UK finance minister Nadhim Zahawi has asked officials in the exchequer to work on a multibillion pound package that could lead to an extra 400 pound ($485.20) cut in energy bills, the Times reported on Saturday.

Switzerland could prevent an energy shortage by aligning with a European Union plan to cut gas use by 15 per cent this winter, Energy Minister Simonetta Sommaruga told newspaper SonntagsBlick.

German finance minister Christian Lindner has written to the European Commission seeking permission to waive value-added tax on a new gas price levy for a limited period of time, a copy of his letter seen by Reuters showed on Sunday.

Global rating agencies S&P and Fitch on Friday lowered Ukraine’s foreign currency ratings to selective default and restricted default as they consider the country’s debt restructuring as distressed.

Britain’s energy crisis will push millions into destitution this winter unless the government hands out more cash to help struggling households pay fuel bills, Rishi Sunak, the trailing candidate in the contest to become Britain’s next leader, said.

Hungary said Saturday that Russia has started delivering additional gas to the EU member following a July visit to Moscow by its foreign minister.

Vietnam is considering building a high-speed railway that runs along the country’s length with a possible price tag of up to $58.7 billion, the government said on Sunday.

British leadership candidate Liz Truss, the front-runner to become prime minister, said that while energy giants should be held to account their profits should not be seen as either dirty or evil.

Battered by a near 50 per cent plunge in its shares over the last 12 months, Nexi, Europe’s biggest payments processor, has not gone unnoticed.

Kazakhstan is expected to sell some of its crude oil through Azerbaijan’s biggest oil pipeline from September, as the nation seeks alternatives to a route Russia threatened to shut, three sources familiar with the matter said.

Russia’s economy contracted by four per cent year-on-year in the second quarter, the national statistics agency said Friday, as Western sanctions take their toll in the wake of Moscow’s military offensive in Ukraine.

Russia is considering buying the currencies of “friendly” countries such as China, India and Turkey to hold in its National Wealth Fund (NWF), having lost the ability to buy dollars or euros due to sanctions, the central bank said on Friday.

The head of the European Space Agency (ESA) has warned economic damage from heatwaves and drought could dwarf Europe’s energy crisis as he called for urgent action to tackle climate change.

Opec on Thursday cut its 2022 forecast for growth in world oil demand for a third time since April, citing the economic impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, high inflation and efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

The dollar lost further ground versus other major currencies on Thursday, after traders reined in bets on an aggressive interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve after softer-than-expected US inflation data the previous day.

Oil prices inched up from multi-month lows on Monday as lingering worries about demand weakening on the back of a darkened economic outlook outweighed some positive economic data from China and the United States.

Siemens Energy on Monday blamed a 200 million euro ($204 million) charge related to the wind-down of its Russian business for a wider net loss in 2022, but said it was still prepared to maintain turbines for the Nord Stream 1 Russian gas pipeline.

Switzerland does not expect to dip into recession this year despite the threat of an energy supply squeeze, the government’s chief economist said Sunday.

Germany would face costs almost six times as high as Brexit if it and the European Union were to shut China out of their economies, the Ifo institute said on Monday, citing the results of a study.

Russia has banned investors from so-called unfriendly countries from selling shares in key energy projects and banks until the end of the year, stepping up pressure in the sanctions stand-off with the West.