:00:17. > :00:23.Will the taps remain open? Talks over Russian gas deliveries to
:00:24. > :00:26.Ukraine continue in Brussels. And we focus on The Czech Republic `
:00:27. > :00:29.25 years since it exited communism ` the problem of corruption is
:00:30. > :00:37.recognised still as one of its biggest problems.
:00:38. > :00:43.Welcome to World Business Report. I'm Sally Bundock.
:00:44. > :00:44.Also in the programme further signs the world's number two economy,
:00:45. > :00:53.China is seeing stronger growth. A final round of talks are set to
:00:54. > :00:56.start in Brussels today after Ukraine's Naftogaz state energy firm
:00:57. > :01:04.transferred 786 million dollars to its Russian counterpart Gazprom.
:01:05. > :01:12.Ukraine is bowing to pressure from both the EU and the Kremlin to keep
:01:13. > :01:15.talks alive. Russia says it's owed 5.2 billion dollars ` including
:01:16. > :01:19.three and a half billion in arrears ` and is demanding Ukraine pays up
:01:20. > :01:22.front for all future supplies. But Gazprom now says it is willing to
:01:23. > :01:25.discuss a lower price and analysts believe that a compromise is in
:01:26. > :01:30.sight because Russia would prefer to avoid complicating its relations
:01:31. > :01:33.with Europe further. Russian gas transits through Ukraine supplying
:01:34. > :01:36.about 15% of European needs and a top EU envoy is now urgently seeking
:01:37. > :01:45.a compromise that could save 18 member states from seeing their
:01:46. > :01:57.deliveries start to dwindle. With me is Livia Paggi, a political risk
:01:58. > :02:02.advisor at the consultancy. Good morning. How well do you think these
:02:03. > :02:05.talks will go today? It would seem both sides are willing to see
:02:06. > :02:09.progress. I think that is absolutely right. Friday was a real
:02:10. > :02:17.breakthrough, the fact that Ukraine was made king `` willing to make a
:02:18. > :02:20.payment. It has a ground for a smoother negotiation today. There is
:02:21. > :02:25.likely we will see negotiations going on. All sides are willing to
:02:26. > :02:34.keep going and keep the talks alive. Can we say which side has the
:02:35. > :02:41.upper hand at this point? This is what the dispute has told us, it is
:02:42. > :02:49.not clear who has the upper hand. Russia is owed this amount of
:02:50. > :02:54.money, we see that the Ukraine is also not willing to pay such a high
:02:55. > :02:58.price. After the price was hyped up by 50% and we have also seen the
:02:59. > :03:04.west is also trying to broker peace deal. I think that it's going to be
:03:05. > :03:10.a lot of to and fro and it means that make it remains to be seen. Is
:03:11. > :03:15.quite a critical week for Ukraine, its president will be inaugurated at
:03:16. > :03:23.the end of the week. As this Ukraine crisis that occurred in 2014, does
:03:24. > :03:28.that mean this story, this spat between Ukraine and Russia over gas
:03:29. > :03:31.prices will they be change or maybe possibly and in the future because
:03:32. > :03:35.it's something that has cropped up every winter the years it would
:03:36. > :03:40.seem. It's a story that we keep seeing over and over again. It has
:03:41. > :03:50.come into light at the moment because it really represents where
:03:51. > :03:54.there will be a crisis. It's going to keep going on probably, is going
:03:55. > :03:57.to fall to the background. What it doesn't mean is that the Ukraine
:03:58. > :04:03.will be able to manage its political crisis internally. While we might
:04:04. > :04:10.see a breakthrough amongst western, Russian relations, we're likely to
:04:11. > :04:14.see ongoing violence in Ukraine. We appreciate your time. We will keep
:04:15. > :04:18.an eye on the talks in Brussels today. We will update you as and
:04:19. > :04:21.when we get news. Since the revolutions that brought
:04:22. > :04:24.about the end of the communist bloc 25 years ago, one of the thorniest
:04:25. > :04:27.problems to plague parts of Eastern Europe has been corruption. In the
:04:28. > :04:30.Czech Republic its openly talked about ` a recent report from the EU
:04:31. > :04:34.showed 95% of Czechs perceive corruption as a problem and 71% of
:04:35. > :04:39.companies consider it to be the main hurdle to doing business in the
:04:40. > :04:42.country. The government last year collapsed amid a scandal involving
:04:43. > :04:45.allegations of corruption and abuse of office. Tanya Beckett reports
:04:46. > :04:59.from Prague. Harmony filters through the streets
:05:00. > :05:05.of Iraq at a quarter of a century after Soviet power lost its grip,
:05:06. > :05:12.these musicians are used to reading between the lines. This man worked
:05:13. > :05:16.in ten years as a lawyer for the government. He says he witnessed
:05:17. > :05:22.evidence of corruption first hand. TRANSLATION: I'm talking about
:05:23. > :05:28.dozens of transactions that were a regular. They were documented in my
:05:29. > :05:32.objections were ignored and I was dismissed after an enquiry together
:05:33. > :05:38.with another enquiry who also complained. He has since been
:05:39. > :05:43.appointed to a job elsewhere in government. New to the interior
:05:44. > :05:48.ministry, this woman says the root of corruption reach back to the full
:05:49. > :06:02.of the Iron Curtain. Most of the people in the 90s... The politics
:06:03. > :06:10.was taken over by people who were not friends of transparency.
:06:11. > :06:19.Distrust of politicians and distrust in business. Czech people do except
:06:20. > :06:24.that in the switch from one system to another there is a gap into which
:06:25. > :06:30.bad behaviour can slip. What they find it harder to come to terms with
:06:31. > :06:34.is that in the Czech Republic, in common with many other countries in
:06:35. > :06:40.Eastern Europe, 25 years after that transition was made, corruption
:06:41. > :06:46.remains a major problem. The journey to clean economy is precarious and
:06:47. > :06:49.uncertain. Here in Prague, checks have not lost hope that they will
:06:50. > :06:57.make it. `` Apra tos. Efforts by the Chinese government to
:06:58. > :07:00.bolster growth in the economy are showing early signs of success. The
:07:01. > :07:04.latest growth numbers show that the month of May was a good one for its
:07:05. > :07:09.vast factories. Rico Hizon is in our Asia Business hub in Singapore.
:07:10. > :07:13.Happy Monday, Rico Hizon! Tell us more about China. Well, the
:07:14. > :07:22.purchasing managers index which is a factory output number scheme is
:07:23. > :07:26.expected at 50.8. A number above 50 is an expansion, anything below is a
:07:27. > :07:28.contraction. The number is reinforcing views of the world 's
:07:29. > :07:35.second`largest economy is indeed regaining some momentum in the
:07:36. > :07:41.second quarter following Beijing's targeted initiatives. This includes
:07:42. > :07:48.the construction of railways, public housing and tax cuts for small
:07:49. > :07:52.businesses. The data also shows that export orders and domestic demand
:07:53. > :07:56.have indeed picked up. To sustain these gains, authorities in the
:07:57. > :08:00.mainland have now implemented new initiatives to help lower funding
:08:01. > :08:05.costs and reduce operational expenses and these include Loring
:08:06. > :08:10.requirement for banks. Increasing the scale of relending and bond
:08:11. > :08:13.financing to support smaller companies and a further reduction of
:08:14. > :08:18.administration fees for businesses. When you speak to some economists
:08:19. > :08:21.here, they say in underlying weakness in the economy,
:08:22. > :08:25.particularly in the property market as well is disappointing growth in
:08:26. > :08:30.investment and consumption. Thanks a lot. Good to see you.
:08:31. > :08:33.Rico, tell us more. In other news. Abu Dhabi based airline Etihad says
:08:34. > :08:36.it has finalised the conditions it requires for a major investment in
:08:37. > :08:40.Alitalia, following months of negotiations. Etihad did not give
:08:41. > :08:43.further details, but in a TV interview Italy's transport minister
:08:44. > :08:46.said Etihad was ready to invest around 600 million Euros in
:08:47. > :08:52.Alitalia. Reports say that in return Etihad will receive a 49% stake in
:08:53. > :08:56.Alitalia. The deal needs to be confirmed by the board of Alitalia
:08:57. > :08:59.and other parties. The Obama administration is poised
:09:00. > :09:05.to unveil the first rules limiting carbon emissions from the thousands
:09:06. > :09:07.of power plants across America. The pollution controls form the
:09:08. > :09:13.cornerstone of President Obama's campaign to combat climate change
:09:14. > :09:15.and a key element of his legacy. The Environmental Protection Agency will
:09:16. > :09:20.make public the details of the plans for the first time on Monday. Power
:09:21. > :09:25.plants accounted for about 40% of US. Carbon pollution. Many in the
:09:26. > :09:35.energy sector are already worried how these new guidelines will affect
:09:36. > :09:38.their industry. Markets today as you can imagine
:09:39. > :09:41.given a boost by the news about China and how things are going
:09:42. > :09:45.there. The markets in Hong Kong, China and New Zealand are close
:09:46. > :09:49.today for a public holiday. Indicate is up about 2%, a good start to the
:09:50. > :09:51.week for the Asian markets. Those other currencies, I will see you
:09:52. > :10:09.soon. `` those are the currencies. Thanks very much to Sally for that.
:10:10. > :10:12.The family of Gareth Huntley who's missing in Malaysia have thanked the
:10:13. > :10:16.British and Malaysian governments for their renewed efforts to find
:10:17. > :10:17.him. The 34`year`old was last seen going for a trek to a waterfall