5 million barrels per day (bpd). Despite the perpetual appeals to reduce output and support oil prices, OPEC has been refusing to do so as the organization is trying to maintain its market share. Saudi Arabia has been the main opposition to production cuts.

READ MORE: Russia continues record oil production – energy ministry

Oil prices have almost halved over the past 18 months as a result of a global supply glut. Prices recovered slightly on Thursday after the report of Saudi’s possible cut proposal. Brent futures for January were trading 58 cents higher, at $43.07 per barrel. The price for US crude benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up 41 cents at $40.35 per barrel at 9:50am GMT.

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/324562-saudi-opec-oil-cuts/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

The energy bridge will deliver 200 MW of electricity a day from the Krasnodar region in mainland Russia starting from Thursday. Another 200 MW will be delivered by a second power cable expected to be connected by December 20.

Kiev not rebuilding power supply to Crimea for ‘political reasons’ – Novak

This will cover 80-90 percent of Crimea’s energy needs, according to Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak. He says another 400 MW energy bridge will be constructed by May 2016.

According to Novak, Crimean authorities will have to decide how to allocate the 200 MW between consumers. Eastern Crimea will be the first to receive electricity from Russia, mainly the cities of Kerch and Feodosia as well as 180 other settlements.

Crimea is currently facing a serious shortage of electricity as a result of bomb blasts which destroyed two pylons in Ukraine on November 22. The power lines were crucial for delivering electricity to the peninsula. The situation was complicated after anti-Russian activists, engaged in the so-called blockade of Crimea, prevented repair crews from restoring energy supplies.

The Russian Energy Minister accused Ukraine of not repairing the sabotaged power lines supplying energy to the Crimean peninsula for “political reasons”. In response Moscow is considering halting coal supplies to Ukraine, he added.

Immediately after the blackout, Crimean authorities declared a state of emergency and put in place a power delivery schedule. The regional government said that the attack deprived about 1.9 million people of electricity and that the state of emergency would be lifted only after the energy supply to the peninsula has been fully restored.

Providing power to Crimea is a part of a bigger project to unite the peninsula with mainland Russia. Moscow expects to open a 19-kilometer long bridge to by-pass Ukraine in 2018.

Crimea’s only land border is with Ukraine, but currently regular passenger and cargo deliveries are organized by direct flights and ferries from ports in southern Russia.

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/324550-crimea-energy-bridge-russia/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Russian government ratifies economic sanctions against Turkey

“The negotiations on Turkish Stream have been suspended,” said Novak. The pipeline was discussed in the framework of the Russian-Turkish Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, which has been suspended, he added.

Gazprom’s project has been on hold since the jet incident, awaiting instructions from the Russian government.

“We’re expecting the head of state, in all likelihood, could declare the freezing of Turkish Stream, or at least some kind of timeout could be announced,” an anonymous Gazprom source told Reuters on Wednesday.

“We are still hoping that Turkish Stream will be pushed back by a few years, rather than completely canceled,” a second source said.

The Turkish Stream gas pipeline is one of the major projects for Russia and Turkey. It aims to deliver Russian natural gas to Turkey via the Black Sea, and then further to Southern Europe. The start of construction was scheduled for June but has been delayed as Moscow and Ankara failed to reach an intergovernmental agreement.