■ ENERGY
BP's Moscow offices raided
Raids on the Moscow offices of British oil giant BP on Wednesday were conducted by secret service agents and may be part of a looming "redistribution" of oil assets in Russia, newspapers said yesterday. "Market sources do not exclude that the measures could be a new serious step in the redistribution of assets in large companies" as Russian President Vladimir Putin prepares to leave power in May, the Vremya Novostei daily said. An interior ministry spokeswoman said on Wednesday that the raids on BP and its joint venture TNK-BP were part of a long-running criminal inquiry into Sidanko, a company that was merged to form TNK-BP in 2003. But the newspapers did not find that argument convincing and quoted company officials as well as security officers saying that the Sidanko inquiry has long been wrapped up. TNK-BP is Russia's third-largest oil company.
■ INVESTMENT
Ping An eyes Fortis stake
China's Ping An Insurance (平安保險) said it plans to buy a 50 percent stake in the asset management arm of Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis for 2.15 billion euros (US$3.35 billion). The insurer has entered a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Fortis on the purchase of the stake in Fortis Investment Management NV/SA, Ping An said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange late on Wednesday. The companies will continue talks on the proposed deal, aiming to reach a final agreement by the middle of next month, Ping An said, adding that the proposed deal would improve its integrated platform of financial services, increase its asset management capability and "enhance the process of the company's globalization."
■ METALS
Australian gold firms merge
Australian gold producers Lahir and Equigold said yesterday they are merging, a deal that will create one of the world's largest gold companies with combined assets of A$9 billion (US$8.4 billion). Equigold had agreed to a Lahir offer of 33 shares for every 25 Equigold shares, valuing Equigold at A$5.33 a share or A$1.1 billion, the companies said. The combined group will have assets in Australia, West Africa and Papua New Guinea, producing in excess of 34,000kg of gold a year from next year, they said. The deal, expected to be completed in June, subject to regulatory approval.
■ SOUTH KOREA
Import tariffs to be lifted
The government said yesterday that import tariffs on dozens of grains and raw materials will be lifted and it will try to freeze public utility charges in an effort to battle inflation. The announcement came after the Korean won plunged to a 26-month low against the US dollar this week. Starting on April 1, tariffs will be lifted on imports of about 70 grains and raw materials, including wheat, corn, soybean cake and coffee cream, and will be cut on 18 other items, the president's office said in a statement.
■ AVIATION
Alitalia deal in jeopardy
A bid by Air France-KLM to take over Alitalia was under threat as the head of the French-Dutch company warned unions at the loss-making Italian airline there was little or no room for negotiation. "It's not a traditional negotiation," chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta told a news conference in Rome on Wednesday, a day after failed talks with union leaders over the bid.
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
Taiwan’s first African swine fever (ASF) case has been confirmed and would soon be reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) yesterday. The Ministry of Agriculture’s Veterinary Research Institute yesterday completed the analysis of samples collected on Tuesday from dead pigs at a hog farm in Taichung and found they were ASF-positive. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency Animal Quarantine Division chief Lin Nien-nung (林念農) said the result would be reported to the WOAH and Taiwan’s major trade partners would also be notified, adding that pork exports would be suspended. As of Friday, all samples
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