Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Ukraine reaches preliminary deal with bondholders on debt restructuring. – Kyiv Independent
Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight.
Kyiv has reached an agreement in principle with some of its creditors to restructure the country's external debt, amounting to around $23 billion, the authorities said on July 22.
Ukraine struck a deal with its creditors at the onset of the Russian full-scale invasion to postpone the payments due to the war's pressure on the country's economy. The deal to freeze payments of around $23 billion was about to expire on Aug. 1.
"Today, we reached an agreement in principle with the committee of Eurobond holders," Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said. Based on the deal, Ukraine stands to save $11.4 billion over the next three years and $22.75 billion by 2033, he explained.
"The government reached an agreement in principle with a group of investors holding c. 25% of bonds," Olena Bilan, the chief economist at Kyiv-based investment bank Dragon Capital, told the Kyiv Independent.
These investors included Amundi SA, BlackRock Inc, and Amia Capital LLP, according to Bloomberg.
"To finalize the restructuring process, (the government) needs to get consent from the majority of bondholders. For this, the government will launch a formal voting process soon," Bilan added.
"Freed funds will support the macro-financial stability of Ukraine, allowing us to finance the most urgent needs in the face of full-scale Russian invasion," Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko commented.
The restructuring agreement will see the existing Eurobonds in circulation exchanged for a package of new Eurobonds with a 37% nominal reduction in the value of the debt at the initial stage and a reduction in the net present value of the debt of around 60%, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
While the first round of negotiations with private creditors in June ended without an agreement, Marchenko voiced confidence last week that a deal could be reached before the deadline.
Without the deal, Ukraine would have to begin payments within a 10-day period of Aug. 1 or officially default.
The Ukrainian parliament approved a bill on July 18 granting the government the right to suspend payments on external public debt until Oct. 1.
"Once completed, this restructuring will also pave the way for Ukraine's market re-entry as soon as possible when the security situation stabilizes to fund our country's swift recovery and reconstruction," Marchenko commented.
Opinion: Restructuring Ukrainian debt is a step toward democratic victory
Ukraines victory is the victory of the entire free world over dictators and tyrants. The formula for victory is well known: the strength of the Ukrainian army, the unity of the free world, unwavering long-term military and financial support for Ukraine, and, first and foremost, Ukraines membership
Continued here:
Ukraine reaches preliminary deal with bondholders on debt restructuring. - Kyiv Independent
Jeffries Plans to Meet Virtually With Top House Democrats on Biden’s Path Ahead – The New York Times
Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, has scheduled a virtual meeting on Sunday with senior House Democrats to discuss President Bidens candidacy and the path forward, according to a senior official familiar with the plan.
The session, which is to include the ranking members of congressional committees who make up the top echelons of the party in the House, comes at a time of profound worry among Democrats on Capitol Hill about Mr. Bidens poor performance at last weeks presidential debate. House Democrats have not met as a group since, even as concerns have mounted about Mr. Bidens viability as a candidate and the impact he could have on his partys ability to win back control of the chamber and hold the Senate should he remain in the race.
Mr. Jeffries has been in listening mode all week, refraining from pressuring Democrats to rally around the president but also encouraging them not to be rash in their public pronouncements as Mr. Biden and his team determine the best path forward.
But Democrats have begun to splinter. Four in the House Representatives Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Ral Grijalva of Arizona, Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Mike Quigley of Illinois have called for the president to withdraw, while others have made public their serious concerns about his ability to prevail in the race.
On Friday, Mr. Quigley said he had had a hard time getting to the point of urging the president to get out of the race.
But, he told MSNBC, clearly, the alternative now is a very bleak scenario with, I would say, almost no hope of succeeding and it doesnt just affect the White House. It affects all of Congress and our future.
Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, has been working to organize a meeting of Democrats in his chamber to discuss their concerns about Mr. Bidens candidacy and what should be done, according to multiple people with direct knowledge of the effort who spoke about it on the condition of anonymity.
Originally posted here:
Jeffries Plans to Meet Virtually With Top House Democrats on Biden's Path Ahead - The New York Times
Tesla slashes its summer internship program to cut costs, as Elon Musk fights to save his $45 billion pay plan – Fortune
Elon Musks latest cost-cutting victims: Summer interns.
Tesla Inc. is rescinding offers just weeks before internships were set to start, prompting aspiring employees to take to LinkedIn to appeal to other employers to take them in.
At 8:46am, I opened aTeslaemail for flight info. By 11:25am, my internship offer was gone,wroteMiami University student Joshua Schreiber, who said his start date was three weeks away and that he had already spent thousands on housing.
Schreiber, like many other would-be Tesla interns, are getting dangerously close to the end of the school year. They say the surprise calls from Tesla informing students that their offers no longer stand haveleft them without a lot of time to find replacement gigs for the summer.
In one instance, a current Tesla employee posted on LinkedIn, asking her own virtual network to step up and nab one of the interns that was meant to start soon at the carmaker. Please make our loss your gain!wroteDiana Rosenberg, whoworks inbattery supply at Tesla, according to her profile.
Rosenberg blamed the decision to rescind the intern offer on the massive layoffs unfolding at the carmaker.
Last month, Musk announced that Tesla had made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount by more than 10% globally. Since then,several executives have left the company as Musk has pushed for further cuts. Most of the companys 500-person Supercharger division and its newly formed marketing division have been axed, Bloomberg News has reported.
People familiar with Musks thinking have said the billionaire isdetermined to cut head count amid sagging electric vehicle sales and big expenditures for his Robotaxi dreams. They say Musk is targeting a 20% reduction, Bloomberg reported.
Revoking intern offersisnt likely to save Tesla much money. At least one of the posts was for an unpaid position, while paid internships at the automaker typically offer $18 to $28 an hour, according to data from Glassdoor.
But the decisions will have an impact in the companys hiring pipeline:More than3,000 university and community college students from around the world are hired for Tesla internships each year, according to the companys lastImpact Report.Perform meaningful work from day one, reads thecompanys intern website.
The move has also delivered a stark life lesson tothe students.
Rejection is redirection,wroteBrook Gura, a communications student at the University of Texas at Austin, who said that she got a call that her offer was yanked three weeks before her start date as part of the companys mass layoffs. While I am incredibly disappointed that I will not have the summer I intended to have, I know that this moment will only help me grow stronger as a professional.
Gura, Schreiber and Rosenberg declined to comment beyond their posts. Musk didnt respond to a request for comment.
Excerpt from: