Diplomats are preparing the first evacuation flight for Ukrainian citizens from Israel to Romania on Saturday, October 14, according to the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Oleg Nikolenko.
“More than a thousand Ukrainian citizens have asked for help in leaving Israel due to canceled flights. Diplomats are preparing the first evacuation flight to Romania for Saturday, October 14. We are working on organizing additional evacuation flights,” Nikolenko wrote on Facebook.
The Foreign Ministry noted that details will be sent to citizens who have provided their data to the Ukrainian embassy in Tel Aviv.
In addition, about 200 Ukrainians have expressed a desire to evacuate from Gaza, but due to the lack of security, it is still impossible to leave.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ukrainian embassies in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, as well as other Ukrainian agencies involved are making active efforts to get our people out as soon as possible,” emphasized Nikolenko.
Oil prices are falling on Thursday on the back of data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), which showed a steady increase in US stocks.
According to API estimates, US oil reserves jumped by 12.94 million barrels in the week ended October 6, the highest since early January.
The official report of the US Department of Energy on energy reserves in the country will be released on Thursday at 18:00 GMT.
The cost of December futures for Brent oil on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 8:15 a.m. is $85.6 per barrel, which is $0.22 (0.26%) lower than at the close of the previous session. On Wednesday, the price of these contracts fell by $1.83 (2.1%) to $85.82 per barrel.
Futures for WTI for November in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) fell by $0.32 (0.38%) to $83.17 per barrel by this time. As a result of previous trading, the value of these contracts decreased by $2.48 (2.9%) to $83.49 per barrel.
Traders are focused on the situation in the Middle East. Israel is not a major oil producer, but investors fear an escalation of the conflict in the region, given media reports that Hamas’ actions against Israel were planned with the assistance of Iran.
“Currently, the risks to the oil market are low,” says Brian Swan, chief commodities analyst at Schneider Electric. – “However, there is a slight possibility of a price increase as the US closely assesses Iran’s ties to Hamas.
“If Washington decides to restrict Iran’s oil exports more tightly, it could change the market situation,” Market Watch quotes Swan as saying.
In 2023, the European Union became the largest donor to Ukraine, having already disbursed EUR13.5 billion under the macro-financial assistance instrument and expecting to disburse another EUR4.5 billion by the end of the year, European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Paolo Gentiloni said.
“Overall, the progress is very good, and I am optimistic about the prospects that Ukraine will fulfill all the conditions by the end of 2024 and beyond,” he said on Wednesday at the 4th Ministerial Roundtable on Support to Ukraine at the IMF-World Bank (WB) meeting in Marrakech.
According to him, the EU and other international partners should be proud of the fact that they contributed to covering Ukraine’s financing gap both last year and this year, and thanks to this solidarity, Ukraine’s economy is in better shape today than many expected.
“We count on the support of all international partners. We also need to harmonize the conditions of support between international donors and international financial institutions to ensure their consistency,” the European Commissioner added, emphasizing that funding remains a key factor.
He noted that Ukraine has demonstrated the ability to continue to implement important economic reforms, recalling that the current conditions of the EU financial assistance include, among other things, judicial reform of Ukraine, improved regulation of economic activity and improved bankruptcy regime.
“The European Commission’s proposal to allocate $50 billion over the next four years will allow us to significantly help meet Ukraine’s financial needs,” Gentiloni said.
In January-September this year, Ukrainian mining companies reduced exports of iron ore by 40.8% in physical terms compared to the same period last year, to 12 million 644.570 thousand tons.
According to the statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), foreign exchange earnings from iron ore exports amounted to $1 billion 323.212 million (down 50.4%) in the period under review.
Iron ore was exported mainly to Slovakia (29.33% of supplies in monetary terms), the Czech Republic (22.58%) and Poland (19.83%).
In January-September of this year, Ukraine imported iron ore worth $86 thousand in the total amount of 126 tons. Imports during this period were made from Norway (41.18%), Italy (34.12%) and the Netherlands (23.53%). At the same time, in the same period of 2022, iron ore worth $27 thousand was imported in a total volume of 49 tons.
As reported, in 2022, Ukraine decreased the export of iron ore in physical terms by 45.9% compared to 2021 – to 23 million 984.623 thousand tons, while foreign exchange earnings decreased by 57.8% to $2 billion 912.974 million.
Iron ore was exported mainly to Slovakia (19.23% of supplies in monetary terms), the Czech Republic (17.32%) and Poland (16.49%).
Last year, Ukraine imported iron ore worth $65 thousand in a total volume of 101 tons, while in 2021 – $184 thousand in a volume of 1,202 thousand tons.
Imports were carried out from Norway (36.92%), the Netherlands (27.69%) and the UK (16.92%).
The Norwegian government is allocating an additional 200 million Norwegian kroner (about $18.5 million at the current exchange rate) for humanitarian demining in Ukraine, Norwegian Foreign Ministry State Secretary Eivind Vad Petersson has said.
“Since 2015, Norway has provided EUR 15 million in assistance through non-governmental organizations. Today, we are increasing our contribution by another 200 million kroner in additional demining assistance,” he said at the High Level International Donor Conference on Humanitarian Demining in Ukraine in Zagreb on Wednesday.
Vad Petersson also called for compliance with the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, adopted 25 years ago, expressing hope that Croatia would join it.
A statement on the Norwegian government’s website on Wednesday said that the widespread use of mines and cluster munitions in Ukraine has made it the most mined country in the world today, and that Norway will more than double its support for efforts to clear mines laid in Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s brutal aggressive war.
It is noted that about 30% of Ukraine’s territory is currently littered with mines and unexploded ordnance, and demining is vital for Ukrainian farmers to grow crops.
“Russia’s military aggression on the territory of Ukraine affects not only Ukraine. It threatens food security around the world,” Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said in the release.
It is specified that Norway has previously provided NOK 164 million for demining activities since Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022. The additional funds allocated under the Nansen Support Program for Ukraine will be channelled through existing demining organizations, including Norwegian People’s Aid, HALO Trust and the UN system.
Norway recalls that it has already provided more than NOK 4.5 billion in humanitarian aid to Ukraine and assistance to refugees in neighboring countries.
Earlier at the conference, Croatia, which organized the donor conference, announced the allocation of additional funding of EUR 5 million for humanitarian demining in Ukraine. Several other countries, including Spain, Slovakia, and Slovenia, announced at the conference that they would allocate additional funds for this purpose, but in these cases, the amounts were in the range of EUR0.5 million to EUR1.5 million.
According to a study conducted by the World Bank, the Ukrainian government, the European Commission, and the UN, the cost of humanitarian demining in the year after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion was estimated at more than EUR34 billion out of the total cost of reconstruction and recovery of EUR383 billion. At the same time, the full extent of the contamination remains unclear due to the ongoing hostilities and occupation of the territory.
Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solsky and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries of Denmark Jakob Jensen have signed a memorandum of understanding between the agriculture ministries of the two countries, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy reported.
“The signing of the memorandum is aimed at long-term strategic cooperation to improve the efficiency and sustainability of food production and agriculture,” the statement said.
According to the document, the parties will exchange information and experience in the field of green transition of agriculture and food systems, including joint policies and climate solutions; in the field of food safety and food security.
Ukraine and Denmark are also interested in the prospects of livestock development, including management, animal welfare, animal health, animal breeding, feed and organic farming.
Ukraine and Denmark will set up a joint working group to identify areas of cooperation.
Solsky thanked the Danish government for its support and assistance. According to him, Danish farmers have been successfully developing their business in Ukraine for the past 15 years. They are not deterred by the war in Ukraine.
“Denmark is one of the examples of agriculture in Europe and the world of how to be efficient and profitable. And an example of very high technology. We are interested in investments and in a greater presence of Danes in Ukrainian business. This is a good experience, an extremely high-quality approach, something we would like to learn from, something we want to follow,” the Ukrainian minister emphasized.
In turn, Jensen expressed confidence in the effectiveness of cooperation with Ukraine in the agricultural sector.
