Russia plans its own Starlink as Putin courts Musk
Speaking at a Moscow summit with African leaders on 28 October, Putin praised Elon Musk’s “genius” and said he was in touch with Starlink’s controlling shareholder. He made the remarks while describing Russia’s slow build-out of its Rassvet satellite constellation, which is meant for military use against Ukraine (The Guardian). The benefit is practical. Whoever controls a communications network controls access to it on the battlefield. A Russian network would reduce Moscow’s reliance on commercial systems and strengthen its position in any talks with the African states in the room.
Finland and Norway talk to Putin while Helsinki goes to Washington
On Tuesday, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre phoned Putin. It was one of the few direct calls between European leaders and him in more than four and a half years of war. Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen meets US Secretary of State Marco Rubio today about Ukraine (ZDF). Northern European states are opening their own channels to Moscow and to Washington at the same time, so they are no longer waiting for a common EU line.
Energy costs are moving into consumer prices
The ifo institute’s price-expectations index, which measures how many firms plan to raise prices, rose to 22.7 in September from 21.4 in August. It links the rise to the blockade of the Bab al-Mandab strait, which pushed crude oil higher. Gas and power prices hit their highest level since late 2022 in mid-September. Ifo expects German inflation to climb above 3% in the coming months, with utilities raising electricity and gas prices in winter (IFO).
Rome budget: €26bn, with banks paying €5.5–6bn
Italy’s cabinet approved a budget bill that has grown to €26bn to fund income-tax cuts for earners up to €55,000. Most of the tax cuts are guaranteed only for 2027. The financial sector is expected to pay €5.5–6bn (Il Sole 24 Ore). Banks and middle-income households are therefore pulled in opposite directions, and the later years of the cuts are not yet funded.
Non-obvious angle: shareholder base predicted who cut investment in 2020
CEPR research finds that euro area listed firms are still mostly owned by domestic investors. In the sectors hit hardest by COVID-19, firms with more domestically concentrated owners cut investment more, lost more value and raised less equity than peers with diversified owners (CEPR). That gives the EU’s capital markets union a measurable economic case, beyond a financial one.
Catch the next Gist for the continent’s moving pieces.
