January 10, 2024 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

Qatar has contributed $20 million to the Grain from Ukraine program.

Sweden will allocate 50 million Swedish kronor ($5.8 million) to NATO's Ukraine Comprehensive Assistance Package Fund.

Estonia will continue to provide military aid to Ukraine and called on countries in Europe, North America and others to follow suit. “Estonia's contribution to Ukraine's victory will amount to 0.25% of GDP over the next four years. If each country contributes 0.25%, this is what Ukraine needs to win this war”, said Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas.

Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz has called on other EU countries to increase military support for Ukraine this year.

The German company Flensburger Fahrzeugbau GmbH is building a repair center in the west of Ukraine to restore German weapons and military equipment used by the Ukrainian military.

Spain is providing Ukraine with two armored medical vehicles.

Representatives of US President Joe Biden’s administration discussed with American defense companies the production of modern technology weapons for Ukraine.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radoslaw Sikorski has called on the US Congress to approve a new package of military aid to Ukraine.

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President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili has said that she has always had the feeling that Georgia has had one enemy for centuries – russia, although some do not realize this even today.

Minister of Economy of Latvia Viktors Valainis has supported the establishment of a ban on grain imports from russia at the EU level.

Latvia needs to ban the import and transit of russian grain and start a dialogue with Lithuania, Estonia and Finland to form a common position on this issue, – said Latvian Transport Minister Kaspars Briškens.

Agreements on the prevention of double taxation have become invalid between Latvia and russia, as well as between Denmark and the rf.

The government of Finland has decided not to open checkpoints on the border with russia.

Due to the reformatting of the European market, the stabilization of gas prices at a relatively low level, and the increase in sanctions pressure on russia, European countries may reduce purchases of russian liquefied natural gas to 12-13 million tons in 2024 (in the year 2023, 16.42 million tons were purchased), predicts the russian institute for energy and finance.

Due to the unprofitability of russia’s coal sector, the government of the rf allowed not to pay the “exchange rate duty” for the export of coal; because of this decision, the budget of the rf will not receive $ 1.1-1.5 billion per year.

There may be a shortage of flats in russia in the second half of 2025, which will lead to an increase in real estate prices by another 10-15%, head of the national rating agency grigoryeva warned.

According to preliminary data, in 2023, russians took microfinance loans worth 450-480 billion rubles, which is by 20% more than in 2022.

business ombudsman titov has proposed to solve the issue of a shortage of workers in russia by attracting pensioners and young people to work (in 2023, 88% of russian enterprises experienced a shortage of workers).

russian authorities want to deprive their citizens of the right to elect the president of the rf in consulates in the countries that condemn russian aggression against Ukraine. The decision to be made in the near future may concern 49 countries.

In 2023, there were 168 leaks of personal data into the public access, which caused 300 million records about russians to get on the Internet, roskomnadzor of the rf reported.

According to a recent kremlin-sponsored poll, less than 50% of respondents support the continuation of russia's war in Ukraine, while more than 30% are in favor of peace talks.

The majority (63%) of russians said that state censorship is necessary for russian media. A typical russian who supports state censorship of the media is a woman over 45 years of age with secondary or secondary specialized education, who lives in a small settlement, and is an active TV viewer.

On the night of January 9, 27 freight wagons derailed on the trans-baikal railway on the aleur-bushuley stretch. The investigative committee has opened a case under the article on violation of the rules of traffic safety and operation of railway transport.

In Poland, a citizen of belarus, detained at the end of 2023, was charged with espionage in favor of a foreign intelligence. The woman had been passing information about the belarusian diaspora in Poland to the kgb of belarus.

The decision of the belarusian authorities not to invite OSCE observers to the upcoming elections contradicts minsk's international obligations and the interests of the people of belarus, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly said.

During a survey conducted by the ministry of economy of the rb, residents of free economic zones (FEZs) mentioned logistics, lack of personnel and difficulties in entering foreign markets, primarily the European Union’s, as key barriers to doing business in belarus. 137 enterprises from belarusian FEZs took part in the survey.

According to the statistics of the national bank, in 2023, individuals in belarus sold $292.2 million more in currency than they bought. According to independent economists, this is the beginning of the process of belarusians’ starting to spend their “strategic” savings.

belarus did not officially recognize Crimea as part of the territory of russia, but this did not prevent the minsk city council from signing a cooperation agreement with the occupation authorities of Sevastopol on January 8 in moscow.

chairperson of the council of the republic of belarus natalia kachanova said at a meeting of minsk officials: there is no reason for anyone in belarus to be dissatisfied with something.

The ministry of information of the rb has again updated the list of extremist materials. A “belarusian-Georgian-Ukrainian chat “russia is evil” in Telegram has been added to it. Previously, it was recognized as an extremist formation.