September 27, 2023 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

Spokesperson for the US Department of State Matthew Miller has said that, despite a possible shutdown, Washington is able to continue providing Kyiv with military and security aid.

The US considers the cooperation between russia and North Korea “a two-way street that is increasingly dangerous”, said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria Alexander Schallenberg has announced the allocation of an additional EUR 1 mln to finance the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Ukraine.

President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola suggests that the EU could offer Ukraine some of the benefits of EU membership even before it becomes a member.

Minister of Defence of the FRG Boris Pistorius assured the Baltic countries of solidarity and assistance against the background of russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Annalena Baerbock believes that there is no fatigue in the German society from supporting Ukraine.

A group of MPs submitted to the Bulgarian Parliament a draft resolution on the transfer of non-working S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Ukraine to use them “for spare parts” for repairs.

From September 26, Ukraine and Moldova will have access to financing infrastructure projects within the framework of the Connecting Europe Facility. Both the countries will also be able to submit their proposals for obtaining such funding on their own, without consulting EU countries.

President of Moldova Maia Sandu has said that in order to promote European values, it is necessary to give up cooperating with russia. According to her, either you believe in democracy and “show it every day at work”, or it's just words.

Vice-President of the European Commission Věra Jourová has called on social media to increase vigilance in the context of the fight against russian disinformation on the eve of elections in EU countries.

rf

The Bureau of Industry and Security Affairs, which is part of the US Department of Commerce, has toughened sanctions against six russian enterprises related to the military-industrial complex and imposed export restrictions on five large companies, including the largest titanium producer in the rf, vsmpo-avisma, for violating export control rules.

The United States will not invite putin to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco.

The Australian government has extended punitive duties on goods imported from russia and belarus until October 2025.

In the United Kingdom, investigators accuse the former CEO of the Austrian company Wirecard, Jan Marsalek, of financing and leading a russian agent network in the country.

Head of the Security and Information Service of the Czech Republic, Michal Koudelka, has said that in the Czech Republic, a russian agent organized the spread of russian propaganda in the country through “public figures” for a reward of several thousand euros.

Latvia's public media will stop broadcasting in russian from January 1, 2026, according to the country's National Security Concept.

Latvian police have called “unacceptable practice” the “stickers” on cars with “potentially provocative inscriptions in russian”, such as “i am russian”.

Due to the obstacles of the russian authorities and the requirement to pay a contribution to the russian budget, the international catering chain KFC had to postpone its exit from russia for several months.

International sanctions interfere with the implementation of the russian-Hungarian project for the construction of the Paks-2 nuclear power plant, – said head of rosatom likhachev.

“Now is not the time for putin's interview with Western media, because the public is intoxicated by rusophobic propaganda there”, peskov said.

During the week (18-24 September), the incidence of COVID-19 in the rf increased by 22.3% compared to the previous week; the russian sputnik vaccine has been declared ineffective against the epidemic.

35.8% of russians did not receive preferential medicines for cardiovascular diseases. According to the all-russian union of patients, in 2021 the figure was 19%.

In less than nine months of selling electronics in the rf, the demand for insurance in retail chains increased by 10-22% due to a decrease in russians’ purchasing power and an increase in the lending rate. russians are more likely to take out insurance for equipment of leading brands that have left the rf due to the lack of authorized service centers and warranty problems.

A financial hole is growing in “russia’s post”. The company suffered losses in 2022 – for the first time in 9 years. Their amount was 27 billion rubles. The revenue of “russia’s post” decreased by 4% – 208.4 billion rubles. Operating expenses this year have increased by 16 billion rubles.

The rise in price of new passenger cars in russia will continue – by the end of December, prices will add about 30% more in annual terms, car dealers are convinced.

A group of state duma mps has prepared a draft law on a tax on excess profits for oil and gas companies. In their opinion, the current version of the law on excess income tax establishes “unreasonable exceptions” for the payment of this tax for companies in the oil and gas sector.

On September 25, the moscow exchange index decreased by 0.12%, reaching 3045.39 points. High interest rates continue to contribute to the decline in stock quotes, in particular, a gradual increase in bond yields not only in ruble bonds, but also in dollar bonds. Thus, the yield to maturity of ten-year US government bonds yesterday rose to the highest level in 16 years – 4.56% per annum.

Qatar’s authorities have banned the refueling of aircrafts and servicing planned belarusian charter flights and their passengers. Thus, charter flights on the route minsk - Qatar (Doha) - minsk are canceled from October 10, 2023 until the end of March 2024.

President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs has said that in case of a significant increase in attempts to illegally cross the border, Latvia is ready to close the border with belarus. According to the Border Guard Service, on September 25, 164 attempts to illegally enter the country were stopped. Since the beginning of the year, Latvian Border Guards have prevented 9,411 people from crossing the border illigally.

The bill, drafted by the Latvian Ministry of Justice, will prohibit vehicles that were registered in russia and belarus and previously entered the country from staying there. If the vehicle is not re-registered within three months or if the car does not leave Latvia, the owner of the car will face sanctions up to confiscation of the vehicle.

According to belstat, stocks of finished products in the warehouses of industrial organizations as of September 1, 2023 are estimated at 8.2 billion rubles. Last year, this figure was 7.2 billion rubles. Many businesses are experiencing enormous difficulties in marketing their products due to the sanctions imposed.

The ministry of education of the rb has sent a letter to universities, which says that Turkmen students in belarus were massively involved in human smuggling.

Graduates of belarusian universities who refuse to be distributed will have to return significant amounts to the budget. This also applies to those students who paid tuition fees. The largest compensation is for medical education – at least 60 thousand rubles.