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RUSSIA

Carlsberg freezes hiring against Russia slump

Danish brewer Carlsberg said on Wednesday it had implemented a hiring and salary freeze at the start of the year to gird itself against an economic slowdown in Russia.

The freeze "has been in place since the beginning of this year," company spokesman Jim Daniell told AFP. "It's mainly due to the tough microeconomic conditions in Russia, which our Russian business is facing," he said, adding that the company was unable to say how long the measures would be in place.

Exemptions could be made for seasonal workers "but as far as pay grades or anything like that, it's across the board," he said. 

Carlsberg is Russia's leading brewer with a 39 percent market share. In November, the group said in its third quarter earnings report that while the value of the Russian beer market had grown in the first nine months, volumes had declined by six to seven percent "due to the uncertain and challenging macro environment." 

Eastern Europe accounted for 35 percent of Carlsberg's total volume and 36 percent of operating profit in 2013. Western sanctions and a coinciding slide in the price of oil exports have sent Russia into recession and seen Standard and Poor's slap a "junk" rating on Moscow's foreign currency debt.

The United States said on Wednesday it was ready to increase the sanctions over Russia's actions in war-torn Ukraine, and the EU has said it is looking at piling further pressure on the country's economy in response to an upsurge in fighting blamed on Moscow.

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RUSSIA

Russia announces no New Year’s greetings for France, US, Germany

US President Joe Biden, France's Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will not be receiving New Year's greetings from Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Friday.

Russia announces no New Year's greetings for France, US, Germany

As the world gears up to ring in the New Year this weekend, Putin sent congratulatory messages to the leaders of Kremlin-friendly countries including Turkey, Syria, Venezuela and China.

But Putin will not wish a happy New Year to the leaders of the United States, France and Germany, countries that have piled unprecedented sanctions on Moscow over Putin’s assault on Ukraine.

“We currently have no contact with them,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“And the president will not congratulate them given the unfriendly actions that they are taking on a continuous basis,” he added.

Putin shocked the world by sending troops to pro-Western Ukraine on February 24.

While Kyiv’s Western allies refused to send troops to Ukraine, they have been supplying the ex-Soviet country with weapons in a show of support that has seen Moscow suffer humiliating setbacks on the battlefield.

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