May 25, 2022 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

The Council of the European Union has approved the fourth tranche of € 500 million in assistance from the European Peace Facility (EPF). This was announced on May 24 by the press service of the EU Council. The total amount of previous tranches was 1.5 billion, together with the fourth – 2 billion euros.

“This support is only part of Europe's efforts to help Ukraine defend itself. The EU and its member states are determined to continue. We have been doing this since the beginning of the war and will continue to do so to the end”, said Josep Borrell, Vice-President of the European Commission and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

The EU Council has adopted a decision allowing temporary trade liberalization and other trade concessions on certain Ukrainian goods. “This means that import duties on all Ukrainian exports to the European Union will not be paid for one year. Thanks to these measures, the EU will be able to significantly support Ukraine's economy”, reads the EU Council’s statement.

russia's war against Ukraine must be a strategic defeat for russian president putin. This was stated by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on May 24.

She stressed that for the first time in its history, the European Union has provided military support to the country that suffered aggression, and supports about 6 million Ukrainian refugees. According to her, the € 10 billion macro-financial assistance package is also an unprecedented event in the history of the EU.

President of Poland Andrzej Duda has promised to support Ukraine one hundred percent. In his opinion, the war should end in russia’s returning the looted lands to Ukraine, paying a contribution, and war criminals being punished.

Duda said this speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Rzeczpospolita reports. “I do not hide that I will absolutely – as the President of Poland – support Ukraine one hundred percent”, he said. The politician added that he could not accept that russia should violate international law with impunity, and the world pretends not to see it “so that the consequences for the killers do not show up” and “so that russia does not pay military reparations for the damage done to Ukraine”.

The President of Poland also stated that Ukrainians deserve to receive EU candidate status in June.

Duda pointed out that the EU must show the Ukrainian society that it is open and supportive of Ukrainians.

russia's war against Ukraine must have tangible and lasting consequences for the russian economy, even after the kremlin is forced to cease hostilities. This was stated during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos on May 24 by US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.

“Russia must be severely punished for what it has done”, she said. In response to clarification as to whether this includes reparations for Ukraine, she stressed: “Unambiguously”. And even more so – in her words, russia must be isolated from the global economic order “for a long time”. This includes, in particular, continuation of sanctions and restrictions on exports.

Now, according to the head of the US Department of Commerce, any discussions about returning russia to “business as usual” are premature. “We can't even start discussions about this, putin must stop this war first, so now it's even premature to think about this”, Raimondo said.

russia's war in Ukraine has shown how “economic relations with authoritarian regimes can create vulnerability”. This was stated by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos. According to him, it is about excessive dependence on energy imports, as well as the risks posed by the export of advanced technologies, in particular, artificial intelligence. “It's about russia. But also about China. Another authoritarian regime that does not share our values. And it undermines the international order based on rules”.

“Large-scale sanctions (against russia) remind us of one of the important lessons of this conflict: we must not exchange long-term security needs for short-term economic interests”, he said.

Stoltenberg said that international trade helps the economies of countries, but added: “We must recognize that our economic choices have consequences for our security. Freedom is more important than free trade. Protecting our values ​​is more important than making a profit”.

Ukraine intends to accede to the European Convention on the Common Transit Procedure in the near future. This is the so-called customs visa-free regime. It allows faster and easier transportation of goods between countries, which is especially important in a situation where due to the blockade of seaports, all foreign trade of Ukraine is concentrated on the western border of the country. This was stated by Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal at a government meeting.

The Convention on the Common Transit Procedure includes 35 countries. These are the EU, the United Kingdom, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland), Turkey, Northern Macedonia and Serbia.

Ukraine is going to become part of the roaming space of the European Union. This will allow calls between EU countries and Ukraine at no extra cost. And tariffs for mobile Internet in Europe will remain for Ukrainians at the same level as in their homeland.

Ukraine also plans to enter the single SEPA payment zone. When this happens, Ukrainians will be able to make money transfers in euros without commissions. This was emphasized by Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal. According to him, both of these steps are projects on Ukraine's integration into the European Union.

May 24, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Zbigniew Rau said that russia will remain a threat to peace in Europe even after the ceasefire in Ukraine, CNN reports.

“It is a dream that russia will change immediately after the ceasefire is agreed. It will remain a threat to peace in Europe”, Rau stressed during a joint news conference with his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock. Rau pointed out that he fears russia's attack on Poland, as well as “the danger of an armed invasion of NATO's eastern flank”. He emphasized that Poland and Germany must strive to ensure that russia “suffers a strategic defeat and its occupying forces leave Ukraine within the borders recognized by international law”.

Baerbock also explained that Donetsk region belongs to Ukraine, noting that Ukraine is a sovereign state within its borders, and “this is true since 2014 and it is right for the future”.

At a meeting of G7 Finance Ministers and central bankers in Germany, Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland announced an additional $ 200 million in financial assistance to Ukraine, according to her agency's press service. These funds are allocated separately from the substantial assistance previously provided for military and humanitarian support, as well as migration measures”, the statement said. Together with the new aid package, the total amount that Canada has provided to Ukraine this year exceeds $ 1.5 billion.

Besides, Freeland stressed yet again that she and her partners will do everything possible to hold the russian authorities accountable for their crimes against Ukraine.

NATO will continue to support Ukraine in its right to self-defense in the war with the aggressor country of russia, as well as continue to strengthen deterrence on its eastern flank. However, NATO troops will not be sent to Ukraine. This was stated by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Davos. In particular, he pointed out that the main task of the Alliance is to protect NATO allies. “And so we must make sure that this bloody war does not escalate into a full-scale war in Europe between NATO and Russia”, Stoltenberg said.

Ukraine will soon receive Harpoon anti-ship missiles and launchers to strengthen coastal defense. Other surprises are also expected from Western partners, which will increase the strength of the Ukrainian army. Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov stated this following the second meeting of the heads of defense ministries of Ukraine's partner countries at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. He pointed out that the number of countries participating in the anti-putin coalition is constantly increasing, and of all continents only Antarctica is not represented.

Ukraine has received another 79.5 million euro tranche from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). The funds were provided by the Netherlands under the Loan Agreement “Additional Loan for the Second Loan for Development Policy in the Sphere of Economic Recovery”, according to the press service of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. These funds will provide an opportunity to strengthen Ukraine's financial system and ensure further adequate funding for social and humanitarian spheres.

May 24, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and KfW Director for Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia Olaf Zymelka signed an agreement with the Reconstruction Credit Institute (KfW) to provide 150 million euros in budget support to Ukraine, – the Ministry of Finance reports.

The loan is provided as co-financing of additional financing of the development policy loan in the event of an emergency economic situation of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The loan is granted for a period of 15 years (taking into account the grace period for deferral of repayment of the principal amount of the loan – 5 years).

Ukraine has received a $ 100 million loan from the Japanese agency Jaika for 30 years on concessional terms at 1% per annum with a concessional period of 10 years, the Ministry of Finance said.

“Today, May 24, 2022, Ukraine has received 13 billion yen ($ 100 million) under a loan agreement recently signed by the Minister of Finance of Ukraine Serhiy Marchenko and the President of JICA Dr. Akihiko Tanaka. The agreement is the first part of the agreed financial assistance between Ukraine and Japan”, the Finance Ministry said.

The funds will be directed to the state budget to finance priority expenditures, primarily to support the most vulnerable population of Ukraine, to ensure priority social and humanitarian expenditures, as well as health care.

The Czech Railways subsidiary ČD Cargo has delivered the first cargo of Ukrainian grain to the German port of Brake (Lower Saxony), which will then travel to Egypt. According to Zdopravy.cz, the first train has transported about 1,800 tons of corn, which has been loaded into wagons with European track width at the transshipment station Dobra near the Slovak-Ukrainian border.

“We see this as help and at the same time an opportunity for business”, said Tomas Tot, CEO of ČD Cargo. According to him, now the representatives of the Czech state company are intensively negotiating with the Ukrainian side on various alternative routes of grain delivery, including through Polish and German ports, as well as through the Adriatic ports (ČD Cargo has a license to operate in all neighboring countries).

Ukrainian teachers will receive 43,000 Chromebooks laptops within the framework of partnership with Google, as 3.7 million students study remotely due to the russian war against Ukraine. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.

Google is working with local organizations to teach about 50,000 teachers to use the Google Workspace for Education.

US clinics will continue to treat Ukrainians who have suffered significant burns due to the war. This was announced on May 24 by the Ministry of Health Care.

“In recent years, with the support (including the expert one) of the US government, we have managed to make qualitative changes in the health care system. Today we can say with confidence that during the three months of the war the support of Ukraine from the United States has strengthened many times over. Almost every week we receive numerous humanitarian supplies from the US government and NGOs”, said Victor Lyashko, Minister of Health Care of Ukraine, following a meeting with Loyce Pace, Secretary of State for Global Health at the US Department of Health and Human Resources.

The European Football Union on Tuesday, May 24, presented the official ball for the final of the Champions League 2022, which will take place in Paris this Sunday. The ball is made by adidas. Its peculiarity is the Cyrillic word “Mir”, which is written in bold. Below is the same word in English.

“The ball is designed to carry a simple message of peace, involvement and hope, which will be passed from player to player with each stroke of the ball and outside the Stade de France to the farthest corners of the world”, reads a press release.

rf

roskomnadzor has drawn up administrative reports against editor-in-chief Yevhenia Albats and founder of The New Times “for disseminating deliberately unreliable socially significant information” (about putin's crimes in Ukraine).

roskomnadzor has closed access to the Interfax-Ukraine website at the request of the russian prosecutor general's office over the publications about russian aggression against Ukraine.

Due to the fact that foreign vendors left russia, and sanctions stopped the supply of IT equipment, since the beginning of the year, disrupted 9.5 thousand public procurements were disrupted in russia in the field of high technology for 27 billion rubles. The report of the electronic trading platform “rts-tender” notes that the most critical situation arose in the field of design and development in IT: did not happen more than 2 thousand purchases for 9 billion rubles, which is 56% more in money than in the same period last year. Suppliers are afraid of problems with the import of equipment to russia and the risks of unpredictable growth in the cost of any project in the rf.

 March 22, the russian association of electronic communications (raek) reported that almost 70,000 IT specialists left the country within a month, and another 100,000 in April. At the same time, over the last three months, the russian market was left by the largest IT companies, such as Oracle, IBM, Nvidia.

During April-May, russian state customers were unable to purchase foreign vaccines to prevent diseases such as polio, diphtheria, tetanus and pneumococcal infection. Manufacturers Sanofi, Pfizer and their russian partners have refused to participate in the auctions.

rosaviatsia for the 15th time in a row extended the ban on flights to 11 airports in central and southern russia, including the temporarily occupied Simferopol. The ban is now in effect until May 31.

62 million barrels of russian urals oil loaded on tankers cannot find buyers, Reuters reported, citing Vortex analysts. This amount of russian oil at sea is three times higher than at the beginning of russia's invasion of Ukraine. Of the total number of tankers, the number of unclaimed is a record 15%, – Vortexa reports.

The russian railways have difficulties with the supply of imported equipment, rising prices for building materials and labor shortages, said Deputy General Director of “russian railways” Makarov.

Volgograd-based company “sady pridonya” has said that the sanctions “have caused serious problems with the supply of raw materials and necessary materials to russia, including cardboard, special varnishes and paints”, so it has simplified the design of packaging juices, baby food and nemoloko. From now on, the products will be made in a minimalist design: a large part of the packaging will be just white.

The cost of advertising on social networks telegram during March-April increased by 32.9%, and “vkontakte” – by 92.5%, – SocialJet calculated. The main reasons were the general reduction of the audience due to the blocking of Facebook and Instagram, as well as the transition to russian blogging platforms.

Greece has extended the ban on the use of its airspace by russian aircrafts until the end of June, according to the Greek Civil Aviation Authority’s statement.

The Finnish company Fennovoima, which previously terminated the contract with rosatom for the construction of the Hanhikivi-1 nuclear power plant, is withdrawing its application for a permit to build the station.

Store and iPort's sellers of Apple in russia have started closing: 87 stores are closed.

Swiss manufacturer of gas turbines, pumps and other industrial equipment Sulzer is leaving the russian market and selling its assets in the country. Today, Sulzer's russian subsidiaries employ almost 300 people.

Ukrainian IT professionals have been laid off or demoted in russian companies. This is especially true for employees with access to business-critical information or infrastructure segments.

According to begtin, head of the information culture organization, the state customers with whom the companies work are likely to have made this unspoken demand because of the risks of sabotage already taking place in the companies.