The ninth package of European Union sanctions on Russia for the war it is waging against Ukraine will be approved in writing on Friday.
The Czech Presidency announced this on its Twitter page.
“Ambassadors agreed in principle on a sanctions package against Russia as part of the EU’s ongoing support for Ukraine. The third Russia sanctions package negotiated under the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union should be confirmed via written procedure tomorrow,” it said.
In accordance with the practice of the EU, initially the decisions that must be further approved by the leaders of the EU are agreed upon at the level of ambassadors of the EU member states. So in this case, before the leaders approved the ninth package of sanctions for Russia, they were agreed upon by the ambassadors, whose Committee meetings were held almost simultaneously with the meeting of the European Council.
DTEK Energy Holding announced the use of emergency blackouts in Kyiv due to the attack by the Russians.
“Kyiv: emergency blackouts introduced due to missile attack,” according to DTEK’s telegram channel on Friday.
Oil prices are declining in trading on Friday, continuing to fall after a drop in the previous session.
The cost of February futures for Brent at London’s ICE Futures Exchange was $80.91 per barrel by 7:14 a.m. (approx. 0.37%), down $0.30 (approx. 0.37%) from the close of previous session. Those contracts fell by $1.49 (1.8%) to $81.21 per barrel at the close of trading on Thursday.
The price of WTI futures for January at electronic trades of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is $75.75 per barrel by that time, which is $0.36 (0.47%) lower than the final value of the previous session. The contract fell by $1.17 (1.5%) to $76.11 per barrel at the end of last session.
However, both grades may gain more than 7% during the week.
The market was buoyed this week by the International Energy Agency raising its 2022 oil demand growth estimate by 140,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 2.3 million bpd. The 2023 demand growth forecast was also raised by 100k bpd to 1.7 million bpd.
On the other hand, tighter monetary policy of the world’s major central banks has put pressure on oil quotations. On Thursday, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England decided to raise key rates – by 50 basis points. The day before, the Federal Reserve (Fed) also raised rates by 50 bps to 4.25-4.5% per annum.
Investors are concerned that tight monetary policy may cause an economic slowdown and, consequently, a decline in demand for oil.
As a result of damage to the energy infrastructure, there are water supply interruptions in the capital, Kiev mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said.
“There are water supply interruptions in all parts of the capital due to damage to the energy infrastructure. Specialists are working to stabilize the system. Just in case, prepare a supply of drinking and technical water,” Klitschko wrote in his Telegram channel on Friday.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih PJSC (AMKR, Dnipropetrovsk oblast) with a $100mn loan to replenish its working capital.
“The loan will be used to finance the company’s working capital needs to ensure business continuity in Ukraine,” the bank said in a statement Thursday.
According to it, the bank’s board of directors approved the project at a meeting on Dec. 14.
The EBRD recalled that it provided financing to AMKR in 2017, developed a comprehensive Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP) and monitored its implementation by PESM, making monitoring visits to the company in recent years.
“Overall, the company was on track for implementation and reported as required. The provision of working capital under the concept of sustainability of Ukraine will allow, among other things, to continue investment plans and implement the existing ESAP, which, in turn, will significantly improve the environment, health and safety at the site,” – pointed out the bank.
The EBRD clarified that a key aspect of the current investment program is the modernization of the sinter plant, and this investment process is ongoing, with work on the sinter lines as well as the air treatment facilities, but some investments planned for 2022-2023 have been postponed due to the ongoing war and the proximity of the front.
“ArcelorMittal Krivoy Rog is the largest producer of rolled steel in Ukraine. It specializes in the production of long products, particularly rebar and wire rod, and is owned by ArcelorMittal.
On November 24 this year, after the blackout caused by Russian missile attacks on the energy infrastructure, AMKR reported about critical limitation of electricity consumption and suspension of most of the production processes. According to the company, the available amount of electricity is not enough to maintain production even at 20% of capacity.
In addition, on the night of December 5, AMKR was hit by a Russian missile strike.
The most popular search on Google in 2022 was a browser word game Wordle. In the search line the name of this game was entered more often than the words “Ukraine” or “Queen Elizabeth”.
The game was created by programmer Josh Wardle back in 2013, but it did not become popular then. In 2021, the game was redesigned, and after that it caused a furor. Just a few months later, The New York Times bought the game, and it is now playable on the newspaper’s website and mobile app. You can often see that people on the subway, for example, are often playing word composition.
Among the news topics on Google, the most popular was the situation in Ukraine. It is followed by news about Elizabeth II, who passed away on September 8. “Election results,” “Powerball number” and “Monkeypox” rounded out the top five most popular news topics.
When searching for recipes, users were most interested in Indian cuisine, particularly the dish Panir pasanda. This is a kind of curry made from paneer cheese.
Because of scandals in the world of showbiz, users often googled the names of famous people. For example, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, as well as Will Smith t Chris Rock were among the top five most searched stars on a Google search.
As for athletes, Internet visitors in 2022 most often read about tennis player Novak Djokovic.
