The world’s central banks, according to preliminary data, sold 27.4 tons of gold from international reserves in May 2023, the World Gold Council (WGC) estimated.
By comparison, sales totaled 69.4 tons in April, according to revised figures.
The largest state seller of gold in May was Turkey (62.8 tons). There were also reduced reserves in Uzbekistan (10.9 tons), Kazakhstan (2.4 tons) and Germany (1.8 tons).
They bought gold in reserves in Poland (19.9 tons), China (15.9 tons), Singapore (3.9 tons), Russia (3.1 tons), Iraq (2.3 tons), India (1.9 tons), the Czech Republic (1.8 tons) and Kyrgyzstan (1.5 tons).
Poland is studying the possibility of creating an experimental checkpoint that would speed up the passage of trucks by joint cargo control by Polish and Ukrainian border guards, said Grzegorz Ostasz, a board member of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIT), during a conference on the development of transport communication between Ukraine and Poland.
“Poland has become a hub for the supply of important goods for Ukraine. The authorities can increase the capacity of border crossings. We proposed such a solution – to make an experimental checkpoint at which Polish and Ukrainian border guards would jointly check trucks,” the PAIT press service quoted Ostash in a release to Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.
According to Ostash, 870 Polish companies now do business in Ukraine, and Poland is interested in developing cooperation with Ukrainian business. “We are collecting suggestions and comments from Polish business on how we could simplify doing business in Ukraine. All proposals will be transmitted to the Ukrainian authorities by the government commissioner for the development of Polish-Ukrainian cooperation Jadwiga Emilewicz,” said Ostash.
According to a press release PAIT, the agency created a register of Polish companies that plan to enter the Ukrainian market and participate in programs to restore the country – today more than 2500 companies and organizations have expressed interest in cooperation with Ukrainian business.
Some 94% of Ukrainians consider Poland a friendly country, 86% consider the United States friendly, 85% – the UK, 80% – Germany, 40% – Turkey, and 5% – China, according to a poll by the Rating sociological group in cooperation with public organization Transatlantic Dialogue Center.
At the same time, 2% of Ukrainians consider Poland a neutral country, 7% consider the United States neutral, 6% the UK, 14% Germany, 48% Turkey, and 52% China.
In addition, 1% of Ukrainians consider Poland to be an enemy country, 2% consider the United States to be an enemy, 1% – the UK, 2% – Germany, 4% – Turkey, and 34% – China.
The attitude towards Germany among Ukrainians has improved, as the percentage of assessment of its friendly country has increased from 65% last year to 80% this year.
“The attitude of Ukrainians towards China and Turkey is deteriorating in dynamics. If in October last year, China was considered rather a neutral country (63%), this assessment changed to a more neutral-negative one: 34% rated it as a hostile country, 52% as neutral. As for Turkey, its assessment as a neutral country has increased: 48% consider it neutral, 40% – friendly, while last year its assessment as a friendly country (51%) was more than neutral (39%),” the sociological group said.
The survey was conducted on June 1-2, 2023 among citizens aged 18 years and older in all regions, except for the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas, as well as territories where there is no Ukrainian mobile communication at the time of the survey. The sample is representative in terms of age, gender, and type of settlement. The sample was 1,000 respondents. The survey method is computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). The error is no more than 3.1%.
The All-Ukrainian Agricultural Rada (AAR) and the Association of Milk Producers (AMP) will hold a mirror strike in response to the protest started by Polish farmers against the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products through Poland and will not allow Polish trucks into Ukraine.
“In protest against the actions of Polish agricultural producers who began a strike and blocked the border crossing point (BCP) “Dorohusk – Yagodin” for cargo with Ukrainian grain, domestic agricultural producers decided to act in the mirror,” – noted in a press release of the WAR.
It is emphasized that Ukrainian agrarians have taken a strong stance to protect their interests and the domestic agricultural sector. During the strike, they will block the movement of Polish trucks through four international checkpoints, viz: The checkpoint “Dorogusk – Jagodin” on the Ukrainian side, in the municipality of Krakivets near the checkpoint “Krakivets-Korcheva”, in the village of Rata near the checkpoint “Rawa-Russkaya” and in the village of Shehini near the checkpoint “Shehini-Medika”.
The action will begin on June 10 at 10:00 and will last until 00:00, June 14.
As reported, for several days, Polish farmers have been blocking the PP “Dorohusk – Jagodyn” in protest against the influx of Ukrainian grain to the Polish market.
Only vehicles carrying humanitarian aid are allowed to pass. As part of the protest, two trucks with humanitarian aid will pass from Poland to Ukraine per hour, and none from Ukraine to Poland.
According to data for Friday morning, about 320 heavy trucks stood in a nine-hour queue to leave Poland for Ukraine at the Dorohusk border crossing point. According to the Ukrainian side, there were 3,185 trucks registered in the electronic queue to enter Poland.
The Polish protest is expected to last until midnight on Monday.
Poland has sent 14 MiG-29 fighter jets and 325 tanks to Ukraine, the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Poland to the EU has reported.
“Out of 575 tanks delivered to Ukraine so far, 325 have been transferred by Poland. The Netherlands ranks second (85), Germany third (80) and the United States fourth (76). In addition, out of the 28 aircraft transferred to Kyiv so far, Poland has sent 14 MiG-29 fighters,” the post on Twitter reads.
On May 8, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced the dispatch of MiG-29 fighters.
In April, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that Warsaw would be able to supply Kyiv with a total of 14 MiG-29 fighters.
The MiG-29 is a fourth-generation Soviet and Russian multi-role fighter developed in the 1970s. It is designed to destroy air targets with guided missiles and an onboard cannon and to engage ground targets with unguided munitions. It has numerous modifications. The aircraft is operated by more than 20 countries.
“Nova Posta”, the leader of express delivery in Ukraine, partly lifted restrictions on sending food products to Poland in international parcels, the press service of the company said.
“The government of Poland lifted restrictions on the import and transit of certain types of food products. As a result, Nova Posta has resumed accepting some products as part of international parcels that are sent to the EU,” the company said in a press release Wednesday.
In the list of products that can be sent abroad again: chocolate and chocolates with stuffing, waffles, cookies, gingerbread, chewing gum, crispbread, croutons and toast, ready-made sauces, ketchups, mustard, canned fish or fish roe – provided that such products are suitable for long-term storage, transported only in original undamaged packages and do not require special temperature storage mode. The total weight of products that are approved by customs authorities for shipment abroad is 10 kg.
However, it is specified that it is prohibited to ship meat, animal products, products of short-term storage or products that require a special temperature regime, dairy and fermented dairy products (including canned condensed milk). canned condensed milk); fruits, vegetables, edible fruits in any form (fresh, dried, dried, canned); nuts, seeds, coffee, tea; vegetable oils; grains and cereals and flour; cereals; sugar, syrups, jams, jams, fruit jellies, marmalade, marshmallows; purees and pastes of fruits or nuts, natural and artificial honey, fruit juices, vinegar, spices and eggs.
For a complete list of goods and cargo that are allowed or prohibited to send in international parcels, see this link: https://novaposhta.ua/delivery_to_Poland/3_PAMIATKA_UA_PL.pdf.
Earlier it was reported that Nova Posta has suspended the shipment of products to the EU due to restrictions on the export of Ukrainian agricultural products.
All company branches have suspended the receipt of any products in international parcels sent to the EU, due to the introduction of temporary restrictions on the import and transit of a number of food products from Ukraine – sugar, cereals, confectionery, fruits, vegetables, etc.
Founded in 2001 Nova Posta is the leader of express-delivery market in Ukraine. Its network consists of more than 6 thousand outlets throughout the country.
“Nova Posta provides a full range of logistics and related services.
It includes Ukrainian and foreign companies, including Nova Posta, NP Logistik, Post Finance (Forpost system) and Nova Posta Global.
