Alexander Smotrov, Practice Lead for CEE, joined a segment on LBC to discuss Russia's crackdown on independent journalism and the crisis in Ukraine.
“They needed to make a move because otherwise they would face a lot of reputational issues at home and globally,” said Alexander Smotrov, who leads the Russia and Central and Eastern Europe practice at Global Counsel, a London-based consulting firm.
Alex Dawson, Practice Lead for UK politics and policy, contributed an op-ed on the Russia-Ukraine war from a UK perspective.
Beata Stepantchenko, who advises private equity firms on risks in different regions as an associate in the political due diligence team at Global Counsel, expects “disturbances to supply chains not only in Ukraine but in the neighbouring countries and even in the global supply chain market”.
In Russia, it is the incoming global sanctions that will hit deal flow, Stepantchenko added: “There’ll definitely be the possibility of sanctions. They [PE firms] need to understand what has been blocked and what are the resources they’ll be able to use in Russia. For example, some payment methods might be disrupted.”
Asia Practice Lead Andrew Yeo contributed a piece of analysis on Singapore's Budget 2022.
Opinion piece from UK Politics and Policy Practice Lead Alex Dawson.
"Budget 2022's tweaking of manpower policies has thematically built on initiatives that have been introduced in recent years, including Tech.Pass, which was established to attract leading technology experts and entrepreneurs globally, as well as the Nongsa Digital Park initiative, which effectively builds a talent hinterland for Singapore," said Andrew Yeo, practice lead for Asia at public policy advisory Global Counsel.
Global Counsel senior associate Marissa Lee:
"The decision to ramp up the carbon tax more quickly while allowing for offsets as a means for reducing tax liability is a bold one, and will certainly help to catalyse a shift to clean energy. Singapore's original plan to gradually raise the tax to S$10-S$15 a tonne by 2030 would have been insufficient to achieve the 2015 Paris Agreement's main goal of limiting warming to 2 deg Celsius. Importantly, the government has signalled that Singapore's carbon tax could be raised to S$50-S$80 per tonne by 2030. The IMF (International Monetary Fund) has previously said that advanced economies should strive for a carbon price floor of US$75 per tonne by 2030."
Global Counsel practice lead for Asia, Andrew Yeo:
''Globally, policymakers will have an eye on a looming global minimum tax rate which will begin to take shape across the next year. This means the need for the country to competitively position itself in non-tax incentive terms, and feeds into the national priority of evolving into the premier hub of global connectivity for talent, travel and capital."
Ms Charley Roberts, an associate at advisory firm Global Counsel's climate and sustainability practice, said governments and private actors are increasingly setting out specific additional criteria beyond carbon. They are using these criteria to screen the types of projects they invest in.
She said: "Quantifying the range of benefits created by nature-based solutions can also provide further points of differentiation in the market, and ideally lead to more thoughtful project design to ensure these multiple benefits are achieved."
