Saying theyll float the combined company immediately. Facebook confirms severe Winter Weather has had a major impact on the economy. Fed president Charles Plosser says the extreme weather has been clouding his readings. The data, aus point out, has been very noisy. Weve had storm after storm after storm on the east coast and drought in the west. Its been difficult to get a decent reading on the economy. Warm welcome from todays program. Coming up later, extended programming for that. Pressure, of course, yesterday from the imf. But first, we turn our attention back to whats going on in the ukraine. John kerry is set to meet again with the Russian Foreign minister lavrov in rome today. Theyve reached no quick conclusions, although kerry did Say Something concrete had come out of the discussions. Diplomatic efforts face set backs after lavrov refused to meet with his ukrainian counterpart. Eu leaders are arriving for an emergency summit in brussels. This is the latest show of the area will be arriving. And while we wait for that to kick off, steve has been on station for us in kiev this week and he joins us now. And hes been speaking to, of course, the key political participants. Steve. Yeah, ross, were listening to a lot of people throughout the week here including the successful heavyweight boxer turned politician. Well bring that interview later on. But what i want to do now is talk about something that has been an secondary issue, which is the financial crisis. So lets leave kerry and lavrov aside. Lets talk about the other crisis. This is a country which had 20 years of economic mismanagement. Whether youre pro western or whether youre pro russian. Governments from both sides of the ledger, whether it be yanakovich, tymoschenko, there has been a huge mismanagement of the economy. That is a crisis of the magnitude of what weve seen in ath. S, across europe, even in ireland at the start of 2008. So the financial crisis is acute. The u. S. And europe have offered certain amounts of money. U. S. Follows in loan guarantees. Europe, they came one a package going out as far as 2020. Worth somewhere in the region of 11 billion euros. Thats why the imf is in town trying to figure out whether this time ukraine can be trusted to get it right. Imf has been here twice and has froesen aid twice. I spoke to the man who is leading the new government. Hes trying to go through the mess and fill this out and get this country economically back on track. Lets listen in the to see what he had to say about the state of the finances. Translator today, we are using a third of our budget to finance government debt. According to our data, 300 t 30 500 million is leading the month through schemes like tax evasion. So the coffers are basically empty. So when the money comes in from the imf, the money comes in from the European Union, can you meet the conditionality . Twice in the past, loans from the imf have been frozen because the conditionality has not been met. Caller i think the imf will do everything in its power to prevent this from happening. We are trying to persuade our parliament that the is not only necessary for the imf but for our country. Is this enough given the fact that money previously promised by russia looks like it wont be forthcoming now . We are currently talking with our investors and partners on the issue of aide packages. Correct uses of our resources is the main issue right now. I think if we can manage this, there will be no need for russian aid. But right now, our coffers are nearly empty. The main problem is the need to pay 10 billion in debt by the end of the year. This number takes into account higher gas prices for the Second Quarter of 2014. How much money does ukraine need over the next three years . One figure being mentioned is 35 billion. Translator i dont think ukraine needs this time money. I think 10 billion will be enough this year and next year well need a lot less. If youre speaking of the fiscal situation, maybe 10 billion will be enough for this year and next year 5 billion. But we have to take into account the possibility of investments. The key take aways from our extended interview, one i would suggest is hes trying not to default. The other is they need 15 billion over the next two years in debt. They need that in some form of support. Just to tell you whats coming up on Worldwide Exchange, we spoke to vitari klitchko, the second best boxes in terms of knockout to fights ratio. We spoke to him about his president ial countisy, what he thinks about ukraine being the second most corrupt country in europe. I hope youre wearing your gum shoe this time, steve. Not this time. I was very mild. Great stuff, steve. Thanks so much on for that. Well be back out with you for more from kiev. Thats whats going on in the ukraine. Was going on in brussels . Jules is there. Eu leaders are there to meet. Julia, what might we expect of this . Thats the key question im going to be asking some of these leaders. Given this situation in russia and crimea either shes just got in the lift or thats one of or shes just been put on hold. I think it may be the latter. Wasnt quite expecting her to be put on hold. Anyway, it could have been worse. She could have been put in a cube. Youre held in a cube. Anyway, well try and rehook up with jules. Meanwhile, lets bring you up to speed with where we stand in asset prices. Were just over an hour into the trading day. Were weighted to the upside, 9 1 at the moment. Advancers currently outpacing decliners. We will get more diplomatic moves to each the pressure necessary ukraine. Here we go. Were up to a session high at the moment. The s p 500 yesterday hitting an alltime high. It was flat yet. The dow down 0. 2 . The nasdaq up 0. 1 is . Right now, the ftse 100 is up 0. 4 , as well as the xetra dax. The cac 40 up 0. 8 and the ftse mib up 1 . Frances Biggest Telecom group achieving the main target it set up for 2013, which was to achieve 7 billion euros in operating cash flow. The stock here up 7 this morning. Also beyond concerned by continued Home Management pressure, to cut its dividend to 26 euros per share. German scrapping its outlook for Free Cash Flow in 2015. Its spending more money to try and win u. S. Customers and restructure its enterprise unit tsystem. Weve got merger news in france. Investors welcoming the news that its offered vivendi. Vivendi just up 0. 75 . Stephane has more for that more on that for us in paris. Stephane. Its not a done deal yet. Theyre offering more monies for bdr. At the time of the ipo, vivendi would have the option to monetize the server, 16 of the capital and would be free after to sell the remaining of its stake. This offered values sfr at 14. 5 billion euros before the synergies. As requested by vivendi, this offer includes some details about the upcoming strategy. Although its not planning on these trades later and it says that the new company will invest massively in the Fiber Broadband network in france, about 400 Million Euros per year. We know the French Cable Company has made an offer. We dont have the official details for that offer, but according to press reports, theyre proposing almost 15 billion euros in cash plus a 52 stake in the newly traded company. Perhaps a battle for the control of sfr. Market control is very positive. Almost 8. 5 higher right now. Over to you. All right, stephane, well see what happens with that. There we go. Good performance this morning. They clearly like that. Still to come, were going to get a caffeine kick. Before that, well cross out to frankfurt ahead of todays monthly ecb meeting. Annette is joined by a member of the German Council of Economic Experts commonly known as one of Angela Merkels wise men. What is this place . Where are we . This is where we bring together the Fastest Internet and the best in entertainment. We call it the x1 entertainment operating system. It looks like the future we must have encountered a temporal vortex. Further analytics are necessary. Beam us up. Thats my phone. Hey. [ female announcer ] the x1 entertainment operating system, only from xfinity. Tv and internet together like never before. Jules is speaking to us from brussels. I apologize for that, ross. Sanctions light is the focus here. Im talking about the suspension of strategic talks on trade, suspension of the liberalization between the eu and russia. Perhaps even an arms embargo. The question is how much really does Vladimir Putin care about these things . Not one jaunt. The key person here is Angela Merkel in germany. They have most to lose by these em babargo embargoes. They want to see a dip low plastic route here, only we know the uk has influence for russian interest in london. They also are very concerned about what would happen here. Theyre both supported by the likes in italy and france. Weve got a core number of countries here that dont want to push forward. In fact, only the central and the eastern europeans who are afraid of their territorial rights are pushing for more stringent conditions. I hope im surprised by what we come out with today, but right now its looking lying sanctions light is going to be the solution we come up with. Thats going to have an impact to the kind of sanctions that we hear from the u. S. , remember, because they dont want to negatively impact europes policy and energy rely yaiance g forward. I hope my expectations are beaten today, but i have to admit im skeptical, ross. Jules, sharp elbows are whats required in a tight pen. Dont you worry, ive got them. Thanks for that. The record cold weather in the u. S. Has hampered growth. Some of the few beneficiaries of the polar vortex. Earlier, squawk box in europe spoke to the philly fed president , Charles Plosser, and asked him if there was something wrong with the growth model in the United States. Given the latest data. It is, as you pointed out, has been very noisy. Weve had storm after storm after storm particularly on the east coast. Theyve got droughts in the west. So its been difficult to get a decent reading on the economy. I think its important that we sort of take a step back, be patient here, and not overreact to whats going on because we just dont know for sure yet. Meanwhile, back here in europe, the imf wants action, but will the ecb respond . The European Central bank is holding its monthly meeting today. The imf says the bank should cut prime rates and consider quantitative easing. Now, at the cb Rate Decision is due in just over three hours. So what are the chances of president draghi delivering some sort of policy move . Morgan stanley is predicting a cut of 15 basis points. Council economics is a distinct possibly of a refine. Now, what do europes corporates think of at the cb . I think theres a we will do whatever it takes. Extra is stimulus and growing the economy in europe. I would welcome it. From Financial Markets. Deflation can have an effect, but overall in the grand scheme of things, we are a global player. Were able to manage that. I think theyre in good balance right now when you need capital to invest you get it. It can lead to speculation and extra models. Some of the chief executives weve been speaking to. I think youre probably just about coping. Look, what are the chances, do you think, of the ecb doing anything . Maybe nonstop sterilizing their bond purchases. Well, a lot of people are thinking that they were stop sterili sterilizing. For the eurozone, others dont really see that. I have a feeling that the markets really like the fact that we might get to easing, but im here now to discuss that. Share of the imf at university. Thank you so much for joining us. Draghi himself has pointed out recently that theres no evidence of deflation in the euro area. Theres no evidence of that. We have some disinflationary pressure. We have in some areas falling prices. But those come with natural adjustment prices. Those countries regain competitiveness. We should be happy about that. Its not a threat of sustained deflation. Mr. Draghi says they an easing bias during the press Conference Since the last one we were attending. These are negative deposit rates. This would help speed up inflation a little bit. I think if there were a threat of serious deflation, a small negative dpovt deposit rate would be a natural step to take and it would help give up credit and help give additional incentive not to deposit money to the ecb, but to lend it out. But there is no need for that now. I think you always have to look at the outlook for inflation and growth together. We ton be on a path where a projection forecasts are being revised up. So if you look at the forecast of others, theyre being revised up. So it doesnt make sense now to ease further. Let us talk a little bit about forecasts. Because today we also will get the new stock projections from the ecb. What are you first time that we get such a long time forecast, right . Although its night to get the forecast we have internally, i dont think so much rate should be adjusted for those. If you ask anyone, we have to attach a larger amount of uncertainty to that. So these forecasts may actually create an excessive extent of being on the safe side. Its probably going to be getting close to that. But there are risks on both sides and the deflationary risks are not the only one. We have a situation where if you keep rates low for too long, you get the banks, you get the financial sector, continuing behavior investments. I wouldnt attach too much weight to that forecast, except generally, i think its fine for the banks to be more open about their numbers. So what would you like to hear from the ecb today . I would like to hear that what theyve been saying is there are no deflationary numbers around and theyre preparing himself. I think there is a normalization which we assume for the current area, the current assessments not bad. The ecb has to think about and talk about what a normalization would mean in the long run. Thats important in the context after the banking sector. Theyre trying to repair Balance Sheets and create the background for this normalization. Thank you very much for joining us today. So, ross, im sending it back to you. Just one note, we can be very lucky not to be here. Its very cold. Hes unlucky not the be with you, annette. Stay warm. Thank you. Were getting some confirmation out from the leaders meeting in the eu. The eu has confirmed that it is placing 18 ukrainian officials on its sanctions list. That list does include the former president , yanukovych, and his two sons. The former interior minister, the Justice Minister and the head of security are also on that eu sanctions list. The former ewe containan Prime Minister, asarov, also on the list. Theyre going to have their assets frozen. Well keep our eyes on that. Meanwhile, hes the man responsible for building the worlds tallest skyscraper and its biggest mall. On tonights program, well meet the dubai found ir and its properties. And what comes next for the construction giant . Miss hadley gamble with a sneak peek. At 828 meters, it has become a glittering symbol of what dubai can clearly do. This week we catch up with the chairman, mohammed al abar. I would say all these developing economies, look at the middle east and were still growing 5 , 5. 5 overall in the middle east. Africa, the same. Asia, about the same. So iran will come into that territory. And when things are going well, and i hope it gets sorted, there will be a lot of business to be done. Especially in the infrastructure business where we are in. So you would say, then, if the economy would open up, anmar would be there. I think we should. We want to talk to you about the revival of the dubai real estate market. Property is soaring once again. You were up 104 , i believe, in 2013. What are you looking for in terms of growth for this year . Well, in this economy, really, we are growing our retail are growing, our hospitality is growing. And many people read the numbers while our in the base of our business, which is the residential side of it is growing, you know, really credible numbers. So i would say that diversification has helped us, especially in the crisis. So we are going to forecast in these areas of the real estate. Our main, which is residential areas will stay there, but hospitality is helping us and its growing. Are you looking to ipo . Of course, we have neighbor malls in all of our communities. We are building a mall under construction in egypt, we have a mall under construction in turkey and theyre all very promising markets. Yes, i think we should seriously evaluate ipo business. The market is good. Thats something that we should consider. What is the number one country that you are not working in now that youd like to work in over the next decade . I would say egypt. Im working there, but i would like to expand things in egypt. Without a doubt. Some countries in africa are interesting. Thats clear. And you can catch more of our behind the scenes look on access middle east. Dont miss that. It starts tonight at 2300 cet. All right. Thats the latest shot in brussels where eu leaders are arriving for a summit meeting. The british Prime MinisterDavid Cameron has just arrived. Still to come, current could put the brakes on sales. Well get rolling right after the breaks speaking with the ceo. 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