麦当劳退出俄罗斯市场

The world this week--Business

本周国际要闻--商业

The decision by America and Britain to ban Russian oil imports rattled markets.

美国和英国禁止进口俄罗斯石油的决定震动了市场。

At one point Brent crude briefly came close to $140 a barrel; Russia warned that the ban would send it hurtling towards $300.

布伦特原油一度逼近每桶140美元; 俄罗斯警告称该禁令将使油价飙升至300美元。

But prices retreated when the United Arab Emirates became the first member of OPEC to support ramping up production.

但当阿联酋成为欧佩克(石油输出国组织)首个支持增产的成员国后，油价回落。

Earlier, the International Energy Agency said that its member countries were ready to release more oil from their emergency stockpiles to help tame prices.

早些时候，国际能源机构表示，为帮助抑制油价，其成员国准备从紧急储备中释放更多石油。

Shell, meanwhile, said it would withdraw fully from Russia.

与此同时，壳牌(荷兰石油公司)表示将全面撤出俄罗斯。

This came after the energy giant was criticised for buying a ship’s cargo of heavily discounted Russian oil to supply one of its refineries.

此前，这家能源巨头因购买一船打折的俄罗斯石油以供应一家炼油厂而受到批评。

European markets for natural gas underwent huge price movements.

欧洲天然气市场经历了巨大的价格变动。

Benchmark Dutch futures briefly hit a record high of 345 euros (380 dollars) a megawatt hour before falling back; prices swung back and forth within a spread of 200 euros.

荷兰基准原油期货价格一度创下每兆瓦时345欧元(380美元)的历史新高，随后价格回落; 价格在200欧元的范围内来回波动。

The price a year ago was around 17 euros.

一年前的价格是17欧元左右。

Trading in other commodities was also volatile.

其他大宗商品的交易也不稳定。

Shipments of wheat from Russia, the world’s biggest exporter, and Ukraine, the fifth-biggest, have ground to a halt, pushing crop prices to a record.

世界第一大小麦出口国俄罗斯和第五大小麦出口国乌克兰的小麦出口已陷入停滞，将小麦价格推高至创纪录水平。

The London Metal Exchange was forced to halt trading in nickel when prices more than doubled to over $100,000 a tonne; Russia is the biggest supplier of the top-quality nickel used in things like electric-car batteries.

当镍价上涨一倍多，达到每吨10万美元以上的交易价时，伦敦金属交易所被迫停止交易; 俄罗斯是优质镍的最大供应国，优质镍用于电动车电池等产品。

Palladium, manufactured in catalytic converters to help curb emissions, hit a new peak.

钯用于催化转换器制造以帮助减排，其价格再创新高。

The spot price for gold touched $2,070 an ounce, close to its all-time high, before falling back.

黄金现货价格触及每盎司2070美元，接近历史高点，随后价格回落。

American Express, Mastercard and Visa suspended their operations in Russia.

美国运通、万事达和维萨暂停了在俄罗斯的业务。

Russian banks are trying out several alternative payment systems, such as China’s UnionPay.

俄罗斯银行正在尝试几种替代支付系统，比如中国的银联。

Credit cards will be no good anyway for Russians hoping to go on a spending splurge; Cartier, Hermes, LVMH and other luxury-goods companies have stopped selling their products there.

对于希望大肆挥霍的俄罗斯人来说，换什么信用卡也没用; 卡地亚、爱马仕、路威酩轩等奢侈品公司已经停止在俄罗斯出售产品。

Professional-services firms also headed for the exit.

多家专业服务公司也开始退出。

Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PWC all cut ties with Russian business.

德勤、安永、毕马威和普华永道也都切断了与俄罗斯的业务联系。

McDonald’s temporarily closed its restaurants in Russia, a move filled with symbolism.

麦当劳暂时关闭在俄餐厅，此举充满象征意义。

The fast-food chain opened its first outlet in Moscow in January 1990, during the glasnost era and two years before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union.

这家快餐连锁店于1990年1月在莫斯科开设了第一家门店，当时正值开放时代，距离苏联正式解体还有两年。

Pictures of hundreds of Muscovites queuing for their first taste of a Big Mac were beamed across the world.

数以百计的莫斯科人排队品尝第一个“巨无霸”的照片传遍了全世界。

The British government imposed sanctions on Roman Abramovich and six other oligarchs suspected of having links to Vladimir Putin, freezing their British assets.

英国政府对罗曼·阿布拉莫维奇和其他六名涉嫌与弗拉基米尔·普京有关联的寡头实施制裁，冻结了他们在英国的资产。

The government took control of Chelsea football club, which Mr Abramovich owns.

英国政府控制了阿布拉莫维奇所有的切尔西足球俱乐部。

The Premier League side now has to operate under a special licence, which grants “permissions” for the team to continue playing matches.

这支英超球队现在必须持一张特殊的许可证运营，该许可证授予这支球队继续比赛的“许可”。