The World Bank will provide Ukraine with $4.8 billion for recovery following a roundtable talk held in Washington on April 21 along with the Ukrainian government, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
“Yesterday, during a ministerial roundtable talk, I turned to the World Bank. The result is $4.8 billion for the restoration of Ukraine,” the head of state said on Instagram.
He thanked that Ukraine “is heard and supported.”
“With such help, we will be able to quickly restore the country,” Zelensky said.
As reported, the president of Ukraine, in his speech at this roundtable talk via video link, said the country needs support in the amount of up to $7 billion monthly, while Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that $4 billion to $5 billion is needed to cover the budget deficit.
Peace, not secured by an appropriate agreement, will not free Russia from international sanctions, said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“Russia is in a very difficult situation, the sanctions are causing serious damage to the Russian economy,” Scholz said in an interview with Spiegel.
A “cold peace” that is not secured by an agreement will not free Russia from sanctions,” the chancellor added.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmygal discussed with US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo the development of bilateral trade and the reduction of trade barriers.
“Denis Shmihal noted the importance of continuing and strengthening sanctions pressure on Russia in order to reduce its ability to finance the war against Ukraine. An important blow to bleed the Russian economy and the Russian military machine should be the sanctions of the energy sector. According to the head of government, this concerns the imposition by partner countries of an embargo on the import of oil, gas, coal and nuclear fuel from Russia,” the government’s press service said in a statement.
Shmyhal urged countries to look for ways to diversify sources of nuclear fuel supplies to reduce dependence on Russia.
The prime minister also focused on the need to identify and eliminate any loopholes and potential opportunities for Russia to circumvent the already imposed sanctions.
“Russia is trying to adapt to some sanctions with the help of certain countries and companies. We will work with our partners to eliminate such opportunities for Russia,” he stressed.
It is noted6 that one of the most important tracks, according to Shmyhal, is a large-scale restriction of Russia’s trade opportunities while expanding the opportunities for unhindered trade for Ukraine by reducing import quotas and barriers for strategic sectors of Ukrainian industry.
According to him, along with the financial support of international partners, it is equally important for Ukraine to open new markets for Ukrainian-made products, in particular, this applies to products of the steel industry and the agro-industrial complex.
In particular, Shmyhal noted that the release of Ukrainian steel from US duties would allow for a stable supply of metallurgical enterprises with orders, and thousands of Ukrainian metallurgists with jobs.
COOPERATION, PM, UKRAINE, US
Mining company Ferrexpo with assets in Ukraine in 2021 increased its net profit by 37.1%, to $870.99 million, with revenue growth of 48.1%, to $2 billion 518.23 million, according to the company’s report on the London Stock Exchange in Friday.
According to it, EBITDA profit increased by 67.5% to $1 billion 438.76 million.
The report also notes that the company’s gross debt fell from $266 million to $50 million last year, while its net cash position increased from $4 million to $117 million.
Ferrexpo says its manufacturing assets were not affected by the hostilities after Feb. 24, but shipping has been halted since Feb. 25, with only shipments to Europe currently taking place.
Commenting on the impact of the war on operations and financials, Ferrexpo says it has adjusted its long-term model to reflect lower sales volume caused by a lack of offshore sales to its customers. The expected lower sales volume will have a negative impact on cash flow generation, which in turn will negatively affect the carrying value of the group’s non-current assets in future periods. However, Ferrexpo has so far refrained from making any assessments.
At the same time, Ferrexpo said it had prepared stress tests with more severe adverse changes such as a 3, 6 and 18 month production halt. Under these stress testing scenarios, the impairment loss could increase to between $320 million and $400 million, again depending on circumstances and macroeconomic data that would only be known to the Group at the time of preparation of the interim condensed consolidated financial statements for the six months ended 30 June 2022.
Ukraine is negotiating a potential issue of “peace bonds” designed for retail investors from the US and European diaspora, Bloomberg reported citing sources.
“Ukraine is in talks with the EU and the US to issue so-called ‘peace bonds’ to retail investors to fund the war effort and reconstruction,” the agency said, citing a source familiar with the discussion.
The European Commission has proposed recommendations and the role of an intermediary regarding the control of new bonds. According to the source, Ukraine and the EU held relevant negotiations.
Earlier, the Treasury Department indicated that it was discussing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission the possibility of allowing US citizens to buy Ukraine’s war bonds. According to the source, the Ukrainian government is represented by an international law firm in the placement of bonds on the US market. At present, war bonds have allowed the Ministry of Finance to raise $1.53 billion, the IMF – $1.4 billion, the NBU – $1.3, the World Bank – $1 billion, EU – $0.79 billion, the report says.
The Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine) has extended martial law in Ukraine for another 30 days, that is, until May 25, 2022, MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak (the Holos faction) has said.
“Parliament met again today and adopted… We voted on a number of important decisions,” Zhelezniak said on his Telegram channel on Thursday.
According to him, the extension of the martial law in Ukraine is stipulated in bill No. 7300 on approval of the presidential decree on extension of the martial law in Ukraine, for which 300 MPs voted.
