August 3, 2023 Ukraine and the World - Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

The United States is preparing a new package of military aid for Ukraine.

The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, accused russia and putin of supporting military coups in Africa. According to him, “Putin fuels these coups with his false propaganda and profits from the establishment of military regimes with the help of private paramilitary groups that plunder the region’s wealth”.

President of Romania Klaus Iohannis has condemned new russian attacks on infrastructure in the South of Ukraine.

“Transparency and accountability are crucial to involve the private sector in recovery and reconstruction”, Ambassadors of the G7 countries said of the preparation process for Ukraine's post-war reconstruction and arrival of Western investment.

“Unfortunately, we see that from the very beginning of this war – and in fact even before it began – russia was never ready for real diplomacy”, said Spokesperson for the US Department of State Matthew Miller answering a question about russia's not attending the informal meeting on the Ukrainian issue in Saudi Arabia.

The government of Croatia has allocated €1 million to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) for demining agricultural lands in Ukraine.

President of Poland Andrzej Duda has signed amendments to the law regarding a commission to investigate russian influence.

The number of Ukrainian refugees in Lithuania decreased by about 10,000 people in the first half of 2023.

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The largest Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo is closing its branch in moscow and reducing activities in the rf.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova Nicu Popescu has said that the expulsion of russian diplomats from the country is a response to disrespectful policies towards citizens of the Republic. “Over the past three decades, we have witnessed this open support for Transnistrian separatism, the illegal staying of russian troops, the embargo, russia's suspension of the CIS’ Free Trade Agreement with Moldova. So, there is a long history of hostile policy, and lately this hostile and disrespectful policy has intensified”, the Minister stressed.

The russian mobile application of the payment system “unistream” has been removed from Google Play due to US sanctions. Previously, monetary transactions with this payment system were stopped by leading banks in Georgia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Now the mobile applications of all russian banks that fell under US sanctions in July have been removed from Google Play.

The Panamanian flagged Galatia vessel was detained in Antwerp because it was transporting petroleum products from russia under the guise of Saudi ones. The vessel belongs to Gatik Ship Management, a major carrier of russian oil. Belgian authorities believe that Galatia smuggled russian fuel to the EU. The vessel transshipped petroleum products onto Greek tankers, then the fuel was delivered to the EU as Saudi fuel.

In 2022, demand for abortion medicines increased by 60% in russia: according to the analytical company rnc pharma, the total consumption of medicines for medical abortions in 2022 amounted to 1.4 million packages. Analysts point out that the year 2022 showed a record volume of consumption of such medicines in the rf. At the same time, the ministry of health care of the rf states that 217,836 women applied for medical abortion, and the number of abortions was 395,000.

A series of drone strikes on moscow city, where almost 20% of office space is occupied by government agencies, has reduced the popularity of moscow's business district: a number of companies have sent employees to work remotely, others are looking for premises in less symbolic areas of russia’s capital.

Due to the UAVs’ strikes on moscow and other incomprehensible cataclysms in the capital of the rf, which have recently increased, some foreign companies are transferring business to other cities. In particular, the airline “Turkmenistan” has announced that from August 1 it stops flights from Ashgabat to moscow “due to the air situation” and will now fly to kazan.

According to the latest study of the russian economy and business, in the second quarter 31% of companies had problems with logistics (the same number was in the first quarter), 29.9% suffered from currency instability in the country (growth for the quarter by 13%), 29% felt a deterioration in the conditions of supply of raw materials and components (an increase of 3%). At the same time, 91% of companies said that in the second quarter they felt the negative impact of international sanctions against the rf, lower demand for products, rising import prices and had to renegotiate agreements; 66% of enterprises intend to reduce their costs, of which 39% – for raw materials and components, 28% – for consulting and other services.

In June, in russia, biscuits rose in price by 30%, marshmallows and pastilles – by 29%, chocolate – by 9.2%; all in all, confectionery sales decreased by 2.9%.

The government of the rf is going to introduce an import duty of up to 10% on imported air conditioners and dishwashers, which will lead to their rise in price for russians, because such equipment is not produced in the rf.

“ruskhimalians” (owned by gazprom and rusgazdobycha, in which each has 50% stakes) has to postpone the construction of a gas processing plant in ust-luga to the end of 2026 because the German company Linde refused to work with it.

russian companies have begun to save on online training for their employees, despite a 60% discount from the organizers of training courses.

The wholesale cost of diesel fuel in the European part of russia within a day increased by 1.68%, to 58.754 thousand rubles per ton, of AI-92 petrol –by 1.84%, to 63.081 thousand rubles per ton, of AI-95 petrol – by 1.4%, to 68.112 thousand rubles per ton.

The government of Kazakhstan has adopted a resolution denouncing the agreement with belarus on mutual convertibility and stabilization of national currency rates.

According to belstat, about 49% of belarusians' expenditures are on food products. Last year, the same indicator, according to the same belstat, was lower by 10%.

According to forecasts of the research center BEROC, inflation in belarus will accelerate to 5-7 % by the end of the year. And in early 2024, it can reach 10%.