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Europe's Longest-Serving Bank CEO Taps Son After 33 Years

Europe's Longest-Serving Bank CEO Taps Son After 33 Years

Bloomberg25-04-2025

Sandor Csanyi, who has been running Hungary's largest lender pretty much since the end of the Cold War, has made sure it remains in the family.
The chairman and chief executive officer of OTP Bank announced at the annual general meeting on Friday that he's finally ceding the CEO role he's held since 1992 — to his son Peter.

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Putin says Russia plans to cut military spending from next year
Putin says Russia plans to cut military spending from next year

Yahoo

timea day ago

  • Yahoo

Putin says Russia plans to cut military spending from next year

By Gleb Bryanski and Vladimir Soldatkin MOSCOW (Reuters) -President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia was looking to cut its military expenditure from next year, contrasting that with NATO's plan to ramp up defence spending over the next decade. NATO allies on Wednesday agreed to raise their collective spending goal to 5% of gross domestic product in the next 10 years, citing what they called the long-term threat posed by Russia and the need to strengthen civil and military resilience. In his first reaction to that move, Putin told a press conference in Minsk that the NATO spending would go on "purchases from the USA and on supporting their military-industrial complex", and this was NATO's business, not Russia's. "But now here is the most important thing. We are planning to reduce defence spending. For us, next year and the year after, over the next three-year period, we are planning for this," he said. Putin said there was no final agreement yet between the defence, finance and economy ministries, "but overall, everyone is thinking in this direction. And Europe is thinking about how to increase its spending, on the contrary. So who is preparing for some kind of aggressive actions? Us or them?" Putin's comments are likely to be greeted with extreme scepticism in the West, given that Russia has massively increased defence spending since the start of the Ukraine war. The conflict shows no sign of ending and has actually intensified in recent weeks, as negotiations have made no visible progress towards a ceasefire or a permanent settlement. Putin said Russia appreciated efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to bring an end to the war. "He recently stated that it turned out to be more difficult than it seemed from the outside. Well, that's true," Putin said. Trump said this week that he believed Putin wanted to find a way to settle the conflict, but Ukraine and many of its European allies believe the Kremlin leader has no real interest in a peace deal and is intent on capturing more territory. Putin said Russian and Ukrainian negotiators were in constant contact, and Moscow was ready to return the bodies of 3,000 more Ukrainian soldiers. ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN Russia is seeing a sharp slowdown in economic growth as the budget comes under pressure from falling energy revenues and the central bank is trying to bring down inflation. Russia hiked state spending on national defence by a quarter in 2025 to 6.3% of gross domestic product (GDP), the highest level since the Cold War. Defence spending accounts for 32% of total 2025 federal budget expenditure. Defence plants have been working round-the-clock for the past several years, and the state has spent heavily on bonuses to attract soldiers to sign up and on compensation for the families of those who are killed. Putin acknowledged that Russia had paid for the military spending increase with higher inflation. The finance ministry raised the 2025 budget deficit estimate to 1.7% of gross domestic product in April from 0.5% after reducing its energy revenues forecast by 24%, and it plans to tap into fiscal reserves this year to balance the budget. The next draft budget is due to appear in the autumn. (Additional reporting by Lucy Papachristou, Maxim Rodionov, Anastasia Teterevleva, Anastasia Lyrchikova and Elena Fabrichnaya; writing by Mark Trevelyan and Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Western Metallica Announces Director Resignation
Western Metallica Announces Director Resignation

Business Wire

time2 days ago

  • Business Wire

Western Metallica Announces Director Resignation

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Western Metallica Resources Corp. (TSXV: WMS) (' Western Metallica ' or the ' Company ') announces that Mr. Peter Imhof has resigned from the Board of Directors. The Company would like to thank Peter for his contributions. About Western Metallica Resources Corp. Western Metallica is an Ontario registered company with its head office in Toronto, Ontario, trading on the TSXV under symbol WMS. Western Metallica is in the business of mineral resource exploration. Its project interests include its 100% owned Nueva Celti Copper Property in Andalusia, Spain, and three other gold projects located in the 'Navelgas Gold Belt' in Asturias, Spain (Penedela, Valledor and Sierra Alta). Further information can be found at: Cautionary Notes The TSXV has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. Some of the statements contained in this news release are forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "intends", "is expected", "potential", "suggests" or variations of such words or phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements and information are not historical facts and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties beyond the company's control. Actual results and developments are likely to differ, and may differ materially, from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.

Takeaways from the Trump-dominated NATO summit

time2 days ago

Takeaways from the Trump-dominated NATO summit

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- NATO's summit in the Netherlands on Wednesday has been described as 'transformational' and 'historic.' 'We're witnessing the birth of a new NATO," Finland's President Alexander Stubb said. The 32 members of the world's biggest security organization endorsed a plan to massively ramp up defense spending, 'back to the defense expenditure levels of the Cold War,' as Stubb put it, driven by U.S. President Donald Trump and fears of the security threat posed by Russia. Here are some of the takeaways from the two-day meeting in The Hague. The nonbinding spending agreement means a steep budget hike for NATO's European members and Canada that will cost them tens of billions of dollars. It's a major revamp of the way NATO calculates defense spending. Until now, the allies had set a target of 2% of gross domestic product for their defense budgets. Now they'll be aiming for 3.5% by 2035. They'll now be able to include weapons and ammunition they supply to Ukraine in the equation, making the new target slightly easier to reach, but still difficult for Canada and a number of European countries with economic troubles. On top of that, the allies will dedicate 1.5% of their GDP to upgrading infrastructure — roads, bridges, ports and airfields — needed to deploy armies to the front. Money spent on protecting networks or preparing societies for future conflict can be included. Progress will be reviewed in 2029, after the next U.S. presidential election. Not everyone is on board. Spain officially refused the agreement. Slovakia had reservations. Belgium, France and Italy will struggle to meet the new target. The leaders reaffirmed their 'ironclad commitment' to NATO's collective defense clause, Article 5. In recent years, Trump had sowed seeds of doubt about whether the U.S. — NATO's most powerful member — would come to the aid of any ally under attack. Trump had appeared to condition that support on higher defense spending. With NATO's new spending pledge in the bag, he told reporters that 'I left there saying that these people really love their countries. It's not a ripoff. And we're here to help them protect their country." He added that 'they want to protect their country, and they need the United States, and without the United States, it's not going to be the same." After Russia invaded Ukraine by launching the biggest land conflict since World War II in 2022, NATO summits have largely focused on providing support to Kyiv. This summit was different. Previously, the emphasis was on Ukraine's membership prospects and on bringing it closer to NATO without actually joining. But the final summit statement this time made no such mention. Instead, the leaders underlined 'their enduring sovereign commitments to provide support to Ukraine.' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was at the venue. He dined with other leaders at the Dutch king's residence, held talks with several leaders and spent half an hour or so with Trump. NATO's plan was to focus the meeting only on Trump's pet cause, defense spending. Foreign ministers did meet on the sidelines with their Ukrainian counterpart in an official NATO-Ukraine Council. In a minor win for Ukraine, and for allies needing to persuade citizens that their governments must spend more on defense, Russia was identified as the standout of the 'profound security threats and challenges' facing NATO. If there were doubts that the United States runs NATO, the summit removed them. A very shortened summit and one-page statement were prepared to keep the U.S. president happy and focused. As Trump flew to the Netherlands, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte sent a text message gushing about him being on the verge of a great achievement and saying, 'Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win." Trump posted the message on social media. Rutte said he wasn't embarrassed and that it was all true. After the meeting, Trump said he came to the summit seeing it as a political chore, but he was leaving convinced that the assembled leaders love the alliance, their own countries and, mostly importantly, the United States. He called NATO leaders a 'nice group of people' and said that 'almost every one of them said 'Thank God for the United States.''

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