Hungarian Finance Minister Mihai Varga on behalf of the country spoke out against the adoption of legislative amendments by the European Council that would allow Ukraine to allocate EUR 18bn in macrofinancial aid plus in 2023.
Nevertheless, the EU will continue to seek a solution that would be supported by all member states.
“Hungary opposes the amendment of the financial legislation,” he said Tuesday in Brussels on the sidelines of the open part of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council.
In particular, Hungary opposed the amendment to the multiyear financial legislation, which must be passed unanimously.
At the same time, ministers voted by qualified majority macro-financial assistance plus (MFA+) and an amendment to the financial regulations.
Czech Finance Minister Zbigniew Stanjura, who chaired the meeting, commenting on the situation, said: “Unfortunately, we were not able to pass the package as a whole. Nevertheless, this will not cool down our ambitions to start allocating our aid to Ukraine from the beginning of January. I ask the Economic and Financial Committee to find an alternative solution. That means that we will have to find a solution that all countries will support. We will find a solution to support Ukraine.
All SCM enterprises are now working for the victory of Ukraine, including on the economic front, the owner of the company Rinat Akhmetov said in an interview with the Swiss edition Bilan.
“Wherever possible, we work for the needs of the front – we help the Ukrainian army and the terror defense forces. Our metallurgical plants produce anti-tank hedgehogs, modular shelters for dugouts, we have already produced and handed over 150 thousand body armor vests to our soldiers for free. Our power engineers heroically every day return light to the houses left without electricity due to constant shelling. We are all working for Ukraine’s victory, including on the economic front,” Akhmetov said.
According to him, the situation in the Ukrainian economy due to the war is extremely difficult, but businesses continue to work, preserving jobs and budget revenues.
“The situation in business now is very difficult – as in the entire Ukrainian economy. All of our enterprises have gone to work in military mode since the first day of the war. Because today our main goal is to help Ukrainians to survive and endure”, – stressed the owner of SCM.
Only for 9 months of 2022 SCM sent to the budget more than 60 billion UAH in taxes and fees.
“For us, SCM, the war began in 2014. Both in Crimea and in the temporarily occupied part of Donbass, we lost all assets. We lost businesses, but it hardened us and made us stronger. We have a very strong team where managers think not only about business, but also about people. I am convinced that we will win this war and come out of it stronger,” summed up Rinat Akhmetov.
As reported, Akhmetov’s businesses from the first days of the war were transferred to the military mode of operation, providing the Armed Forces and defense forces with armor, bulletproof vests and engineering structures made of steel.
Also Akhmetov’s businesses under his Steel Front initiative purchase drones, thermal imagers, radios and other equipment for the needs of the military. Since the start of the war, Rinat Akhmetov’s Foundation, his businesses and FC Shakhtar have donated UAH 3.5 billion in support and humanitarian aid to the armed forces.
Real GDP percentage changes over previous period in 2018-2022
SSC of Ukraine
The U.S. dollar is moderately rising against the euro and Japanese yen in Tuesday’s trading, while the Australian dollar is rising on the outcome of the country’s central bank meeting.
The euro is trading at $1.0487 as of 7:50 a.m. Tuesday, up from $1.0493 at the close of the previous session.
The dollar traded up to 136.97 yen against the Japanese currency, compared to 136.79 yen at the close of the previous session.
The ICE index showing the trend of the dollar against six currencies (euro, Swiss franc, yen, Canadian dollar, British pound and Swedish krone) added 0.08%.
The pound fell to $1.2189 from $1.2192 at the close of trading on Monday.
The U.S. data published the day before, which bolstered the dollar, reinforced fears that the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) will need to raise interest rates for a longer period than expected, writes Trading Economics.
The U.S. Services Business Activity Index unexpectedly rose to 56.5 points in November from 54.4 points a month earlier, data from the U.S. Institute for Supply Management showed. The average forecast of analysts polled by Trading Economics had expected the index to fall to 53.3 points last month. A reading above 50 points showed an increase in business activity in the service sector, while a lower reading showed it was weakening.
The Australian dollar traded at $0.6727 on Tuesday, up from $0.6699 at the close of the previous session.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on Tuesday raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 3.1 percent a year at the end of its final meeting of the year. This coincided with the forecast of most analysts, reports Trading Economics.
The Central Bank has raised the rate for the eighth time in a row. Thus, the cost of borrowing rose to its highest level since November 2012. At the same time, the RBA management signaled a further rate hike to curb inflation, which remains at a high level.
The euro traded at $1.0487 as of 7:50 a.m. Tuesday, up from $1.0493 at the close of the previous session.
The dollar traded up to 136.97 yen against the Japanese currency, up from 136.79 yen at the close of the previous session.
The ICE index showing the trend of the dollar against six currencies (euro, Swiss franc, yen, Canadian dollar, British pound and Swedish krone) is showing 0.08% growth, while the broader WSJ Dollar Index added 0.06%.
The pound fell to $1.2189 from $1.2192 at the close of trading on Monday.
The U.S. data published the day before, which bolstered the dollar, reinforced fears that the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) will need to raise interest rates for a longer period than expected, writes Trading Economics.
The U.S. Services Business Activity Index unexpectedly rose to 56.5 points in November from 54.4 points a month earlier, data from the U.S. Institute for Supply Management showed. The average forecast of analysts polled by Trading Economics had expected the index to fall to 53.3 points last month. A reading above 50 points showed an increase in business activity in the service sector, while a lower reading showed it was weakening.
The Australian dollar traded at $0.6727 on Tuesday, up from $0.6699 at the close of the previous session.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on Tuesday raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 3.1 percent a year at the end of its final meeting of the year. This coincided with the forecast of most analysts, reports Trading Economics.
The Central Bank has raised the rate for the eighth time in a row. Thus, the cost of borrowing rose to its highest level since November 2012. At the same time, the RBA management signaled a further rate hike to curb inflation, which remains at a high level.
European Union finance ministers will discuss a proposal of the European Commission to provide EUR18bn to Ukraine in 2023 in a specially created “macrofinancial support plus” format. It is not yet known whether a decision will be made.
This was told to journalists on the eve of a meeting of the Council on Economic and Financial Affairs, which will be held on Tuesday in Brussels, a European diplomat on the right of anonymity.
He explained that three legislative proposals will be discussed: macrofinancial aid plus (MFA+) and an amendment to the financial regulations, which must be passed by a qualified majority, and an amendment to the multiyear financial scheme, which must be passed unanimously. “Ministers will discuss these proposals and then decide whether or not to bring them to a vote. Tomorrow (Dec. 6 – IF-U) will be decisive. No decisions have been made as of today. We have to see tomorrow morning and decide how we will move forward, we have to see if there is an opportunity for the ministers to decide whether to put these issues to a vote or not,” detailed the interlocutor to the journalists.
He also recalled that the loans, which will be granted to Ukraine in 2023 in the amount of EUR18bn, will have a 10-year grace period. It is proposed that member states will cover the major part of interest expenses, while guarantees for these loans will be provided from the EU budget.
Relevant proposals were officially presented by the European Commission on November 9, followed by a vote in the European Parliament on November 24.
At the same time this proposal was opposed by Hungary. Thus, on December 2, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that he “doesn’t want the European Union to become a community of debtor-states instead of a community of cooperating states. Instead, he suggested that all EU members use funds from their own budgets to help Ukraine through bilateral agreements.
It is not ruled out that it is at Budapest’s suggestion that the vote may be postponed to a later date.
