Verkhovna Rada Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said that he will meet Russian ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova in Turkey in a few days to discuss the return of prisoners to Ukraine.
Separately, Lubinets will raise the issue of the return of civilian hostages, whom the aggressor has detained en masse on temporarily occupied territory and is not releasing.
“The plans are ambitious. After all, we do not know how the Russian side will behave. However, we are getting positive signals in advance that they are ready to consider this issue. I note that civilians, according to the Geneva Conventions, cannot be exchanged. Civilians must be released!”, – stressed the ombudsman.
Stockholm is unwilling or unable to fulfill Turkey’s requirements, which it put forward as a condition for approving Sweden’s bid to join NATO, Scandinavian Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said.
“Turkey confirms that we have fulfilled the conditions we agreed to. But the Turks also want things that we cannot or do not want to give them,” the Swedish prime minister was quoted as saying by Western media on Sunday.
At the same time, Christersson expressed confidence that Turkey would agree to Sweden’s membership in the alliance.
The protocols for Finland and Sweden to join the North Atlantic Council were signed by NATO countries on July 5, 2022. These states will join NATO as soon as all members of the alliance ratify the accession protocols. Of the 30 NATO nations, Sweden and Finland’s membership in the alliance has not been ratified by Turkey and Hungary.
Turkey has blocked the accession process, demanding that the Nordic countries declare Kurdish organizations terrorist and extradite those accused of terrorism, as well as lift the ban on arms supplies to Ankara.
Finnish Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen suggested in late December that his country would become a member of the alliance by the Vilnius NATO summit of July 11-12, 2023.
The U.S. dollar fell against the euro, yen and pound sterling on Monday as fresh signs of a slowdown in U.S. inflation boosted traders’ hopes that the Federal Reserve will be able to halt the cycle of interest rate hikes earlier than expected.
The ICE-calculated index, which shows the dynamics of the dollar against six currencies (euro, Swiss franc, yen, Canadian dollar, pound sterling and Swedish krona), loses 0.29% during trading, the broader WSJ Dollar Index – 0.39%.
As of 7:55 a.m. Monday, the EUR/USD pair is trading at $1.0684, compared to $1.0644 at the close of the previous session.
The value of the American currency against the yen fell to 131.83 yen compared to 132.11 yen in the previous trade.
The pound to dollar rose to $1.2152 against $1.2093 on Friday.
Stats on the US labor market, released last Friday, showed the smallest increase in the number of jobs in the US economy in December since December 2020 – by 223 thousand. Unemployment in the States decreased to 3.5% from 3.6% in November.
At the same time, the average hourly wages in the private sector in December increased by 0.3% compared to the previous month and by 4.6% in annual terms. The growth rate slowed from 0.4% and 4.8% respectively in November and was weaker than analysts’ expectations (0.4% and 5%).
A member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, Lisa Cook, however, is not too optimistic about the prospects for a slowdown in inflation, according to Market Watch.
“Despite a number of encouraging signals we’ve seen recently, inflation remains excessively high, and that’s a serious concern,” she said during a speech last Friday at the American Economic Association event in New Orleans.
At the same event, the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Rafael Bostic, said that he sees the need to raise the Fed rate to 5.25%.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” Bostick said.
In December, the American Central Bank increased the interest rate by 50 basis points to 4.25-4.5%
The share prices of all 10 Ukrainian agricultural holdings listed on the Warsaw and London stock exchanges fell in 2022, the fall was from 1.4 times for Ukrproduct to 3.15 times for Kernel.
It follows from the data of the relevant stock exchanges that all Ukrainian agricultural companies have been significantly affected by the Russian military invasion and the negative consequences for the economy of the country caused by it. At the same time, their territorial location did not play a decisive role – the shares of Agroton, whose land bank was occupied by the Russians, fell in price by 1.86 times, while the shares of Milkiland, which did not fall under the occupation, fell by 2.5 times.
According to the exchange, over the period from January 1, 2022 to January 6, 2023, the Ukrainian agricultural companies’ securities fell in price as follows
“Ukrproduct – 1.4 times, to $3.25 (PLN14.3) from $4.5 (PLN19.8).
“Ovostar – 1.52 times, to PLN44.8 from PLN68;
KSG Agro – 1.73 times, to PLN2.21 from PLN3.84;
MHP – 1.81 times, to $3.7 (PLN16.28) from $6.72 (PLN29.7).
“Astarta – 1.83 times, to PLN22.2 from PLN40.55;
“Agroton – 1.86 times, to PLN3.62 from PLN6.76.
“IMC” – 1.92 times, to PLN16.6 from PLN32.
“Milkiland – 2.5 times, to PLN0.9 from PLN2.25;
“Agroliga – 2.66 times, to PLN19.9 from PLN53.
“Kernel – 3.15 times, to PLN18.49 from PLN58.3
Thus, the shares of five of the 10 holdings have fallen in price by 1.73-1.92 times for the year, which allows us to judge roughly the average range of decline in the industry.
The National Bank named the first issue of domestic government bonds (OVGZ) – benchmark OVGZ with which banks will be able to form up to 50% of the increased required reserves – this issue (ISIN UA4000227045) maturing August 7, 2024, which the Ministry of Finance first placed at an auction on January 3.
“According to estimates of the NBU, such a step will contribute to a more active participation of banks in the primary market of government bonds and, as a result, prevent the emission financing of the budget deficit in 2023 and the absorption of part of the free liquidity of the banking system,” the central bank said in a statement on its website on Friday.
According to it, the NBU adopted the relevant decision № 7 on January 5, it comes into force on January 10.
Only one buyer bought the securities at the initial auction on January 3 – for 1.077 billion hryvnyas at 19.25% per annum.
As earlier reported, on December 8, the NBU announced that from January 11 it will raise the required reserve ratio for current accounts (demand deposits) in UAH and foreign currency by 5 p.p. – The bank will allow to cover up to 50% of the total volume of the required reserves at the expense of benchmark OVDPs.
The mandatory reserves for the period from December 11, 2022 to January 10, 2023 amount to UAH 69.76 billion, while the volume of banks’ funds in certificates of deposit is about UAH 466 billion.
According to estimates of the National Bank, such a decision will allow the Ministry of Finance to attract an additional UAH 50 billion.
In the Memorandum with the IMF on the Monitoring Program with the Board of Directors it was stated that over 60% of the OVDP-benchmarks will be new securities, while up to 40% will be already circulating in the market with maturity after January 1, 2024.
Currently, the Ministry of Finance lists 10 issues of benchmark OVDPs on its website, of which the National Bank has so far recognized only one new issue listed above. In addition, the Ministry of Finance lists three more issues maturing in 2023, three in 2024: in February, May and October, and one each maturing in 2025 (in February), 2026 (in May) and 2027 (in May).
The head of the parliamentary committee on foreign policy and interparliamentary cooperation, Oleksandr Merezhko (Sluzha Naroda faction) has decided to run for president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for 2023.
“I am sincerely grateful to my colleagues for supporting my decision to run for president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,” Merezhko said on Facebook on Saturday.
According to the people’s deputy, one of the points of his election program is restoration of democracy inside PACE: “Anti-democratic system of presidential elections, which exists now, and which is, in fact, elections without elections, should be replaced by real competitive elections”.
Merezhko also believes that PACE “must decisively get rid of any Russian or pro-Russian influence” and make these changes unavoidable, preventing a return to a policy of dialogue with Russia.
According to Merezhko, PACE must expand its human rights protection system and actively oppose human rights violations and crimes against human rights committed by countries that are not members of the Council of Europe.
Merezhko released a scan of a letter from MPs to the European inter-parliamentary organization supporting his nomination as a candidate for PACE president.
