April 22, 2022 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

US President Joe Biden has announced the allocation of an additional package of military aid to Ukraine totaling $ 800 million, he said during a speech at the White House on April 21. The new aid package includes heavy artillery, ammunition for it, as well as tactical drones. Thus, the total military assistance provided by Washington to the Ukrainian side since the beginning of the russian invasion will exceed $ 3 billion.

In addition, Biden announced the provision of additional financial assistance to Ukraine in the amount of $ 500 million. These funds will go directly to the state budget. “We are also showing support for the people of Ukraine. Today we are ready to allocate an additional $ 500 million in direct economic assistance to the Government of Ukraine. As a result, total economic aid has reached $ 1 billion in the last two months”, he said.

The Administration of US President Joe Biden has announced a new program called Unity for Ukraine, which will provide a simplified process for Ukrainians wishing to come to the United States. The move is part of US President Joe Biden's commitment to accept up to 100,000 refugees from the war from Ukraine and is designed to make Ukrainians interested in coming to the United States. According to Biden, the Unity in Support of Ukraine program will allow Ukrainian refugees to emigrate from Europe directly to the United States under an accelerated procedure.

The program will require Ukrainians wishing to enter the United States to provide guarantees from U.S. citizens or resettlement organizations and nonprofits. To be eligible for the program, people must undergo rigorous and security checking, including biographical and biometric controls, as well as vaccination and other public health requirements, including receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Ukrainians must also live in Ukraine as of February 11.

At the initiative of the US Treasury, a new package of sanctions has been imposed against individuals and legal entities, including the first deputy chairman of the central bank, the operator of data centers for bitriver mining, as well as a ban on entry to more than 600 russians.

The US Treasury Secretary believes that there may be attempts to circumvent sanctions against russia with the help of cryptocurrency, but Washington will take measures.

The United States is preparing to ban russian ships from entering its seaports.

Spain has sent weapons to Ukraine, including 200 tons of ammunition. This was announced by the Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez at a briefing in Kyiv on April 21. “I want to announce about the weapons, that a new consignment of weapons will arrive in Ukraine. Spanish ship “Isabel”, which today has departed from the Spanish port to Poland. 200 tons of ammunition and other materials. There are trucks with military materials on the ship, as well as 20 armored vehicles”, Sanchez said. “We want this war to end in victory for Ukraine”, the Spanish Prime Minister stressed.

Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen stated that her country accepts President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s idea to help Ukraine with the restoration of Mykolayiv. Frederiksen said this during a joint briefing on April 21. “I have already told Zelenskyy that we are friends and eternal partners. We want to contribute to the reconstruction of Ukraine. You, Mr. President, wanted us to lead restoration of Mykolaiv. Today, we have officially agreed to this proposal”, said the Danish Prime Minister.

During her visit to Borodyanka, Frederiksen also said that Denmark would increase arms supplies to Ukraine.

The United Kingdom has added 26 more individuals and legal entities from russia to the list of sanctions. In particular, the list includes director general of the russian railways belozerov, defense ministry spokesperson major general konashenkov, chairman of the board of directors of “rostvertol” serdyukov, first deputy chief of staff of the russian federation’s armed forces bogdansky, acting chief of the ministry of emergency situations chuprian, commander of special operations forces flyustikov and others. The list of sanctions also includes the “kalashnikov” concern and a number of other russian defense research institutes.

Representatives of the Royal Family of the United Kingdom, Prince William and Kate Middleton, visited the London headquarters of the Committee for Disaster Emergencies (DEC), where humanitarian aid is collected and sent to Ukrainians. The Committee's charitable organizations and their local partners are in Ukraine and neighboring countries. They provide food, water, shelter and medical care to refugees. To date, DEC has raised more than $ 366 million. The royal couple spoke in person with the recently returned staff of the Committee and spoke by video link to those on the ground, including in Ukraine.

Finance ministers and heads of central banks of the G7 have announced additional support to Ukraine worth more than $ 24 billion for 2022 and are ready to increase it if necessary.

Apart from declaring financial support for Ukraine, they expressed regret over russia's participation in international forums, including meetings of the G20, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The ministers made a joint statement stating that russia should not receive funds from these and other international financial institutions.

The European Union has added Ukrainian businessman kurchenko and a russian prigozhin to the sanctions list. The EU document states that Kurchenko “helped large russian companies and state-owned holdings to circumvent EU restrictive measures by acting as a subcontractor”; prigozhin – “is responsible for actively carrying out actions that undermine and threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine”.

The European Union will help Ukraine defend itself militarily. This was stated by European Foreign Minister Josep Borrell in an interview with El Confidential. “This is no longer a light infantry war, this is a heavy war, to the point of exhaustion, with much more powerful means. Now we are entering a time when no one will say what he does, no one will say what he gives, not even we. We have entered the phase of radio silence”, he said.

Germany's largest electricity producer, RWE, is in talks with partners in Qatar and the United States to conclude long-term agreements to import liquefied natural gas to reduce its dependence on russian supplies.

Oil giant Exxon Mobil plans to leave russia completely by June 24.

Austria has stopped importing and refining oil from russia, said the Austrian oil and gas company OMV, which is the largest in Central Europe.

 

The Secretary of State at the French Foreign Ministry believes that the embargo on oil imports from russia should be introduced in the coming weeks.

The European subsidiary of the Indian steel company Tata Steel (ranked tenth in the world in terms of steel production) said it was shutting down business with russia.

The multidisciplinary Japanese company Marubeni will not participate in new projects related to russia.

Binance cryptocurrency exchange will restrict access for users from russia. Accounts of russian users with assets in excess of € 10,000 will be transferred to “withdrawal only” mode.

Marvel has stopped selling and extending licenses for its comics to russian publishers.

The American manufacturer of household chemicals and hygiene products Procter & Gamble (Ariel, Tide, Lenor, Fairy, Pampers, Always, Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Pantene, Blend-a-med) has warned of possible withdrawal from the russian market due to sanctions, financial restrictions and problems with delivery. In March, P&G completely stopped investing in the russian segment of its business and reduced the list of products exported to russia.

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According to the moscow stock exchange, the russian stock market closed on Thursday with a fall of 2.56%.

The head of vtb kostin admitted that there was not enough cash in foreign currency that could be bought in branches of russian banks. At the same time, VTB hopes that the central bank of the russian federation at the next meeting will reduce the key rate to 15%, and by the end of 2022 will lower it to 12-13%.

russia's central bank has announced an expected reduction in mortgages to 10-15% in 2022. At the same time, the central bank states that “the depth of the economic downturn may be significant, and the trajectory of the recession – stretched over time, deteriorating logistics and search for suppliers may lead to further price increases, especially in the non-food segment”. The central bank also warns that exports and imports in russia's GDP will decline, and the current recession in russia is transformational, larger and longer than the “Covid” recession. According to the central bank, the slowdown in annual inflation in russia may occur in 2023.

By September 1, russia will cancel weight and dimensional control for trucks that import essential goods to russia, - said prime minister mishustin.

The head of the central bank of the rf nabiullina acknowledged that “international sanctions are hitting even in highly localized industries”, In particular, she cited the example of garment production, which faced difficulties in purchasing accessories.

vagit alekperov, who was subject to sanctions, had to leave the board of directors of “lukoil” and the position of the company's head.

 

former head of the russian presidential administration chubais has left the board of directors of the russian investment company “sistema” and its portfolio company “elektrozavod”.

sergey protosen, a former deputy chairman of the board of directors of “novatek”, and his family were found dead in the Spanish city of Lloret de Mar. According to preliminary data, the businessman killed his wife and daughter while they were sleeping, and then committed suicide. Earlier in moscow, the former vice-president of “gazprombank” avayev and his relatives were found dead.

April 21, a fire broke out at the central research institute of air and space defense forces in tver. As a result of the fire, the roof collapsed over the entire area of ​​the building, the area of ​​the fire is more than 1,500 square meters. The fire killed six people and 27 others were injured and burnt. “So far, the main version of the cause is the wrecking work of the grid, as the building and wiring are old”, - said employees.

The departments of the research institute of air and space defense forces and the research and testing center of the air and space defense of the ministry of defense of the rf are located in Tver. The institute was established in 2014 to “conduct comprehensive research on the problems of air and space defense and military space activities of the russian federation, the joint air defense system of the cis member states, the development of systems and means of air and space forces (in the air and space defense).

There are almost no new lada cars with automatic transmissions left in russian car dealerships, said the staff of dealerships. Sellers expect that for more than a year there will be no “two-pedal” modifications lada on sale. It will take “avtovaz” a year to find alternatives to imported units.

In the lada showrooms there are only a few cars with automatic transmissions: “automatic” and jatco variators, as well as with the branded vaz robot amt, supplemented by the German actuator zf. Representatives of “avtovaz”'s official dealerships told about this. “There are and there will be no cars with “automaton”. This situation will last for a year, maybe two, I'm 99% sure”, said the manager of the dealership in togliatti. Customers who want to buy a lada granta will have to be happy with cars with a manual transmission. “The plant is now standing, there are no components. Then “avtovaz” will produce those models for which there will be enough parts. That is, granta and vesta in basic configurations. “There is a great trouble with “automatic cars”, there will be none, Japanese jatco stand there”, said an employee of the capital's car dealership.

There are some grantas with “automaton” for 1 million 285 thousand rubles in the togliatti car salon, with comfort and only one car for 1 million 340 thousand rubles in the equipped version of luxe. The situation is similar in izhevsk, where the lada vesta plant is located. There, the last sedan of the comfort version is selling for 1 million 450 thousand rubles

In moscow, the volume of housing offers for long-term rent has increased. According to realtors, due to financial problems, many owners have decided to put on the market apartments that have not been rented out before.

Against the background of international sanctions, the IT company “yandex” has stopped many of the planned investments inside russia and abroad, and has withdrawn its forecast for development and profits for 2022.

The founder of telegram durov has got citizenship of the United Arab Emirates. He is now a citizen of four countries – the Caribbean Saint Kitts and Nevis, France, the UAE and russia. A person close to him says that “Pavel has not traveled to russia and has not held any assets in that country for eight years. Telegram does not have offices or employees in russia, and the number of users from russia does not exceed eight percent”.

Earlier, the speaker of the state duma called to deprive of russian citizenship the people who are against the occupation of Ukraine and receive money for this from the West.