November 16, 2024 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

“The President (Joe Biden) has said he has committed to providing about $7.1 billion (in aid) to Ukraine...before the end of his term”, said Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh.

This year, the United States has already allocated EUR 825 million to restore Ukraine's energy system, which was destroyed by russian attacks.

The European Commission has agreed to allocate EUR 4.1 billion to Ukraine under the Ukraine Facility support program.

The World Bank will provide Ukraine with a concessional loan of one million dollars, and our country will receive additional 150 million dollars from the EU.

For the first time in history, the EU has approved funding for five projects to support joint defense procurement among NATO member states, including ammunition, some of which will be used to support Ukraine.

France is concluding its mission of training several thousand Ukrainian servicemen of the newly formed Anna Kyivska Brigade.

Norway will follow the example of Denmark and finance the production of Ukrainian weapons and equipment.

German Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Christian Wagner has assured that the work to coordinate Ukraine's needs does not stop amid the current political crisis in Germany.

Finland will provide EUR 2 million in funding for an environmental project in Ukraine.

The United Nations Development Program in Ukraine, with financial support from the European Union, has restored Serhiyivka Lyceum in Odesa region, the 42nd educational institution under the “EU4UASchools: Build Back Better” project.

rf

Another more than 30 russian properties have been arrested in Finland following the Hague court decision at the request of Naftogaz.

A US court has sentenced russian hacker ilya lichtenstein to five years in prison in the case of hacking the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange and stealing almost 120 thousand bitcoins.

russia has written off $20 billion worth of debts to African countries, said deputy minister of foreign affairs of the rf bogdanov following the first ministerial conference “russia-Africa partnership forum”.

Mortgage loans are increasingly becoming unaffordable for the population of the rf. sberbank has raised the minimum rate for the third time since the beginning of October – to 28.1%, alpha bank lends at 28.49%, vtb – at 29.8%. The increase is the result of the central bank's actions to raise the key rate to 21% and its projected increase to 23% by the end of the year.

On November 15, the central bank of the rf raised the official exchange rate of the US dollar to 99.018 rubles, of the euro – to 104.5016 rubles, and of the Chinese yuan – to 13.6596 rubles. The latest time the official US dollar exchange rate exceeded 99 rubles was more than a year ago, on October 12, 2023. The over-the-counter rate of the US currency in the rf has updated its 13-month high, having risen by more than 100 rubles/$.

The wholesale price of petrol has risen by 1.6% on the russian spimex: AI-92 to 61.1 thousand rubles a ton, AI-95 to 64 thousand rubles for a ton.

In the coming months, some russian refineries may shut down due to rising raw material costs, falling prices for petroleum products on foreign markets, and growing credit costs.

For the sixth time since 2018, the rf has failed to meet the deadline for the completion of the repair of the Admiral Nakhimov heavy nuclear missile cruiser, with the first sea trials now postponed to spring 2025. In 2023, the cost of repairing the ship doubled and exceeded 200 billion rubles.

Authorities in moscow have closed the “gulag history museum” under the pretext of “violation of fire safety rules”.

The dollar in the rb is growing again, and since the start of trading on November 15 at the currency and stock exchange, it has been worth 3.3766 rubles, while one hundred russian rubles – 3.3867 rubles. The rb’s ruble follows the fluctuation trends of the russian ruble, which has approached the 100 ruble mark for a dollar.

In 2025, the government of the rb is going to allocate about RUB 10 billion to repay the national debt, and another RUB 5 billion is needed to service it – mainly the accrued interest”, said minister of finance of the rb seliverstov.

The negative balance of foreign trade in goods in the rb in September amounted to $977 million, a record high this year. All in all, the nine-month foreign trade deficit was $3.4 billion (by 65% more than last year).

The shortage of personnel is growing in the rb: as of November 15, 168,200 offers were posted in the national job bank. The ministry of labor predicts further growth in labor migration: over the past two years, it has increased more than 1.5 times, said first deputy minister of labor and social protection tatiana astreyko. Currently, more than 60,000 foreigners work under labor contracts, 40% of them being russians. Most of them are employed in blue-collar occupations, with two-thirds working in trade, hotel business, transportation, construction, agriculture and food production.

Between September and mid-November, human rights activists recorded 1,452 cases of political repression in the rb (detentions, searches, administrative trials, etc.), and at least 1,213 administrative cases were heard in courts, the vast majority of which were for “spreading extremist materials” and “unauthorized picketing”. More cases of persecution are recorded in regions than in minsk. gomel remains the most “repressive” region, with at least 337 people convicted. brest is in second place, with 278 trials, most of which were held in brest, where people who are detained at the border upon returning to the country are tried. Residents of baranovichi are also tried en masse (56 cases), and so are those of borisov, volkovysk, glubokoye, dobrush, zhlobin, lepel, mozyr, novopolotsk, orsha, pinsk and other cities.