Slovakia is ready, but has not yet sent MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine, this issue was discussed in detail with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, said Slovak Foreign Minister Rastislav Kacher.
“We have not yet handed over the MIG-29s to you. But we are ready to do it. We are talking with our partners in NATO about how to do it. And today (Dec. 8) we had a very informative conversation with your president. My secretary of defense explained to your president how we can do this. And I think that in the coming weeks a Ukrainian delegation will come to Slovakia, and we will work together with our American friends to make this a reality,” Kacher told Interfax-Ukraine.
The foreign minister noted that on December 7 Slovakia approved “a couple of thousand missiles that are used for the MIG-29.” He also said that he discussed the issue of sending the planes with the president of Ukraine during a meeting.
“But we also discussed it at some length with President Zelensky, too. And I think I need to keep it a secret how it’s going to be done so as not to jeopardize it. But I will say that we had a very, very good exchange with President Zelensky today about how we’re going to do this. So I’m very optimistic, I think it will be done soon too, the planes will appear in Ukraine,” Kacher added.
The cost of February futures for Brent at London’s ICE Futures Exchange is $76.53 per barrel by 7:12 a.m. (approx. 0.57%) above the close of the previous session. At the close of trading last Friday those contracts fell by 5 cents (0.1%) to $76.1 a barrel.
The price of WTI futures for January at the electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is $71.59 per barrel by that time, which is $0.57 (0.8%) above the final value of the previous session. The contract fell by $0.44 (0.6%) to $71.2 per barrel at the end of last session.
Brent dropped by 11.1% and WTI by 11.2% at the end of last week. Both contracts ended trading at their lowest levels since December 2021.
Last week the main negative factor for oil quotes was concerns about the recession in the global economy and the demand for fuel in China.
Traders are afraid that amid data on high business activity in the U.S. and high inflation, the Fed will continue to adhere to tight monetary policy and will not hurry to reduce rates. This could slow economic growth in the United States and the world at large or even lead to a global recession, which would lower fuel demand.
Investors were also assessing the imposition of a price ceiling on Russian oil and news of an easing of coronavirus restrictions in China. DTV senior analyst Troy Vincent recalled the expression “buy on rumor, sell on fact,” and noted that last week was the time for facts.
Meanwhile, the number of active oil rigs in the U.S. fell by two last week to 625, oil services company Baker Hughes reported. The figure dropped for the first time in six weeks.
The Royal United Kingdom Mint has released a commemorative coin depicting Harry Potter, which will also be the last collector coin with the profile of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The 50-cent collector’s coin was released to mark the 25th anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first book about the boy wizard. It depicts the colorful Hogwarts Express, a special train that brings students to the school of wizardry.
There will be a total of four designs in the new Harry Potter coin collection: earlier this year, a coin depicting Potter himself was released, and in 2023 there will be coins with the Hogwarts School of Wizardry and its headmaster, Professor Dumbledore. The back of the coins released will feature the profile of Queen Elizabeth II, and the back of the coins awaiting release will feature the profile of Charles III.
“The Royal Mint’s collection of “Harry Potter” coins is a unique opportunity for collectors and fans of the series around the world,” said Rebecca Morgan, director of the Royal Mint’s Collectors Service. What makes these coins particularly valuable, she said, is that they will have images of different monarchs on the back. They “serve as a constant reminder of the fascinating transition of power from Britain’s longest reigning monarch in history.”
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky at a meeting in Kiev with Slovak Foreign Minister Rostislav Kacher thanked him, the Slovak government and the president for receiving and supporting more than 100,000 Ukrainian displaced persons and helping Ukraine obtain EU candidate state status.
“We are grateful to you for supporting our temporarily displaced people, of whom you now have over 100,000. We are grateful to you also in terms of diplomacy for supporting us without hesitation on our way to the EU – in terms of granting Ukraine the status of an EU candidate state,” Zelensky said.
He also thanked Slovakia for supporting Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.
“I thank Slovak President Zuzana Chaputova and extend to her warm greetings, the Prime Minister and the entire Cabinet of Ministers who have been and are by our side,” the president added.
In a December report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) increased its forecast for corn exports from Ukraine in the 2022/2023 marketing year (MY, July-June) by 2 million tons from November data to 17.5 million tons from 15.5 million tons, while its harvest forecast was reduced by 4.5 million tons, to 27 million tons from 31.5 million tons.
“Corn production in Ukraine has fallen sharply with a reduction in both the area under the crop and its yield, as the ongoing war and record fall precipitation have delayed the harvest in key producing regions: Poltava, Sumy and Cherkassy oblasts,” according to the report, which was released on the Agriculture Department’s Web site Friday.
In this case, an estimate of domestic corn consumption in Ukraine in 2022/2023 MY was reduced by 3 million tons, from 9.5 million tons to 6.5 million tons.
Also in the December report, the agency increased the forecast of food wheat exports in Ukraine in 2022/2023 MY by 1.5 million tons, to 12.5 million tons from 11 million tons, and an estimate of its yield saved at 20.5 million tons, and domestic consumption decreased by 1 million tons, to 4.5 million tons from 5.5 million tons.
In turn, the forecast of feed grain exports in Ukraine in 2022/23 MY is increased by 2 million tons, to 19.93 million tons, and its production is reduced by 4 million tons, to 34.96 million tons.
As was reported, Ukrainian agrarians harvested 68.52 million tons of the main crops from the total area of 16.75 million hectares by December 9, with 2.2 million tons harvested from 0.47 million hectares, including corn – 17.2 million tons from 2.8 million hectares (66% of cultivated area).
Since the beginning of 2022/2023 MY and until December 2, Ukraine exported 18.08 million tons of cereals, including 9.66 million tons of corn (53.4% of total supplies), 6.87 million tons of wheat (38%) and 1.48 million tons of barley (8.1%).
Since the beginning of 2022/2023 MY and until December 2, 2022, Ukraine exported 6.87 million tons of wheat (2.12 times less than the same period a year earlier), 1.48 million tons of barley (3.35 times less), 12 thousand tons of rye (6.9 times less). At the same time, the rate of corn exports was higher than last year: 9.66 million tons were exported, which is 1.62 times more than in 2021/2022 MY on the same date, while the export of flour amounted to 53.2 thousand tons (+2.1%).
Kernel, one of Ukraine’s largest agro-industrial groups, earned $161.59m in net profit in Q1 FY2023 (FY, July-September 2022), down 23.4% from the same period of the previous FY.
According to a financial report on the company’s Web site Saturday night, the agriholding’s revenue for the period fell 51.1 percent to $654.56 million.
Gross profit fell 47.6% to $173.34 million, operating income fell 42.5% to $142.47 million and EBITDA fell 40.1% to $168.38 million.
“Kernel attributed the decline in revenues to the low volume of grain exports, as well as the negative impact of lower sales of sunflower meal and oil.
In addition, the net loss from changes in fair value of biological assets was $2 million compared to a profit of $85 million in the first quarter of FY 2022.
“Shipping and handling costs accounted for 28% of cost of sales in July-September 2022, up 47% year-over-year and three times the previous quarter, reflecting sharply higher logistics costs in exporting goods from Ukraine,” the report states.
“Kernel clarified that the Oilseeds Processing segment’s contribution to EBITDA was $45 million, reflecting strong processing margins, while the Infrastructure & Trade segment’s EBITDA declined 35% year-over-year to $60 million. Agriculture EBITDA in Q1 2023FY was $82 million, down 61% from a year ago.
Net finance costs in the first quarter of 2023FY increased 31% YoY to $35 million, driven by higher debt on the group’s balance sheet: “Kernel has postponed repayment of principal due to the difficult liquidity situation caused by the war in Ukraine, the report says.
According to it, the net foreign exchange gain in the reporting period amounted to $58 million due to the depreciation of the hryvnia and the revaluation of intragroup balances.
Kernel net debt, according to the report, grew during the year by 48% – to $1.496 billion, while the ratio of net debt to EBITDA increased 12.7 times – to 13.9.
As reported, Kernel ended FY2022 with a net loss of $41 million compared to $506 million net profit in the previous fiscal year, while revenues decreased by 5% to $5.332 billion.
