Bloomberg reported a drop in Russian oil supplies ahead of EU sanctions, and the White House denied a probe of Musk’s companies – these and other important news for Tuesday morning, October 25, in our daily review.

EU sanctions against Russian oil exports could start to have an impact now, six weeks before they take effect, Bloomberg writes. According to the agency, crude oil shipments from Russia by sea fell to a five-week low for the week of Oct. 14-21. The drop in volumes combined with the lowest rate since February 2021 ($6.06 per barrel, according to Bloomberg calculations using data released by the Russian Finance Ministry) of duties on oil shipments abroad, Moscow’s oil revenues fell to their lowest since the start of the special operation in Ukraine.

Reports that the U.S. had discussed vetting some of Ilon Musk’s businesses for national security threats are “not true”, the White House said. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the Joe Biden administration’s relationship with Musk, but called information about the possibility of such a check untrue, Reuters reports.

The European Commission warned EU countries that a price cap on natural gas used to generate electricity would require importing countries outside the EU, such as Britain and Switzerland, to participate in the mechanism. This is reported by Bloomberg, citing a source familiar with the content of the document, which formulates the costs and benefits of limiting gas prices for power generation, insisted on by a number of EU countries.

Five European industrial organizations urged the EU authorities not to impose sanctions against Russian aluminum, Reuters reports citing their statement. They are talking about both high tariffs and a complete ban on imports of this metal from Russia. According to business, such measures will lead to the closure of thousands of European companies. They also “pose a direct threat to the existence of the European aluminum industry,” the statement said.

“Freedom Finance” will rebrand after the deal to sell Freedom Holding Corp.’s Russian assets to the investment company’s deputy CEO Maxim Povalishin is closed, RBC reported, citing the broker’s press release. As a result of the rebranding, the investment company and Freedom Finance Bank, which were included in the deal, will change their names to Tsifra Broker and Tsifra Bank, respectively.