April 29, 2022 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

After the attempt to seize Ukraine, the international community has already imposed 5.5 thousand sanctions against russia – the highest figure in the world; Iran (3.6 thousand) is second, Syria (2.6 thousand) – third.

April 28, the lower house of the United States Congress – the US House of Representatives – considered and supported the opening of the Land Lease and the defense of democracy in Ukraine. 417 representatives of the lower house of the US Congress voted in favor, only 10 voted against. To come into force, the law now must be signed by President Joe Biden. This will help significantly speed up the supply of weapons to Ukraine to further defend it against Russian aggression.

During World War II, the land lease was a system through which the United States transferred to its allies ammunition, equipment, food, and strategic raw materials, including petroleum products, partially or completely free of charge.

Now the land lease program has been adopted for the second time in history. For Ukraine, the land lease law guarantees: US President Joe Biden will have expanded powers to lease or transfer to Ukraine defenses against russian aggression, as well as for other purposes; after the act is adopted, Biden, within 60 days, must establish accelerated procedures for the supply of products; the law provides for a significant acceleration of arms, transport, food and aid supplies to Ukraine from the United States.

US President Joe Biden will send a request to the Congress for an additional $ 33 billion to support Ukraine and its allies in Europe. Biden announced this at a briefing, which was broadcast on the White House website. “I have just signed a request to the Congress for critical security, economic and humanitarian assistance to help Ukraine curb Putin's aggression”, Biden said. “We need this bill to support Ukraine in its struggle for freedom ... The cost of this struggle is not cheap, but it would be more expensive to hide from aggression”, he added.

This request is the largest single proposal for military aid financing and exceeds the annual defense budgets of most countries. The request includes more than $ 20 billion in new military and security assistance, including new powers to quickly transfer weapons to Ukraine from military stockpiles and strengthen the Pentagon's program to arm its military. The Administration is also offering billions in economic and humanitarian aid as part of this package.

Of this $ 20 billion in military aid, $ 5 billion is proposed for the transfer of weapons and equipment to Ukraine from US reserves, $ 6 billion for the Security Assistance Initiative and $ 4 billion for the State Department's program for financial assistance to other countries. In addition to $ 20 billion in weapons, ammunition and other military aid, the Biden Administration's budget request also calls for $ 8.5 billion in direct economic aid to the government and $ 3 billion in humanitarian and food aid.

The European Union has frozen more than $ 30 billion in russian elite’s assets, and the United States – more than $ 1 billion, Washington said in the run-up to US President Biden's intention to ask the US Congress for additional powers to confiscate foreign property from internationally sanctioned russians.

The German Bundestag has approved the supply of heavy weapons to Ukraine so that the Ukrainian army can become even stronger and able to give a strong rebuff to the Russian occupiers. This decision was made during a regular meeting of MPs, and was supported by 586 of the 693 members of parliament. 100 MPs opposed the decision, and another 7 abstained. This document now allows the German government to supply Ukraine with efficient, heavy weapons, as well as sophisticated German-made systems.

Germany has lifted its fundamental objections to the inclusion of blocking sanctions against “sberbank” in the sixth package of EU sanctions. It is a question of disconnection of the largest state bank of russia from SWIFT. Germany also supports an embargo on russian oil in transition.

russia has crossed the “red lines” in relations with European companies, so it is impossible to continue cooperation with the country, said Mario Mehren, the head of the German oil and gas company Wintershall Dea, which is a partner of “gazprom”. According to him, russia's aggressive actions against Ukraine have become a turning point in the policy of the company, Europe and the world. “For Germany and russia, this war means the end of an era. An era of long and intensive economic cooperation”, Mr. Mehren said.

Great Britain has given the go-ahead to Ukraine to strike at russian facilities: “This is part of the war”. The British government is convinced that Ukraine has a legal right to attack an enemy country that has invaded the territory of a sovereign state.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is asking the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to complete the investigation into the most egregious crimes most likely committed by the russian military in Ukraine as soon as possible and issue an arrest warrant. Anyone involved in crimes against humanity committed during the war in Ukraine and in the possible genocide of Ukrainians will be prosecuted under international law. The same fate should befall the leadership of the russian federation for crimes against peace. This is stated in the resolution “Aggression of the russian federation Against Ukraine: Ensuring Responsibility for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law and Other International Crimes”, adopted unanimously on April 28 during the spring session of the PACE. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe calls for every effort to be made to ensure that those responsible for these serious crimes do not escape punishment. To this end, the member states of the Council of Europe must support the ICC Prosecutor in “investigating and prosecuting suspects in war crimes, crimes against humanity and possible genocide”. The Assembly requests that national governments make available to the investigation “any evidence in their possession, including open source intelligence, satellite images and intercepted communications”.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that the North Atlantic Alliance and its allies have provided Ukraine with about $ 8 billion in military assistance and will continue to increase it. This was announced by the NATO press service following a meeting between Stoltenberg and President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola and leaders of seven EP political groups. According to the NATO Secretary General, the NATO-EU partnership is vital at this critical moment for common security. He also welcomed the EU's economic sanctions against russia.

Bulgaria is ready to promote the export of electricity from Ukraine, said the Prime Minister of Bulgaria Kiril Petkov after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In addition, the Bulgarian Prime Minister expressed readiness to assist in the use of the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline, as well as to offer the port of Varna as a logistics hub, in particular for flour.

According to Petkov, Bulgaria will be happy to help and join the reconstruction of Ukraine. Ukrainian military equipment will be repaired at Bulgaria's production facilities. This will ensure the speed and quality of repair.

April 28, 2022, the Government of Ukraine and the Government of Japan signed an Agreement on a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency for development policy in the field of emergency economic recovery and a grant to strengthen the health care and medical system in Ukraine. The Japanese government will provide Ukraine with a $ 100 million loan on concessional terms. We are talking about budget support to stabilize the situation in Ukraine, in particular, to ensure priority social and humanitarian expenditures, health expenditures, support for internally displaced persons and other priority expenditures. The loan repayment period is 30 years, in particular the grace period is 10 years; interest rate is 1% per annum. Approximately $ 2.3 million in grants will be used to purchase medical equipment to support the health care and medical systems. During the signing of the Agreement, representatives of the Government of Japan stated that they would continue to support Ukraine in cooperation with the international community.

April 27, the Minister of Finance of Finland Annika Saarikko announced the transfer of another charitable tranche to Ukraine. More than half of the confiscated cryptocurrency, valued at 73 million euros, will be transferred to Ukraine. Finnish customs confiscated this cryptocurrency in 2016, when it was valued at 20 million. At the current exchange rate, the funds are estimated at 73 million euros. Cryptocurrency was confiscated by Finnish law enforcement during a major drug trafficking investigation. The criminals used Finland as a kind of “transshipment point”.

To implement anti-russian sanctions, France has arrested three mansions in the south of the country belonging to russian entrepreneurs deripaska, shamalov and bazhaev. Since the start of the anti-russian sanctions campaign in France, four yachts, six helicopters and almost 30 expensive real estate objects have been arrested.

French oil and gas company Total Energies plans to suspend its lubricant business in russia by the end of the month.

The French-American cosmetics company Coty has announced that it is suspending its activities in russia because of its aggression against Ukraine. In 2021, more than 3% of its products were sold in russia. Last fiscal year, ending in June 2021, Coty had total sales of $ 4.63 billion. The company produces and sells products such as Bottega Veneta, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Chlo, Davidoff, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Kylie Skin, Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu and Tiffany & Co. The company also owns the Max Factor and Rimmel brands.

Japan Tobacco is considering selling its russian business over russia's invasion of Ukraine.

One of the world's largest car dealers, Britain's Inchcape, has said it is shutting down business in russia.

The British company Aveva, which produces engineering and industrial software, has announced a reduction in activity in russia.

Polish clothing manufacturer LPP, which manages the brands Reserved, House, Cropp, Mohito and Sinsay, has decided to sell the russian division.

Paramount has stopped broadcasting Nickelodeon, Paramount Channel, Paramount Comedy and MTV in russia.

Christie's Auction House will hold a series of auctions in support of humanitarian initiatives in Ukraine and projects aimed at preserving the country's cultural heritage. It is planned to hold three charity auctions, in which the organizers hope to raise at least $ 1 million. All proceeds will be shared equally between the three organizations involved in humanitarian aid and preservation of Ukraine's cultural heritage – the World Fund for Monuments (WMF), Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and the CORE Foundation, created by actor Sean Penn. Works of contemporary Ukrainian artists will be exhibited at the charity auction. Christie's added that they would continue to make donations to the Ukrainian Red Cross and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The manufacturer of electric harnesses for cars of the French company Nexans (LLC “Electrocontact Ukraine”, Lviv region), which during the first quarter of 2022 at its three production sites maintained loading at 85% capacity, returned to 100% load. This was reported in the Nexans financial report. The document points out that despite the fact that plants in Ukraine were not operating at full capacity in the first quarter, the overall direction of Nexans car harnesses increased by 15.6% compared to the first quarter of last year due to increased market share. “Electrocontact Ukraine” LLC, which has been operating in Ukraine since 2007, is a manufacturer of cable networks for cars of BMW, Porsche, AUDI and VW concerns. The parent company is the German Elektrokontakt GmbH, part of the Nexans concern. The company has three production units in the Lviv region – in Brody, Peremyshlyany and Zolochiv.

Authorities of Latvia’s capital have handed over 11 passenger buses to Kyiv. “11 passenger buses handed over to Kyiv by the Riga authorities have already crossed the border and are heading to the capital of Ukraine. The buses are loaded with almost 80 tons of humanitarian aid”, said Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klichko.

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ministry of economic development of the russian federation has provided its forecast for the deterioration of life in russia. In particular, the decline in real incomes in 2022 will be 7.8-9.7%, the growth of unemployment – up to 6.7-9.5%, the growth of consumer prices – 20.7-22.6%, the reduction of GDP – by 8, 8-12.4%.

Almost 600,000 russians have already “gone into downtime or are at risk of dismissal due to the foreign companies’ having stopped operating in russia”, said the secretary of the general council of the “united russia” turchak.

moscow mayor sobyanin stressed that from 10 to 15% of the capital's residents who will lose their jobs due to international sanctions, will have to be retrained and somehow employed by authorities. He pointed out that almost 200,000 people who worked for foreign companies may lose their jobs in Moscow.

russia will live in a very difficult situation in the next one and a half to two years, said the head of the accounting chamber kudrin. He said that, according to the preliminary forecast of the ministry of economy, the decline in russia's economy in 2022 will be 8.8%, and inflation will rise to 20.7%. “Today, the economy is going through a difficult period and its further decline is expected. Uncertainty is very high, it is a crisis that is worse than the crisis of 2009, worse than the pandemic crisis”, kudrin stressed.

the main censor of the russian federation, “roskomnadzor”, closed the russians’ access to the website of the online publication “russkaya planeta” for reporting on the actions of the russian occupation troops in Ukraine.

russian banks have asked the central bank to postpone the issuance of new banknotes due to problems with the supply and maintenance of equipment, which arose due to sanctions against russia. The association of russian banks has stressed that due to the ban, foreign ATM suppliers, including Diebold Nixdorf and NCR, have stopped providing services in russia. Cash equipment used for banknote processing are 100% imported. More than 50% of multi-pocket counting and sorting machines used in russia are made in Germany and Japan, whose suppliers have also stopped operations in russia. “It has become impossible to update any validator software in cash ATM recirculation / acceptance modules, as well as cash registers and terminals, which makes it impossible to add / change banknote templates of both old denominations and new models”, the association said in a statement.

European producers will not supply natural wine corks to russia due to sanctions. By July-August, russian wine bottles will have screw caps. The price of beverages will rise due to the increase in the cost of components in production.

russian producers of juices, water and soft drinks predict the shutdown of plants in russia. “More than 90% of russia's beverage production is equipped with foreign equipment, including European one. Interruptions in the supply of components can lead to problems in production – up to the shutdown of lines”, said the president of the union of producers of juices, water and beverages novikov. In his opinion, the replacement of imported components with russian counterparts is not possible. “Over the past four years, the import replacement program for the agro-industrial complex and food processing industry has not yielded tangible results”, novikov stressed.

The board of directors of the russian energy company “enel russia” has recommended not to pay dividends to shareholders in 2021.

The kremlin's aggressive policies have led to a global rise in energy prices. In particular, the World Bank forecasts a historical increase in world energy prices to 50% and non-energy goods to 20% in 2022 due to russia's invasion of Ukraine.

the russian owner of the aircraft company Aircraft Industries, located in the Czech Republic, is forced to sell 100% of his shares to the Czech holding Omnipol.

The “avtotor” plant, located in kaliningrad, will stop producing cars from May 1 to 22, and the team will go on corporate vacation. “avtotor” manufactures cars in russia under the brands BMW, KIA, Hyundai.

 

Due to rising mortgage rates in April 2022, the demand for secondary housing in moscow decreased significantly, and owners began to sell apartments at discounts. According to the agency “ndv real estate supermarket”, apartment owners agree to concessions for fear of reducing demand and real estate prices. In the mass segment, the average discount is 10%.

After the rf’s invasion of Ukraine, the russian online video services market will lose a lot of profit for the first time in its history, according to J'son & Partners Consulting (an international consulting company specializing in telecommunications and media markets). The reason is the cessation of advertising activity of global brands in russia and the restriction of licensing rights to movies and series. According to the results of 2022, the decline in revenue will be 46.3% – up to 53.2 billion rubles, and return to the level of 2021 will not be possible even in 2026, reads a report by J'son & Partners Consulting. Revenue from advertising for russian online cinemas will fall by more than 60% – the lack of world premieres will lead to lower revenues. On television, revenue from advertising will fall by 30-40%, which will significantly affect the profits of media holdings.

The number of russian and belarusian citizens staying in Georgia has increased significantly, –reports the Georgian non-governmental organization IDFI. In March, 17 thousand 201 citizens of the rf and 14 thousand 30 citizens of belarus remained in the country.