Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky noted the resumption of high-level contacts with Brazil. “Just talked to the president of Brazil. Useful conversation. Resuming contacts between our states at the highest level,” he said in a video message on Thursday.
“I informed about the Russian attacks against our people, the killing of children, the strikes on our civilian infrastructure. Thanked Brazil for supporting our resolution on peace and territorial integrity for Ukraine. We discussed diplomatic efforts that can stop Russian aggression and bring peace back to our country, the region and the world,” he said.
According to Zelenskyy, in his conversation with the Swiss president, he “thanked for the support package for Ukraine, for our people. We discussed further bilateral cooperation and possible interaction on international platforms.”
“I heard that Switzerland is interested in the implementation of our peace formula. This is a very good signal,” he said.
Oil prices are falling on Friday after rising to two-week highs in the previous session.
Brent crude futures on London’s ICE Futures exchange traded at 7:05 a.m. on Friday stood at $84.52 a barrel, down $0.23 (0.27%) from the previous session’s closing price. Those contracts rose $0.44 (0.5%) to $84.75 a barrel on Thursday.
The price of WTI April futures at electronic trades of NYMEX fell by $0.2 (0.26%) to $77.96 per barrel by that time. At the end of previous session the cost of contracts grew by $0.47 (0.6%) up to $78.16 per barrel.
Both Brent and WTI contracts finished the week with growth thanks to optimism caused by signals that activity is recovering in China, which outweighs concerns of traders related to the ongoing tightening of monetary policy in the USA.
The resilience of the U.S. economy and labor market in particular leaves the Federal Reserve (Fed) with room to maneuver for further rate hikes, and that supports the U.S. dollar, which in turn is a negative factor for commodity markets.
In addition to these two factors, traders are trying to assess the dynamics of Russian oil exports, which so far has remained more resilient than expected in the face of sanctions imposed on Russia, Bloomberg notes.
Italian restaurants across the UK are being forced to reduce the amount of tomatoes in their dishes, and in some cases to remove them altogether, due to a catastrophic rise in the price of this key product for many dishes from the Apennines.
According to the Federazione Italian Cuochi (FIC UK), the prices of tomatoes in the kingdom have risen from £5 a pack to £20 over the past year. The price of canned tomatoes has doubled from £15 to £30.
The president of the association Enzo Oliveri said that these were very difficult times for Italian restaurants. He said FIC UK members usually order tomatoes from Italy, Spain or Morocco, but now, with shortages everywhere, it’s getting harder to get tomatoes.
“I don’t see any glimmers of light at the end of the tunnel,” Oliveri said, adding that many establishments will likely have to close.
Oliveri said some restaurants are trying to move away from using the ingredient and are starting to offer diners “white” pizzas and pastas that have no tomatoes at all. Chefs are using ricotta or vegetables such as zucchini and eggplant as a base or for sauces.
For his part, Carmelo Carnevale, president of the Italian Culinary Consortium, said tomato prices have tripled in the past two weeks alone. Restaurants are still getting the product, but in completely different quantities.
There is a shortage of fruits and vegetables, especially tomatoes, in Britain. Supermarket shelves where they used to be located are now empty. Authorities cite weather in southern Europe and northern Africa as the cause, as well as high electricity prices in Britain and the Netherlands.
Wealthy connoisseurs and collectors of prestigious wines have freed up a few days in early April for a unique sale of thousands of collectible bottles organized by the auction house “Lombray-Tecam” in the chic surroundings of the Ritz Hotel in Paris.
The total value of all lots is tentatively estimated at 6 million euros. All the bottles exhibited at the auction come from the same collection of a major collector and enthusiastic about the history of French winemaking man.
For more than 50 years this enthusiast, now deceased, whose name the auctioneers do not announce, bought up and preserved tens of thousands of bottles. His heirs decided to scatter this collection at auction. In the “Ritz” April 3 7 will go under the hammer about 30 thousand bottles.
Those who have had the opportunity to get acquainted with the collection, they say that this is the very material history of the best millezimy, the milestones of the winemaking of post-war France. The collector bought his wines following recommendations from the most renowned, internationally recognized experts in the wine industry.
“The auction house informed me of a certain significant cellar. But it never occurred to me to be in front of such a treasure. It is a kind of Grail, the best initiation into wine experts,” admires Claude Maratier, a specialist who has been invited to advise a number of famous wine auctions. This time he was asked to authenticate each of the bottles.
According to connoisseurs, the selection is worthy of a museum. Among the tens of thousands of bottles are 2,000 magnums (one-and-a-half-liter jars), hundreds of cases of Bordeaux grands crus classés (collected from the best vineyards). As well as batches of bottles of the legendary Petrus, Le Pin, Haut-Brion, Clinet, Mouton-Rothschild and a whole range of other wines of the southwest of France, coveted by any lover.
The collector, of course, did not forget about Burgundy. Numerous cases of the best Burgundian wines – grands crus and premiers crus – from the estates of Romanée-Conti, Dujac, Georges Roumier, Armand Rousseau and others, whose names alone say a lot to true connoisseurs, were put up for auction.
“To describe it in a few words, very simply: all the best is here. Bidders will see only the famous labels and only the best vintage years, such as many wines of the mythical, especially for the Rhone Valley, 1978. Seeing it all was an exciting sight,” comments Claude Maratier.
“At the same time,” emphasizes the expert, “all these wines are in impeccable state of preservation, as if they were new, fresh off the bottling line. I’ve never seen anything like it. The labels are intact, the capsules on the necks look great – all of which should appeal to discerning buyers. This is a cellar of treasures carefully collected over the years.”
The starting prices of the lots are known. For example, a set of six “magnums” Petrus 1982 will be traded from 40-50 thousand euros. A set of bottles Romanée-Conti 1976 year offered for 50-60 thousand euros.
Ukraine is counting on Austria’s assistance in restoring infrastructure and humanitarian demining, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said.
“Austria is among the countries that helped Ukraine overcome this winter and Russia’s energy terror. In a conversation with Federal Chancellor Karl Negammer thanked for 10 million euros to restore energy, help with equipment and generators,” Shmygal wrote in the Telegram channel.
According to the prime minister, the sides also discussed support in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
“We count on Austria’s help in the reconstruction of infrastructure and humanitarian demining. Separately, we paid attention to the situation at the ZNPP and the strengthening of sanctions against the aggressor, in particular the impossibility of circumventing the restrictions already imposed by Russia,” he summed up.
Raiffeisen Bank’s profit for January 2023 was UAH 742 million, up 62% from the same period in 2022 (UAH 457 million), the bank’s press service said Thursday.
According to the report, the bank’s income in January amounted to 1.8 billion UAH, which is 1.6 times more than in January 2022 (1.1 billion UAH).
Including net interest income amounted to 1.4 billion UAH, or 78% of the total income.
It is indicated that the fee and commission income increased by 28% up to UAH 270 billion, indicating the growth of client operations, including remote service channels.
The trade result grew by 30% year-on-year and made up UAH 124 mln.
Besides, in January the bank allocated UAH 380 mln. to provisions for possible credit and operational risks caused by war, that is 4.7 times more than a year before.
The share of NPLs in the loan portfolio of the bank by the end of January was 14.8%, while the loan portfolio decreased slightly to UAH 72 bn.
According to the message, funds of corporate clients in Raiffeisen Bank increased by 6 billion UAH to 61 billion UAH, and funds of individuals – by 1% to 6 billion UAH.
It is noted that half of the 300 operating branches of Raiffeisen Bank are equipped with generators and backup communication channels.
