Morning Brief: September 16

• The EU will not present the 19th package of sanctions against Russia on Wednesday, it has been postponed indefinitely. The delay is due to the fact that the focus of the European Union's attention has shifted from the introduction of new sanctions against Russia to putting pressure on Slovakia and Hungary to reduce their dependence on Russian oil. 

• The share of the dollar in payments for Russian oil and petroleum products decreased to 5% from 55% in 2022. The main part of payments now falls on the yuan (67%) and the ruble (24%). The Central Bank confirms the trend: by the end of 2024, dollars and euros accounted for only 18.6% of export payments, while the ruble retains its leadership (41.3%) and continues to strengthen its position: in the second quarter of 2025, its share reached 53%. India, the largest buyer of Russian oil, agreed to settlements in yuan, as the rupee is highly convertible and does not provide a balance in mutual trade.

• Schengen visas will remain for Russians. Greece, Italy, Spain, France and Hungary have blocked the EU's proposal to impose new restrictions on the issuance of visas to Russian citizens. These countries could suffer serious losses due to the imposition of such sanctions. For example, in Greece, Russians spend an average of €1,300 per day, while other tourists spend about €567.

• Google will invest £5 billion in the UK in two years. Google has announced plans to invest £5 billion ($6.8 billion) in the development of AI, infrastructure and R&D in the UK. The project involves the creation of more than 8.2 thousand jobs and the opening of a new data center near London to support AI-based services. According to Alphabet's management, these steps will help strengthen the country's position in the field of AI and increase the economy by 400 billion pounds by 2030.

• The United States outlined its future actions against Russia. Europe should abandon Russian energy supplies and impose duties on China and India, only after that Washington will consider strengthening sanctions against Russia.