Spot prices for gas in Europe have topped $1350/1,000 cubic meters, their highest since early October, when prices surged to near an implausible $2,000/1,000 cubic meters. On Monday, the price of the closest (January) TTF futures on the ICE Futures exchange reached 116.395 euros per MWh, that is $1,358 per 1,000 cubic meters. In November, day-ahead contracts on the TTF traded at an average of $945, in December, at an average of $1,134/1,000 cubic meters. The average since the start of the year has reached $512.
Experts said that the latest spike in prices could be traced to a Sunday report by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung regarding the stance of Germany’s new foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The newspaper said that Baerbock, a representative of the Green Party, has always opposed the pipeline, but was compelled within coalition negotiations to accept the Social Democrats’ unwillingness to forgo the pipeline, which has already been completed. However, now that she has assumed the role of foreign minister, she is constantly being reminded about her previous stance.
The current level of gas reserves in European UGS facilities has already reached 62.83% of their maximum capacity as of Sunday morning, which is 17 percentage points below average figures over the past five years.
The European weather forecast for the current week envisages a new warming (much like in the same period of the previous year).
Wind generation in the past week (December 6 through December 12) accounted for 15.6% of the European energy balance after 18.5% in the preceding week (November 29 through December 5).
The Ukrainian subsidiary of Sberbank of Russia changed its name to JSC IR Bank (JSC International Reserve Bank), according to the unified public register of legal entities and sole proprietors. According to the Opendatabot, the bank was renamed on December 10.
As reported, Sberbank of Russia decided to change the name of its subsidiary Sberbank JSC (Kyiv) to JSC IR Bank, as evidenced by the decision of Sberbank of Russia on September 27, published on its website.
Earlier, with reference to the materials of the Ukrainian Patent Office, it was reported that Sberbank back in 2018-2019 filed applications for registration of the names of the International Reserve Bank (IRB) in Ukrainian, Russian and English, as well as related trademarks, with Ukrpatent.
In August 2021, the Supreme Court of Ukraine upheld the position of the state-owned Oschadbank (Kyiv) and prohibited the Ukrainian subsidiary of the largest Russian bank from using the Sberbank trademark in Ukraine.
Sberbank (earlier a subsidiary bank of Sberbank of Russia, before that it was bank NRB) was founded in 2001. Its sole owner is Sberbank of Russia.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of October 1, 2021, Sberbank ranked 10th in terms of total assets (UAH 58.397 billion) among 71 banks operating in Ukraine.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 13/12/21
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of December 13
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
On Friday, December 10, the European Investment Bank (EIB) allocated EUR 50 million of loans to Ukraine, which will be used to finance coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination program in the country, in particular, to purchase a sufficient amount of vaccines against COVID-19.
According to the EU Delegation to Ukraine press service on Friday, the loan will support the health system and increase Ukraine’s viability in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
“This financial transaction is part of Team Europe’s overall initiative to respond to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the EU Delegation to Ukraine said in a statement.
To make vaccines more affordable for Ukrainians and strengthen the country’s ability to respond to the COVID-19 crisis and overcome its devastating consequences, the EIB has repurposed part of the funds of the current financial agreement.
“This is the Ukraine Municipal Infrastructure Programme (UMIP), signed between the EIB and Ukraine in 2015 in the amount of EUR 400 million. The EIB has allocated EUR 50 million under this agreement to finance the COVID-19 response. The agreement on the repurposing of the EUR 50 million loan was ratified by Ukraine in October 2021,” the office said.
According to Head of the EIB Resident Representation in Ukraine Jean-Erik de Zagon, the EIB is pleased to support the efforts of the Ukrainian government in the fight against COVID-19.
The banker said that to raise funds more quickly, the EIB managed to amend the already approved and existing loan. EUR 50 million repurposed for this aim will be used for the prompt procurement of vaccines. This is a necessary step to tackle the health and economic challenges of COVID-19, and to ensure a better future.
The procurement of vaccines against COVID-19 for funds provided by the EIB will be conducted by Crown Agents, previously approved by the Ukrainian government.
Sitronics Telecom Solutions Ukraine LLC (Kyiv) changed its name to Seeton Group LLC, rebranded and starts operating in the markets of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.
According to a message of the Ukrainian system integrator, circulated on Thursday, the company will focus on priority sectors where the IT component is most in demand: telecommunications and banking, industry, energy, agro, retail – and will strengthen cooperation with the public sector.
The new strategy envisages both intensification of activities in Ukraine and expansion of presence in the countries of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.
Earlier in the same year, Sitronics changed its owner, in connection with which it revised its development strategy and lines of business. Also, a full-fledged rebranding was carried out, during which the company changed its name to Seeton, changed its visual style and revised its philosophy: mission, values and principles of work.
Expanding its technological activities in system integration, Seeton develops IT consulting. The company is actively working in the field of information security, business intelligence, servers, data storage systems and directly in consulting, helping companies and organizations, based on analytics and forecasting, comprehensively solve problems and plan the implementation of IT projects.
“Now we are entering the international market and will be able to apply the experience of working in Ukraine in other countries that are also on the path of digitalization,” Bohdan Khoroschak, director of Seeton, quoted by the press service.
At the same time, it is noted that in the next few years Seeton intends to invest in the development of employee competencies, expansion of the team and intensive training of specialists on existing and new products.
The second area of investment is business development abroad. Seeton has already opened a representative office in Azerbaijan, where it is conducting new projects with its first clients, and is planning further development in the Caspian region and in the neighboring countries of Ukraine.
As reported, in October 2020, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine allowed relatives of owner of NEQSOL Holding Nasib Hasanov, who is a 100% beneficiary of the second largest Ukrainian mobile operator Vodafone Ukraine, to acquire 100% of Sitronics Telecom Solutions Ukraine LLC.
Sitronics Telecom Solutions Ukraine provides services in the Ukrainian market for technological solutions, structured cabling systems, networks and IT optimization expertise.
