December 24, 2024 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

Germany has announced another tranche of military aid to Ukraine, which includes IRIS-T SLM with missiles and IRIS-T SLS missile systems, two Patriot launchers, 15 Leopard 1 A5 tanks, two Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft systems, 30 MRAP armored vehicles with mine protection, 12 armored vehicles with kinetic defense systems, two TRML-4D radars, AIM-9L/I-1 Sidewinde missiles, ammunition for Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 tanks, 120 GMW grenade launchers, 52 thousand 155-mm shells, 65,000 rounds of ammunition for Gepard systems, 30 Vector UAVs, 24 RQ-35 Heidrun drones, 14 Hornet XR drones, five AMPS helicopter self-defense systems, 45 diving scooters, 12 Zetros trucks and eight Zetros fuel tankers, 200 MG4 machine guns, 420 MK 556 rifles, 80 HLR 338 sniper rifles, 100 CR 308 rifles, generators, tents, 120-mm mines, mine clearing equipment, and small arms ammunition.

Ukraine has received $1.1 billion from the IMF.

“russian gas still connecting like minded autocrats. Robert Fico has no right to lecture Ukraine and even look into the eyes of Ukrainians!!” – said Petras Auštrevičius, MEP from Lithuania.

rf

Switzerland has implemented a new round of sanctions imposed by the EU on the rf and the rb, the government announced on December 23. The sanctions list includes 54 individuals and 30 companies and organizations, and their assets have been frozen as of December 24. Services to 52 vessels, mostly tankers that are part of the shadow fleet, are also banned.

The European Commission confirms that Europe is ready to stop russian gas transit through Ukraine from January 1, 2025.

President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda has said his country will not negotiate with russia on gas supplies but intends to defend its energy independence.

Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni has said that russia poses a broad threat to the security of the European Union, as it can use illegal immigration and other issues to “undermine” the EU.

Lithuania intends to use EUR 15 million from the European Commission to modernize electronic border surveillance systems at four border stations with the rf.

Italy's largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, will stop accepting payments in euros from russian banks. The financial institution will change the terms of servicing the correspondent account of its russian subsidiary from January 15, 2025.

Brewing companies have sent notices to russian retailers informing them of a 9-10% increase in selling prices for beer starting January 1, 2025.

Wine imported to the rf from “unfriendly” countries will become more expensive at retail: the minimum threshold for a quality drink will be 1 thousand rubles. russian winemakers intend to raise prices for their products too.

The share of Chinese cars in the russian market has reached almost 60%. The volume of passenger cars supplied from China to the rf from January to November 2024 amounted to $13.8 billion. The figure was up by 28.6% compared to the same period last year.

Logistics problems caused by the urgent reorientation of trade to the East are only getting worse. This year, at least a quarter less imports than planned were brought to the rf by railway from the far east. Due to the problems with transporting goods by railway, russia could not import about 80 million tons of cargo in January-October 2024. The exports from far eastern ports were exactly by 80 million tons less than planned.

In January-November 2024, average rental rates in Class B business centers in moscow and moscow region increased by 16% year-on-year. Companies that had previously sought to rent high-quality space have shifted to lower-class properties.

The growth rate of cement consumption in russia has slowed down sharply: last year it grew by 5.4%, while this year it grew by only 2% due to a drop in demand in the second half of the year. The negative trend may continue next year due to a decline in housing and infrastructure construction. A 20% increase in the cost of cement production could lead to higher prices for consumers.

minister of economic development of the rf reshetnikov has announced the inevitability of cuts in investment programs of state-owned companies.

The inflow of foreign currency earnings to the rf will continue to decline, against the background of which exports will decline and continue to put pressure on the ruble. This may be facilitated by problems with gas and oil exports to Europe if sanctions are further tightened, and by difficulties in selling russian goods abroad.

Large corporate clients of rosgosstrakh in tatarstan are urgently including terrorism and sabotage risks in their insurance contracts, those related to possible attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles included.

russian hosting providers will increase prices by 10% due to the installation of the fsb surveillance systems.

russian YouTube traffic has fallen to a multi-year low, while the service has actually been blocked in russia.

The state duma has proposed to ban the sale of fireworks after a series of explosions in public places.

Lithuania intends to extend national sanctions against the rf and the rb for another year as russia continues its war in Ukraine.

The US Department of State has approved the fourth – maximum – level of travel danger for the rb and urged its citizens to leave the country immediately and avoid traveling to it. Washington has explained these recommendations by “arbitrary application of local laws by the rb’s authorities, risks of detention, and potential civil unrest”.

The website “Belarusians and the Market” has stopped working in the rb, but it is still available abroad. Earlier, the ministry of information of the rb canceled the registration of the print media outlet “Belarusians and the Market”. The director of the newspaper Konstantin Zolotoy was detained after a search of the editorial office and sentenced to four years in a general regime colony on a number of criminal charges.