Archives for May 2016

Next month’s auction of 24,518 coins is organized by the EY financial services group, and is the first bitcoin sale outside of the United States, and the second in the world.

Eleven lots of 2,000 coins and one lot of approximately 2,518 will put up. Bidders will have an opportunity to bid on one lot or multiple lots.

The value of the digital currency has climbed to more than $534 per bitcoin, its highest level in two years, according to CoinDesk which operates a bitcoin price index.

“This current wallet is an extremely large holding of bitcoin,” said Adam Nikitins, EY partner, stressing that the auction would be hotly contested and more competitive than previous ones, as price volatility has reduced.

Australian police raid home of possible bitcoin creator – report

The group hasn’t unveiled who the bitcoins were taken from. However, local media previously reported that criminal authorities had confiscated the money from a Melbourne-based drug dealer.

EY expects strong interest for the lots from digital currency exchanges, digital asset managers as well as from investment banks and hedge funds which have dealt with bitcoins.

“The number of bitcoin transactions since 2012 has quadrupled and parties are seeing more opportunities and uses for the technology,” Nikitins said, pointing out that interest in the technology continues to grow.

Last year, the US Marshals Service conducted several bitcoin auctions, involving the money confiscated from Ross Ulbricht, founder of the black market website known as the Silk Road.

READ MORE: Bitcoin will be 6th biggest reserve currency by 2030 – study

As bitcoin transactions are anonymous and does not need to involve any formal financial institution, the currency has recently gained popularity among criminals and users of underground market places.

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/344853-australia-auction-confiscated-bitcoins/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Germany warns auto makers of follow-up tests after VW scandal

Under current regulations, the companies can be fined up to 10 percent of their annual revenue, which is €10.7 billion, but according to the report in the Financial Times the fine is likely to be less.

The media has reported that DAF has put aside €849 million; Iveco has prepared €449 million, Daimler €600 million and Volvo almost €400 million. Scania has put aside nothing, saying that it’s prepared to appeal any EU decision. Volkswagen’s MAN raised the alarm first and will escape the fine.

Brussels started the investigation in November 2014 soon after EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager started her job.

“Keeping the cost of road transportation high has a damaging effect on the rest of the economy,” she said at the beginning of the investigation.

According to the documents seen by the FT, Vestager’s case examines alleged price collusion between 1997 and 2011. Moreover, after VW’s emission scandal, air pollution has become a more sensitive issue, and the Competition Commissioner is reportedly accusing the truck producers of agreeing the “timing and price increase levels for the introduction of new emission technologies.”

READ MORE: Justice Dept. sues VW for cheating on vehicle emissions tests

Vestager also said any price-fixing between the companies could lead to higher prices on everything from food to furniture.

In 2012, Brussels imposed a €1.47 billion fine against six firms including Philips, LG Electronics and Panasonic for running two cartels for nearly a decade. This is by far the biggest cartel fine, but the fine for the truck makers is expected to be even higher.

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/344846-truck-producers-cartel-fine/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Europe gets its first modern Russian-made airliners

The project is part of a reported $13 billion aviation cooperation deal signed in 2014 during President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China.  

The long-haul plane will be developed in Russia and assembled in China.

A special engineering center will be created in Russia to undertake technical and electronics production. The plane’s engines will be produced by Rolls Royce and GE.

The production of the fuselage and the assembly of the airplanes will take place in China.

The new aircraft will be a development of the Russian-designed IL-96, according to a source from Russia’s Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The 250-280 seat planes will have a range of 12,000 kilometers.

The first aircraft are expected to be completed by 2023 and to go on sale in 2025.

The new deal will become a platform for a joint venture between Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation and Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, known as Comac.

The cost of the plane is estimated at $200-260 million which is similar to the American Boeing 787 Dreamliner, said Managing Director of Air Transport Observer magazine Maxim Pyadushkin.

According to him, it’s too early to talk about what could happen in 2025, but the new plane will face tough competition from Airbus and Boeing.

Boeing plans 4,500 job cuts as competition with Airbus gets hotter

The competition between Airbus and Boeing has been characterized as a duopoly in the large jet airliner market since the 1990s.

The two rivals are relentlessly struggling over market share. In 2015, Boeing was beaten by its European rival in terms of future orders.

Airbus has claimed 57 percent of the overall market by units ordered, with 1,036 aircraft. The company has enjoyed strong sales in recent years, particularly for the latest version of its popular A320 narrow-body jet.

Meanwhile, in terms of production Boeing was ahead of Airbus. It delivered 762 planes last year making $125 billion compared with Airbus’s 635 aircraft, earning the firm $91.6 billion.

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/344830-russia-china-joint-plane/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

The Commission president would be the first leader of an EU institution to visit Russia since sanctions were imposed in March 2014 over the conflict in Ukraine.

Juncker is facing growing resistance over the trip from the US and some European countries, and even among his own staff, according to media reports.

Unnamed diplomatic sources told American magazine Politico the US fear Juncker’s visit would strengthen Russian President Vladimir Putin’s position before a crucial decision on renewing economic sanctions against Moscow.

The EU is expected to automatically prolong sanctions against Russia in July, despite a call from some European policymakers and business leaders to review the policy. They point out that sanctions against Moscow have proven politically ineffective and economically harmful for both Russia and European countries.

READ MORE: American businesses to attend Russian economic forum despite Washington discontent

Juncker’s aides have reportedly said the Commission president plans to go, although the trip to St. Petersburg is not on his official schedule, and his name is yet to appear on the event’s official program.

“He is invited and is expected to attend, but we only confirm his agenda a week ahead because it changes so much,” a Commission spokeswoman told Politico magazine in an emailed statement.

“We certainly welcome such readiness for dialogue. President Putin has repeatedly stressed the importance to maintain and extend such dialogue,” presidential aid Dmitry Peskov told media on Monday.

According to the Russian Embassy in Washington, major US investors will take part in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) this June, despite US government objections. Last year, SPIEF was attended by PwC, Boston Consulting, Schlumberger, Intel, ExxonMobil, Boeing and other American companies. In 2015, the forum saw 205 agreements, memorandums and contracts signed, with a total worth of $4.5 billion.

The annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum will be held on June 16-18. This year’s theme is ‘Capitalizing on the New Global Economic Reality’.

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/344807-juncker-russia-economic-forum/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Russia-UK $10bn trade loss due to sanctions

“Our agricultural companies have repeatedly asked to continue the embargo on agricultural products from countries that had imposed sanctions against Russia or later joined them. I ordered draft proposals on extending the countermeasures not for a year but until the end of 2017,” Medvedev said while meeting with members of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) on Friday.

The Prime Minister added that Russian agricultural companies will get an opportunity for long-term investment planning which they have asked for.

Western countries have lost around $9.3 billion since the introduction of the Russian food ban, according to a report from the Russian government’s analytical center.

The United States and the European Union initially introduced anti-Russian sanctions in 2014 after Moscow was accused of supporting rebels in eastern Ukraine and annexing Crimea. Sanctions targeted Russia’s financial, energy, and defense sectors, as well as some government officials, businessmen, and public figures.

Moscow responded by imposing an embargo on agricultural produce, food and raw materials against countries that joined anti-Russian sanctions. Since then the sides have repeatedly broadened and extended the sanctions.

READ MORE: Extending Russia sanctions ‘more difficult’ as resistance in EU grows – German FM

However, lately some European policymakers and businesses have become increasingly skeptical about the sanctions, pointing out that they have proven to be politically ineffective and economically harmful for both Russia and European countries.

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/344607-russia-sanctions-extension-medvedev/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Russia to get access to citizens’ financial information in 80 countries

The last two years saw a major inflow to Russia. In 2015, $5.2 billion came from the Bahamas and $1.9 billion from Bermuda, which is a 43 and 9 percent increase, respectively, Vedomosti daily reports, quoting Central Bank data.

Investment from the British Virgin Islands decreased, but that jurisdiction retained second place for direct investment in Russia, the newspaper added.

In December, businessman Gennady Timchenko reportedly restructured the ownership of his Volga Group. He now owns 99.9 percent of the company shares and the firm will pay taxes in Russia. Earlier, the investment company belonged to a Cyprus-based Volga Resources Ltd and Luxembourg’s VRN Sarl.

In 2014, another Russian tycoon Alisher Usmanov and his partners restructured assets of the British Virgin Islands-based USM Holdings, transferring the controlling stake of the mining and metals company Metalloinvest and cellphone operator MegaFon to Russian subsidiaries.

READ MORE: Russia warns time ticking away on businesses tax amnesty

The Russian amnesty on capital expires on July 1. Before that date, taxpayers who declare their foreign assets and bank accounts will be exempt from sanctions by the state for non-payment of taxes.

In May, Russia’s Federal Tax Service signed an international agreement on the automatic exchange of financial information, which will allow it to obtain data on the financial accounts of taxpayers from more than 80 jurisdictions, including offshore tax havens.

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/344602-russian-businesses-leave-offshores/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

‘You can play with you bitcoins, but you can’t pay with them’: Russia may ban cryptocurrencies by 2015

The idea of a national cryptocurrency has been talked about by banks, the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, the deputy director of the monitoring service Pavel Livadny said, adding that a bill for its introduction hasn’t been worked out yet.

However, Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday the idea of a national cryptocurrency has not been discussed by the Kremlin.

According to Livadny, the issuance of the currency and its use would be licensed.

Companies and individuals will be able to exchange rubles or other currencies for digital cash on special electronic platforms, according to Livadny. Buyer identification will be a requirement in order to “minimize anonymous transfers.”

With the introduction of the national digital currency all other virtual currencies in Russia would be banned. Total cryptocurrency transactions in the world are currently around $4 billion.

Russian officials have been opposing all virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, arguing their cross-border nature, transaction anonymity and lack of a supervisory body makes them the perfect vehicle for illegal transactions – be it money laundering, buying illicit goods, rendering illegal services or funding terrorism. The Finance Ministry has suggested passing a law banning their exchange into real money and asked regulators to ban access to exchanges and online stores that accept them.

READ MORE: Russia may have its own virtual currency in 2016

Experts say regulated cryptocurrencies will be in demand in Russia. “At the moment, cryptocurrency payments are not regulated in our country. So, if you pay and are deceived, no court will consider your claim. Approval from the Federal Financial Monitoring Service and the Central Bank in any case will have a positive impact on the cryptocurrency use,” Evgeny Korchagin, the chairman of S-Kpartners, told Kommersant.

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/344572-russia-national-cryptocurrency-launch/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS