Ukraine Financial News

food security has been imperiled by the stopping of the concession to allow exports of food and fertilizer from Ukrainian ports to the rest of the world, said Pradeep S. Mehta, Secretary General of CUTS International. Mehta said that the Initiative on the Safe Transportation of Grain and Foodstuffs from Ukrainian Ports, popularly known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, was signed by Türkiye, the Russian Federation and Ukraine in late July 2022.

U.S. attempts to foster closer military integration among allies are extending into space. The U.S.

Edited excerpts: What kind of private sector participation are you looking for from India? We want to accompany them with their investment in our countries of operation. We are willing to finance investment contracts with Indian companies in sectors like manufacturing, IT services, etc. We have quite a number of projects, so we need to explore.

By Mike Stone

NEW DELHI : India, one of the world’s largest cotton producers, risks becoming a net importer after both exports and production registered a record decline in the current financial year amid weak demand for textile products in the West due to the long-drawn Ukraine war. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) expects India’s cotton exports to slip to its lowest in 19 years during the current crop season between October 2022 and September 2023 as it expects farmers to shift to other profitable crops such as oilseeds and pulses.

Russia's FSB security service said on Tuesday it had arrested a Russian woman it suspected of collecting information on a «critical infrastructure facility» at the order of Ukraine's intelligence services. It did not name the facility, but a surveillance video which Russian media said was taken by the FSB showed the suspect using her phone to film near a hydroelectric power plant in the town of Uglich in Russia's Yaroslavl region north of Moscow. She is then shown being arrested in her office by masked FSB and police agents. A court on Saturday ordered the suspect to be detained for two months, the RIA news agency reported. Baza, a Russian news outlet which sometimes publishes material from the FSB, released a message exchange between the suspect and a purported Ukrainian coordinator in which the woman agrees to supply the map coordinates of local railway lines, military recruitment offices and the hydroelectric plant. In the exchange, the authenticity of which Reuters was not able to verify, the suspect writes of wanting Ukrainian drones to strike deep inside Russia in order to undermine support for President Vladimir Putin.

Taiwan is looking to buy National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or NASAMS, from the United States to upgrade its air defence capabilities having seen how well they work in Ukraine, the island's defence minister said on Tuesday. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has stepped up military and political pressure over the past three years to try to force the democratically governed island to accept Beijing's rule. NASAMS have been provided by the United States for use in Ukraine, with USA officials saying they have had a 100% success rate in intercepting Russian missiles. The system, developed and built by Raytheon Technologies and Norway's Kongsberg Gruppen is a short- to medium-range ground-based air defence system that protects against drone, missile, and aircraft attack, which both Canada and Lithuania have also bought, or are buying for Ukraine. Asked on the sidelines of parliament about Taiwan buying NASAMS, Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said «certainly» there was a proposal to get them.

Russia on Monday halted a breakthrough wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices have pushed more people into poverty.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Black Sea Grain Initiative would be suspended until demands to get Russian food and fertilizer to the world are met. An attack Monday on a bridge connecting the Crimean Peninsula to Russia was not a factor in the decision, he said. «When the part of the Black Sea deal related to Russia is implemented, Russia will immediately return to the implementation of the deal,» Peskov said.

On Sunday, the Turkish ship TQ Samsun left the port of Odesa in Ukraine carrying 23,500 metric tons of corn and 15,300 metric tons of rapeseed to the Netherlands under the final hours of the Black Sea grain deal.

The government on Monday simplified norms for exporters to avail benefits of an advance authorization scheme under which free imports of input materials are allowed. This comes in the backdrop of declining merchandise goods exports that fell for the fifth consecutive month in June amid demand slowdown in the west and China.  India’s goods exports slumped over 22% year-over-year in June to hit an eight-month low of $32.97 billion as the value of exports of petroleum products nearly halved in June compared last year when commodity prices were on a boil following the Russia-Ukraine war.

global tax pact, crypto assets, and digital public infrastructure at the two-day meet of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors that began Monday. «There is less acrimony inside the room,» said a person familiar with deliberations. The deliberations are now focussed on knotty issues and efforts are being made to ensure deliverables on key issues for the country's presidency at the meeting.

Mint had reported that Indian Oil is in talks with ADNOC for long term contracts of LNG supplies. In another development, IndianOil and TotalEnergies Gas and Power Ltd are set to execute a HoA to establish a long term LNG sale and purchase agreement (SPA). Under this long-term contract valid for 10 years starting 2026, TotalEnergies would supply annually upto 0.8 MMT LNG to IndianOil.

India’s sherpa Amitabh Kant led the discussions of G20 negotiators in Hampi last week to produce a draft Leader’s Declaration for the upcoming G20 Leaders’ Summit in September. To be held in Pragati Maidan, the summit will be the grand finale of India’s Presidency. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expecting to host US President Joe Biden, and, it is being speculated, President Vladimir Putin, which, if it happens, would open up the possibility for the two sides to come face-to-face first time since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Over the weekend, India and the UAE signed pacts to allow settlement of bilateral trade in local currencies and also interlink our Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with the UAE’s Instant Payment Platform (IPP). They also agreed to link payment card switches. Linking UPI with IPP will make transfers of money across the Arabian Sea far easier, a matter of a few keystrokes on a phone.

Russia halted an unprecedented wartime deal on Monday that allows grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices have pushed more people into poverty.

Black Sea export of grain from Ukraine «will worsen food security and harm millions,» the White House said on Monday.

Solar and wind are still the cheapest form of new-build power generation in Australia, but supply chain issues since the pandemic have pushed up the costs of all power sources, according to a new report.

Russia must renew the Black Sea Grain initiative and commit to its full implementation, a spokesperson for Britain's foreign ministry said on Monday after the Kremlin halted its participation in the grain export deal. «By unilaterally forcing the collapse of the BSGI, Russia has used food as a weapon and is preventing grain reaching those who need it most,» the spokesperson said in a statement.

By Abdi Sheikh and Aaron Ross

Europeans are facing a new economic reality, one they haven’t experienced in decades. They are becoming poorer. Life on a continent long envied by outsiders for its art de vivre is rapidly losing its shine as Europeans see their purchasing power melt away.

The global economy’s brief run of good luck may be ending. Manufacturing activity is weakening across the world. Europe slid into a mild recession earlier this year.