Brazil has approved the candidacy of Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk for the post of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine.
“The Brazilian government is pleased to announce that it has granted Mr. Andriy Melnyk an aggregate nomination for the post of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Brazil,” the ministry said in a statement on its website.
Earlier on May 10, Melnyk had a meeting in Kiev with Celso Amorim, chief advisor of the Special Consultative Service of the Brazilian Presidential Administration.
As reported, on July 11, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired Andriy Melnyk from the post of Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany. Melnyk had been Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany since 2014.
A new video on YouTube channel of the analytical center “Club of Experts” examined the options for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey. Ukrainian experts expressed their opinions and gave forecasts regarding the political situation in this country.
Mohammad Farajallah, editor-in-chief of the Internet publication “Ukraine in Arabic,” stressed that the upcoming elections in Turkey are of great importance for the region and arouse the interest of the international community.
“Turkey is an important player on the world stage, and its domestic policy directly affects the situation in the region and beyond. Therefore, the results of the elections will be monitored with great attention,” he noted.
In turn, the founder of the Club of Experts, Maksim Urakin, Ph.D. in Economics, shared his vision of possible scenarios after the elections. He stressed that there are two main political forces fighting for leadership in Turkey: the Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Republican People’s Party (CHP). Kemal Kılıcdaroğlu, allied with five other opposition political forces.
“Two scenarios are possible. If the AKP wins, we can expect a continuation of the policies Erdoğan has pursued in recent years, with a focus on enhancing domestic stability and strengthening Turkey’s position in the international arena. On the other hand, if the CHP wins, we may see a more pro-Western orientation and increased cooperation with the European Union and the United States,” the expert said.
According to Urakin, a win for either candidate in the first round is unlikely, and the winner of the presidential race will most likely be determined by a second ballot.
Both experts also noted the significance for Ukraine of the election results in Turkey.
“Ukraine has close economic and political ties with Turkey, so the election results will have a direct impact on our relations and cooperation. Over the last year, as a result of the war, trade turnover between our countries has decreased, but I believe that if the current political course is maintained, we can expect further development of trade and economic relations between Ukraine and Turkey,” said Maxim Urakin.
In addition, the expert cited statistics on exports from Ukraine to Turkey in 2022, according to which it has decreased significantly.
“Last year, the volume of Ukrainian exports to Turkey was about 3 billion dollars as opposed to more than 4 billion in 2021, that is, we see a drop of 29%,” Urakin said.
According to Mohammad Farajallah, in the current geopolitical situation Turkey is an important partner of Ukraine in various spheres, which include both military support (UAV Bayraktar, light armored vehicles) and cooperation in economy, energy and other spheres.
The expert also suggested that if the opposition wins, Turkey is more likely to join sanctions against Russia.
“Naturally, the new government will be as close to the West as possible and can be included in a common unified Western policy against Russia. This, of course, will be to our advantage. But these are just preliminary words for now, perhaps they (the opposition – ed.) will come, look at the numbers and continue Erdogan’s current policy,” said Farajallah.
It should be noted that on the eve of the voting, Erdoğan lags behind his main rival Kılıçdaroğlu by more than 5%, according to a poll published by the Turkish sociological center KONDA on May 11.
Thus, Erdoğan gets the support of 43.7 percent of respondents, while Kılıçdaroğlu gets 49.3 percent.
The poll also reveals that neither candidate gets more than 50% of the votes, which means that if these data are confirmed in the elections, the winner will be chosen in the second round, which is scheduled for May 28.
The KONDA polling service conducted personal interviews with 3,480 people in 35 provincial centers.
At the same time, according to other surveys, in particular the Istanbul-based Center for Operational Social Research (Yöneylem), Erdoğan’s party was supported by 35.2% of voters in the parliamentary elections and Kılıcdaroğlu’s CHP by 30.7%.
For more on Turkey’s elections, see the video:
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CLUB_EXPERTS, ELECTIONS, ERDOĞAN, MOHAMMAD FARAJALLAH, TURKEY, UKRAINE, URAKIN
PJSC “Dniprovsky Iron & Steel” (DMZ, formerly – “Dneprokoks”), part of DCH Steel group of businessman Alexander Yaroslavskyy, in January-April produced 35.1 thousand tons of rolled steel, while in January-March the plant has not produced this product, and in April released 11.7 thousand tons of rolled steel.
According to DCH Steel corporate newspaper, in April this year the plant produced 5.7 thousand tons of rolled products, which is less than the same period last year by 51.2%.
At the same time, the company increased coke output by 6.5% during this period, to 74.4 thousand tons.
At the same time in April it produced 5.7 thousand tons of rolled products and 28.6 thousand tons of coke.
“The decline in production is due to the shutdown of rolling mills,” the company’s information states.
And it is added that on May 8 rolling shop No. 1 was put into operation, while rolling shop No. 2 is preparing for the next working campaign. The company’s KHZ intends to increase its output.
In 2022, DMZ reduced its output of rolled products by 74.2% YoY to 58.4 thnd mt – of coke by 56.3% to 211.3 thnd mt.
DMZ specializes in the production of steel, pig iron, rolled steel and rolled products. On March 1, 2018, DCH Group signed an agreement to purchase Dneprovskyy Metallurgical Plant from Evraz.
Oil quotes are declining in the afternoon on Thursday. The market is assessing the monetary policy of the Bank of England, data on inflation and oil imports in China and waiting for the monthly OPEC report.
The price of July Brent futures on London’s ICE Futures Exchange stands at $76.25 a barrel by 2:25 p.m., down $0.16 (0.21%) from the previous session’s closing price.
The price of futures on WTI crude oil for June on electronic trade of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) fell by that time by $0.19 (0.26%), to $72.37 per barrel.
The rate of consumer price growth in China slowed to a 0.1% annualized rate in April from 0.7% in March, data from the State Statistics Office showed. April inflation is the lowest since February 2021. Analysts on average had forecast it would weaken to 0.4%, Trading Economics noted.
In addition, China reduced oil imports in April by 16% year-on-year to 10.6 million barrels per day, adding to fears of a slowdown in its economy.
Traders may also react to the outcome of the Bank of England meeting, which raised the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.5% per annum.
The oil market has shown itself to be a “lightning rod for volatility” of late, notes KCM Trade Senior Market Analyst Tim Waterer, whose words are quoted by MarketWatch. In his opinion, extreme price fluctuations cannot be ruled out in this regard, especially given the high sensitivity of oil prices to expectations for global economic growth.
PJSC “Production Association “Stalkanat” (Odessa) on the results of work in January-March this year, increased net profit in 2.2 times compared with the same period last year – up to 77.304 million UAH.
According to the interim report of the company, net income for this period decreased by 3.2% – to UAH 701.047 mln.
Undistributed profits amounted to UAH 234.019 mln as of March 31, 2023.
As reported, in 2022 “Stalkanat” received a net profit of 325.073 million UAH against a slight loss a year earlier, while 2021 ended with a net loss of 309 thousand UAH.
The general meeting of shareholders, held on September 3, 2021, decided to separate PJSC Stalkanat-Silur and create a new company – PJSC Stalkanat with the transfer of its property, rights and obligations according to the approved distribution balance sheet.
PA Stalkanat-Silur PJSC (Odessa) previously had two branches – in Odessa and Khartsyzsk, Donetsk region on the NKT. On December 1, 2016, the company’s management officially notified about the shutdown of the company’s branch in Khartsyzsk – a relevant announcement was published in the Uryadovy Kurier newspaper. Later, the management of PAO Stalkanat-Silur PJSC stated about the seizure of the company’s branch in Khartsyzsk on NKT and sent a corresponding statement to the National Police.
The charter capital of PJSC Stalkanat is UAH 17.736m.
Export changes in % to previous period in 2021-2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
