By Alexandra Alper and Karen Freifeld

WASHINGTON -The United States on Friday broadened its export curbs against Russia and Belarus, restricting access to imports of items such as fertilizer and pipe valves as it seeks to ratchet up pressure on Moscow and Minsk following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

President Joe Biden’s administration also restricted flights of American-made aircraft that are owned, controlled or leased by Belarusians from flying into Belarus “as part of the U.S. government’s response to Belarus’s actions in support of Russia’s aggressive conduct in Ukraine.”

Washington has sought to deepen sanctions against Russia and ally Belarus after a withdrawal of Russian troops from northern Kiev revealed mass graves in the town of Bucha.

On Wednesday, the United States targeted Russian banks and elites with a new round of sanctions, including banning Americans from investing in Russia, in response to what President Joe Biden condemned as “major war crimes” by Russian forces in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, which began on Feb. 24, is Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War Two. Russia calls it a “special military operation” aimed at protecting civilians.

The Commerce Department said it will begin requiring Russians and Belarusians to get a special license when seeking to obtain a host of goods from U.S. suppliers and pledged to deny those licenses. The goods include fertilizer, pipe valves, ball bearings and other parts, materials and chemicals.

The administration said items made abroad with U.S. tools would also require a U.S. license, which the administration plans to deny.

“It is evidence they are going to continue tightening export controls and targeting on an economy-wide basis those categories they have not yet done,” said Emily Kilcrease, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and former deputy assistant U.S. Trade Representative, noting that the Commerce Department now has further restricted Russian access to all items whose export it regulates. “That’s significant.”

Actions in late February and March placed unprecedented controls on export of U.S. and foreign-made items destined for Russia or Belarus. Those measures, coordinated with over 30 other countries, restrict a broad swath of commodities, software and technology.

(Reporting by Alexandra Alper and Karen FreifeldEditing by Chris Reese; Editing by David Gregorio)

(Reuters) – Russia will relax temporary capital control measures aimed at limiting a drop in the rouble by allowing individuals to buy cash foreign currency and will also scrap commission for buying forex through brokerages, the central bank said on Friday.

The rouble has rebounded on the Moscow Exchange from record lows in March to levels seen before Feb. 24, when Russia started what it calls “a special military operation” in Ukraine, as capital control measures suffocated demand for forex.

The swift rebound in the rouble raised concerns about its economic and financial impact as analysts have warned that the volatile and strong rouble could pose a threat to Russian revenues from selling commodities abroad for foreign currency.

The central bank said banks will be allowed to sell cash foreign currency to individuals from April 18 but only the notes they have received no earlier than on April 9.

The central bank is also scrapping its requirement for banks to limit the gap between prices at which they offer to buy and sell foreign exchange. But it recommended banks sell forex to import-focused companies at a rate of no more than two roubles above the market rate.

The central bank said individuals will be allowed to withdraw not only dollars but also euros from their accounts from April 11, but kept the maximum amount that can be withdrawn until Sept. 9 at the equivalent of $10,000.

The rouble’s rapid recovery has raised doubts about the durability of its gains. Anyone who tries to buy foreign currency online at a bank in Russia or, illegally, at a foreign exchange booth, or who buys goods and services online denominated in foreign currencies will find the actual rate considerably worse.

The central bank also said it will scrap a 12% commission for buying foreign currency through brokerages, confirming earlier reports by Tinkoff Bank and Alfa Bank.

“We think this decision heralds the end to a head-turning rally in the rouble,” CentroCreditBank analysts said.

In early March, when the rouble was falling sharply as the United States and European countries imposed sanctions against Russia for sending troops to Ukraine, the central bank introduced a 30% commission on buying forex for individuals. The commission has been later lowered to 12%.

Restrictions on buying forex together with the order for export-focused companies to convert 80% of their FX revenues helped the rouble regain ground. On Friday, the rouble hit its strongest level against the euro since June 2020 and jumped to a 2022 high to the dollar.

The move to scrap the commission along with the central bank’s decision to cut its key rate to 17% should lower the rouble volatility, VTB Capital analysts said.

The Russian central bank unexpectedly cut its key rate from 20% on Friday and said future cuts were possible, as emergency steps had contained the risk to financial stability, brought deposits back to banks and helped limit the threat of inflation.

In March, consumer prices in Russia jumped 7.61%, staging their biggest month-on-month increase since January 1999.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Grant McCool)

(Reuters) -Home improvement chain Lowe’s Cos Inc said on Friday Chief Financial Officer David Denton would step down to pursue another opportunity at a publicly traded company outside the industry.

Denton joined Lowe’s as CFO in 2018 from CVS Health Corp, where he worked for nearly 20 years in several roles, including finance chief.

Lowe’s said Brandon Sink, senior vice president of retail finance, will succeed Denton, effective April 30.

Sink joined Lowe’s in 2010 and has held a variety of leadership roles in finance, strategy and accounting, the company said.

Lowe’s also reaffirmed its full-year financial outlook.

(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

By Tim Hepher

PARIS -Airbus lost a fifth of outstanding orders for its A330neo long-haul jet in March as the plane’s largest customer went through restructuring, but won sales elsewhere for more than 100 of its smaller jets, monthly data showed on Friday.

AirAsia X cancelled 63 of the A330-900 version of the A330neo, an upgrade of the long-established A330 wide-body model, as well as 10 smaller A321neo aircraft, Airbus said.

The European planemaker also said it had delivered 142 planes in the first quarter, up more than 13% on the year.

But the net number of deliveries stood at 140 after two for Aeroflot were cancelled due to sanctions on Russia.

Airbus had counted the two A350 deliveries for Aeroflot in its end-year tally in December as part of its forecast-beating annual deliveries, but the planes did not fly to Russia. Airbus has also cancelled the associated Aeroflot order, data showed.

“Airbus may seek new owners for these assets,” Jefferies analyst Chloe Lemarie said in a note.

Industry sources have said Airbus is trying to sell surplus A350s to Air India including three which it claims to have available as a result of a spat with Qatar Airways. The two sides are involved in a bitter court battle over the fate of A350s following the discovery of surface damage in the fleet.

The widely watched delivery totals confirm a range of 140-142 reported this week by Reuters, quoting sources – a higher number than some analysts had anticipated.

CLEANING BACKLOG

The announcement came as Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury told a German newspaper that Airbus is sticking to its goal of raising benchmark narrow-body production to 65 a month by summer 2023, and reaffirmed financial goals despite the war in Ukraine.

The A330neo is an upgrade of Airbus’ most-sold wide-body jet designed to compete with the Boeing 787 at a lower price.

It clocked up hundreds of orders only to face patchy demand as it was left heavily dependent on troubled AirAsia X.

Airbus has been gradually reducing the presence in its books of orders deemed unlikely to come to fruition while shifting attention to booming sales for the narrow-body A321neo.

“It is always a shock to see a large wide-body cancellation but these aircraft have probably not been counted in investors’ delivery forecasts for at least the past three years,” Agency Partners analyst Sash Tusa said.

“With the focus on strong demand for the A321neo, it is a good opportunity to take a look at the A330neo orders and clean up the backlog.”

In legal testimony on Thursday, Airbus minimised the benefits of its hot-selling A321neo compared to Boeing’s 737 MAX 10, in contrast with its own marketing pitch, but analysts described the move as a courtroom tactic in its widening legal dispute with Qatar Airways.

After Friday’s rejig of orders, Airbus has 200 undelivered A330neos in its order book versus 265 a month ago. These include 28 for Iran under a nuclear deal that collapsed in 2018, though Tehran is in talks with major powers aimed at reviving the deal.

Airbus said on Friday it had sold a total of 253 jets in the first quarter or a net total of 83 after cancellations. Rival Boeing will issue quarterly data next week.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, John Stonestreet and Bernard Orr)