Author: Efthimia Palili

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc, is to acquire an initial 35% shareholding in Innovo Renewables. Italian-based Innovo develops, constructs and manages renewable energy projects across Italy, the UK and Spain. The agreement, which can be raised to 50% within 24 months, will help Innovo scale up its business and increase the development of renewable energy projects across its primary markets.The finance will also support the development of its construction and operational capabilities as it aims to transform from a renewable energy developer into one of Europe’s leading independent power producing platforms. Innovo Renewables currently has…

Denmark’s government has paid out DKK 791 million (USD 116.4 million, EUR 106.2 million) to Danish fishers who lost quota as a result of the U.K.’s departure from the European Union. On 19 July, the Danish Fisheries Agency announced the completion of compensatory payouts for losses of quota value due to renegotiated fishing agreements following Brexit. The scheme is state aid approved by the European Commission and financed by E.U. funds from the E.U.’s Brexit adjustment reserve. “The funds paid compensate the fishermen for the permanent loss of value that the reduction of their individually owned quotas has brought about,”…

Italian satellite communications network Leaf Space has raised €20 million in a Series B funding round. The capital will further propel the company’s efforts to establish a market-leading telemetry, tracking, command, and payload data transmission network for satellite operators. Leaf Space’s €20 million Series B round was led by CDP Venture Capital Sgr (through Fondo Evoluzione) and Neva Sgr. The round also drew the participation of SIMEST and Digital Transition Fund – part of the CDP S.p.A. group, as well as existing shareholders RedSeed Ventures, Primo Space, and Whysol Investments. In addition to the €20 million received from investors, Leaf…

Pontikonisi, also known as “Mouse Island,” is a Greek islet located at the entrance of Halkiopoulos lagoon in Corfu. The islet is better-known for hosting the Byzantine chapel of Pantokrator, dating back to the 11th century and only open to visitors each year on August 6th. Pontikonisi has a rich legend of which not every visitor is aware. The Story of Pontikonisi, Corfu island According to the legend, Pontikonisi was Odysseus’s ship, the vessel that brought the legendary king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, to the island of the Phaeacians. It was during a terrible storm that the…

Today, the High Representative and the European Commission have adopted a Joint Communication setting out a New Agenda for Relations between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean. It proposes a stronger and modernised strategic partnership, through reinforced political engagement, boosting trade and investment, and building more sustainable, fair and inter-connected societies through Global Gateway investments. President Ursula von der Leyen said: “Today, the EU–LAC strategic partnership is more important than ever. We are key allies to strengthen the rules-based international order, stand up together for democracy, human rights and international peace and security. We also have an interest in strengthening our political partnership…

In a long-awaited report, special counsel John Durham slams the FBI for actions agents took during the 2016 probe scrutinizing then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and it alleged ties to Russia. Durham’s final report examining the origins of the Russia investigation brings to a close a four-year probe that failed to produce any major convictions despite the expectations pushed by Trump and his allies. The Justice Department and FBI “failed to uphold their important mission of strict fidelity to the law,” Durham concluded in the 306-page report. Durham was tasked in late 2020 by then-Attorney General Bill Barr to investigate the origins of the FBI’s…

Europe has come a long way from the frenzied stockpiling driving up natural gas prices a year ago. As of May 9, Europe’s gas storage was full to 62%, and at the current pace of refilling, storage is expected to hit its capacity of about 1,138 terawatt-hours (TWh) by late August, according to estimates by Morgan Stanley. And it is driving down gas prices. In August 2022, Dutch TFF gas futures, the benchmark European contract, hit €243.72 ($265.94) per megawatt-hour (MWh), buttressed by the energy disruptions of Russia’s war in Ukraine and the prospect of a punishing winter without enough heating fuel. By November, a few dozen LNG…

The European Union’s executive body raised its economic growth forecast, saying Europe had dodged a winter recession that was feared amid an energy crisis but warning that stubbornly high inflation is likely to keep hurting the economy by sapping people’s ability to spend. The outlook for the 20 countries using the euro currency improved to growth of 1.1% this year from 0.9% in February’s predictions, the European Commission said in its spring forecast Monday. Europe had faced expectations of a winter energy catastrophe after Russia cut off most of its supply of natural gas to the continent amid the war in Ukraine. Prices surged to…

At the moment, human smugglers are deciding who will become EU citizens, which is quite unprecedented, the Prime Minister’s chief advisor on internal security told public television M1 news channel. György Bakondi stressed that currently, a criminal network decides how people can enter Europe, at what time, and for how much money, and the European authorities have failed to take adequate action against this since 2015. According to the advisor, there have been attempts to stop illegal immigrants, for example by the Italian government. However, he added that when it comes to sea routes, “rescue from the water” is invoked as an…

FORT SILL, Okla. — The U.S. is accelerating the training and delivery of Abrams tanks and Patriot missile defense systems for Ukraine, as preparations ramp up for expected heavy fighting this year. The Pentagon will refurbish existing M1A1 Abrams tanks in order to get them to Ukraine this fall, a major acceleration of the original timeline that wouldn’t see the tanks head to Ukraine for a year or more, Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday. The original U.S. announcement in January identified 31 M1A2 tanks for shipment to Ukraine, a process that would…