VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Citigroup Inc (C.N) and rivals in the commodity trade finance sector are facing headwinds of weak oil prices, sanctions on Russia and stiff competition, which have pressured fees.

Dinosaurs rule the earth again after "Jurassic World" debuted to a dominant $204.6 million at the domestic box office this weekend.

Russia will begin importing Iranian oil under a long-heralded oil-for-goods barter arrangement in the coming week, Iran's oil minister was quoted as saying, more than a year after negotiations began.

Russia would adopt a tough position if Ukraine decided not to pay off debts owed to Moscow by its previous government, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview broadcast by Russian TV on Saturday.

Russia avoided further diplomatic confrontation with Ukraine and the European Union at three-way trade talks on Monday and did not renew previous demands for Kiev's duty-free deal with the bloc to be put on hold.

Russia wants 1.163 billion euros ($1.32 billion) from France in compensation for cancelling a contract to deliver two Mistral helicopter carriers, a Russian source close to the negotiations said on Friday.

Russian telecoms group Vimpelcom (VIP.O) is in talks with Asia's Hutchison Whampoa (0013.HK) about merging their mobile phone businesses in Italy as a joint venture, Vimpelcom Chief Executive Jean-Yves Charlier said on Wednesday.

A global oil glut is building as OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia pumps near record highs in an attempt to win a market-share battle against stubbornly resistant U.S. shale production, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.

The fortunes of the Russian outpost of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's candy empire have ebbed and flowed with the Russian-backed separatist conflict in the east of his country.

Italian refiner Saras (SRS.MI) and Russian energy giant Rosneft (ROSN.MM) have called off plans to set up a trading joint venture, Saras Managing Director Dario Scaffardi said on Tuesday.

No decision has yet been taken on the future of France's suspended contract to deliver Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia, French President Francois Hollande said on Friday after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday paved the way for long-overdue missile system deliveries to Iran and Moscow started an oil-for-goods swap with Tehran, showing the Kremlin's determination to boost economic ties with the Islamic Republic.

Germany's BDI industry association is more optimistic about the prospects for Europe's biggest economy than it was three months ago due to cheap oil, strong private consumption and a weak euro, its president said on Sunday.

German industrial group Siemens has seen sales in Russia plunge by about half due to the country's economic demise, Bild am Sonntag reported, citing chief executive Joe Kaeser.

Ukraine's Naftogaz [NAFTO.UL] Chief Executive Andriy Kobolev will seek rapid progress on a deal to secure gas from Russia for the next 12 months in talks brokered by the European Commission in Berlin next week.