The EXMO cryptocurrency exchange has sold part of its digital assets business in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, the exchange said on Tuesday.
According to the exchange, EXMO announced the transfer of part of the business to Russian owners and the termination of work with the markets of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, after Russia invaded the territory of Ukraine and started a full-scale war.
The company said that this was done in order to continue to fulfill obligations to customers and stakeholders, as well as to ensure a high level of protection and security.
“It’s been a tough decision for us, since we have spent over eight years building a strong community of crypto enthusiasts throughout the world, adhering to the highest compliance practices and delivering outstanding services to all our clients wherever they lived. However, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, EXMO.com as a global group wishes to avoid risking our global expansion plans by operating in such high risk markets,” CEO of the crypto exchange Serhiy Zhdanov said, commenting on the situation.
Kazakhstan clients were also included as a part of the deal, since a new team is based in Kazakhstan. The new owner of the Russian, Belarusian and Kazakh digital assets exchange business is the owner of a Russian based software development company, which was one of the vendors to provide engineering services to EXMO during the last three years.
EXMO.com user agreement was recently amended to state that Russian, Belarusian and Kazakh residents are no longer being onboarded. Russian Rubles pairs were disabled since April 15, 2022 on EXMO.com.
Earlier, the EXMO cryptocurrency exchange created the Save Ukraine Relief Fund to raise funds to help Ukrainian citizens affected by the war.
EXMO’s own contribution amounted to $1 million and has so far collected $594,000 through crypto contributions from exchange users.
EXMO is an international cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2014. The platform provides cryptocurrency trading and storage opportunities for more than 2 million traders from all over the world.
BUSINESS, CRYPTOCURRENCY EXCHANGE, DIGITAL ASSETS, EXMO, RUSSIA
As part of EU sanctions, the Bulgarian authorities imposed a ban on entry into their ports for ships from Russia, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Sunday.
“All ships flying the Russian flag, as well as ships that changed the Russian flag or registration to any other state after February 24, are denied access to the sea and river ports of Bulgaria,” AP quotes excerpts from a statement by the Bulgarian Maritime Administration.
AP specifies that the Bulgarian authorities will make an exception for ships in distress or in need of humanitarian assistance, as well as ships carrying energy, food and medicine to the EU.
On the eve it became known about a similar order of the Italian authorities. At the same time, Russian cargo ships, which are currently in Italy, were ordered by the authorities to go to sea as soon as they complete their current operations.
Earlier in April, the EU introduced another package of sanctions against the Russian Federation, ordering, in particular, to close ports for ships from Russia. At the same time, exceptions are provided for the transportation of a number of goods, for example, energy carriers, agricultural products.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky had a conversation with Prime Minister of Sweden Magdalena Andersson.
“I spoke with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson. He spoke about the critical situation in Mariupol. We discussed defense support for Ukraine, strengthening anti-Russian sanctions. I thanked for supporting Ukraine’s accession to the EU,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter.
The US authorities believe that they have already introduced the bulk of the sanctions against the Russian Federation, and now it is necessary to achieve their implementation, Jake Sullivan, US presidential adviser on national security, said on Thursday.
“We believe that we have adopted the main sanctions, and in the coming days we will focus our attention on trying to avoid their action,” Sullivan was quoted by Western media as saying at the Economic Club forum in Washington.
According to him, in the coming two weeks, the US administration will announce measures to identify those who help the Russian Federation to circumvent the sanctions imposed because of the full-scale war unleashed by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and because of the aggression of Russian troops shocking the world.
“I think that in the next one or two weeks we will announce those who contribute to the circumvention of sanctions both in Russia and abroad,” the adviser stressed.
Global demand for steel in 2022 will increase by only 0.4% and amount to 1.84 billion tons (1.834 billion tons in 2021), the World Steel Association predicts.
In 2023, according to WSA expectations, steel demand will increase by 2.2%, to 1.881 billion tons.
The total demand for steel in the Russian Federation, CIS countries and Ukraine this year, according to WSA forecasts, will fall by 23.6% to 44.6 million tons (58.5 million tons in 2021). In 2023, an increase of 1.1% is expected, to 45.1 million tons. At the same time, steel consumption in Russia will fall by 20%, to 35.1 million tons against 43.9 million tons in 2021.
CIS COUNTRIES, DEMAND, RUSSIA, STEEL, WORLD STEEL ASSOCIATION
Finland is ready to tighten sanctions against the Russian Federation in connection with the aggression against Ukraine, Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in an interview with Yle Ykkösaamu.
“Every day people die in Ukraine. We have to make the war stop. We have to be prepared to be flexible in our own daily lives,” she said.
“Finland supports tougher sanctions, including those covering energy policy,” she explained, adding that rising energy prices would not deter sanctions.
“45 days of war is 45 days more than necessary. Russia is waging a dishonorable war, cruel and inhumane, and it must stop,” Marin said.
