Why this is the most important week for the stock market: Morning Brief

Reuters

Akzo Nobel expects its Russian plants to go out of business

Dutch paints and coatings maker Akzo Nobel expects its four plants in Russia to be out of business within a few months due to economic sanctions and a shortage of raw materials, its chief executive told the Financial Times in an interview published on Monday. “We are pretty realistic that over a month, two month period this will come to a gradual, if not normal phasing out of the business,” CEO Thierry Vanlancker said about Akzo’s Russian operations. “It’s either because the raw materials aren’t available anymore, or it is because somewhere the main customer may not be able to pay.”