UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay has arrived in Ukraine, First Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Emine Japarova said.
“As the head of the National Commission of Ukraine for UNESCO, I am honored to welcome Audrey Azoulay to Kiev. The visit of the UNESCO Director General is a huge sign of support for our efforts to protect and restore culture, education, science, youth, sports and media in Ukraine. These issues are on the agenda today,” she wrote on Twitter.
Ukraine exported 3.8 million tonnes of agricultural products under the grain deal in March, 500,000 tonnes more than in February, the Agrarian Policy Ministry of Ukraine reported on March 31.
This included 908,000 tonnes of wheat and 2.3 million tonnes of corn.
The ministry said 374,000 tonnes of wheat, 120,000 tonnes more than in February, was shipped to countries in need, including 60,000 tonnes shipped to Yemen and Ethiopia under humanitarian programs.
At the same time, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy said that over the past three months of the functioning of the corridor, the number of vessels passing the Bosphorus has been steadily fluctuating in the range of less than 3 instead of 6-7 possible, and the worst figure was in January – 2.5.
“Today is the end of the 8th month of the grain corridor. The indicators for March differ little from February. In particular, the statistics of the number of ships passing per day have not changed for the better. We have an indicator of 2.8,” the ministry said.
A total of 26.3 million tonnes of Ukrainian agricultural products, including 7.3 million tonnes of wheat and 12.9 million tonnes of corn have been exported in the eight months since the agreement on the grain corridor for Ukrainian exports was struck, the ministry said. Almost 2 million tonnes or 26.4% of this wheat was shipped to countries in need, it added.
“However, there are countries where the supply of our grain has dipped due to the unpredictability of the functioning of the corridor and the unwillingness of buyers to take risks. Among them is Indonesia. If before the war we sent 2.6 million tonnes of wheat there, which was 24% of their annual needs of 11 million tonnes , then only 341,000 tonnes went there during the last marketing season, which is only 4%,” the Ministry of Agrarian Policy said.
The UN, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine signed two documents in Istanbul on July 22, 2022 on the creation of a corridor to ship out grain from three Ukrainian ports – Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdenny, as well as to lift barriers to exports of Russian foodstuffs and fertilizers. The arrangement was extended for 120 days in November 2022, and in March 2023 Russia agreed to another extension of 60 days.
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) on March 2 granted permission to Georgian citizen Rati Tchelidze, a beneficiary of CC Capital Group, whose two companies – Mister Cash LLC (TM Mister Cash) and CC Loan LLC (TM CC Loan) – had their licenses to provide financial loans revoked by the National Bank on February 24.
“To grant a permit to an individual – a citizen of Georgia Rati Tchelidze to acquire shares of joint stock company BTA Bank, which provides more than 50% of the votes in the supreme governing body of the company,” the decision of the AMCU, published on its website, reads.
Currently, 100% of shares of the Ukrainian BTA Bank belongs to the Kazakh BTA Bank, once one of the largest banks in Kazakhstan, which surrendered its banking license there several years ago. It is now effectively an asset management company owned by Kazakh businessman Kenes Rakishev and the Fincraft Group (formerly Novacom Corporation), a holding company whose sole owner is Rakishev.
“BTA Bank Ukraine was founded in 1992. According to the NBU, as of February 1, 2023, the bank ranked 65th by assets (UAH 293.9 mln) out of 67 operating banks in Ukraine. The loss of the financial institution in 2022 was 33.6 million UAH.
“According to management, despite uncertainty with negative consequences of Russian military aggression against Ukraine … the use of assumptions about the bank’s ability to continue its activities on a continuous basis is adequate, given: the appropriate level of capital adequacy, according to NBU requirements – 112.19% (in 2021 – 121.08%); intention of shareholders to continue supporting the activities of the bank; significant level of liquidity (including that formed at the expense of own funds of the bank)”, – noted in BTA Bank report dated January 25, 2023
With regard to Mister Cash and SS Lawn LLC microloan services, these companies ranked 12th and 19th respectively in terms of revenues among all financiers for 9 months of 2022, while in terms of total revenues they ranked 6th.
The NBU revoked their licenses for lending activities, including on the terms of a financial loan, following unscheduled inspections, which revealed “facts of numerous violations of the requirements of the legislation on protection of consumers of financial services.
SS Lawn” revenue for 9 months of this year amounted to 434.0 million UAH, “Mr. Cash” – 286.8 million UAH, losses – respectively 60.0 million UAH and 47.6 million UAH, assets – 257.2 million UAH and 106.1 million UAH, equity – 220.2 million UAH 4.4 million UAH.
CC Capital group at the end of 2021 included the microcredit services CC Loan, Mister Cash and the insurance company Point (TM SK Opika), which in February this year was fined by the National Bank on the inspection nearly 2.3 million UAH for not entering into insurance contracts in writing. Before the war it was planned that the group will launch a marketplace of its financial products in 2022.
CC Loan also planned a second bond issue in 2022, which would have been larger than the debut one-year Series A issue in 2021, worth 100 million hryvnias, which matures May 13-18, 2022.
CC Loan has been in the online microlending market since 2015 with the CC Loan brand, designed primarily for consumers ages 26-30. In 2019, it launched the Mister Cash brand, aimed at a younger audience. Since 2019, the group has included an insurance company. The majority shareholder of all companies is CC Continental City Capital Ltd of Georgia citizen Rati Tchelidze.
Ukraine managed to export 265 thousand tons of sugar in 7 months of the current marketing year (MY, September 2022 – August 2023), which is 4.8 times more than in the entire 2021-2022 marketing year, said Nazar Mykhailovyn, acting Chairman of the Board of the National Association of Sugar Producers of Ukraine Ukrtsukor.
“For the entire period of 2021/2022 MY, 55 thousand tons of sugar were exported. From September 1, 2022, to March 28, 2023, Ukraine increased exports by 4.8 times to 265 thousand tons,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to Mikhailovin, in 2022, 23 Ukrainian sugar factories produced 1.33 million tons of sugar, while a year earlier 33 enterprises produced 1.45 million tons. “The reduction in sugar production by 120 thousand tons with 30% of production capacities not used was not critical for Ukraine. In addition, we had a surplus and significant carry-over balances from 2021/2022 MY in the amount of 491 thousand tons,” the head of the association said.
He reminded that as of the beginning of the war, sugar exports from Ukraine were suspended due to the hostilities. On June 5, 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a resolution to allow sugar exports under licenses issued by the Ministry of Economy. Due to the hostilities and the lack of seaports, Ukraine was forced to change the geography of exports. According to the European Union’s decision, Ukraine can ship sugar to Europe without tariff quotas and duties.
According to Mykhailovyn, due to drought and poor sugar beet harvest, as well as higher natural gas prices than in Ukraine, Europe produced less sugar, and it was more expensive than Ukrainian sugar. “Ukraine was able to sell sugar in Europe at a decent price,” he stated.
Stock indices of Asia-Pacific region (APR) countries do not show unified dynamics during Monday morning trading.
Investors are estimating the statistical data from Japan and news on additional reduction of oil production by some OPEC+ countries.
As it was reported the night before 8 out of 20 OPEC+ countries announced about a voluntary reduction of oil production from May till the end of the year. According to Interfax calculations, the total reduction of oil production will amount to about 1.657 mln bpd, of which the Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia will account for 500 thousand bpd each.
Oil prices jumped up about 5% on this news. Traders are concerned that this decision may increase inflationary pressures in the world, complicating the task of central banks to return inflation to target levels, writes Trading Economics.
The U.S. authorities have already called the decision inappropriate.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng indicator lost 0.6%. Prior to that, the index was rising four sessions in a row and ended trading on Friday at a three-week high.
Sino Biopharmaceutical (-8.2%), Wuxi Biologics (-3.9%) and Baidu Inc. (-3.4%) showed the most noticeable drops.
China’s Shanghai Composite stock index gained 0.55%.
Energy stocks were rising after a rebound in oil prices. Cnooc Ltd. gained 4.8%, Petrochina gained 1.7% and Guanghui Energy gained 2.3%. Tech stocks, including East Money Information (9.8%), 360 Security Technology (4.8%) and iFLYTEK (4%) also rose.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was up 0.5 percent.
As it became known on Monday, the Tankan index, which assesses the level of confidence in Japan’s economy among large companies in the processing industry, fell to 1 point in January-March from 7 points a quarter earlier.
The value of the indicator was the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2020 and failed to meet the forecasts of experts who expected a drop to 3 points.
The leaders of the decline in the Nikkei Index are shares of energy and financial companies. The price of Inpex Corp shares rose by 5.2%, Eneos Holdings – by 2.4%, Mitsubishi UFJ – by 1.2%, Sumitomo Mitsui – by 1.4%.
South Korea’s Kospi index declined 0.3%.
The market value of one of the world’s largest chip maker Samsung Electronics Co. fell by 1.6% and automaker Hyundai Motor – by 0.5%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index added 0.5%.
Retail sales in Australia rose 0.2% in February versus January, when the figure jumped 1.8%, final data showed Monday.
The rise in oil prices pushed up shares of Australian oil and gas companies Woodside Energy (5.3%), Santos (4.8%), Beach Energy (7.1%), Karoon Energy (7.9%) and Ampol (2%).
The market value of mining concern BHP Group rose 0.3%, Commonwealth Bank rose 0.6%, and coal producer Whitehaven Coal rose 3.7%.
Oil prices show a strong rebound Monday morning after a number of OPEC+ alliance countries, including Russia and Saudi Arabia, announced additional production cuts.
June Brent futures on London’s ICE Futures exchange stood at $83.82 a barrel by 8:10 a.m. Q, up $3.93 (4.92%) from the previous session’s closing price. At the close of trading last Friday those contracts grew by $0.50 (0.6%) to $79.77 per barrel.
The price of WTI crude oil futures for May at the electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is $79.51 per barrel by that time, which is $3.84 (5.07%) above the final value of the previous session. The contract rose by $1.3 (1.8%) to $75.67 a barrel on Friday.
Brent dropped 4.9% in March and 7% in the first quarter, writes MarketWatch. Futures on WTI have lost 1.8% and 5.7%, respectively, and the monthly decline was the fifth consecutive for the North American brand.
On Sunday evening, 8 of the 20 OPEC+ countries announced a voluntary reduction in oil production from May until the end of the year. The announcement was made ahead of Monday’s meeting of the OPEC+ monitoring committee (JMMC).
Interfax estimated the total reduction in oil production to be about 1.657 million bpd, of which 500,000 bpd would come from the deal’s leaders, Russia and Saudi Arabia. Non-OPEC countries, such as Kazakhstan, are going to reduce production by 78 thousand bpd, and Oman – by 40 thousand bpd. Among the OPEC members, the production is going to be reduced by 144,000 bpd in the UAE, 128,000 bpd in Kuwait, 211,000 bpd in Iraq, 48,000 bpd in Algeria and 8,000 bpd in Gabon.
“Producers are clearly unhappy with the recent drop (in oil prices – IF), which was more speculative than caused by fundamental factors. They are likely to be able to get quotes back above $80 a barrel, plus they are trying to respond preemptively to a smaller-than-expected increase in global oil demand in the coming months,” Saxo Bank analysts Ole Hansen said in an interview with MarketWatch.
“The Saudi oil minister likes to take the market by surprise, especially when it could hurt downside speculators,” he added.
