Bitcoin hit a new all-time high on Thursday, with its price surpassing $111,000 for the first time amid a weakening US dollar.
Traders are increasingly optimistic about the prospects for cryptocurrency due to growing institutional demand.
The US Senate voted by a majority to support a revised version of the GENIUS Act. This document provides for federal regulation of stablecoins, which are crypto assets pegged to traditional currencies. It will now be sent for further discussion. The authors of the bill hope that it could be passed as early as this week.
This will provide greater regulatory clarity for companies dealing with digital assets, experts say.
Weak results from the US government bond auction, as well as fears of an increase in the country’s budget deficit, pushed the dollar to a two-week low against the yen. These same reasons caused the US stock market to decline the day before. As a result, investors began to look for alternative investments, turning to cryptocurrencies and gold.
Bitcoin is currently trading at $110,540, which is 1.7% higher than at the close of the previous session. Earlier, the rate reached a record high of $111,878.
The Trump Organization and a local partner are exploring plans to build a skyscraper in Vietnam’s business hub of Ho Chi Minh City, with Eric Trump expected to visit this week, a Vietnamese government document seen by Reuters shows.
The visit by the son of U.S. President Donald Trump comes just after Vietnam gave his family business the green light for a separate $1.5-billion golf project as the export-reliant southeast Asian nation holds talks with Washington to avoid punitive trade tariffs.
Ho Chi Minh City officials are invited to “attend a dinner party with Eric Trump, senior vice president of the Trump Organization” set for Thursday evening at a central hotel in the city, according to the internal document.
The May 15 document, signed by the acting head of the foreign ministry department in the city, said representatives of the Trump Organization would visit an upscale central area.
There they would “survey the proposed location of the Trump Tower building and hope to have a working session with the city’s leaders about this project”, it added, inviting local authorities to cooperate with the business delegation.
The Trump Organization is run by Trump’s children after he handed off its leadership after he won his first term as U.S. president.
Another meeting between Ho Chi Minh City authorities and a representative of the venture between the Trump Organization and its Vietnamese partner, real estate developer Kinhbac City (KBC.HM)
, opens new tab, is set for later on Monday, the document showed.
Both meetings are confirmed in a public schedule published on Monday on the Ho Chi Minh City website, which does not, however, elaborate on their content or name the participants.
Vietnam’s foreign ministry, the Trump Organization and Kinhbac City did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
With the skyscraper plan in an early stage, it is unclear if it will be pursued by the Trump Organization and if authorities will approve it.
MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR PLANS
Vietnam faces tariffs of 46% on its exports to the United States if it cannot strike a compromise with the White House before a pause on global “reciprocal” duties expires in July.
It has made pledges to Washington to avoid tariffs, from lowering tariffs and non-tariff barriers, combating trade frauds and counterfeiting, and offering favourable conditions to Starlink, owned by Trump’s close ally Elon Musk, to roll out internet services in the country.
The plan for the Trump delegation’s visit, which could change, comes after Vietnam approved last week a plan by the Trump Organization and Kinhbac City to invest $1.5 billion in golf courses, hotels and real estate projects in its north.
A person with direct knowledge confirmed Eric Trump’s visit to Vietnam this week and said the groundbreaking ceremony for the golf project in northern Vietnam was set for Wednesday.
The person declined to be identified as the events were still being organised.
In March, Reuters reported that the groundbreaking event was set for May, and that the Trump Organization and its local partner were also seeking additional projects in the country.
Although they are considering multi-billion-dollar investments in Vietnam, it is unclear how the two share costs and revenues, and what conditions have been set for use of the Trump franchise.
The Trump Organization has luxury golf projects, existing or under development, in countries from Indonesia to the Middle East.
Ho Chi Minh City, plan for tower, Trump Organization, VIETNAM
Ukrzaliznytsia in 2024 reduced its operating profit from freight transportation by 2.3% compared to 2023 – to UAH 20.39 billion, while its operating loss from intercity, international, and suburban passenger transportation increased by 15.4% – to UAH 15.70 billion. According to the annual report available to Interfax-Ukraine, revenue from freight transportation last year increased by 10.3% to UAH 81.8 billion, while revenue from passenger transportation increased by 14.8% to UAH 10.67 billion.
As stated in the document, the largest operating profit in freight transportation was generated by the infrastructure component, which amounted to UAH 13.3 billion, up 8.3% from the previous year.
At the same time, the operating result of the rolling stock component decreased by 11.7% to UAH 6.93 billion, while that of the locomotive component fell almost fivefold to UAH 0.15 billion.
As for passenger transportation, the operating loss from intercity and international passenger transportation last year amounted to UAH 8.81 billion with revenue of UAH 10.67 billion, while suburban transportation lost UAH 9.31 billion with revenue of UAH 0.52 billion. In 2023, intercity and international passenger transportation brought an operating loss of UAH 7.46 billion with revenue of UAH 9.30 billion, while suburban transportation brought an operating loss of UAH 8.24 billion with revenue of UAH 0.56 billion.
Ukrzaliznytsia added that the operating result from auxiliary activities in 2024 amounted to UAH 2.99 billion, which is 3.7% less than the previous year, with revenue from these activities growing by 15.3% to UAH 9.78 billion.
In the report, the company noted that it is continuing its operational transformation and believes that further division into infrastructure, locomotive, and car components in the freight transportation segment, as well as disclosure of the infrastructure, locomotive, and car components in the intercity and international passenger transportation segment, is necessary for analyzing the company’s performance and further reorganization.
As reported, in 2024, the company increased its revenue by 11.1% to UAH 102.87 billion, but incurred a net loss of UAH 2.71 billion against a net profit of UAH 5.04 billion in 2023.
According to the Ministry of Economy, Ukrzaliznytsia provides more than 80% of freight and about 36% of passenger transportation within the country. The company is the largest employer in Ukraine with more than 190,000 employees and operates one of the largest railway networks in Europe, stretching over 19,000 km, of which more than 9,300 km are electrified. Ukrzaliznytsia has more than 1,400 stations and a significant fleet of locomotives, freight and passenger cars.
Zaporizhzhia Automobile Plant (ZAZ), part of the UkrAVTO Group, plans to produce 282 buses in 2025, compared to 179 units in 2024, according to Dmitry Kiselevsky, deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development.
“Buses are currently ZAZ’s main product. Significant capacity is also used to produce spare parts (including for export) for passenger cars that were once manufactured in Zaporizhia. Currently, passenger car production has been suspended until the end of the “Euroblach era” in Ukraine,” he wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday after visiting the plant.
Kysilevsky noted that ZAZ has planned to create new modifications of the A08 bus with a modified design that complies with Euro 6 standards for the current year. There are also plans to resume the project for the 12-meter-long A18 bus (1st class).
“A prototype of this bus was already ready last year, but it was hit by rocket fire,” the MP wrote, adding that over the past three years, ZAZ has survived 16 rocket strikes, and one of the rockets hit the beginning of the bus assembly line.
“The Zaporizhzhia workers simply separated the impact site, moved the surviving equipment, and continued working,” Kysilevsky wrote.
According to him, the continuation of the car plant’s work, despite the rocket strikes and the proximity of the front line, is the result of two programs: localization (a requirement for public procurement of equipment to ensure at least 25% Ukrainian content) and “School Bus” (an annual targeted program for the purchase of transport for educational institutions).
The average level of localization in ZAZ buses is 48%, the MP added.
“Despite the war, the legendary ZAZ remains a powerful and ambitious enterprise. Although it now employs around 500 workers, rather than 5,000 as before, it continues to impress with its size and potential. The plant has agreements with several foreign partners to resume production of light vehicles as soon as the war ends,” Kysilevsky said.
ZAZ manufactures buses on Chinese AsiaStar chassis.
According to the Clarity Project, in 2024, ZAZ LLC received a net profit of UAH 1.4 million, compared to a loss of UAH 154.6 million in 2023, with revenue growing by 85% to UAH 570.2 million.
As reported, 1,296 new buses were produced in Ukraine in 2024, 24% more than a year earlier.
BUSES, UkrAVTO Group, Zaporizhzhia Automobile Building Plant
PJSC Azot (Cherkasy), part of the OSTCHEM nitrogen holding, has resumed production of mineral fertilizers after a forced shutdown three weeks ago due to a drop in gas pressure caused by a drone attack on Cherkasy’s external gas infrastructure, the company said in a press release on Wednesday.
“We managed to restart the plants and bring key workshops back to planned capacity after the gas infrastructure was restored. The plant is fully supplied with the gas needed for fertilizer production and continues to deliver fertilizers,” the release quotes board chairman Vitaly Sklyarov as saying.
As noted in the release, the A-3 ammonia workshop (with a capacity of 900 tons per day) and the M-2 urea workshop (1,100 tons per day) have resumed operations. Within a few days, the M-5 workshop (non-concentrated nitric acid) and the M-9 workshop (ammonium nitrate) for the production of UAN are also scheduled to be launched.
According to Sklyarov, despite the forced shutdown, the plant will fulfill its obligations in full, and the annual production plan will be met.
As reported, the plants of the OSTCHEM nitrogen holding company increased mineral fertilizer production in the first quarter of 2025 by 5.3% compared to the same period last year, to 529,300 tons: Cherkasy Azot – 394,800 tons, Rivneazot – 134,400 tons.
The release notes that OSTCHEM enterprises faced forced production stoppages due to drones entering their territory and the destruction of external gas and energy infrastructure in the Cherkasy and Rivne regions. Force majeure led to forced disruptions in fertilizer supplies.
In response, the nitrogen holding company has revised its strategy: the new priority is to reduce production risks through investments in the energy independence of enterprises.
Group DF is a diversified international group of companies consolidating assets in the gas distribution, chemical, titanium, and port industries, as well as in agriculture and media. The founder and owner of Group DF is Dmitry Firtash.
OSTCHEM is Group DF’s nitrogen holding company, which has brought together the largest producers of mineral fertilizers in Ukraine. It includes Rivneazot, Cherkasy Azot, and Severodonetsk Azot, as well as Stirol (the latter two are not operational and are located in occupied territories).
American Kraft Heinz Co., one of the world’s largest food producers, is considering potential strategic deals to increase shareholder value. According to the company’s statement, this process has been ongoing for several months, but at this time there is no guarantee that it will result in any transaction.
“The company has not set a timeline for the completion of this process and does not plan to make any further announcements regarding it unless it believes additional disclosure is appropriate or necessary,” the press release said.
Two members of Kraft Heinz’s board of directors representing Berkshire Hathaway Inc. are leaving the company’s board of directors. This is not related to the company’s operations, policies, or practices, the statement said.
In recent years, Kraft Heinz has faced weakening demand for its core product lines. In April, it lowered its annual forecasts, citing economic uncertainty related, in particular, to the situation in the retail sector. Kraft Heinz shares rose 1.4% in after-hours trading on Tuesday. Since the beginning of this year, their value has fallen by 9.2%. Kraft Heinz was formed in 2015 through the merger of H.J. Heinz Co. and Kraft Foods Group Inc. The company’s portfolio includes well-known brands such as Philadelphia cheese, Maxwell House coffee, Heinz ketchups and baby food, and Jell-O desserts. The company’s products are sold in 190 countries.
