Belarus Financial News

MOSCOW (Reuters) -President Vladimir Putin on Friday accused NATO member Poland of having territorial ambitions in the former Soviet Union, and said any aggression against Russia's neighbour and close ally Belarus would be considered an attack on Russia.

Mercenaries from Russia’s military company Wagner have launched joint drills with the Belarusian military almost a month after their short-lived rebellion

According to Andrey Kartapolov, a Russian politician and former army officer, the relocation of the Wagner group to Belarus positions Russia in a favourable position to swiftly target NATO assets near Poland and Lithuania. Kartapolov mentioned in a statement to Russian state television that the private military company has the capability to strike the border region of Poland and Lithuania within a short span of "a matter of hours" from its newly established base.

Belarusian soldiers on a range near the town of Osipovichi in Belarus on July 14. The Belarusian defense ministry that at least some had arrived in Belarus and were instructing local troops, according to Reuters reports.  Belaruski Hajun said, “The convoy headed toward a military base outside Osipovichi, a town 230 kilometers (142 miles) north of the Ukrainian border." Alexander Lukashenko, the authoritarian president of Belarus said at the time that Minsk could use Wagner's experience and expertise, and that he had offered the fighters an “abandoned military unit" to set up camp.  Speaking to the Associated Press, a leader of an anti-Lukashenko guerrilla group said that construction of a site for the mercenaries was underway near Osipovichi.

(Reuters) -Fighters from the Wagner group have arrived in Belarus from Russia, Ukrainian and Polish officials said on Saturday, a day after Minsk said the mercenaries were training the country's soldiers southeast of the capital.

US President Joe Biden has cracked a joke after media reports suggested that Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin could be in danger for carrying out an attempted mutiny last month against Russian President Vladimir Putin and briefly capturing Moscow's military facility. In a press conference in Helsinki, Biden said, "If I were he I’d be careful what I ate...I would keep an eye on my menu". The joke was a reference to high-profile instances of Russian security services using nerve agents and polonium to poison and kill political enemies of President Vladimir Putin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Wagner paramilitary group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin “simply doesn’t exist," as he moves to dismantle an organization that was critical to Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine before it turned on the Russian establishment in a short-lived mutiny last month. Putin’s comments, in an interview published late Thursday in Russian newspaper Kommersant, came days after Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had taken control of Wagner tanks, artillery and guns after its involvement in the biggest challenge to Putin in his 23 years in power.

Russia's central bank digital currency (CBDC) project, the digital ruble, has taken a step closer to reality. On July 11, the lower chamber of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the State Duma, passed the digital ruble bill in the third reading. The legislation now moves to the assembly's upper chamber, the Federation Council, and if passed, the president's desk. 

Reuters, Ukraine's head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said that the Wagner fighters went far further. He said that they reached the nuclear base and that their intention was to acquire small Soviet-era nuclear devices in order to "raise the stakes" in their mutiny. "Because if you are prepared to fight until the last man standing, this is one of the facilities that significantly raises the stakes," Budanov said.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released a report on global investments for the year 2022. According to the report, the net inflow of foreign direct investments (FDI) to Central biggest state Kazakhstan amounted to $6.1 billion, the highest figure in the past 5 years and 83% higher than in 2021. This is the highest indicator among the post-Soviet countries.

Last week saw more rules and regulations emerge regarding digital assets. Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission issued new rules requiring digital asset service providers to warn customers of risks associated with cryptocurrency trading. The warning message must be clearly visible, and before customers can use the service, the business operator must arrange for the users to give consent and acknowledge the risks. Apart from a trading risks disclaimer, the new guidelines prohibit service providers from using customers’ funds for lending or investment.

Russia’s war on Ukraine will top the agenda when U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts meet on Tuesday and Wednesday

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. Putin agreed to allow the Wagner founder and his men to move to Belarus and to drop criminal cases of armed mutiny against them.

Belarusian tennis star Victoria Azarenka accused the Wimbledon crowd of being drunk on Pimm’s after she was booed off the No.1 court as Vladimir Putin’s war spilled out into this most refined of sporting venues.

Victoria Azarenka produced some telling blows in an electrifying contest but in the end she lacked the chutzpah to prevent Elina Svitolina securing a place in the Wimbledon quarter-finals. Sunday's 2-6 6-4 7-6(11-9) win handed the Ukrainian wildcard a first win over Azarenka in a battle between the last two mums left standing out of the six who started in the singles draw as she snapped a five-match losing run against the Belarusian 19th seed.

CNN reported. As per a report by CNN, a military camp has reportedly emerged near Minsk following the southern Russia uprising, there is no apparent indication of a large-scale influx of Wagner troops into Belarus. “It could happen that Wagner PMC decides not to relocate here," Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday.

By Andrius Sytas

Putin emerged from last month's Wagner mutiny looking weakened, despite defusing the immediate threat, according to analysts. The short-lived and ultimately aborted revolt by Yevgeny Prigozhin's mercenary force marked the most dramatic challenge ever to Putin's rule. The Belarus-brokered deal to halt Wagner's march toward Moscow saw off a major clash, yet now that agreement seems to be in question.

Prigozhin is still in Russia, Belarus's president said on Thursday, despite a deal with the Kremlin for him to move to Belarus following his failed insurrection last month. «As far as Prigozhin is concerned, he is in Saint Petersburg… He is not in Belarus,» Alexander Lukashenko told reporters from foreign media outlets. Lukashenko said that fighters from Prigozhin's Wagner mercenary group have also not moved to Belarus yet, despite an offer from the Kremlin for those who took part in the failed mutiny to do so. «At the moment the question of their transfer and set-up has not been decided,» Lukashenko said. «I am absolutely not worried or concerned that we will host a certain number of these fighters here,» he added.

Tokayev addressing the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit on Tuesday suggested that the main task of the SCO countries should be to prevent a geopolitical rift between East and West. The Kazakh President proposed to the SCO Council of Heads of Government to consider establishing a joint Investment Fund.

SCO Heads of State Council approved the SCO Economic Development Strategy to 2030; made the decisions on completing the procedure for admitting the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and granting it the status of an SCO member state; signed the Memorandum of Obligations of the Republic of Belarus in order to obtain the status of an SCO member state; and on announced the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan, as the SCO Cultural and Tourism Capital in 2023–2024. In addition, the SCO Heads of State Council approved the Concept of Cooperation between the SCO Member States to decarbonise transport and promote digital transformation and innovative technologies to achieve greater efficiency and sustainability.