Europe

MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/: The Progress rocket and space center has started manufacturing components for Russia’s prospective super-heavy Yenisei rocket, Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin has said.

"Good news from the Samara-based Progress rocket and space center: here are the already manufactured tank lips and other components of the new Soyuz-5 rocket. They will be parts of universal modules of our new super-heavy rocket, Yenisei," Rogozin wrote in a Twitter post, attaching images of those components.

SEVASTOPOL, March 19. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on Russian officials to be ready for any scenario due to the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Acting Governor of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhaev informed the president that 77 people had been placed under medical supervision in Sevastopol, and eight had been taken to hospital on suspicion of the novel coronavirus. "So far, there are no confirmed cases, but we are checking just in case," Razvozhaev said.

MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/: Oil prices may stop the drop at the resistance level of $15-20 per barrel, Vice President of Lukoil Leonid Fedun said in an interview with RBC.

"We have done a technical analysis. Of course, like any technical analysis, these are subjective estimates. But according to technical analysis, the first resistance level is now, we are seeing it - it is at $32 [per barrel], the ceiling is about $28 [per barrel], and the second resistance level is $15-20 [per barrel]," he said, answering a question about a possible continuation of a decline in oil prices.

19 March 2020; AFP: The European Central Bank on Wednesday unexpectedly said it would spend 750 billion euros on "emergency" bond purchases, as it joined other central banks in stepping up efforts to contain the economic damage from the coronavirus.

The so-called Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme comes just six days after the ECB unveiled a big-bank stimulus package that failed to calm nervous markets, piling pressure on the bank to open the financial floodgates.

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary will deploy special military task forces to monitor the operations of 140 state companies providing critical services during the coronavirus pandemic, Defence Minister Tibor Benko said late on Wednesday.

The newly created task forces, consisting of several soldiers, police officers and disaster unit workers, will provide regular briefings on the companies to the defense ministry, Benko told public television.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose nearly 10% on Thursday after a three-day selloff drove them to their lowest levels in almost two decades as demand plummeted due to the coronavirus and supplies surged in a fight for market share between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Benchmark Brent, which has lost half its value in less than two weeks, was offered some respite as investors across financial markets assessed the impact of massive central bank stimulus.

PARIS (Reuters) - French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday that he would soon present to President Emmanuel Macron various plans and options to help the country’s biggest companies cope with the coronavirus crisis, including possible nationalizations.

“We have several options on the table for all of the major industrial companies which could face major threats on the market. It could be us raising our stake in their capital....or it could be nationalizations,” Le Maire told France Inter radio.

LONDON, March 19 (NNN-Xinhua) — British Prime Minister indicated that he is sticking to the timetable that will see Britain and European Union (EU) end the Brexit transition period at the end of this year.

Currently, Britain and the EU are involved in talks to reach a permanent trade deal to come into force when a transition period ends by Dec 31 of 2020.

Asked by an MP on whether he “recognizes the inevitable” and will extend the post-Brexit transition period, Johnson said: “There is legislation in place and I have no intention of changing it.”

LJUBLJANA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Slovenian Minister of Economic Development and Technology Zdravko Pocivalsek on Wednesday called on employers to follow the "good example" set by a factory of Chinese household appliances maker Hisense, in order to protect the health of their employees as much as possible.

A video posted on the Slovenian government website shows how health safety measures were being applied in Hisense's Gorenje factory in the city of Velenje in northeastern Slovenia, which employs thousands of people.

ATHENS, March 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Greece imposed restrictions on the movement of migrants living in overcrowded camps on islands to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the migration ministry said.

Over the next 30 days, people living in camps will be allowed to temporarily exit the facilities only in small groups, every hour between 0700 and 1900 (0500-1700 GMT), in order to obtain food and supplies from nearby towns and villages.

Only one person from each family will be allowed to leave the camps.