The Joint Coordinating Center (JCC) has authorized the movement of more than 400 vessels during its work within the framework of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the UN reported.
“As of September 23, the total tonnage of grain and other agricultural products exported from three Ukrainian ports is 4,556,311 tons. In total, 420 ships have been allowed to move at the moment – 217 for arrival in Ukrainian ports and 203 for leaving them,” – the message says.
It is noted that on September 23, 12 ships with more than 200 thousand tons of food left Ukrainian ports after receiving permission from the SKC.
The UN explained that five ships – Zeko Y (8.2 thousand tons of wheat), Olma (5150 tons of soybeans), Merry M (4450 tons of sunflower meal), Gudena (3860 tons of sunflower oil), Nil Demir (3, 7 thousand tons of peas) – went to Turkey.
In addition, the Sea Dove (33 thousand tons of corn) and Lady Ayana (27 thousand tons of corn) ships sailed for Italy, the Fortuna dry cargo ship (10,252 tons of sunflower meal) – for France, the Gem Star ship (31,039 tons of corn) – to the Netherlands.
Dry cargo ship Mo Gan Shan (57,311 tons of wheat) was poisoned in Bangladesh, the ship Mavka (11,950 tons of sunflower oil) – in Romania, Tzarevich (10 thousand tons of sunflower meal) – in Bulgaria.
On July 22, in Istanbul, with the participation of the UN, Ukraine, Turkey and Russia, a document was signed on the creation of a corridor for the export of grain from three Ukrainian ports – Chornomorsk, Odessa and Pivdenny.
Dynamics of balance of payments of Ukraine (USD mln)
NBU
The Ukrainian side has decided to deprive Iranian Ambassador Manuchehr Moradi of diplomatic accreditation in Ukraine, and also reduced the number of diplomatic personnel of the Iranian embassy.
According to the speaker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleg Nikolenko on his Facebook, this measure was taken by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry in pursuance of the instruction of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to take urgent measures to respond to the facts of the use of Iranian-made weapons by the Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine.
In particular, on September 23, Charge d’Affaires of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Ukraine was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
“The Iranian side was told that the supply of Iranian weapons to Russia for further use by Russian troops against the Ukrainian civilian population and the Defense Forces directly contradicts the position of neutrality, respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, declared publicly by the top leadership of Iran. The supply of weapons to Russia for waging war against Ukraine is unfriendly an act that deals a serious blow to relations between Ukraine and Iran,” Nikolenko said.
In response to such an unfriendly act, the speaker of the Foreign Ministry notes, the Ukrainian side decided to deprive the Iranian ambassador in Ukraine of accreditation, as well as significantly reduce the number of diplomatic staff of the Iranian embassy in Kyiv.
As reported, on the evening of September 23, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to respond to the facts of the use of Iranian-made weapons by Russian troops.
The day before, on September 22, the command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that seven UAVs were shot down by anti-aircraft missile units, four of which turned out to be Iranian-made Shahed-136 kamikaze drones. They were shot down in the Nikolaev region. The Russians also attacked Odessa and Dnepropetrovsk regions with Iranian drones.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal says that the IAEA plans to extend its mission at Zaporizhia NPP.
“By its actions at Zaporizhia NPP, Russia has brought the whole of Europe to the brink of a nuclear catastrophe. The safety of our nuclear facilities is one of the key challenges for everyone in the world. We discussed this issue at the UN with the president of France, the prime ministers of Japan and New Zealand, the foreign ministers of Great Britain, Germany and India, with the leadership of the EU, as well as with the head of the IAEA, Mr. Grossi. Everyone understands the importance of the demilitarization of Zaporizhia NPP and the safe operation of the facility. As one of the steps in this direction, the IAEA plans to extend its mission at the station,” Shmyhal said.
According to him, the Ukrainian government is also working to organize international UN and EU missions to Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
“Russia arranges provocations and shelling of ZNPP almost every day. They want to disconnect this largest nuclear power plant in Europe from the Ukrainian network and continue to use the station as a military base. Therefore, it is so important that Russian troops be withdrawn not only from Zaporizhia NPP, but also from Energodar. A 30-kilometer security zone should be created,” Shmyhal stressed.
The presentation of the Olena Zelenska Foundation, wife of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, took place at a charity evening in New York at the venue presented by the Metropolitan Opera.
As reported on the website of the head of the Ukrainian state on Friday, the Foundation’s primary goal is to restore Ukraine’s human capital “so that every Ukrainian feels physically and mentally healthy, protected, and able to exercise their right to education, work, and build a future in Ukraine.”
“Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, we have managed to do a lot. We have organised 20 convoys of life, which made it possible to evacuate more than 550 children with cancer to hospitals in Europe, the USA and Canada. We hosted the First Ladies and Gentlemen Summit to raise money and purchase more than 80 ambulances. We evacuated children from orphanages for their temporary stay abroad. We provided humanitarian aid to family-type orphanages. But every day brings more and more requests and needs. More funding is needed. That is why I am creating the Foundation. The Foundation will make it possible to significantly scale assistance to people and provide proper treatment and decent education to everyone who needs it,” Olena Zelenska said.
The Foundation has three key directions: medicine, education and humanitarian aid. Within these areas, it will provide targeted assistance, invest in reconstructing preschool and school education institutions, polyclinics and outpatient clinics, and provide grants for training and scientific developments. For anyone interested in learning more about the Foundation, please visit zelenskafoundation.org for more information.
“The war goes on, but so does life. It paves its way to recovery even during the war. The task of the Foundation is to help life win. And for this, we need hospitals, schools, and education,” Olena Zelenska said.
The First Lady noted that global political and business leaders gathered this week for the 77th UN General Assembly in New York. They also became the guests of the charity evening on the occasion of the Foundation presentation. In particular, the event was attended by: former US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom James Cleverly, General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York Peter Gelb, American TV host and actor Jimmy Fallon, actor Matt Damon, actress Brooke Shields, as well as a wide circle of diplomats and businessmen. All guests of the charity evening on the occasion of the Foundation presentation could contribute to the reconstruction projects in Ukraine.
The President of Ukraine joined the charity evening remotely from Kyiv. “We are fighting for freedom and protecting our people. We are doing everything possible to engage our friends – friends of freedom – worldwide who are willing to contribute to our struggle,” Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The euro and the pound sterling fell to multi-year lows against the US dollar in trading on Friday.
The ICE-calculated index showing the dynamics of the dollar against six currencies (the euro, the Swiss franc, the yen, the Canadian dollar, the pound sterling and the Swedish krona) soared to a record level, exceeding 112 points.
As of 15:10 Moscow time, it adds 0.78%, the broader WSJ Dollar Index – 0.74%.
The euro/dollar pair is trading at $0.9754 compared to $0.9838 at the close of the previous session. During the session, the euro exchange rate updated the minimum since 2002, dropping to $0.9737.
The pound sterling, meanwhile, hit a new low since 1985 against the dollar, dropping to $1.1020. By 15:10 Moscow time, the pound exchange rate is $1.1062.
The US currency is supported both by expectations of further tightening of the Federal Reserve System (Fed) policy, and by a general increase in demand for “safe haven” assets in the face of growing geopolitical tensions and forecasts of a global recession.
The euro remains under serious pressure due to growing fears of a protracted war on the territory of Ukraine after the announcement of partial mobilization in Russia, Market Watch notes.
The Eurozone Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 48.2 in September from 48.9 in August, according to preliminary data from S&P Global. The index value indicates a decline in activity in the region for the third month in a row.
The Fed’s hawkish statements have prepared investors for a long cycle of rate hikes in the US, said Thomas Flury, an economist at UBS Global Wealth Management. “Given forecasts of a recession in Europe as a result of the intensifying energy crisis, the euro against the dollar will continue to decline.”
Meanwhile, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwazi Kwarteng, presented the government’s new plan to the House of Commons on Friday, which would see massive tax cuts to support the ailing economy. The British Debt Management Office (DBO) raised its estimate of the state budget’s borrowing needs for the current fiscal year by almost 1.5 times after the tax cut announced on Friday.
The dollar rose to 142.73 yen against the yen from 142.37 yen at market close on Thursday.
The US dollar against the yuan rose 0.6% to 7.1193 yuan. During the session, it rose to the level of 7.1173 yuan, which is 1.8% higher than the reference rate set by the Chinese Central Bank on Friday. The People’s Bank of China allows exchange rate fluctuations of 2% from the reference in one direction or another. A deviation of more than 1.9% was last recorded in August 2015.
