Business news from Ukraine

Conservatives win parliamentary elections in Iran

The Conservatives have won a majority of votes in the Iranian parliamentary elections, a number of Iranian media reported on Monday.

On March 4, the election commission completed the vote count in the elections to the country’s legislature. According to preliminary results, conservative candidates are leading in all provinces of Iran, including Tehran, local media reported.

The candidates will compete for 45 of the 290 seats in the parliament in the second round.

Approximately 25 million Iranian citizens took part in the March 1 elections to the country’s parliament and the Council of Experts. According to preliminary unofficial data, the turnout was approximately 41%.

A record number of candidates were allowed to participate in the parliamentary elections – more than 15.2 thousand people, which was almost 75% of the total number of candidates who initially registered. About 1.7 thousand of the candidates admitted to the elections are women.

According to the Iranian Constitution, five seats in the 290-seat parliament should go to representatives of religious minorities. 144 candidates competed for 88 seats in the Council of Experts, which elects the country’s Supreme Leader.

Many candidates who advocate reforms in Iran were banned from participating in the parliamentary elections, and some political figures, including former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, were not allowed to run for the Council of Experts, Iranian media reported.

The first meeting of the newly convoked parliament will be held in late May.

Earlier, the Experts Club think tank made a video dedicated to the top 10 elections in the world this year. More detailed analysis is available at

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Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE invited to join BRICS

The BRICS member states have decided to invite Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to join the organization, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday.

“We have decided to invite Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to become full members of BRICS,” Ramaphosa said in a speech at the BRICS summit.

The membership of these countries will become official on January 1, 2024, the South African leader explained.

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Rafael Goroyan, head of Prometey, supports sanctions against Iran

Rafael Goroyan, the owner and the head of the Prometey Group of Companies, a big Ukrainian grain trader, positively evaluated the initiative of the President of Ukraine to impose sanctions against Iran for 50 years.
The resolution, which was voted for yesterday by people’s deputies, envisages, in particular, a complete ban on trade operations.
“I welcome this decision of the state authorities of Ukraine. Today our country is one of the main suppliers of agricultural products to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
I believe that the ban on trade will significantly affect the food security of Iran, the government of the country is likely to face starvation among the population.
The Islamic Republic will be left with one supplier of grain – the Russian Federation, on which it will be completely dependent. This means that the supplier will be able to dictate prices, which will certainly hit Iran’s economy,” Rafael Goroyan is sure.

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Ukrainian President introduces draft law on sanctions against Iran to Rada

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has submitted a draft law on the application of sectoral special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions) to the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Verkhovna Rada on May 27, 2023.
The card of the project number 9333 appeared on the website of the Parliament.
“In accordance with Article 93 of the Constitution of Ukraine and part two of Article 5 of the Law of Ukraine “On Sanctions” I am submitting for consideration of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine a draft resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine “On Approval of the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine dated May 27, 2023 “On the application of sectoral special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions) to the Islamic Republic of Iran”, – said in the text of the document.
According to the addendum to the draft, it is proposed to apply sanctions against Iran for 50 years. The restrictive measures include a complete ban on trade with Iran, stopping the transit of resources, flights and shipments by Iran through Ukraine as well as preventing Iranian residents from taking capital out of Ukraine.
In addition, it is proposed to prohibit the transfer of technology and intellectual property rights to residents of Iran and to prohibit investments in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

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EU may impose sanctions on dozens of companies from China, Iran, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

The EU is considering imposing sanctions against dozens of companies from China, Iran, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan that cooperate with Russia, Reuters reports.
The agency cites diplomatic sources familiar with the European Commission’s draft proposals. Inclusion of these companies in the “black list” is possible within the framework of the prepared 11 package of anti-Russian sanctions.
In late April, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Elizabeth Rosenberg during a visit to Kazakhstan warned of the growing risks of secondary sanctions against Kazakh companies and banks that help Russia evade Western sanctions imposed in response to the full-scale war against Ukraine unleashed by Russia.

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Most Ukrainians have negative attitude towards Russia, Belarus, Iran, China – poll

The overwhelming majority of residents of all regions of Ukraine express a negative attitude towards the Russian Federation, according to the results of a sociological survey conducted by the Razumkov Center sociological service.
“Negative attitude is most often expressed towards Russia (94%), Belarus (81%), Iran (73.5%), China (60%), Hungary (46.5%). Negative attitudes towards Russia are expressed by the vast majority of residents of all regions – from 90% of the eastern region to 97% of the central region,” reads the press release on the results of the survey.
The researchers also specify that 95.5% of those who communicate mainly in Ukrainian at home have a negative attitude towards Russia and 88% of those who communicate in Russian.
At the same time, according to the results of the poll, only 2% of respondents express a positive attitude to citizens of the Russian Federation, 77% express a negative attitude and 14% express a neutral attitude.
“Positive attitude to citizens of Russia is expressed by 4% of residents of the eastern and southern regions, 2% of residents of the central region and 0% of residents of the western region. Negative attitude is expressed by 70%, 56.5%, 80% and 84%, respectively. Among those who communicate primarily in Ukrainian at home, a positive attitude towards citizens of Russia is expressed by 0.6%, among those who communicate in Russian – 5%, negative attitude – 82% and 59.5%, respectively,” – indicate the Razumkov Centre.
In addition, the vast majority (97%) of respondents have a negative attitude towards the government and the Russian State Duma.
At the same time, Ukrainians more often express a positive attitude towards Poland (94%), Great Britain (91%), Lithuania (91%), Estonia (90%), Latvia (90%), Canada (90%) and the Czech Republic (88%), The USA (88%), Netherlands (86%), France (86%), Germany (85%), Moldova (82,5%), Slovakia (82,5%), Israel (75%), Japan (74%), Turkey (72,5%), Georgia (70%), Romania (69%), Armenia (66%), Azerbaijan (65%). The relative majority (46%) have a positive attitude towards India.
The sociological service of the Razumkov Center conducted a sociological survey “Orientations of Ukrainian citizens in foreign policy, assessments of government foreign policy and attitudes toward foreign states and politicians” on February 22 – March 1, 2023, in the framework of MATRA program, financed by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine.
The face-to-face survey was conducted in all regions of Ukraine, except for the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Kharkiv and Kherson regions, Crimea and territories where hostilities are taking place.
Representatives of the Razumkov Center’s social service interviewed 2020 respondents aged 18 years and older. The theoretical sampling error does not exceed 2.3%. At the same time, additional systematic sampling deviations may be due to the consequences of the Russian aggression, in particular, the forced evacuation of millions of citizens.

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