Ankara wants the Black Sea Grain Initiative to continue functioning, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Thursday.
“Our wish is that the grain agreement be extended,” Anadolu Agency quoted the minister as saying.
For its part, the country’s Defense Ministry tweeted that the talks on extending the “grain initiative” were positive and constructive.
In turn, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine said at the end of the negotiations that the “grain initiative” should be extended for a longer period and expanded.
“This will give predictability and confidence to both the world and the Ukrainian market. But, above all, it is necessary to resume the registration of the incoming fleet and inspections without artificial delays and in accordance with the procedures of the Joint Coordination Center,” the agency said on its Facebook page.
Participants of the initiative agreed to continue negotiations at the technical level. They will be extended in the online format.
“Black Sea Grain Initiative” was concluded in Istanbul on July 22, 2022 with the participation of the UN, Ukraine, Turkey and Russia to create a corridor for the export of grain from three Ukrainian ports: “Chernomorsk”, “Odessa” and “Pivdenny”. The initiative was concluded for 120 days and was extended twice, most recently on March 18. However, while Ukraine claims that it was extended for 120 days, Russia claims that it was extended for only 60 days.
he Club of Experts previously analyzed the political and economic situation in Turkey on the eve of the presidential and parliamentary elections, see more at the link:
Brazil has approved the candidacy of Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk for the post of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine.
“The Brazilian government is pleased to announce that it has granted Mr. Andriy Melnyk an aggregate nomination for the post of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Brazil,” the ministry said in a statement on its website.
Earlier on May 10, Melnyk had a meeting in Kiev with Celso Amorim, chief advisor of the Special Consultative Service of the Brazilian Presidential Administration.
As reported, on July 11, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired Andriy Melnyk from the post of Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany. Melnyk had been Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany since 2014.
A new video on YouTube channel of the analytical center “Club of Experts” examined the options for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey. Ukrainian experts expressed their opinions and gave forecasts regarding the political situation in this country.
Mohammad Farajallah, editor-in-chief of the Internet publication “Ukraine in Arabic,” stressed that the upcoming elections in Turkey are of great importance for the region and arouse the interest of the international community.
“Turkey is an important player on the world stage, and its domestic policy directly affects the situation in the region and beyond. Therefore, the results of the elections will be monitored with great attention,” he noted.
In turn, the founder of the Club of Experts, Maksim Urakin, Ph.D. in Economics, shared his vision of possible scenarios after the elections. He stressed that there are two main political forces fighting for leadership in Turkey: the Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Republican People’s Party (CHP). Kemal Kılıcdaroğlu, allied with five other opposition political forces.
“Two scenarios are possible. If the AKP wins, we can expect a continuation of the policies Erdoğan has pursued in recent years, with a focus on enhancing domestic stability and strengthening Turkey’s position in the international arena. On the other hand, if the CHP wins, we may see a more pro-Western orientation and increased cooperation with the European Union and the United States,” the expert said.
According to Urakin, a win for either candidate in the first round is unlikely, and the winner of the presidential race will most likely be determined by a second ballot.
Both experts also noted the significance for Ukraine of the election results in Turkey.
“Ukraine has close economic and political ties with Turkey, so the election results will have a direct impact on our relations and cooperation. Over the last year, as a result of the war, trade turnover between our countries has decreased, but I believe that if the current political course is maintained, we can expect further development of trade and economic relations between Ukraine and Turkey,” said Maxim Urakin.
In addition, the expert cited statistics on exports from Ukraine to Turkey in 2022, according to which it has decreased significantly.
“Last year, the volume of Ukrainian exports to Turkey was about 3 billion dollars as opposed to more than 4 billion in 2021, that is, we see a drop of 29%,” Urakin said.
According to Mohammad Farajallah, in the current geopolitical situation Turkey is an important partner of Ukraine in various spheres, which include both military support (UAV Bayraktar, light armored vehicles) and cooperation in economy, energy and other spheres.
The expert also suggested that if the opposition wins, Turkey is more likely to join sanctions against Russia.
“Naturally, the new government will be as close to the West as possible and can be included in a common unified Western policy against Russia. This, of course, will be to our advantage. But these are just preliminary words for now, perhaps they (the opposition – ed.) will come, look at the numbers and continue Erdogan’s current policy,” said Farajallah.
It should be noted that on the eve of the voting, Erdoğan lags behind his main rival Kılıçdaroğlu by more than 5%, according to a poll published by the Turkish sociological center KONDA on May 11.
Thus, Erdoğan gets the support of 43.7 percent of respondents, while Kılıçdaroğlu gets 49.3 percent.
The poll also reveals that neither candidate gets more than 50% of the votes, which means that if these data are confirmed in the elections, the winner will be chosen in the second round, which is scheduled for May 28.
The KONDA polling service conducted personal interviews with 3,480 people in 35 provincial centers.
At the same time, according to other surveys, in particular the Istanbul-based Center for Operational Social Research (Yöneylem), Erdoğan’s party was supported by 35.2% of voters in the parliamentary elections and Kılıcdaroğlu’s CHP by 30.7%.
For more on Turkey’s elections, see the video:
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CLUB_EXPERTS, ELECTIONS, ERDOĞAN, MOHAMMAD FARAJALLAH, TURKEY, UKRAINE, URAKIN
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, during the coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey laid the crown of St. Edward upon the head of King Charles III of Great Britain.
After the crown touched the monarch’s head, the guests of the ceremony followed the archbishop in shouting, “God save the king!” Gun salutes began throughout the kingdom.
Charles III will now be enthroned, after which the archbishop, clergy and Prince William of Wales will swear allegiance to him. Those present in the abbey will also be able to take the oath of allegiance to the king. British television viewers will also have the opportunity to do so, which has become an innovation.
Next will be the coronation of Queen Consort Camilla.
Charles III is the 40th reigning monarch to be crowned in Westminster Abbey since 1066.
Electricity exports, which resumed in April after being halted in October, totaled 89,700 MWh for the month, according to data on the website of the ENTSO-E network of continental European system operators.
Most of the electric power was exported to Moldova – over 40 thousand MWh, another 30.4 thousand MWh was supplied to Poland and 19.2 thousand MWh – to Slovakia.
For Moldova, traders have been gradually increasing their booked cross-section capacity for exports and in recent days have booked about 85-95% of the 650 MW of offered hourly capacity. The market claims that most of the electricity supplied to Moldova goes on to Romania.
On the whole, the biggest volumes were reserved by “ECU” (150 MW per hour), PrJSC “Ukrhydroenergo” (100 MW per hour), “D. Trading” (130 MW per hour), “Artlex Energy” and “Sipige Energy” (mostly 50 MW per hour). DE Trading, ERU Trading, EES, Kub Energy, Smart Grid Ukraine, NAP-Comunity, NAP-Comunity Trading, and Astat Energy also booked the section. Besides, on April 26, Centrenergo PJSC started exporting electricity, having booked 10-11 MW per hour.
DTEK Zakhidenergo exports electricity to Poland, traditionally at 1800 MWh per day, reserving for this purpose the maximum at this time of the cross section capacity – 75 MW per hour.
The section to Slovakia, the only one paid by traders because of the great interest and competition in this direction, was shared by DTEK Zakhidenergo, which bought up to 146 MW of its 200 MW hourly capacity, DE Trading (about 50 MW), ERU Trading, Le Trading Ukraine, TES and once state energy trader EKU, which bought 10 MW for one hour.
Ukraine’s international reserves as of May 1, 2023, according to preliminary data, amounted to $35 billion 943.2 million, reaching a record high level for the last 11 years (since August 2011), the National Bank of Ukraine said.
“In April, reserves increased by 13% (by $4.065 billion) due to receipts from international partners amid a further decline in the net sale of currency by the National Bank and moderate debt payments of the country in foreign currency,” the central bank pointed out.
He specified that $5.852 billion arrived at the foreign currency accounts of the government at the National Bank in April, including $2.707 billion – within the framework of a new program of expanded funding by the IMF, $1.653 billion – macrofinancial assistance from the EU, $1.25 billion – a grant from the U.S. (through a World Bank trust fund) and $0.243 billion – from placement of foreign currency bonds of internal government bonds (IOB).
According to Interfax-Ukraine, the influx of foreign aid in April was the largest since the start of the war.
Also, the Ukrainian government paid $446.0 million for servicing and repayment of public debt in foreign currency, of which $282.7 million was for servicing and repayment of foreign currency OVGZ, $113.1 million was debt to the World Bank, the rest was debt to other international creditors. In addition, Ukraine paid $107.4m to the International Monetary Fund.
The NBU added that its net sale of currency in April declined for the fourth month in a row, decreasing compared to March by $0.299 billion – to $1.370 billion.
“Such dynamics in April is due to both industry factors (reduction of energy imports, increased sales of currency for the sowing season, a certain activation of mining and metallurgical enterprises), and the subsequent restriction of unproductive capital outflows from Ukraine,” the regulator pointed out.
Besides, the NBU’s consistent monetary policy aimed at improving the attractiveness of hryvnia assets and the refusal to finance the budget deficit directly in 2023 contributed to the stabilization of exchange rate expectations, the central bank added.
In addition, as a result of changes in market values and exchange rates, the value of financial instruments in reserves increased by $128.7 million.
The current volume of international reserves provides funding for 4.7 months of future imports, said the National Bank.
As previously reported, in late April, the NBU raised its forecast of international reserves of the country by the end of 2023 to $34.5 billion from $27 billion in the January forecast.
