Oil prices rise weakly on Tuesday as traders continue to follow negotiations to raise the U.S. borrowing limit.
Negotiations between U.S. President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday were productive, according to both sides, but no agreement was reached. Meanwhile, the deadline for raising the debt ceiling is approaching: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the day before that her agency’s funds are “highly likely” to run out in early June and possibly even by June 1.
“The pending national debt limit issue is taking a toll on the mood of oil traders,” said Ricardo Evangelista, chief analyst at ActivTrades.
“If the issue is not resolved soon, the U.S. Treasury will be left without funds and unable to meet its obligations, and this scenario could trigger a crisis whose scale is unpredictable,” Market Watch quotes the expert as saying.
The cost of July futures for Brent crude oil on London’s ICE Futures exchange is $76.13 a barrel by 8:15 a.m. on Tuesday, up $0.14 (0.18%) from the previous session’s closing price. Those contracts rose $0.41 (0.5%) to $75.99 a barrel on Monday.
The price of WTI futures for July oil grew by $0.16 (0.22%) up to $72.21 per barrel at electronic trades of NYMEX by that time. At the end of previous session the contracts value grew by $0.36 (0.5%) up to $72.05 per barrel.
Since the beginning of the current year, oil prices fell by about 10% against the slower-than-expected recovery of the Chinese economy after the lifting of quarantine restrictions. Other factors restraining the oil market upturn include the ongoing tightening of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve System and the continued high volume of Russian oil exports.
Former Turkish presidential candidate Sinan Ogan of the ATA (Ancestral Alliance) alliance on Monday expressed support ahead of the second round for current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Hürriyet newspaper reported.
Ogan, who finished third in the first round of the presidential election and consequently dropped out of further competition, urged his supporters on Sunday to vote for Erdogan.
The second round of the presidential election will be held on May 28. Current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, head of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), have entered it.
In the first round, Erdoğan received 49.52% of the vote, while Kılıçdaroğlu received 44.88%.
Ogan has about 5%, so experts noted that, given these results, in the second round it is very important to see who this former candidate will support.
Earlier, the Club of Experts analyzed the chances of candidates in the Turkish elections and gave a forecast of the situation. The video is available at the link:
Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Foreign Moroccan Affairs Nassera Bourita during a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba in Rabat confirmed Morocco’s intention to resume the work of the embassy in Kiev.
According to the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Kuleba invited his Moroccan colleague to visit Ukraine.
Following the talks, the ministers signed a memorandum of cooperation between the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine named after Gennady Udovenko at the Foreign Ministry and the Moroccan Diplomatic Academy at the Moroccan Foreign Ministry.
“Since my first tour of Africa, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has conducted trainings for more than 200 African diplomats from 16 countries. It was the first attempt of its kind and a huge success story. We have agreed to develop a unique course for Morocco where we will share our experience in Ukrainian military diplomacy, strategic communications, fighting fakes and propaganda, and public diplomacy. This will be our practical contribution to strengthening the sustainability of the countries of the African continent,” the Ukrainian minister concluded.
Kuleba made the first visit of the Ukrainian Foreign Minister to Morocco since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992.
As reported, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister began his second tour of Africa.
A representative of the Citizens for Democratic Development of Bulgaria-Union of Democratic Forces (GERB-UDS) coalition, Maria Gabriel, on Monday returned to President Rumen Radev a mandate to form a government, Bulgarian National Radio reported.
“The folder I am returning is empty because I will not allow it to contain the names of people who got there not through open and clear negotiations, but through backroom deals,” she said in a meeting with Radev.
Shortly before her meeting with the president, Gabrielle briefed the Bulgarian National Assembly. It was also attended by Nikolai Denkov of the Continuing Change-Democratic Bulgaria coalition.
According to Gabrielle, the two coalitions have worked out a formula based on reason rather than emotion in the last 48 hours. The two coalitions, in particular, came to an agreement to run the government on a rotating basis. The plan was for Denkov to lead the cabinet for the first nine months, with Gabrielle as foreign minister, and for the next nine months they would swap portfolios.
According to observers, the rotational management of the government, among other things, served as a stumbling block to the successful formation of the cabinet.
Spring sowing campaign 2023 was completed and 78.5 thousand hectares were sown in five clusters, including 46.3 thousand hectares of corn and 32.2 thousand hectares of sunflower, the holding press-service reported.
“Due to rain and chilly March and April the spring sowing campaign in IMC started only on April 20. However, we managed to hold this sowing campaign in close to optimal time. This year the area under spring crops in the IMC is a bit less than traditionally, taking into account the almost twofold increase in winter wheat sowing in crop rotation 2023”, – the agricultural holding said.
According to the press-service the change of cropping pattern was dictated by military conditions. Corn sown area was reduced in favor of winter wheat, because corn requires more gas and electricity for drying. Thirty-three thousand hectares were set aside for winter wheat, 80% more than traditionally.
In a comment for the Warsaw Stock Exchange, Alex Lissitsa, president of IMC, said that the agricultural holding managed to fully provide itself with pesticides and fertilizers for this season. He called the main problem of the company the lack of personnel.
“This year the human factor is of particular importance. Part of our staff is mobilized and goes to the front. In terms of working in agriculture, we needed to prepare for this, in particular by training other people who could replace existing team members,” stressed Lissitsa.
Commenting on the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Lissitsa approved the move, but pointed to the impossibility of solving the problems of Ukrainian agricultural exports due to the capacity of this corridor.
“Only effective and normal work of the management bodies in the coordination center can restore proper shipment volumes,” he said and reminded that earlier Russian controllers did a lot to ensure that ships with Ukrainian grain passed through as little as possible.
IMC specializes in the cultivation of grain, oilseeds and milk production in Ukraine. It cultivates about 123,300 hectares of land in Poltava, Chernigov and Sumy regions. The company has a storage capacity of 554 thsd. tons of grains and oilseeds.
By the end of 2021, the holding increased its net profit by 2.5 times compared with 2020 – up to $78.71 million, EBITDA – by 53%, to $110.35 million, revenues – by 12.6%, to $181.69 million.
IMC is one of the 10 largest agricultural companies in Ukraine.
In May 2011, IMK’s shares were listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
The insurance company “Knyazha Life Vienne Insurance Group” (Kiev) in January-March 2023 collected UAH 14.8 mln of insurance payments, which is 3.8% less than during the same period a year earlier.
This is stated at the web-site of rating agency Standard-Rating, which confirmed the financial strength rating/credit rating of the insurance company at the level uaAA+ according to the results of the first quarter of 2023.
According to the message, the volume of payouts and indemnities, performed by the insurer in the specified period has amounted to UAH 8,870 mln, that is 2,45 times more than in the same period of 2022. Therefore, the level of payouts of the insurer has increased by 34,41 p.p. – up to 59,82%.
Acquisition expenses of the insurer have decreased by 12,01% down to UAH 2,359 mln in the Q1 of 2023 in comparison with the same period of 2022. Net profit has amounted to UAH 3,199 mln.
As of April 1, 2023 assets of the company grew by 2.15% up to UAH 757.626 mln, shareholders’ equity increased by 2.68% up to UAH 116.787 mln, liabilities grew by 2.05% up to UAH 640.839 mln, cash and cash equivalents increased by 67.40% up to UAH 8.499 mln.
Thus, as of the beginning of the Q2 2023 shareholders’ equity has covered 18,22% of liabilities of the insurer, and 1,33% of its liabilities have been secured by cash and cash equivalents.
RA notes that on the reporting date the company has formed a portfolio of financial investments in the amount of UAH 704,336 m, including bank deposits (UAH 144,2 m), and investments into government bonds (UAH 560,136 m).
RA emphasizes that the high level of external support of the company is provided by its shareholder – Vienna Insurance Group Wiener Städtische Versicherung AG, an international insurance group with headquarters in Austria, which is represented by 50 companies in 30 countries and is the leader in the insurance market of Central and Eastern Europe.
