Europe

MOSCOW, March 21. /TASS/: Oil prices should reach about $35-40 per barrel, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov said in an interview with the ‘Vesti v Subbotu’ (News on Saturday) program on the Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"My estimation is that [the prices] will adjust at the level of about $35-40. There are other estimations, namely by the Russian Ministry of Energy, that it will be higher, over $40. We shall see who is right," he said.

GENEVA, March 20. /TASS/: Chinese Wuhan’s experience of pushing back the novel coronavirus gives hope that the pandemic can be stopped, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing on Friday.

"Yesterday, Wuhan, China, reported no new cases for the first time since the COVID19 outbreak started. Wuhan provides hope for the rest of the world, that even the most severe situation can be turned around," he said.

MOSCOW, March 21. /TASS/: The Russian Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare has delivered over 100,000 COVID-19 test kits to 13 states, the watchdog’s press service informed on Saturday, adding that delivery to three more states is planned.

MOSCOW, March 21. /TASS/: The global economy will begin to recover after the current situation with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) stabilizes, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said during the government session on economic issues on Saturday. He added that Russia’s oil industry is ready for volatility on world markets.

BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Slovak President Zuzana Caputova appointed Igor Matovic as prime minister on Saturday to lead a new center-right government coalition after a February election swept anti-graft opposition parties to power.

The government handover comes as the central European country of 5.5 million battles the spreading coronavirus outbreak that has put Europe on lockdown, pressuring Matovic’s four-party coalition to agree a cabinet quickly.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government is readying stimulus measures requiring about 350 billion euros ($374 billion) in net new debt to counter the coronavirus crisis, several people familiar with the plans told Reuters on Saturday.

The package will include a supplementary government budget of about 150 billion euros, 100 billion euros for an economic stability fund that can take direct equity stakes in companies, and 100 billion euros in credit to public-sector development bank KfW for loans to struggling businesses, the sources said.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union executive moved to formalize an agreement reached by EU finance ministers on March 5 to suspend EU budget rules that put limits on borrowing so that governments have a free hand in fighting the coronavirus.

The European Commission, the guardian of EU rules, proposed late on Friday to activate the ‘general escape clause’ in the rules to respond to the pandemic that has caused lockdowns in most EU countries and the closure of Europe’s borders.

BERLIN, Mar 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The number of COVID-19 cases in Germany has increased by 2,958 within one day to 13,957, the German federal disease control agency Robert Koch Institute (RKI), announced.

So far, 31 deaths had been recorded by RKI, 11 more than a day before. Other European countries, such as France, Spain and especially Italy, where more than 3,400 people died, reported much higher numbers.

Los Angeles, Mar 20 (AFP/PTI) Italy has surpassed China as the country with the most deaths from coronavirus as California, home to more than 39 million people, was placed under lockdown in the most drastic containment measure yet by a US state.

President Donald Trump said meanwhile that the United States is fast-tracking antimalarial drugs for use as a treatment and lashed out at China for not informing the world earlier about the original outbreak.

MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/: Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has detected a financing cell of the Islamic State (IS terrorist group, outlawed in Russia) operating in Crimea, the Rostov Region and the Komi Republic, the FSB’s Center for Public Relations informed TASS.

The FSB noted that activity of the clandestine IS financing cell had been suspended. "The detained persons established an international network collecting, accumulating and transferring money." Under the guise of charity, about 2 mln roubles ($26,000) were transferred to terrorist accounts.