Russia has rejected the request, the report said. Mongolia also applied to Russia’s state-owned VTB bank, asking for a $200 million loan with a “better” interest rate, the report said. This money would be used to pay for the import of “Russian oil products.”

In January, Russian President Vladimir Putin forgave 97.8 percent of Mongolia’s state debt that has piled up since 2010 and amounted to 170 billion rubles ($2.8 billion).

The leaders of the German Industry Association (BDI), the Chambers of Commerce (DIHK) and the Employers' Association all expressed fears about uncertainties, especially with elections in Germany and France due in 2017, and protectionist trends in some countries.

"Expect the unexpected," BDI President Ulrich Grillo told Reuters. "The level of global uncertainty has increased as has the unpredictability. Unfortunately I fear that won't change very much in 2017."

Britain's referendum decision to leave the European Union and Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election surprised pollsters and markets around the world. Chancellor Angela Merkel and her conservatives are expected to win a fourth consecutive term in September but uncertainties such as terror attacks are clouding the picture and such expected outcomes should be no longer taken for granted, the industrialists said.

Grillo said he fears political instability could increase due to a combination of growing self-doubt in the west, autocrats flexing their muscles elsewhere and the rise of populists.

Anton Boerner, head of the German trade association (BGA), said all the external uncertainties were weighing on export firms.

"Nationalist trends are poison for society as a whole and Europe needs to be reminded of all that it has in common," said Ingo Kramer, president of the Employers' Association. He said an increase in protectionism would be devastating for Germany which relies on exports for about half of its economic output.

Eric Schweitzer, the leader of the DIHK, saw considerable risks for Germany related to Brexit as well as Trump's election.

"I fear there is something deceptive about the relatively good economic situation right now," he said. "The Brexit vote could still hit the EU economy and especially the German economy. Donald Trump's critical comments on free trade in his campaign are causing a lot of uncertainty at German companies."

Association of Skilled Trades president Hans Peter Wollseifer underlined the challenge of integrating hundreds of thousands of refugees who have arrived in the last 18 months.

U.S. mutual fund trustees feel the heat of investor lawsuits
All the industry leaders said they hoped Merkel's conservative party, along with the other parties campaigning ahead of the election expected in September, would focus on industrial competitiveness and the creation of jobs in areas with bright futures.

In October, Germany lowered its economic growth target for 2017 to 1.4 percent from 1.5 percent.

(Writing by Erik Kirschbaum; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

"This is another very important step for the development of Crimea in the long term. The supplies of Russian gas to the Crimean peninsula will allow us to develop its economy as a whole and will also help to meet the social needs of the Crimea and Sevastopol," said Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The pipeline stretches 358.7 kilometers across Lake Tuzla and the Kerch Strait, with an additional 27.3-kilometer spur to Simferopol.

According to Putin, the pipeline will provide gas for two 470 megawatts (MW) power stations, which will be built by 2018.

In the next four years, Russia will build or reconstruct over 2,500 kilometers of cross-country gas pipelines and build eight gas pumping stations in the Crimea.

Crimea consumes up to 1,300 MW of electricity. Previously 800 MW was supplied by Ukraine. Now the region can meet its own energy demands. With the announced new power stations the peninsula will be able to generate up to 2,000 megawatts, which exceeds demand.

In November 2015, Crimean authorities had to declare a state of emergency after all four Ukrainian power lines providing electricity to the peninsula were blown up, causing a total blackout. This urged the Kremlin to speed up building an independent energy system for the region.

Providing power to Crimea is a part of a bigger project to unite the peninsula with mainland Russia. Moscow expects to open a 19-kilometer long bridge to bypass Ukraine in 2018.

The bridge will have a four-lane highway and two-track railroad, capable of handling up to 40,000 vehicles and dozens of trains a day to the peninsula over the Kerch Strait.

Crimea’s only land border is with Ukraine, but currently, regular passenger and cargo deliveries are organized by direct flights and ferries from ports in southern Russia.

But unlike other countries, China has the flexibility to beat off sharp economic decline as it restructures its economy toward consumption and services, according to the agency.

Statistics showed China's GDP witnessed a 6.7 percent increase in all three quarters of 2016. The country's industrial development, consumption, and investment maintained stable growth in October- November, with a rapid rise in the service industry.

Despite experts’ concerns, Chinese officials are confident in the country’s economy, saying the positive trends of this year will continue into next year.

This month Chinese President Xi Jinping voiced his confidence the country will achieve its major economic targets.

If China's GDP growth comes in line with the government's official full-year target, it will account for 1.2 percentage points of global GDP growth, economist Stephen Roach told the China Daily.

According to the IMF which expects only a 3.1 percent global growth this year, China would contribute over a third of the world's growth. The IMF says China is the primary source of export demand for over 100 economies, which account for about 80 percent of global GDP.

The Chinese media has warned that at times of growing protectionist sentiment around the world trading partners would only have access to China's home market if similar access was given by them.

Analysts say the future of Chinese trade will become more apparent when US President-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The presidency of Trump, who’s known for his protectionist views, may hit US-China trade which brought Beijing $367.11 billion last year.

Trump has warned China about possible sanctions for depreciating its currency, and thus hitting American manufacturers. Last week he appointed economist Peter Navarro, an outspoken critic of China, as the head of a new US trade body.

Earlier this month, the natural resource trader Glencore International and a Qatari sovereign wealth fund acquired 19.5 percent of the company for €10.5 billion ($11.3 billion).

The partners became the third-largest stakeholder in the business with over 50 per cent still belonging to the state-owned oil transportation agency Rosneftegaz, while another 19.75 percent is owned by BP.

Rosneft negotiated with more than 30 companies, sovereign wealth funds and financial institutions from Europe, Americas, Middle East and Asia before selling the stake to the Glencore-Qatar consortium, according to the company’s CEO Igor Sechin.

Rosneft stock has become very attractive to investors, according to the newspaper's sources. The oil major has recently changed its dividend policy. The company has promised to disburse 35 percent of net profit in dividend to its shareholders instead of 25 percent.

Moreover, oil prices continue to rise after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, and non-OPEC oil producers reached a deal to cap output.

The package owned by the consortium may go up in price due to the changed market environment, the sources told Vedomosti. Although Rosneftegaz won’t make any money from the re-sale of the stake, the deal could reportedly boost the capitalization of Rosneft.

Investors have expressed interest in Russian energy firms, particularly in Rosneft and Gazprom, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley. The bank said that apart from attractive prices for crude and high dividends, the results of the US presidential election have stoked investor interest. Some experts believe the sanctions against Russia could be eased after Donald Trump enters office.

Japan's Panasonic, which has been retreating from low-margin consumer electronics to focus more on automotive components and other businesses targeting corporate clients, will make the investment in Tesla's factory in Buffalo, New York.

The U.S. electric car maker is making a long-term purchase commitment from Panasonic as part of the deal, besides providing factory buildings and infrastructure.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, the two companies said they plan to start production of PV modules in the summer of 2017 and increase to one gigawatt of module production by 2019.

The plan is part of the solar partnership that the two companies first announced in October, but which did not disclose investment details.

Tesla is working exclusively with longtime partner Panasonic to supply batteries for its upcoming Model 3, the company's first mass-market car. Panasonic is also the exclusive supplier of batteries to Tesla's Model S and Model X.

(Reporting by Taiga Uranaka and Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Sources close to the matter say the loss came to light after Toshiba reviewed the value of the assets held by CB&I Stone & Webster, which its nuclear power subsidiary, Westinghouse, acquired in 2015.

They say the loss to the Toshiba group could reach 500 billion yen, or over 4.2 billion dollars.

The electronics giant has recently suffered a series of huge losses from its nuclear business in the US.

The company booked a loss of about 260 billion yen, or around 2.2 billion dollars, in fiscal 2015, after reviewing the value of Westinghouse's assets.

Toshiba has been concentrating its resources on its nuclear and semiconductor businesses as part of its turnaround efforts following an accounting scandal in 2015.

The latest development is likely to prompt Toshiba to take some radical steps, including raising capital.

The South Korean carrier also said on Tuesday it will beef up security training of crew members.

Last week, Marx said on Facebook and Twitter that he helped initially subdue "a psycho passenger attacking crew members and other passengers," accusing crew members of being "ill-trained" and "ill-equipped" to handle the "chaotic and dangerous event".

Marx's wife, Daisy Fuentes, who was with the singer during the flight from Vietnam to South Korea, said on Instagram that crew members "didn't know how to use the taser & they didn't know how to secure the rope around him (he got loose from their rope restraints 3 times)."

Korean Air Lines said on Tuesday its crew members are "hesitant" to use taser guns, because they are permitted for use on only "grave" situations which jeopardize the life of a passenger or crew member or the safety of a flight.

"We have decided to improve our conditions and procedure on using Taser guns to cope with violent acts and disturbances on board in a fast and efficient manner," it said in a statement, without elaborating on how it would revise the rules.

However, a spokesman said the changes would ease conditions on using Taser guns so that crew can "readily use stun guns".

In South Korea, the number of unlawful acts committed aboard airplanes has more than tripled over the past five years, according to government data.

Video footage of the recent incident posted on YouTube showed a young man in a business class seat spat and swore at crew members trying to restrain him with a rope.

On Monday, the passenger appeared for questioning by police, wearing a mask, thick-rimmed glasses and a hat. He apologized for his behavior but said he could not remember what had happened, according to video shown by broadcaster SBS.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Michael Perry)