Citigroup is said to be working on a bid to assemble a deal that would help Ukraine fund its reconstruction after Russia’s war ends. The potential transaction would allow Ukraine’s state-owned grid operator NPC Ukrenergo to refinance a chunk of its debt on more attractive terms. 

The savings could be used to help rebuild Ukraine’s power grid, which has been a major target of Russian attacks during its 11-year war. Citi is said to have started working on the proposal soon after US President Donald Trump was elected in November. 

Workers at the Kharkiv Combined Heat and Power Plant in Ukraine that was damaged by Russian shelling last year. Photographer: Future Publishing

Before boarding Air Force One on his way to a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, Trump mused that he may provide security guarantees to Ukraine “along with Europe and other countries, not in the form of NATO.” 

Such a guarantee, were it ever to be fulfilled, is unlikely to go down well with the Kremlin leader. Trump, 79, sees a ceasefire deal as a key objective of the talks, though European leaders are concerned about what he might concede to get it. And besides, Ukraine has been excluded from the talks and refuses proposals it give up territory.

For Putin, the fact that he’s getting face time with Trump, despite being the aggressor in the largest land war in Europe since World War II, is a victory in itself. So what does all of this back-and-forth on the geopolitical front mean for markets? Read here how traders have been positioning ahead of the talks. —Philip Lagerkranser

What You Need to Know Today

Trump said he’ll set raise semiconductor tariffs in the next two weeks. “I’m going to have a rate that is going to be 200%, 300%?” Trump told reporters en route to the summit with Putin. The president, who has spent the past seven months threatening tariffs and then often retreating, has repeatedly promised levies on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals are coming soon, but no formal announcements have yet been made.

Most of his tariffs are currently the subject of a pending US Court of Appeals ruling in Washington that may find them to be illegal and his attempt to justify them under an emergency declaration unconstitutional.

Swiss chipmaker U-blox said it’s in negotiations with private equity firm Advent about a possible takeover. Advent is said to be working on a 1 billion Swiss francs ($1.2 billion) bid for U-blox that could be announced in the next few days. Shares in U-blox, which makes positioning chips, soared today on the news. 

Danish wind turbine maker Orsted suffered another blow as S&P Global Ratings cut its debt to the lowest investment grade tier. The ratings agency cited Orsted’s “high-risk strategy” as it struggles to complete wind farms on time. The downgrade caps a torrid week for Orsted, as its stock fell by more than a third and a $9 billion rights offer sparked a political backlash in Denmark. 

An Orsted offshore wind energy park. Photographer: Nicolas Maeterlinck/AFP/Getty Images

Irish exports to the US dropped sharply in June, as a pre-tariff surge earlier in the year unwound. Shipments dropped 60% from the prior month, to €4.4 billion ($5.2 billion). The numbers may be the result of US drug makers with Irish manufacturing bases stockpiling in the first quarter to front-run tariff threats by Trump.

Algeria is said to be close to finalizing a deal with Exxon and Chevron to tap the North African nation’s vast gas reserves for the first time. Technical aspects have “more or less been agreed upon” while commercial terms are still under negotiation, said Samir Bekhti, the chairman of energy regulator Alnaft.  The OPEC member has the world’s third-largest recoverable shale resources, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Inflation in Nigeria slowed again in July, bolstering the case for the central bank to cut interest rates from a record high. Consumer prices rose 21.9%, in like with economists’ estimates, against the backdrop of a decline in gasoline prices. The start of the harvest season could add to downward pressure on inflation. 

OpenAI chief Sam Altman wants to spend trillions of dollars to build the infrastructure needed to run artificial intelligence—that is, if he can figure out how to raise that kind of money. Altman said OpenAI is devising a novel way to fund ambitions “that the world has not yet figured it out.” OpenAI is already leading a $500 billion, four-year infrastructure venture called Stargate. 

The Stargate site in Texas Source: Google Maps

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