Archives for April 2019

The announcement comes amid the latest crisis the US plane maker faced after two fatal accidents, involving its best-selling airliners – last month’s Ethiopian Airlines crash and the Lion Air crash in October 2018, took lives of 346 people.

The deadly tragedies led to the grounding of all 737 MAX 8 jets by global regulators. Some air carriers filed lawsuits against the world’s biggest aerospace corporation over losses due to the move. The manufacturer pledged to fix the problem, which had allegedly caused the crashes, through software updates and changes to pilot training procedures.

Also on rt.com Boeing withdraws 2019 financial forecast pauses share buybacks amid mounting concerns over 737 MAX

According to Flydubai, the second largest customer of the now-grounded Boeing 737 Max jets, the current uncertainty around MAX 8s has forced it to look at alternatives. The company has ordered 250 of the new model narrow body jets, which were scheduled for delivery by 2030.

“That gave me an option to talk to Airbus to see what exactly will happen because you have to understand until today we don’t have a definite date when this aircraft will be flying.  I cannot just not do anything about it,” the carrier’s chairman Sheikh Ahmed said, as cited by the National.

Flydubai that was forced to ground the entire fleet of 14 MAXs after directives from the UAE aviation regulator joined the list of global airlines in demanding compensation from Boeing. The step triggered “a disturbance and a number of shrinking of routes,” according to the firm.

Also on rt.com Safety optional? Boeing told Southwest 737 MAX alert feature NOT ON by default after Indonesia crash

Flydubai’s Chief Executive Ghaith al-Ghaith has also expressed confidence about Boeing’s ability to take the right decision concerning the grounded planes.

“I trust that the relevant authority will ensure the Boeing 737 MAX is the safest,” the top executive said at a CAPA Aviation Summit in Dubai.

Meanwhile, one of Australia’s largest airlines, Virgin, announced plans to delay delivery of its order of 48 Boeing 737 MAX jets, citing safety concerns. The first batch of aircraft was to join the company’s fleet from between November 2019 and July 2021.

Also on rt.com Boeing’s latest crashes pose serious risk to global AI development – analysts

“Safety is always the number one priority for Virgin Australia. As we have previously stated, we will not introduce any new aircraft to the fleet unless we are completely satisfied with its safety,” Virgin Chief Executive Paul Scurrah said in a statement. “We are confident in Boeing’s commitment to returning the 737 MAX to service safely and as a long-term partner of Boeing, we will be working with them through this process.”

For more stories on economy finance visit RT’s business section

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/457887-boeing-orders-crash-airbus-benefit/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

According to the European Commission (EC), the so-called interchange fees – in which the merchant’s bank pays a charge to the cardholder’s bank – result in higher prices for consumers. It said that under the terms of the new agreement, the two companies will cut such fees by 40 percent on average, which will save tourists money when they come to an EU member state.

“Mastercard and Visa have committed to significantly reduce the interchange fees applied to payments made in Europe with cards issued elsewhere,” Europe’s antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement on Monday.

She added: “This, together with our January 2019 decision on Mastercard’s cross-border card payment services, will lead to lower prices for European retailers to do business, ultimately to the benefit of all consumers.”

In January, the EC fined Mastercard €570 million ($636 million) for limiting the ability of retailers and banks to shop around between member states.

Also on rt.com Britain banning ‘rip-off’ credit card fees

The world’s two largest payments network operators have proposed a 0.2 percent fee on non-EU debit card payments carried out in shops, and a 0.3 percent fee on credit card payments, the Commission said earlier.

READ MORE: Russia may crack down on Visa Mastercard over abuse of dominant market position

This would bring their fees in line with those charged for EU cards, which were the subject of an EU investigation after a 1997 complaint by business lobby EuroCommerce.

For more stories on economy finance visit RT’s business section

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/457824-eu-visa-mastercard-fees/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

“If the pipeline is completed by the end of 2019 and is launched in 2020, European families will get access to natural gas at a lower cost price, and will save eight billion euro annually,” the Nord Stream 2 AG’s press office said, as quoted by Izvestia daily. “This could happen due to the 13 percent decrease in prices.”

The operator stressed that no one would benefit from foot-dragging over the launch, as access to cheap natural gas would reduce prices for the fuel across the European market. Each day of delay will reportedly cost European citizens and industrial enterprises €20 million.

Ditching Russian gas will be economic suicide for Europe – analyst to RT

Nord Stream 2 is a 1,230km-long (765 miles) twin pipeline system designed to deliver Russian gas to Germany and further to other European consumers under the Baltic Sea. The project is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2019.

The pipeline, a joint venture of Russia’s Gazprom and five European energy majors, is currently two thirds complete. It is expected to double the existing pipeline’s capacity of 55 billion cubic meters annually, and is supposed to come into operation as soon next year.

The pipeline has been fiercely criticized by Washington which accused Germany and the entire bloc of being captive to Russian gas sales. In an attempt to push the US liquefied natural gas to the European market, the White House threatened to sanction the corporations for participating in the Nord Stream 2 project.

The project has been also slammed by Eastern European member-states, the Baltic countries along with Ukraine. The latter expressed concerns that the future pipeline would bypass Ukraine and deprive its budget of transit fees.

So far, Berlin has been shrugging off the criticism, highlighting that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline would only contribute to the diversity of the gas supply to Europe. However, Brussels has adopted the so-called Gas Directive, which was backed by all the EU members. The legislation is seen as an attempt to bring the controversial Russia-controlled project under the EU’s regulatory umbrella.

Also on rt.com Replacing Russian gas with American LNG would be ‘absolutely ridiculous’ – expert to RT

Last week, Nord Stream 2 chief executive Matthias Warnig threatened to sue the bloc if the operator is not allowed to avoid new regulations, which endanger billions of euros in investments.

“The measure would be discriminatory against Nord Stream 2 AG as an investor and Nord Stream 2 as its investment,” the top executive wrote in a letter to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

For more stories on economy finance visit RT’s business section

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/457823-nord-stream-billion-annual-gains/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

The food giant targeted nine farmers in the western Indian state of Gujarat with lawsuits demanding they pay damages for using a variety of potatoes protected by copyright. The court action, PepsiCo said, is meant to protect other farmers, who buy the seeds directly from the company and sell the produce back at a price determined by the company. One of the lawsuits filed by the multinational against four farmers was heard in the city of Ahmedabad on Friday.

The company offered two options to settle the dispute out of court. One would be to sign an agreement to stop planting the seed variety. The other one would be to come into the fold and sign a standard farming contract with the giant. The latter would give the defendants “access to higher yields, enhanced quality, training in best-in-class practices and better prices,” the company stated.

But the four farmers rejected the proposed settlement.

“Accepting the offer would mean that we have made a mistake. We hope that we get justice and we will not bow to the pressure of the multinational company,” said Vindo Kumar Ishwar Bhai, one of the four farmers.

The farmers are correct in believing that they did nothing wrong, said Kavitha Kurungati, an activist from the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an Indian advocacy group for farmers’ rights. When India acceded to the World Trade Organization in 2001, it opted for strong protection of the traditional seed-breeding practices of its farmers, she told RT.

We have tens of thousands of [seed] varieties in this country because the farmers themselves have been excellent breeders. They knew how to create seeds and conserve them. India’s lawmakers recognized that farmers have to be kept on par or even higher than modern-day corporate breeders.

Farmers are even allowed to sell patented seeds like the one at the focus of the PepsiCo lawsuits as long as they don’t infringe on the brand, Kurungati explained.

The Gujarat potato growers enjoyed massive support from fellow farmers, Indian authorities and common Indians in their dispute with PepsiCo. The claim of damage, which amounts to about $1 million for all nine defendants combined, is widely perceived as absurdly high and the entire situation as an attempt to bully them into becoming part of PepsiCo’s corporate scheme. Some Indians even called to boycott all PepsiCo products in protest.

Kurungati said the out-of-court settlement proposal indicates that the company realize that the amount of bad publicity it is gaining for its actions far outweighs whatever it hoped to win.

I think Pepsi has been extremely foolish in underestimating the fact that citizens will stand on the side of these farmers and did something that is against our law. It should not have harassed farmers in this manner.

The case reviewed on Friday is expected to get a final ruling on June 12. Kurungati believes PepsiCo may find itself blown on its own petard, since the farmers may petition the court to award them compensation for harassment.

“It is very important that farmer seed sovereignty is upheld. They should have the freedom to choose what they want to grow, as they always had,” she said. “We are putting pressure on the government, saying they have the duty to implement the law. There is a spirit behind that law, which has to be upheld.”

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Article source: https://www.rt.com/news/457812-indian-farmers-pepsico-potatoes/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

The share of settlements in Russia’s foreign trade using the greenback declined by 12.6 percent between 2013, before Western sanctions were introduced against the country, through 2018, research by the Moscow-based consultancy shows. At the same time, Moscow boosted the range of foreign trade deals settled in euro by 26.6 percent. The share of settlement in rubles rose by 14 percent.

Economic penalties against Russia were introduced by the US administration and backed by the European Union in 2014. The sanctions came in response to Russia’s alleged involvement in the crisis in eastern Ukraine and following the Crimean referendum to secede from Ukraine and rejoin Russia. Since then, the measures have been expanded for various reasons.

Also on rt.com Russia calls latest US sanctions ‘just another schizoid story’

Russian authorities have taken a wide range of retaliatory steps, including the gradual reduction of the country’s reliance on the US dollar in the sphere of international settlements.

Over the five-year period, the share of the US dollar in Russia’s trade settlements declined to 56.1 percent, accounting for $388 billion. The share of euro-dominated trade deals increased to 21.9 percent or the equivalent of $151 billion. Trade settlements in ruble grew to 20 percent, or $136 billion.

“Tendency towards doing away with the US dollar on foreign trade is obvious. This is the way to a more stable economy and protection of it against sanctions,” said Elena Trubnikova, chairwoman of FinExpertiza’s board, as quoted by RIA-Novosti.

Also on rt.com US trade war sanctions open doors for Russian companies in China — Beijing official

“This is mostly true for exports, as selling the goods for the national currency of the exporter is a natural order of things,” she said.

The executive noted that the latest steps towards de-dollarization have boosted the share of settlements in ruble and yuan in mutual trade between Russia and China. The share of ruble settlements in Russia’s exports to China grew more than fivefold, while yuan-dominated settlements in China’s exports increased by nearly nine times.

For more stories on economy finance visit RT’s business section

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/457810-russia-dollar-trade-decrease-sanctions/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

“This question was discussed during Vladimir Putin’s meeting with the North Korean leader. The head of the state tasked the Far Eastern Development Ministry with analyzing this project,” Yuri Trutnev said on Monday.

North Korea to provide supplies workforce for new motorway bridge to Russia

The ministry said earlier that North Korea will provide workforce and construction materials for the project while Russia will “give the necessary equipment.”

The automobile bridge is planned to be built in accordance with Russian standards. The neighboring countries have long-contemplated a bridge that could allow more vehicles to move across the border without a lengthy by-pass through China.

READ MORE: Next time in Pyongyang: North Korea says Putin accepted Kim’s invitation at Vladivostok summit

They are currently connected with a rail bridge over the Tumen River. The crossing, dubbed the Korea Russia Friendship Bridge, was opened in 1959 and offers Russia and North Korea a basic rail connection.

The 39.4km (25 miles) border with North Korea (of which about 22km is made up of maritime boundaries) is the shortest of Russia’s international borders.

Last week, the leaders of the two nations held their first meeting in Vladivostok, in Russia’s Far East.

For more stories on economy finance visit RT’s business section

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/457806-russia-north-korea-bridge/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS