The state has rapidly increased its presence in the economy. Together with state-owned companies, its share in GDP rose from 35 percent in 2005 to 70 percent in 2015. The state’s expanded presence in the economy has deepened monopolistic tendencies in the “economic space uncontrolled by the state,” the FAS lamented. Source: Moskow Times
A gendarmerie crew was the target of two Molotov cocktails this Monday evening in Villefontaine (Isère). For Patrick Nicole-Williams, the mayor of Villefontaine, the gendarmes have fallen into an ambush. The soldiers were called to intervene in the Muissiat district around 11 p.m. Source Actu17
Air France aims to present a plan to trade unions to cut just over 7,500 jobs over the next two years, sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, as the French carrier grapples with the coronavirus crisis. Source France24
Nord Stream 2 expects regulators to decide by May whether its contested natural gas pipeline linking Germany to Russia will be able to operate as planned. Already suffering U.S. sanctions, the project led by Gazprom PJSC is pinning its hopes on German regulator Bundesnetzagentur to help it clear hurdles erected by European Union competition authorities. So-called unbundling rules rolled out by the trade bloc last year require the owners of gas and those who deliver it by pipeline or ship to be separate legal entities, even the fuel comes from outside the EU. Source: Bloomberg
