European sanctions “for Navalny” against Russia will not be at all the same as the oppositionist himself suggested Already on Monday, the European Union must first agree on new sanctions against Russia - this time for the arrest of Alexei Navalny. Bloomberg found out what they will be. The main news is sanctions, contrary to the wishes of Navalny himself, with a high probability will not affect the Russian oligarchs, the agency writes with reference to two sources in diplomatic circles.

European sanctions “for Navalny” against Russia will be completely different from those proposed by the oppositionist himself. They will not touch the "oligarchs", limiting themselves to officials and companies allegedly involved in the poisoning, learned . Bloomberg According to the agency, the sanctions will be tentatively agreed as early as Monday, February 22. The process of their approval by all 27 EU countries will take about a month, sanctions may be introduced as early as March.

Rosstat has published an assessment of the main statistical indicators for January 2020, as well as for the previous months. Among other things, the statistical office believes that the real wages of Russians increased by 2.5% last year. The growth in real wages occurred while real disposable income decreased by 3.5% in 2020 (estimated by the Ministry of Economic Development).

The internationally isolated regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, which has nationalized most of the valuable businesses in the country, is forced to turn them over to private owners again, writes Bloomberg. In the process, primitive methods of rent redistribution are being revived, and the new privatization follows the canons of "wild" capitalism and resembles Russia in the 1990s in a worse version.

The banking system of Russia is fully prepared for the abolition of regulatory easing in effect until July 1, said Central Bank Chairman Elvira Nabiullina. Despite the curtailment of anti-crisis measures, market participants, she said, will receive conditions for the release of additional capital. The Central Bank announced support measures for banks and their borrowers due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

The New York State Court of Appeal ruled that the lawsuit of the owner of the Sintez group and ex-senator Leonid Lebedev against his former partners Viktor Vekselberg and Leonard Blavatnik should be resumed. The decision was made on February 16, RBC drew attention to it . The case of Lebedev against Vekselberg and Blavatnik has been dragging on since 2014 and is associated with the sale of the oil company TNK-BP.

Users on Thursday, February 18, complained about failures in the work of Yandex services, according to Downdetector data. Problems were reported by residents of Moscow, St. Petersburg and large cities of the Urals. The Downdetector service shows that the failures began around 13:00 Moscow time. Among the complaints, 80% are devoted to problems with the site, 14% - with the mail, and 4% - with the electronic money service.

A team of investors filed a joint lawsuit against Keith Gill, one of the most influential "rebels" of the WallStreetBets forum on the Reddit platform, who have declared a crusade against Wall Street. The plaintiffs allege that the professional trader posed as an amateur investor, capitalizing on the soaring shares of the GameStop gaming chain. Reddit riot leader Keith Gill, aka Roaring Kitten, has been sued in a class-action lawsuit in Massachusetts court, writes Bloomberg .

Caught in the middle of the “battle for GameStop”, investment service Robinhood is most likely the owner of the world’s largest cryptocurrency wallet Dogecoin, writes Bloomberg. The cryptocurrency, which began as a joke, has grown almost 10 times since the beginning of the year. The fact that there is simply no other likely candidate for 29% of all Dogecoin was reported to the agency by the blockchain data analysis service Elliptic.

Facebook has begun restricting the distribution of news content in Australia due to a new law being prepared in the country. The social network has already removed dozens of publications from the pages of the Australian media, as well as ministries and public services in Australia. The bill, which Facebook doesn't like, would require the tech giants to negotiate payouts for content with local publishers and broadcasters.

In 2021, 9% of Russian banks, or 33 credit institutions, were in the zone of increased default risk, RBC reports citing a review by the Expert RA rating agency. According to analysts, as of January 1, the health index of the banking sector was 91% (the share of financially stable banks for 2021). This means that the remaining 9% of the index's calculation base - 33 out of 366 banks - are at high risk and may lose their license due to complications related to the pandemic.

Pavel Durov continues to seek funds for the development of Telegram and the return of debt to investors of the TON blockchain platform. It is planned to raise at least $1 billion through the placement of convertible bonds among a limited number of investors from Russia, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, learned Kommersant . If Telegram decides to go public within five years, bondholders will be able to convert debt into shares at a 10% discount to the offering price.

Telegram will post $ 1 billion bonds among elected investors Pavel Durov continues to look for funds for the further development of Telegram and the return of the debt to investors of the Ton blockchain platform. The messenger plans to attract at least $ 1 billion through the placement of bonds among the limited circle of investors from Russia, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, Kommersant reports with reference to sources.

During the week from February 10 to February 16, the Russian audience of the voice social network Clubhouse grew by almost 20 times - the application was downloaded by 137,000 people. It is reported by RBC with reference to the closed statistics of the AppAnnie platform. According to AppAnnie, Clubhouse has a total of 8.09 million downloads, up 1.5x in the past week. Users from the USA (2.62 million), Japan (1.42 million) and Germany (626 thousand) showed the greatest interest.

The cost of a futures contract for Brent crude oil for delivery in April exceeded $65 per barrel, according to trading data on the London ICE exchange. One of the reasons for the growth is a decrease in production in the United States due to abnormal cold weather. As of 8:45 Moscow time, Brent oil has risen in price by 2.81%, reaching $65.13 per barrel. The last time oil was worth that much before the coronavirus was in January 2020. WTI also accelerated growth, exceeding $62 per barrel.