Thread by @faisalislam

NEW: French energy giant Total will not provide capital for new projects in Russia, which falls short of BP/Shell divestment of Russian investments totalenergies.com/media/news/pre…

Also on the boat ban - awaiting some clarification on whether it applies to LNG tankers and oil tankers… which suggests there is a debate on whether it does, - as we filmed in January - Russian LNG tankers have been delivering gas from around world including the USA

https://twitter.com/faisalislam/status/1498333462687891458

NEW Extraordinary press conference from oligarch Mikhail Friedman, who tells the BBC he wants the war to stop but that his direct comments about the Kremlin must bear in mind protecting his staff “at risk” in Russia and Ukraine… more to come

Fridman says he is shocked by being sanctioned by the European Union - says people should only be punished by court decisions, says it’s unfair…

Fridman to the BBC: “war should be stopped as soon as possible’ and that Russia’s conflict with Ukraine is a ‘tragedy’ for both sides. He said that he did ‘not believe that war could be a solution of that conflict’ and ‘that the war should be stopped as soon as possible’.

The Russian Banker said he could not comment more directly when asked if he would condemn the war more specifically: ‘please, don't push me to comment more directly, because I think that's that would be not just my personal risk, but also risk for for my colleagues and staff’.

Gazprom again halved in value in terms of its London listing today - seems to have a half-life of a day. Sberbank down below $0.90 a share in London, having been $15 a fortnight ago. Rouble off lows but still worth less than a cent

All tumbling again now - another record low for the rouble, now lost 40% of its value in past fortnight, as US Treasury tightens Russian Central Bank sanctions…

Sberbank has lost 97% of its value on London listing in past fortnight, Gazprom down 92% in London

NEW: Swiss press quoting regional economic officials in the canton of Zug “Nordstream 2 is insolvent” all employees have lost their jobs

srf.ch/news/schweiz/k…

Full Fridman story… incl his reflections on whether he has any influence over Putin (No), whether war should stop (yes), whether he should condemn Kremlin more, “drastic” impact of sanctions, whether there are bank runs, & if he’s being “sent to Russia” bbc.co.uk/news/business-…