The Conservatives have won a majority of votes in the Iranian parliamentary elections, a number of Iranian media reported on Monday.
On March 4, the election commission completed the vote count in the elections to the country’s legislature. According to preliminary results, conservative candidates are leading in all provinces of Iran, including Tehran, local media reported.
The candidates will compete for 45 of the 290 seats in the parliament in the second round.
Approximately 25 million Iranian citizens took part in the March 1 elections to the country’s parliament and the Council of Experts. According to preliminary unofficial data, the turnout was approximately 41%.
A record number of candidates were allowed to participate in the parliamentary elections – more than 15.2 thousand people, which was almost 75% of the total number of candidates who initially registered. About 1.7 thousand of the candidates admitted to the elections are women.
According to the Iranian Constitution, five seats in the 290-seat parliament should go to representatives of religious minorities. 144 candidates competed for 88 seats in the Council of Experts, which elects the country’s Supreme Leader.
Many candidates who advocate reforms in Iran were banned from participating in the parliamentary elections, and some political figures, including former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, were not allowed to run for the Council of Experts, Iranian media reported.
The first meeting of the newly convoked parliament will be held in late May.
Earlier, the Experts Club think tank made a video dedicated to the top 10 elections in the world this year. More detailed analysis is available at
In January-February of this year, Zaporizhstal Iron and Steel Works increased its rolled steel output by 2 times compared to the same period last year, up to 395.3 thousand tons from 196 thousand tons.
According to the company, steel production during this period increased by 2.25 times to 471.1 thousand tons, and pig iron production by 75.7% to 512.3 thousand tons.
In February, Zaporizhstal produced 248.8 thousand tons of iron, 235.4 thousand tons of steel, and shipped 198.5 thousand tons of rolled products.
As reported, in 2023, Zaporizhstal increased its rolled steel output by 57.2% compared to 2022, to 2 million 54.7 thousand tons, steel by 65.4%, to 2 million 466.9 thousand tons, and pig iron by 35.3%, to 2 million 718.9 thousand tons.
“Zaporizhstal is one of the largest industrial enterprises in Ukraine, whose products are in great demand among consumers both in the domestic market and in many countries of the world.
“Zaporizhstal is in the process of integration into Metinvest Group, whose major shareholders are System Capital Management (71.24%) and Smart Holding Group (23.76%).
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
The shareholders of Forte Life Insurance Company (Kyiv) at a meeting on February 23 decided to increase the authorized capital by UAH 31 million to UAH 48 million, according to the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission of Ukraine (NSSMC).
It is also noted that the nominal value of one share is UAH 1 thousand, and the placement price is UAH 4,541 thousand.
The purpose of the placement of securities is to bring the authorized capital in line with the Law of Ukraine “On Insurance”. The proceeds will be used to place on deposit accounts in banking institutions, purchase domestic government bonds, and acquire other assets acceptable in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Insurance” and the regulations of the National Bank.
The notice also specifies that the placement of shares may lead to a change of ownership of a large block of shares in the issuer. At the time of the decision, the owner of 99.8% of the company’s authorized capital is Oksana Kuleshina.
As reported, Forte Life Insurance Company (formerly Insurance Union Life), registered in 2005, specializes in providing life insurance services.
In February 2021, the company announced that Astrum Ukraine LLC, which owns 99% of the shares of Forte Life Insurance Company (Kyiv), reduced its stake to 0%, and Oksana Kuleshina became the owner of this stake.
More than 775 Ukrainian companies have entered the Romanian market since the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, and more than 300 Ukrainian companies have started working in Romania in 2023 alone, the president of The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (CCIR), Mihai Daraban, told Interfax-Ukraine.
“From the very beginning of the aggression, CCIR supported the relocation of Ukrainian companies. Depending on the sectors of activity, we believe that the relocation will be a timely decision for Ukrainian business, as there are sectors in the Romanian economy that can accommodate new companies,” he said.
Among the more than 300 Ukrainian companies that started operating in Romania in 2023, a significant part of them are from the IT sector (121 companies), the second most popular are services (47), and the third is construction of residential and non-residential buildings (33). There are also companies engaged in trade, road transportation of goods, and business and management consulting.
Overall, according to the State Customs Service of Ukraine, cooperation between our countries has more than doubled since 2022. In 2023, imports from Romania to Ukraine increased to $1.6 billion (from $0.8 billion in 2021 and $1.5 billion in 2022), and in commodity terms, to 1.1 million tons (0.5 million tons in 2021 and 1.1 million tons in 2022). Exports from Ukraine to Romania in 2023 will amount to $3.8 billion ($1.5 billion in 2021 and $3.9 billion in 2022), 11.7 million tons (3.4 million tons in 2021 and 11 million tons in 2022).
According to Daraban, Romanian companies are interested in developing such industries as green energy, information technology, defense and transportation, construction materials, value-added technologies, and aeronautics in Ukraine.
Last year, a memorandum was signed between the CCI of Ukraine and the CCI of Romania, which, among other things, provided for the creation and joint management of a platform for utilizing economic opportunities related to the future recovery of Ukraine. However, according to CCIR, the platform is still under development.
“Currently, we do not have the necessary information on specific reconstruction projects and their prioritization, as this is the prerogative of the Ukrainian authorities. Pragmatically assessing the difficult situation in Ukraine, the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry maintains an ongoing dialogue with Romanian companies that have expressed interest in being part of the process of rebuilding Ukraine. Thanks to the cooperation with the CCI, we will be able to unite these companies with their Ukrainian counterparts when the situation allows,” Daraban said.
He confirmed that the current situation has exacerbated the problems faced by Romanian companies in the Ukrainian market.
“It is important to work more on transparency of the dynamics of the economic environment in Ukraine, providing the international business community with more detailed information on customs and tax legislation, regulatory and general legal framework of Ukraine. In addition, a greater emphasis on normal competitiveness, predictability and instruments for protecting foreign investment in Ukraine will increase the interest of Romanian businesses in the Ukrainian market,” he commented.
Established in 1868, the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (www.ccir.ro) comprises a network of 42 territorial chambers of commerce and industry, including bilateral chambers of commerce and professional associations; it works to create a stable business climate favorable to private sector development and to consolidate a sustainable, open market.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said that as part of the government reform, it is planned to reduce the number of ministries by one third.
“We are working on changing the format of the government. In particular, we are reducing the number of ministries. We want to cut the number of ministries by one third, reduce the number of civil servants,” Shmyhal said at a press conference in Kyiv on Monday.
The prime minister also noted that the government is working to create a strong government center, where auxiliary and administrative functions will be concentrated.
“The ministries should have a small number of very good specialists who will formulate public policy, and the Government Center will provide legal support in the personnel, accounting and financial spheres, and the Government Center should quickly prepare documents for a particular ministry,” he added.
As reported, Cabinet of Ministers Minister Oleh Nemchinov has suggested that the Government Center could be launched by 2025.
More than 40 applications have been submitted for the competition to select independent members of the Supervisory Board of NNEGC Energoatom, said the company’s acting Chairman of the Board Petro Kotin.
“As far as I know, there are more than 40 applications. We welcome the fact that there are so many people willing to join the Supervisory Board of Energoatom. There are many representatives of international organizations and individuals,” Kotin told reporters at an event dedicated to the second anniversary of the occupation of Zaporizhzhia NPP by the Russian military (4 March 2022).
At the same time, he noted that the process of selecting members of the supervisory board could take about a month.
“And after that, we hope to have a supervisory board. We have been working for this for a long time. We will work in a new way,” Kotin commented.
As reported, the deadline for applications for the competition to select members of the Energoatom Supervisory Board is March 4.
