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:
Internet Association of Ukraine (InAU) uniting 220 enterprises of information and communication technologies industry asks parliamentarians to assess the draft law No.9250 On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine On Electronic Communications (on counteraction to phishing) taking into account the arguments of InAU.
It sent an open letter to the head of the Verkhovna Rada, committees and political factions on Monday.
The Association reported on Facebook, the bill proposes to empower the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine (Derzhspetssvyaz) to develop and approve the rules against phishing and phishing websites and establish the rights and obligations of DNS providers. It is assumed that the basis of responsibility for these offenses is not determined by law but by the bylaws of the State Special Communications Service.
“Thus bill № 9250 establishes a new type of misconduct, not provided by the Constitution, which refers neither to a crime, nor to an administrative or disciplinary offense”, – is stated in the text of the letter.
The IAU emphasizes that the current Criminal Code (CC) fully regulates the issues of criminal liability for the relevant criminal acts. In particular, criminal liability is provided by Articles 361 and 361-1, as well as on the set of crimes – Articles 200, 185, 190.
The Association also believes that this document aims to legalize the system of blocking domains, which has already been built and, according to the Association, is functioning illegally under the control of the National Cyber Security Coordination Center under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC).
In its address IAU reminds that it has repeatedly pointed to the risks posed by this system, namely: the risks to the cybersecurity of the state, when the aggressor, having obtained illegal access to the system, may block access to Internet web resources in Ukraine; corruption risks, because the decision to include a particular site in the list of blocked domains is made by ordinary officials, which could lead to the blocking of any site for the purpose of extortion, raiding, other pressure; risks to freedom of speech, because
The draft law № 9250 “On electronic communications” (on counteraction to phishing) is registered in the Verkhovna Rada on April 28, 2023.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/inau.org.ua/posts/pfbid034CoZvySt4eu8GyEp49yzQ3P9JNkkq2Pj6yboZNmm17yxrixMLMqCM2ouahP44DZel
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
PJSC “Dniprovsky Iron & Steel” (DMZ, formerly – “Dneprokoks”), part of DCH Steel group of businessman Alexander Yaroslavskyy, in January-April produced 35.1 thousand tons of rolled steel, while in January-March the plant has not produced this product, and in April released 11.7 thousand tons of rolled steel.
According to DCH Steel corporate newspaper, in April this year the plant produced 5.7 thousand tons of rolled products, which is less than the same period last year by 51.2%.
At the same time, the company increased coke output by 6.5% during this period, to 74.4 thousand tons.
At the same time in April it produced 5.7 thousand tons of rolled products and 28.6 thousand tons of coke.
“The decline in production is due to the shutdown of rolling mills,” the company’s information states.
And it is added that on May 8 rolling shop No. 1 was put into operation, while rolling shop No. 2 is preparing for the next working campaign. The company’s KHZ intends to increase its output.
In 2022, DMZ reduced its output of rolled products by 74.2% YoY to 58.4 thnd mt – of coke by 56.3% to 211.3 thnd mt.
DMZ specializes in the production of steel, pig iron, rolled steel and rolled products. On March 1, 2018, DCH Group signed an agreement to purchase Dneprovskyy Metallurgical Plant from Evraz.
Oil quotes are declining in the afternoon on Thursday. The market is assessing the monetary policy of the Bank of England, data on inflation and oil imports in China and waiting for the monthly OPEC report.
The price of July Brent futures on London’s ICE Futures Exchange stands at $76.25 a barrel by 2:25 p.m., down $0.16 (0.21%) from the previous session’s closing price.
The price of futures on WTI crude oil for June on electronic trade of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) fell by that time by $0.19 (0.26%), to $72.37 per barrel.
The rate of consumer price growth in China slowed to a 0.1% annualized rate in April from 0.7% in March, data from the State Statistics Office showed. April inflation is the lowest since February 2021. Analysts on average had forecast it would weaken to 0.4%, Trading Economics noted.
In addition, China reduced oil imports in April by 16% year-on-year to 10.6 million barrels per day, adding to fears of a slowdown in its economy.
Traders may also react to the outcome of the Bank of England meeting, which raised the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.5% per annum.
The oil market has shown itself to be a “lightning rod for volatility” of late, notes KCM Trade Senior Market Analyst Tim Waterer, whose words are quoted by MarketWatch. In his opinion, extreme price fluctuations cannot be ruled out in this regard, especially given the high sensitivity of oil prices to expectations for global economic growth.
