President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has visited the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Ukraine and paid tribute to the memory of those killed in the devastating earthquake in Turkey.
The head of state made an entry in the book of sorrow and laid flowers on the territory of the embassy, the presidential press service reports.
“Please accept sincere condolences from me personally and on behalf of the people of Ukraine. The terrible tragedy that claimed so many lives in the blink of an eye, resonated with deep pain in our hearts. We share the pain of the Turkish people and help in this difficult time. Eternal memory to the dead. A speedy recovery to the victims,” Zelensky said.
The president also spoke with Ambassador of Turkey to Ukraine Yagmur Ahmet Guldere.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has allocated $13 billion in direct budgetary assistance to support the social sphere of Ukraine, in particular medicine, education and rescue services, the press service of USAID Ukraine reports.
“USAID has provided $13 billion in direct budget support to ensure that Ukrainian medical professionals, educators, and rescue workers provide services to the residents of communities and support Ukraine in resisting the Russian invasion. Isobel Coleman (the USAID Deputy Administrator) and the Finance Ministry of Ukraine expressed the U.S.’ and Ukraine’s commitment to transparent and accountable use of funds,” USAID Ukraine said on Twitter.
About 40 Ukrainian retailers from different segments from the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine and till the end of 2022 transferred humanitarian and military aid to the total amount of 2,7 billion UAH, follows from the research of Ukrainian Retailers Association.
According to it, for the needs of the army and territorial defense were transferred food products worth 516.8 million UAH and non-food products worth 710.7 million UAH.
The population was provided with food aid to the amount of more than 430 million UAH, non-food – 622.8 million UAH. In addition, retailers have collected more than 255.5 million UAH of financial aid for the purchase of transport, 130.4 million UAH of medicines were transferred.
Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group, within the framework of Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front militarized initiative, handed over 50 drones worth UAH 6 million and 200 sets of winter clothing to the Main Directorate of Intelligence.
According to the company’s press release, DJI Mavic 3 drones have already been sent to the front. The press service explains that the military use the civilian version of drones DJI Mavic 3 in combat conditions as an inspector (for detection and correction of fire), as well as a combat unit (dropping of ammunition, such as shrapnel VOG-25) to defeat the enemy.
In total, the Metinvest Group has handed over more than 1,200 drones to various units of the country’s defense forces since February 24, 2022.
In addition to drones, the defenders received 100 sets of winter uniforms, 100 sets of thermal clothing and tactical shoes.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of mining and metallurgical enterprises. Its enterprises are located in Ukraine – in Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Dnepropetrovsk regions, as well as in European countries.
The major shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%) that manage it jointly.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest group.
To date, Ukraine has temporarily lost 44% of the nuclear generation, 75% of the capacity of thermal power plants and 33% of block thermal power plants, said Prime Minister Denis Shmygal.
“In general, due to constant attacks, almost two dozen power units of thermal power plants remain damaged. If we add to this the fact of occupation of part of our power facilities, Ukraine has temporarily lost 44% of nuclear generation, 75% of TPP capacity and 33% of block thermal power plants,” he said at a government meeting on Friday.
The prime minister noted that every other substation of Ukrenergo was attacked in four months.
“Despite this terror, most Ukrainians remain with heat, water and light. Repairs are underway, there are enough resources to complete the winter, generators are coming in, energy equipment from partners is on its way. Dozens of missile and drone attacks, 123 days of energy terrorism… We have withstood and will successfully complete this heating season,” the Prime Minister stressed.
U.S. long-term mortgage rates resumed rising this week after falling to their lowest level since mid-September of last year, MarketWatch reports.
The average interest rate on 30-year loans rose to 6.12% per year this week, up from 6.09% a week earlier, data from Freddie Mac, the state mortgage corporation, showed. A year earlier it was 3.69%.
Fifteen-year loans now average 5.25 percent a year, compared with 5.14 percent a week earlier and 2.93 percent a year ago.
“After the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike and an unexpectedly strong jobs report, mortgage rates rose slightly this week. The 30-year rate is still hovering around 6 percent, and interested buyers are returning to the market just in time for the spring home-buying season,” notes Freddie Mac chief economist Sam Khater.
Freddie Mac calculates average rates based on data from about 80 institutions that provide mortgages nationwide. The rates do not take into account potential fees and other fees associated with mortgages.
Traditionally, the cost of mortgages with a slight lag repeats the dynamics of U.S. government bond yields, which in turn are responsive to the Federal Reserve’s rate increases and forecasts of its dynamics in the future. The yield on 10-year US Treasuries is around 3.684% p.a. on Friday, up from 3.524% a week earlier.
