The U.S. Treasury Department has published rules on its website designed to limit U.S. investment in technologies that could be used in the military of China and some other countries.
“Countries of concern are using U.S. investments in ways that could lead to accelerated development of sensitive technologies and products that undermine our national security interests,” the White House said in a statement on the publication of the rules.
The rules prohibit U.S. citizens from investing in technologies that could threaten America’s national security and require notifying the Treasury Department of a number of related transactions.
The White House noted that “the administration is committed to ensuring America’s security by preventing the People’s Republic of China from developing key technologies that are critical to modernizing its military.”
The rules mention semiconductors, microelectronics, quantum information technology, and artificial intelligence because these technologies could form the basis for new products in the military.
“U.S. investments, including intangible benefits such as management assistance and access to the investment and human resources networks that often accompany capital flows, should not be used to help interested countries develop their military, intelligence, and cyber capabilities,” said Assistant Treasury Secretary for Investment Security Paul Rosen, quoted by the Treasury Department.
China's technology, U.S. investments, U.S. Treasury Department
The indirect cost of housing construction in Ukraine increased by 2.1% in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter, according to the indices of indirect cost of housing construction in the regions of Ukraine approved by the Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories.
The relevant document establishes indirect indicators of the cost of housing construction, calculated as of October 1. According to it, the average indicator in Ukraine is 22.6 thousand UAH/square meter.
According to the Ministry, the indirect cost of construction of 1 square meter of housing in Kiev in the third quarter rose to 26.4 thousand UAH, in Kiev region – to 22.6 thousand UAH, in Lviv region – to 22.5 thousand UAH, in Zakarpattya region – 19.6 thousand UAH, Ivano-Frankivsk region – 20.3 thousand UAH, Odessa region – 21.7 thousand UAH. Also high indicators are set in Kharkiv and Donetsk regions – 23.8 thousand UAH/sq. m.
In January-September this year, Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group, including its associates and joint ventures, increased its payments to the budgets of all levels in Ukraine by 38% year-on-year to UAH 15.2 billion.
According to the company’s press release on Tuesday, Metinvest remains a pillar of the country’s economy amid the full-scale war.
Among the largest payments is the fee for subsoil use, which increased 2.8 times compared to the first and third quarters of 2023, to UAH 4.2 billion. The Group also increased its unified social tax payments by 16% to UAH 2.8 billion. In addition, Metinvest paid UAH 2.5 billion in personal income tax to the budget, up 11% compared to the first three quarters of 2023.
Land payments in January-September 2024 increased by 6% year-on-year to UAH 948 million, and environmental tax by 21% to UAH 543 million. At the same time, income tax payments decreased by 32% to UAH 1.9 billion.
“In a time of war, paying taxes is critical to supporting the Ukrainian economy. The main task of our company is to strengthen the country’s defense capabilities by all means available: to be a reliable employer, investor, manufacturer of steel products for the frontline and supplier of ammunition and equipment to the Armed Forces. Only by working together can we create a solid foundation for Ukraine’s victory and ensure a peaceful future for Ukrainians,” said Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest.
As reported earlier, Metinvest increased its tax payments to the state budget by one and a half times to UAH 10 billion in the first half of 2024. In 2023, the company paid UAH 14.6 billion to the state budget.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies. The group’s enterprises are mainly located in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions.
The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage it.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
Ukraine and the EU have agreed to increase the capacity of electricity imports during the winter months to 2.1 GW, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said Tuesday.
“Starting December 1, the maximum capacity of imports of e/e from EU countries will be increased from the current 1.7 GW to 2.1 GW. This will increase the resilience of the Ukrainian energy system in the face of criminal Russian shelling and infrastructure destruction. I am grateful to European partners, in particular to European Commissioner Kadri Simson for their consistent position and effective steps to support our energy system on the eve of winter,” Energy Minister German Galushchenko was quoted by the press service as saying.
Ukraine will also additionally have an opportunity for guaranteed 250 MW of overflow capacity from the EU in emergency assistance mode.
As the Energy Ministry recalled, the need to make an important decision for Ukraine on increasing the import capacity was discussed at a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in September in Kiev.
The Japanese government will provide Ukraine with a loan of 471.9 billion yen ($3.08 billion at the current exchange rate) under the G7’s Emergency Revenue Assistance (ERA) initiative, Kyodo news reported on Monday.
It is noted that as of October 28, the G7 countries reached a final agreement to start providing assistance to Ukraine in the amount of about $50 billion and to distribute these funds, in particular, the EU will provide a loan of EUR 18.115 billion.
It is specified that each G7 country will conclude an individual loan agreement with Ukraine, distributing loans in installments from December 1, 2024, to the end of 2027. The loans will be repaid from the proceeds of Russia’s frozen assets, and Ukraine will not actually pay them back.
As reported, on October 25, the G7 in Washington announced that it had reached a consensus on a collective loan of $50 billion to Ukraine. Earlier, the United States said it would provide $20 billion under the ERA. Then, the EU confirmed plans to provide Ukraine with about EUR18 billion in 2025 in the form of new macro-financial assistance, the terms of which are tied to the Ukraine Facility.
On October 22, the UK also announced that it was providing Ukraine with a GBP2.26 billion (almost $3 billion at current exchange rates) military loan to purchase the necessary military equipment under the ERA.
Back in June, immediately after the G7’s decision on the ERA initiative, Canada announced the allocation of CAD5 billion ($3.6 billion at the current exchange rate) under the initiative.
The European Commission recalled that the consensus among G7 members was facilitated by the creation of a special Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism (ULCM) by the EU, which will receive extraordinary revenues from frozen Russian sovereign assets and other voluntary contributions made by member states or third countries. These resources will then be used to repay the principal and interest under Ukraine’s relevant bilateral loan agreements with creditors.
The IMF, in its updated EFF program following the fifth review, noted that if the war ends at the end of 2025, Ukraine will need $33.1 billion of the $50 billion to support its budget: $19.1 billion next year, $9.2 billion in 2026, and $4.9 billion in 2027.
In a negative scenario, if the war continues until mid-2026, Ukraine’s budget will need all $50 billion to cover the deficit.
“Kernel, one of Ukraine’s largest agricultural holdings, processed 684 thousand tons of oilseeds in the first quarter of fiscal year 2024-2025 (July-September), up 12% year-on-year, a record high for the first quarter, according to the company’s annual report released on Monday evening.
“This growth was driven by the additional capacity of our new plant, which was commissioned in February 2024, and the earlier start of sunflower harvesting, which improved the availability of seeds in the reporting period. To maximize capacity utilization, Kernel processed oilseeds from third parties under tolling contracts, as well as rapeseed along with sunflower. Out of the total volume, 132 thousand tons were supplied under tolling contracts,” the report says.
According to the agroholding, in the first quarter of 2024-2025, it has already processed 589 thsd tonnes of sunflower seeds and 95 thsd tonnes of rapeseed.
At the same time, oilseed processing volumes decreased by 28% due to a one-month break for maintenance of processing plants in the summer and preparation for the new season.
“Taking into account the quarterly decline in oilseed processing volumes, Kernel reduced sales of edible oil by 30% in July-September 2024-2025 MY to 269 thousand tons, of which 18 thousand tons were bottled sunflower oil.
Kernel Agro Holding is the world’s largest exporter of sunflower oil, one of the largest producers and sellers of bottled oil in Ukraine. It is also engaged in the cultivation and sale of agricultural products.
Kernel’s net profit for FY2023 amounted to $299 million, while the company ended the previous year with a net loss of $41 million. The agricultural holding’s revenue for FY2023 decreased by 35% to $3.455 billion, but EBITDA increased 2.5 times to $544 million.
In the first nine months of FY2024, the agricultural holding reduced its net profit by 53% to $204 million, while revenue decreased by 4% to $2.595 billion, and its EBITDA decreased by 36% to $384 million.