All posts tagged: debt

No one reveres you like we do – POLITICO

No one reveres you like we do – POLITICO

Published by skeptic

Vučić also stressed that, when it comes to cooperation with Beijing, “the sky is the limit.” Serbia stands out as an early adopter of Chinese investments in Europe, such as the construction of the Pupin Bridge in 2013. Since then, investment initiatives have surged, including extensive infrastructure projects such as highways, the Smederevo Ironworks and the Zijin Mining Basin. However, this expansion has come at a cost to Serbia, which has amassed a debt burden of around €3.7 billion, due to the common practice of Chinese investments being bundled into loan schemes. It is also the sole European nation to acquire Chinese HQ-22 “Hong Qi” or Red Flag air defense systems, which has raised eyebrows due to the difficulty of integrating them into its existing weapons systems. Xi stopped in Belgrade after two days in France with President Emmanuel Macron, and before a trip to Budapest to meet Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — like Vučić, another thorn in the West’s side. Swapping Russia for China Xi’s arrival was met with stringent security measures which effectively …

‘I wanted to look and feel expensive’: four couples on why they took on wedding debt | Well actually

‘I wanted to look and feel expensive’: four couples on why they took on wedding debt | Well actually

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Cale Weissman, 35, and his partner didn’t have an exact budget for their 2018 wedding, but they knew they couldn’t afford to spend more than $10,000 (£8,000). “We thought in terms of, what do we want from the experience, and what are the ways we can make it feasible without putting us in dire financial straits,” he says. Their ceremony took place at New York City Hall in April. A few months later, they hosted a celebration at an Airbnb in Brooklyn. (Airbnb has since instituted a ban on all parties and events at its listings.) The couple found creative ways to cut down on expenses. Instead of hiring a caterer, they prepared the food themselves (bánh mì sandwiches). They stocked up on beverages in New Hampshire, where alcohol is tax-free, and hired two friends to bartend. Even with all the cost cutting, charges crept up. Weissman and his partner ended up opening a joint credit card that they used to purchase the alcohol and food, and rent chairs. Weissman estimates that they put between …

Has the EU really just found €400B it could spend on defense? – POLITICO

Has the EU really just found €400B it could spend on defense? – POLITICO

Published by skeptic

As governments increasingly see the need to put the continent on a war footing, the plan would offer a way out for Europe’s policymakers who are desperately trying to find cash down the back of the sofa. They know they have to pay for it; they just don’t want to. Other options could see the ESM shift to respond to Russia’s aggression more broadly, four of the people said, such as by helping to pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine or by providing cheap loans to countries like the Baltic states which may find their borrowing costs rising. Russia’s war in Ukraine — a country harboring EU membership ambitions — is grinding into a third year and Donald Trump’s potential return to the White House risks leaving Europe in the lurch, as he demands all NATO countries to hit the target of 2 percent of gross domestic product spent on defense. But soaring debts in the bloc’s most powerful capitals, messy domestic politics, and tight spending rules enforced by the European Commission are limiting the …

Bills you don’t owe, menacing debt collectors: the terrifying world of energy company customers | Money

Bills you don’t owe, menacing debt collectors: the terrifying world of energy company customers | Money

Published by skeptic

Periodically, I electrify readers with a drama about energy bills. Before you switch off, let me assure you that utilities companies are masters of suspense. Read on if you dare: Act I Curtain up on an unhappy house in Oxfordshire. Owner XS has twice been informed that he owes Ovo nearly £37,000. This comes as a surprise to a man who is fully up to date with his payments. Ovo permits him and his sick wife several months of panic before realising that it, in fact, owes him £4,000. He is promised it will be credited to his account. It isn’t. Ovo then decides it only owes £2,000. This isn’t refunded, either. Nor does it dispatch the promised technician to read the meter. It’s been failing to do that since 2017. I enter, armed with a headline. Ovo squawks that the £37,000 is only a balance statement triggered by a faulty meter and its “systems” would have realised the absurdity of it before sending a bill. It belatedly gets around to installing a smart meter …

Working Mom In Dual-Income Household Asks Other Parents How They Afford Family Vacations

Working Mom In Dual-Income Household Asks Other Parents How They Afford Family Vacations

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In today’s economic climate, most people can barely afford to buy their children clothes, let alone take the entire family on vacation a few times a year.  One mom named Marty is genuinely curious about how other families can go on vacation without plunging themselves into debt, so she took to TikTok to get some answers.  The woman, who lives in a dual-income household, asked other families how they could afford to go on vacation without going into debt.  Marty, a mother of two and a dental hygienist, posted a TikTok video asking other parents how they can afford to take their families on multiple vacations a year.  In the text overlay, she wrote, “Like, do you not have student loans anymore? No childcare costs? No mortgage? No bills?”  Creativa Images / Shutterstock RELATED: Mom With Unemployed Husband Is ‘Drowning In Debt’ And Says She’s In Her ‘Mom Burnout Era’ “Is it family inheritance? Maybe it’s put on credit cards? I DON’T UNDERSTAND.”  People offered a variety of explanations for the woman, which shed some light …

Biden Forgives .1 Billion in Debt of Former Art Institutes Students

Biden Forgives $6.1 Billion in Debt of Former Art Institutes Students

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President Biden announced on Wednesday that his administration will forgive $6.1 billion in debt owed by 317,000 students of the now-defunct Art Institutes, a private for-profit system that operated some 50 campuses throughout the United States at its height.  The school system shuttered last year. Students who were enrolled at any Art Institute branch from January 1, 2004, through October 16, 2017, when the Education Management Corp. (EDMC) oversaw the organization, are eligible for debt forgiveness.   During this period, the Department of Education determined that the Art Institutes made “pervasive and substantial misrepresentations to prospective students about post graduation employment rates, salaries, and career services during that time,” per a statement. Related Articles According to the school, more than 80 percent of graduates found employment relevant to their degrees within six months, however, the Education Department found that the figure was closer to 57 percent. School administration also promised students career services beyond graduation, but reportedly ended communication with alumni. Additionally, Art Institute employees admitted to falsifying graduate earnings data, encouraging prospective students to take on …

EMC facilitates debt financing for Surrey’s Ocean Harvest Technology

EMC facilitates debt financing for Surrey’s Ocean Harvest Technology

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Ocean Harvest Technology Group (OHT), a researcher, developer and supplier of blended seaweed products for the animal feed industry, has secured new debt financing with the help of EMC Corporate Finance. Based in Reigate, Surrey, OHT is set to accelerate growth as it seeks to improve the efficiency and sustainability of the animal feed chain. Last month, the business reported a 28 per cent increase in sales revenues from its proprietary OceanFeed product for the year ended 31 December 2023. CEO Mark Williams said: “This financing represents a pivotal moment for OHT as we continue to pioneer commercial development of our seaweed blended additives to generate benefits in animal nutrition. “With the support of Paul and the team at EMC Corporate Finance, we are well-positioned to capitalise on emerging opportunities and further enhance our leadership in the industry.” Paul Hird, lead advisor at EMC, added: “We’re thrilled to have partnered with OHT in this endeavour. “The transaction underscores our commitment to delivering tailored financial solutions that empower companies to achieve their strategic objectives. “We look …

Brit in £7k debt after Thailand hotel he booked didn’t exist | UK | News

Brit in £7k debt after Thailand hotel he booked didn’t exist | UK | News

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A British tourist has been left in £7,000 debt after being shocked to discover that his Thai hotel reservation through Booking.com didn’t exist. Glen Parke, 30, paid £282 for a 59-night stay at the so-called Lek Lek Residence, which was touted as a “one-bedroom house”. But when Glen arrived in Thailand, he found nothing but a small roadside shop where his accommodation should have been. This led to an additional £3,044 spent on hastily booked alternative lodging online. Glen was then forced to dig deeper into his pockets to shell out another £3,579 on a third hotel after discovering the second hotel he checked into was completely booked up.  Despite assurances from Booking.com to cover the cost of both additional hotels as recompense for the absent booking, only the first payment was refunded within a week. Construction worker Glen, from Bishop’s Stortford, managed to finally secure the refund for the third hotel on April 18, only after Booking.com were approached for comment, reports the Manchester Evening News. Booking.com has since issued an apology.  Glen said: “For the …

Will the EU get a war budget?

Will the EU get a war budget?

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BRUSSELS — War is raging on its doorstep, the economy is in the doldrums, a European-wide election looks set to deliver a massive blow to its establishment — and now the EU is gearing up for what will be its bitterest battle yet: over its finances. Few things in the 27-nation bloc are as fiercely political as negotiations over its trillion-euro-or-so seven-year budget. And with an ever more aggressive Russia and global tension from Gaza to Taiwan gnawing away at Europe’s sense of self-content, demands that the EU steer its investment in a way that puts it on a war footing grow louder. “The budget is politics cast in figures,” Johannes Hahn, the European Commissioner in charge of the process, said. And, for now at least, those politics are dominated by war. Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, a country that wants to join the EU and needs money to defend itself and rebuild, changed everything. Yet, there’s no consensus about whether security is what the bloc should be spending its money on in the first …