Oil prices are rising on Tuesday morning after a moderate increase in the previous session.
The value of August futures for Brent at London’s ICE Futures Exchange is $74.57 a barrel by 8:06 Moscow time, which is $0.39 (0.53%) above the previous session’s closing price. Those contracts rose $0.33 (0.5%) to $74.18 a barrel on Monday.
WTI futures for August crude oil grew by $0.45 (0.65%) to $69.82 per barrel at electronic trades of NYMEX. The day before those contracts grew $0.21 (0.3%) to $69.37 a barrel.
Traders continue to estimate the consequences of events in Russia last weekend, Market Watch notes. In particular, the market fears that destabilization of domestic political situation may lead to a reduction in oil exports from the country, CFRA Research analyst Stuart Glickman wrote.
In addition, market participants are watching the macroeconomic statistics from China, where the economy is growing weaker than expected, which in turn negatively affects energy prices, said Colin Cieszynski, senior strategist at SIA Wealth Management.
Largely because of the Chinese factor, as well as the Federal Reserve’s tight monetary policy, WTI could end up declining for a second straight quarter, something that hasn’t happened since 2019.
Estonia has become the first European country to create a legal scheme to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, in the coming weeks it should receive the government approval, the Postimees newspaper reported on Tuesday.
“The decision is almost ready, it was discussed at the Cabinet, but some details still need to be clarified. We can also demonstrate to other countries how the solution can work legally,” Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said.
The scheme created in Estonia provides that Ukraine documents the damage that Russia inflicts on it, and then the Russian property in Estonia is transferred to Ukraine. After that, Russia can settle accounts with Ukraine. If it does not do this, then it will show that all the damage was caused by itself.
According to Foreign Ministry Vice-Chancellor Erki Kodar, Estonia has prepared amendments to the law on international sanctions that will ensure the financial responsibility of the aggressor state for damage caused by the most serious violations of international law.
He added that the damages would be compensated by persons who have a proven connection with the formation of Russian policy or contribute to its implementation. “Therefore, compensation for losses will continue to occur only at the expense of the assets of certain individuals, that is, in parts,” he said.
According to the Financial Intelligence Unit, at the beginning of June, EUR 34.8 million were frozen in Estonia, including more than EUR 8.7 million in the advance payment accounts of the Tax and Customs Board. They do not include other tangible assets such as the value of companies and fixed assets, receivables or lost profits.
Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Igor Klimenko thanked his Polish colleague Mariusz Kaminski for his assistance in eliminating the consequences of the occupants blowing up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, discussed humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said.
The ministry’s message in its Telegram channel on Monday stated that Klimenko met in Rzeszow, Poland, with Polish Interior and Administration Minister Mariusz Kaminski.
“The main issue of the meeting of the ministers with the participation of the heads of border services, police and rescue services of Ukraine and the Republic of Poland was the issue of assistance to Ukraine – humanitarian and military,” the report says.
“Klimenko thanked his Polish colleague for assistance in eliminating the consequences of the explosion of the Kakhovskaya HPP. From the first hours of elimination of the consequences of the tragedy Ukrainian rescuers used boats, generators, tankers and pumps, immediately after the explosion of the HPP provided Poland,” – informs the Ministry of internal Affairs.
“Help was needed exactly in those days. Our Polish colleagues responded quickly and provided it in time. So once again we want to thank all the Polish people for the help they have given us since the first day of the war, and in any problems accompanying the war,” the words of the Minister are quoted in the message.
As previously reported with reference to the Minister of Interior and Administration of Poland, Poland will send the Ukrainian security forces, which are subordinate to the Interior Ministry of Ukraine – the National Guard, police and State Border Service – thousands of machine guns and millions of cartridges.
“The most important thing at the moment is weapons. Soon we will begin supplying weapons for the National Guard of Ukraine, for the assault brigades of the Ukrainian police and the Border Guard Service. These will be thousands of assault rifles, millions of rounds of ammunition that will allow Ukrainian defenders, defenders of Europe, to fight effectively,” Kaminsky said during a joint media briefing with Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klimenko in Rzeszow on Monday.
Kaminsky also announced additional measures to support military medicine in Ukraine. According to him, wounded Ukrainian servicemen can count on medical care in hospitals subordinate to the Polish Defense Ministry. “We will also build and equip field hospitals for officers of the National Guard, Ukrainian police officers and border guards who were wounded during combat operations,” the minister said.
Internal and external debt of Ukraine in 2009-2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
There are no outbreaks and cases of cholera in the flood-affected areas of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, the Ministry of Health reported.
“There is a mass fake spread in the network regarding cholera outbreaks in the regions affected by the flooding. This information does not correspond to reality and is part of the hostile IPSO” – says the department in his Telegram-channel.
The Ministry of Health emphasizes that to date, no confirmed cases of cholera have been registered in Ukraine in these territories.
Limit the interest rate on consumer loans by 1% per day – this is the bill #9422 initiated by the head of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Daniel Getmantsev with 12 colleagues, while recently the National Bank has proposed a tougher ceiling – 0.8% per day.
“Today, ultra-high prices are fixed in the microcredit market: the nominal rate can reach 5% per day, and the average nominal annual interest rate – more than 1000% per annum. That’s why we initiated with colleagues a bill to improve state regulation of financial services markets,” Getmantsev wrote in his Telegram channel on Monday.
The rate of 1% per day according to the formula of compound interest brings to an annual rate of about 3880%, 0.08% – 1930%.
According to the head of the committee, it is also proposed to prohibit the lender to require payment of any fees not specified in the contract on consumer credit, as well as unilaterally extend the term of the loan – prolongation should be carried out solely by signing a supplementary agreement by agreement of the parties.
Getmantsev said that the bill requires the transfer of credit information about all consumer loans, regardless of amount to the credit bureau.
The text of the bill is not yet available on the parliament’s website.
National Bank in its report of May 1 on the proposed changes to the law “On consumer credit” proposed to give the regulator the right to establish minimum requirements for the process of checking the creditworthiness of the borrower. “Since some financial companies do not currently have such requirements, there is virtually no assessment of the borrower’s creditworthiness. At the same time, the lender itself deliberately chooses a business model, in which a bona fide borrower pays exorbitant interest not only for itself, but also for those who do not fulfill their obligations,” explained the NBU.
In addition, the National Bank initiated additional penalties for violations of the established requirements, as the rules without liability for their violation are usually ineffective.
