Odessa customs officers prevented the export from Ukraine of an antique violin, signed with the name of the famous master Antonio Stradivari, but dated the year after his death – 1742.
“An ancient violin of the genius master tried to take out a citizen of Ukraine, which through the checkpoint “Orlovka” was going to Bulgaria in a car. Despite the presence of a musical instrument with signs of antiquity, he chose the “green corridor” to pass customs control,” the press service of the State Customs Service of Ukraine reported on Friday.
According to the press service, the man also confirmed the absence of goods and items subject to written declaration and taxation of customs payments during oral questioning.
“Based on a risk assessment and analysis, the car was transferred to the “red corridor.” The suspicions of the customs officers were justified: in the luggage compartment, among various packages and suitcases, at the very bottom in a cardboard box was found a case with a violin. On the bottom deck (back – IF-U) of the musical instrument – inscription “ANTONIUS STRADIUARIUS CREMONENSIS FACIBAT ANNO 1742”, – details of detention are given in the message.
The case also contained a bow and a set of strings. No documents authorizing their export from Ukraine were found with the citizen.
According to the violation of customs regulations, made by Odessa customs officers on the grounds of part 1 of Art. 483 of the Customs Code of Ukraine, a musical instrument with signs of antiquity, a bow and a set of strings seized.
Their value and cost will be determined by the appropriate expertise, and their further fate – the court.
Activities were carried out by Odessa customs officers in cooperation with border guards and representatives of the SSU in the Odessa region.
Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737) – unsurpassed master of making bowed instruments. There are about 650 survived Stradivari’s instruments including about 450 violins.
The social stratification by wealth in the United States is deeper and more dangerous than by income, according to a report by the nonprofit organization Oxfam America.
According to the organization, the combined wealth of U.S. billionaires has grown by nearly a third since the coronavirus pandemic began in 2020 and by 86.3% since 2013, to $4.51 trillion. Their number has increased by nearly 60% in 10 years to more than 700.
“The surge in wealth during the pandemic followed the injection of trillions of dollars into financial markets to save them from collapse,” the report noted. – “This new money, albeit much needed to sustain economies, ended up in the hands of the super-rich, who took advantage of the spike in stock prices in the absence of barriers in the form of fairer taxation that would have distributed this wealth more evenly.
In addition, the U.S. has a “permanent underclass”: nearly one-third of all workers and half of employed women of color earn less than $15 an hour, Oxfam points out. The disparity in wealth between races has widened since the 1980s and is approaching that of the 1950s.
“To reduce and eliminate the structural barriers that exist in our economy and to ensure that opportunities are open to everyone, it is vital to impose a super wealth tax,” the organization stresses.
Oil prices are rising on Friday after the International Energy Agency (IEA) published its monthly review of the oil market.
June Brent crude futures on London’s ICE Futures exchange stood at $86.43 a barrel by 2:24 p.m. Friday, up $0.34 (0.39%) from the previous session’s closing price.
The price of WTI crude futures for May oil in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) was up $0.31 (0.38%) to $82.41 a barrel by that time.
The IEA predicts a supply shortfall in the market of 2 million barrels per day in the third quarter. “Serious oil shortages in the second half of the year had been previously expected, but another reduction (of production by OPEC+ countries – IF-U) threatens to further squeeze supply and increase oil prices at a time when inflationary pressures are already hurting vulnerable consumers,” the agency said in a review.
In the second quarter, the deficit will be 400 thousand b / c, IEA believes. Previously, it expected demand to exceed supply only in the third quarter. The average deficit in 2023 is estimated at 800 thousand bpd.
OPEC, which published its monthly forecast the day before, still expects oil demand to increase by 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2023, to 101.89 million bpd – above the pre-survey level.
Ukrainian farmers sowed 101.9 thousand hectares of grain and legumes last week, compared to 120.5 thousand hectares the previous week and 207.3 thousand hectares the week before, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy reported on Friday.
According to the Ministry, the area under spring grains and pulses reached 722.4 thou hectares, or 7% of the planned 10.24 mln ha for 2023.
As noted, the pace of sowing is significantly lower than a year earlier, when as of April 8, 1.94 million hectares of land were sown with major crops, which was 14.4% of the 13.44 million hectares planned for sowing.
It is noted that since the beginning of the sowing campaign, spring wheat plantings have reached 142.8 thousand hectares (126.7 thousand hectares a week earlier), spring barley – 436 thousand hectares (376.6 thousand hectares), peas – 84.7 thousand hectares (73.1 thousand hectares) and oats – 53.6 thousand hectares (41.3 thousand hectares), millet – 0.7 thousand hectares (0.2 thousand hectares).
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, the leaders in field work with grains and legumes are farmers of Volyn region – 19 thou hectares. It adds that sugar beet sowing has started in Vinnytsia, Volyn, Rivne, Ternopil, Khmelnytsky and Cherkasy regions, and the sown area reached 32.7 thou hectares (25.6 thou hectares a week earlier).
Sunflower is being sown by farmers in Mykolaiv, Odesa, Ternopil, Khmelnytsky and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, where the planted areas reached 37.2 thou hectares (21 thou hectares a week earlier).
Corn sowing has started in Sumy region, with the area under the crop reaching 0.7 thou hectares.
According to the Ministry’s forecast, in 2023, the area under grains and pulses will amount to 10.24 mln ha, down 1.4 mln ha from 2022. The area under the main oilseeds may be increased, in particular, under sunflower – 5.64 mln ha (+ 476 thsd ha), rapeseed – 1.37 mln ha (+ 110 thsd ha), soybeans – 1.84 mln ha (+ 334 thsd ha). At the same time, the sugar beet area is expected to recover to the pre-war level – up to 220 thou hectares, compared to 180 thou hectares in 2022 and 226 thou hectares in 2021.
Asia-Pacific stock markets rose on Friday, following the rise of Wall Street, due to growing expectations that the cycle of monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve (Fed) is nearing its end.
Stats showing a slowdown in U.S. producer price growth and a larger-than-expected increase in jobless claims confirmed that the U.S. central bank’s rate hike is weakening inflation in the United States and restraining economic growth.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index was up 1.2 percent in trading, following an increase in retailer stocks.
Fast Retailing, which owns the Uniqlo brand, gained 8.5 percent on strong results at the close of trading on Thursday. Fast Retailing increased its net profit and revenue in the first fiscal half of the year and improved its outlook for the full year.
Shares of other Japanese retailers are also up, with Seven & I Holdings up 1.8 percent, Treasure Factory up 9.6 percent and Lawson up 6 percent.
China’s Shanghai Composite stock index added 0.4% in trading, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.1%.
China’s economic growth rate will reach the government’s target of 5 percent in 2023, People’s Bank of China (PBOC) governor Yi Gang said during a meeting of G20 central bank chiefs in Washington.
“China’s economy is stabilizing and recovering, inflation remains low, and the real estate market is showing positive changes,” said Yi Gang, quoted on the NBK website.
Leading the rise in mainland China are stocks of technology companies and battery makers, as well as raw materials for them. Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. gained 2.1%, Tianqi Lithium 6.3%, Ganfeng Lithium 6.2% and China National Software 2.9%.
In Hong Kong, shares of Geely Automobile Holdings (+3.5%), BYD Co. (+1%) and Anta Sports Products (+1.8%) rose. Meanwhile, Meituan (SPB: 3,690) (-1.8%), Tencent (SPB: 700) Holdings (-0.3%) and Sunny Optical Technology Group (-1.1%) are getting cheaper.
South Korea’s KOSPI added 0.53% in trading and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.48%.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia shares gained 1%, National Australia Bank – 1.1%, Fortescue Metals – 0.9%. At the same time, BHP Group securities fell by 0.1%.
Dniprovskyi Steel (DMZ, formerly Evraz-DMZ), which belongs to Oleksandr Iaroslavskyi’s DCH Steel group, produced 29.4 thousand tons of finished steel in January-March this year, while in the first quarter of last year DMZ did not produce steel products due to the lack of coal raw materials and military operations.
According to the company press-release, coke output in January-March 2023 decreased by 20.4% YoY, to 45.8 thnd. tons.
In March, DMZ produced 10.6 thousand tons of steel and 16 thousand tons of coke (+16.1% versus March 2022).
At the same time, it is specified that DMZ blast furnace and converter shops have been idle since January 2022. The plant resumed rolled steel production in April last year, both rolling shops are working on tolling billets.
In 2022 and in the first quarter of 2023 DMZ rolling shops produced a wide range of channels, mine rails SVP-22, SVP-27 and SVP-33, mine rails R34 and R43, crane rails of different sizes.
In 2022 the coke-chemical division of the company switched exclusively to domestic coal feedstock and produces goods mainly for Ukrainian ferroalloy plants. In addition, in March 2023 the coke-chemical division resumed metallurgical coke production.
In 2022, DMZ cut its output of rolled steel by 168.4% to 58.4 thnd mt, and coke by 56.3% to 211.3 thnd mt, compared to 2021.
As previously reported, DMZ blast furnace operations are currently idle due to a shortage of raw materials and blocked ports. Moreover, the rolling mills are operating on give-and-take raw materials.
DMZ specializes in the production of steel, pig iron, rolled products and their products. On March 1, 2018, DCH Group signed an agreement to buy Dneprovskyy Metallurgical Plant from Evraz.
