Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko called on his European colleagues to support Ukraine’s candidacy for the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The Energy Ministry reported in its Telegram channel on Monday that Galushchenko made such a proposal during an informal meeting of EU energy and transport ministers in Stockholm on February 27.
“The Energy Minister said that Ukraine is putting forward its candidacy for the IAEA Board of Governors for 2023-2025 and urged the meeting participants to join the discussion of this issue and support the Ukrainian application,” the ministry said.
The head of the Energy Ministry during the meeting thanked the EU representatives for the 10th package of sanctions against Russia and stressed the need to not only maintain the pressure on the aggressor, but also to extend it to all areas of the Russian energy sector, in particular the nuclear industry, the ministry said.
According to Galushchenko, the time has come to implement sanctions against Rosatom.
“It is time to go further and impose sanctions against Rosatom, which covers up the Russian regime’s nuclear terrorism and sponsors the Russian army. We welcome the decision by Finland, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic to refuse to cooperate with Russia in the nuclear industry and call on other partners to take this step,” the minister said.
According to the IAEA, the Board of Governors is one of the agency’s two governing bodies along with the annual general conference of the IAEA member states.
The Council reviews the IAEA’s financial statements, program and budget and makes recommendations on them to the general conference. It reviews applications for membership in the agency, approves safeguards agreements, and publishes the IAEA’s safety standards. It also appoints the Agency’s Director General, who is approved by the General Conference.
Wheat prices on Monday fell to their lowest level since September 2021 on waning supply concerns in the short term.
Chicago wheat futures ended trading the day before down 1.6 percent to $7.1 a bushel. Since the beginning of February, the contract has fallen in price by about 6%, a record pace since November.
As Bloomberg notes, amid the war unleashed by Russia, Ukraine is seeking to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative for another year.
Traders believe the deal will be successfully extended and the expectation of an active grain supply from the region is putting pressure on futures, notes Terry Riley, senior commodity market analyst at Futures International LLC.
Civilian casualties from 24 February 2022, after Russia launched a war against Ukraine, to 26 February 2023 were 2,580 civilians (21,293 as of 15 February), including 8,101 dead (8,066), the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said Monday.
“OHCHR believes that the real number of civilian deaths or injuries is significantly higher, as many reports from places where such cases have occurred still require further confirmation, while information from some places where fighting is ongoing is delayed,” the document said of the UN data.
This is the case, for example, in such locations as Mariupol (Donetsk region), Lysychansk, Popasna, and Severodonetsk (Luhansk region), where numerous civilian deaths or injuries have been reported.
According to confirmed UN data, 3,584 men, 2,127 women, 256 boys and 201 girls were killed, while the gender of 31 children and 1,902 adults could not yet be determined.
Among the 4,479 wounded, 398 boys and 293 girls, as well as 271 children whose sex could not yet be determined.
Compared to February 15, one child was killed and eight children were injured.
Whereas previously the UNHCHR’s casualty report was issued daily, and then only on weekdays, it became a weekly report in July. This report, like the previous one, provides data by month.
According to them, the number of deaths in February dropped to 123 from 198 in January and 205 in December.
March remains the deadliest month for civilians, according to the UN, with at least 3,943 deaths. In April, according to an OHCHR publication, civilian deaths due to the war dropped to 758, in May to 509, in June to 422 and in July to 378. There were 358 deaths in the first five days of the war from Feb. 24-28, 332 in August, 386 in September, 305 in October and 184 in November.
The number of wounded in February – 402 – was the lowest since the beginning of the war: in January there were 539, in December – 617, in November – 541, in the first five days of war in February last year – 464. In October the number of wounded dropped to 795 from 976 in September, when it was higher than in August – 917. Before that the number of wounded exceeded a thousand each month: July – 1126, June – 1104, May – 1136, April – 1888, March – 2974.
According to the report, in February this year, 115 people were killed by large-area explosive weapons and another 377 were wounded, while mines and explosive remnants of war killed eight people and wounded 25 (6% of total casualties).
Government-controlled territories accounted for 88 percent of the casualties in February, according to the UN.
The summary traditionally states that the increase in numbers to the previous summary should not be attributed solely to cases after February 15, as the Office verified some cases from previous days during that period.
Elon Musk regained the first place in the list of the richest people in the world following the rise in the value of shares of Tesla Inc.
Thus, Musk again surpassed French billionaire Bernard Arnault, who was ahead of him on the list for two months, notes Bloomberg.
Tesla papers went up almost 70% from the beginning of the current year, its value rose 5.5% on Monday to $207.63. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires index, Musk’s fortune, which stood at $137 billion at the beginning of 2023, increased to $187.1 billion.
The fortune of Arnault, who controls luxury goods maker LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, is $185.3 billion.
Ukraine since the beginning of 2022/2023 marketing year (MY, July-June) and until February 27 has exported 31.78 million tons of grain crops, including 18.2 million tons of corn (57.2% of total supplies), 11.24 million tons of wheat (35.6%) and 2.05 million tons of barley (6.4%).
As reported on the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food on Monday, the rate of grain exports since the beginning of this MY is by 26.9% lower than during the same period of the previous MY, when 43.52 million tons were shipped abroad on that date. Thus, on February 27, there was achieved the minimum for the season lag of export volumes from the indicators of the previous season. For comparison, the previous smallest gap from last year’s figures at the rate of “minus” 28.65% was recorded on February 13.
According to the Ministry, Ukraine has exported 18.2 million tons of corn (-5.8% compared to the same period last year), 11.24 million tons of wheat (1.61 times less), 2.05 million tons of barley (2.75 times less), 15.8 thousand tons of rye (10.2 times less) and 97.7 tons of flour (+43.7%) since the beginning of 2022/2023 MY and until February 27 this year.
It is specified that Ukraine exported 4.7 million tons of grain since early February, including 2.94 million tons of corn, 1.51 million tons of wheat, 229 tons of barley, 15,300 tons of flour and 3 tons of rye.
As it follows from the Ministry data, during the week of February 20-27, an average of 192.9 thousand tons of grain was supplied to foreign markets per day, while during the preceding period of February 13-20 – 165.7 thousand tons/day, February 3-13 – 170.7 thousand tons/day, January 27 – February 3 – 209.4 thousand tons/day, January 20-27 – 121.1 thousand tons/day, January 9-20 – 140 thousand tons/day and January 2-9 – 121.7 thousand tons/day. Thus, the average daily rate of exports during the reporting period February 20-27 has increased by 16.4% compared to the previous period February 13-20.
As reported, Ukraine in 2021/2022 MY exported 48.51 million tons of grain and leguminous crops, which is 8.4% higher than in the previous MY, despite the full-scale invasion of Russia and the difficulties with the export of agricultural products due to the blockade of Ukrainian seaports. 18.74 million tons of wheat (12.6% more than in 2020/2021MY), 23.54 million tons of corn (+1.9%), 5.75 million tons of barley (+35.9%), 70.9 thousand tons of flour (-44.1%) were supplied to foreign markets.
Ukraine in 2020/2021 MY exported 44.72 million tons of grain and leguminous crops: 16.64 million tons of wheat, 23.08 million tons of corn, 4.23 million tons of barley, 126.9 thousand tons of flour and 18.4 thousand tons of rye.
In 2019/2020, Ukraine exported 56.72 million tons of grain and leguminous crops.
A French quarter is planned to be built around the Vorzel History and Culture Museum “Uvarovsky Dom” (a local architectural monument), Bucha Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk said.
“For several months now, a group of French architects has been working on the concept of developing this part of Vorzel, which we intend to develop as a cultural and educational space. On the one hand, it is important to preserve and restore the Uvarovsky House itself. On the other hand – to build a new building of school № 10 and preschool educational institution, which was destroyed by the Rashists”, – he reported in Telegram-channel.
The mayor of Bucha specified that the project of modern cultural space was presented by the president of the Architectural Association AMO Martin Duplantier.
“The proposed new building combines modern solutions for such spaces with traditional wooden elements for Vorzel. Funding has been agreed to be sought together. We expect that the idea of such a neighborhood will also like the residents of Vorzel and those citizens of France who want to support our community in the recovery,” said Fedoruk.
Vorzel since 2018 is a part of the Buchatskaya city community.
“The Uvarovsky House, a symbol of the city, was built in Vorzel in 1902 for the famous Kiev industrialist Karl-Henrich Septer. It was later purchased by Countess Natalia Uvarova, the daughter of the famous sugar manufacturer and patron of the arts Feodor Tereshchenko.
