Here are the top business stories making the headlines in the morning newspapers.
Questions asked about £117,500 payment to ex-boss of Scotland's National Investment Bank
The departing chief executive of Scotland's National Investment Bank was paid £117,500 to leave her post immediately rather than work a notice period.
Eilidh Mactaggart quit as the bank's chief executive in February after nearly two years in the post.
She later said her decision to leave with immediate effect was "ultimately for personal reasons".
It has now emerged that she was given half of her £235,000 annual salary when she left.
The payment was made so Ms Mactaggart would not have to fulfil her contractual six-month notice period before leaving the bank.
The investment bank said Ms Mactaggart was paid "six months' notice which was due under the terms of her contract of employment" and that no other financial settlement was made.
Scottish Government documents seen by BBC Scotland show detailed planning by officials for the announcement of her departure, including responses for ministers to give to potential questions from journalists.
Time needed to end reliance on Russian energy
Germany is moving "as fast as possible" to end its reliance on Russian energy, but it will take time, the country's finance minister has said.
"We have to be patient," Christian Lindner told the BBC.
By contrast, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had earlier said Germany would end oil imports by the end of the year, with gas following.
Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky has criticised Germany for failing to curb Russian energy imports.
He described energy payments as "blood money".
Proceeds from the sale of Russian oil and gas amount to around £770million a day - undermining international efforts to put economic pressure on President Vladimir Putin to end the war.
The US has already banned Russian oil imports and the UK plans to phase them out by the end of the year. But EU countries are more heavily dependent on Russian energy.
Branson wants speed limit to be cut to help defeat Russia
Sir Richard Branson has called for a 10mph cut to the speed limit to "save lives" in Ukraine and defeat Russia by slashing the country's energy usage.
The British billionaire said that speed limits on motorways should be reduced from 70mph to 60mph for the next year to "bring this war to an end".
The Telegraph says Sir Richard also urged the West to ramp up deliveries of military aid to Ukrainian forces to save the "breadbasket of the world".
By driving slower, drivers would reduce fuel consumption and as a result the dependency on Russian oil.
Sir Richard, the founder of Virgin Atlantic with an estimated net worth of 3.8billion, also called on airlines to consider cutting flights to reduce fuel burn and said companies should turn down air- conditioning to save on electricity.
Italy has banned air-conditioning from being set below 25C this summer, warning that anyone who breaks the rules will risk a £2,493 fine.
World Bank warns that food prices could soar by nearly 40%
The planet is facing a "human catastrophe" from a food crisis arising from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to President of the World Bank David Malpass.
In an interview with the BBC, Mr Malpass, who leads the institution charged with global alleviation of poverty, warned that record rises in food prices would push hundreds of millions people into poverty and lower nutrition, if the crisis continues.
"It's a human catastrophe, meaning nutrition goes down. But then it also becomes a political challenge for governments who can't do anything about it - they didn't cause it and they see the prices going up," he said on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank meetings in Washington.
The World Bank calculates there could be a "huge" 37% increase in food prices, which is "magnified for (the) poor", who will "eat less and have less money for anything else such as schooling. And so that means that it's really an unfair kind of crisis. It hits the poorest the hardest. That was true also of Covid."
Heineken may refresh the parts other beers cannot reach, but it's going to cost more...
Dutch multinational brewing company Heineken said yesterday that it would put up beer prices as it anticipated "significant" increases in its own costs.
The world's second-largest brewer sold more beer in their first quarter ending on March 31 than expected as European drinkers returned to bars with the lifting of coronavirus restrictions, but it warned of tough conditions ahead.
Dolf van den Brink, the chief executive, said: "We see more macroeconomic uncertainty and expect significant additional inflationary headwinds putting further pressure on our cost base. We will take additional actions including pricing to manage these challenges.
The Financial Times says Mr van den Brink warned earlier this year that cost inflation was "off the charts".
Scottish train-travel offer
A scheme offering half-price train travel in Scotland next month has been announced by ScotRail.
The state-owned train operator said the reduction would apply to fares on all weekday off-peak services between any two of the country's stations.
ScotRail unveiled the initiative the day after a UK scheme offering half-price tickets was launched.
The BBC says the promotions are aimed at attracting people back to the railways after the pandemic affected passenger numbers.