Friday Morning Papers Summary
LA REPUBBLICA
-Australia will send 20 Bushmaster armored vehicles to Ukraine, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced yesterday. The vehicles, produced by the Australian branch of the French Thales - reports CNN - were requested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a speech to the Australian Parliament on March 31.
-A satellite photo taken yesterday shows the unprecedented level tension between Russia and NATO in the Mediterranean Sea off the southern Italian coast of Calabria. Images released by the CovertShores website shows the US aircraft carrier Truman being chased by the Russian Navy’s destroyer Vice-Admiral Kulakov: a challenge not far from the Calabrian coast. Such scenes have not been seen since the darkest moments of the Cold War more than thirty-five years ago.
-Telecom Italia is united with CEO Pietro Labriola’s decision to reject yet another offer from KKR, setting aside the hypothesis of a takeover bid but leaving the door open for a broader cooperation that would invite Tim, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, KKR itself and other investors to come together and create a unique network through a merger with Open Fiber.
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG
-EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is on her way to Kiev. She wants to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy there. Zelenskyy has accused Russian troops of atrocities against civilians in other Ukrainian cities. In Germany, war refugees from the Ukraine are to receive basic state security from June 1st, i.e. the same benefits as, for example, Hartz IV recipients. Von der Leyen took the train from south-eastern Poland to the Ukrainian capital on Friday night. The former German Defense Minister is the first Western top politician to visit Ukraine since the war atrocities in the Kiev suburb of Bucha became known.
-Audi and Porsche in Formula 1? At least one of these two VW Group brands has been working on an appearance in the world’s highest motorsport circuit since years ago. Sometimes the projects failed at the last hurdle. But as of late Thursday afternoon, the VW supervisory board gave both Audi and Porsche permission to pursue their F1 projects.
HANDELSBLATT
-Handelsblatt explores the consequences of an energy boycott for German industry - and for Russia as German industry prepares for a short-term abandonment of Russian energy supplies in the form of an embargo on Russian oil and gas. Handelsblatt asks: How much damage would an import ban do – and could it even affect the war in Ukraine? Moreover, in an interview, economic historian Adam Tooze advocates a speedy energy embargo against Russia and explains what the real danger of the sanctions is.
-The new CEO of Bosch, Stefan Hartung, has warned against a German exit from Russian gas supplies. "If Germany unilaterally refrains from Russian gas deliveries, highly relevant elements of the supply chain will not only break away at Bosch," said Hartung in an interview with the Handelsblatt. In addition, the group does not want to withdraw completely from Russia. Bosch is continuing activities relevant to the care of the general population that are not affected by the sanctions. "We don't want to stop them without a legal basis," said Hartung. Bosch supports the sanctions as much as possible, "but we're not taking any special paths."
IL SOLE 24 ORE
-With a surprise move, the French bank Credit Agricole announced on Thursday evening that it has acquired a 9.18% stake in Banco BPM (Italy’s third largest bank), "thus strengthening the long-standing relationship" existing with the Milan based institution.
-The EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the High representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell are on their way to Kiev by train. Von der Leyen published a post on Twitter, declaring: "Looking forward to Kyv" (towards Kiev), publishing a photo of herself next to Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger, followed by Borrell.
-Il Sole investigates the connection between emeralds “stained with blood and cocaine” from Colombia and links to heroine smugglers in Afghanistan.
LES ECHOS
-Abstention could be an even bigger factor in Sunday’s (April 10) first round of the presidential, which could exceed the record absentee ballots of the 2002 vote. All the polls predict that Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen will move to the second round, with Jean-Luc Mélenchon in third position. But the abstention, calculated voting last minute changes of opinion could alter the order of arrival.
-Since 2017, the French have said they do not want another final electoral showdown between candidates Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen. Nevertheless, they seem to be heading there. Three days before the first round of the presidential election, and as the official campaign ends on Friday evening, the outgoing president and the Le Pen both enjoy strong positions. The first is credited with 26% of voting intentions in the polls and the second with 22%, when Jean-Luc Mélenchon is at 17%.
ABC
A Madrid Court led by Judge Concepción Jerez issued a statement on Thursday announcing the launch of an official criminal investigation into the activities of three senior officials in the Pedro Sánchez government. They are suspected of having pocketed kickbacks from 56 contracts awarded for the purchase of sanitary material in the middle of the first wave of the pandemic of which, at least a dozen, present in his opinion severe irregularities including prevarication and embezzlement of funds.