Velta Group of Companies with titanium ore mining assets in Novomirgorod (Kirovograd Region) decided to build a plant to produce titanium products using its own innovative technology in the United States instead of Ukraine and the UAE because of the war.
The company’s president, Andrei Brodsky, said on Facebook on Sunday that it has been more than two weeks since he returned from a business trip to Washington, D.C.
“Before the full-scale war began, we, VELTA, were starting to build a pilot plant to make titanium products using our own technology. We obtained a lease on an industrial facility in Novomoskovsk, began repair and construction work and the purchase of equipment. We also received a long-term lease on the territory of a former mine next to our mining and processing facility in Novomirgorod in Kirovograd region and began designing a large enterprise. It has to be a new Ukrainian industrial giant. Everything was stopped by the war”, stated the CEO.
According to him, near the future enterprise “two Russian missiles flew in, right above our mine our air defense shot down another one, there was a threat of a quick breakthrough front”.
In order “not to give high-tech developments to the enemy,” they decided to create the first enterprise for the processing of titanium raw materials outside of Ukraine. “It was a forced and very difficult decision,” said the co-founder of VELTA.
At the same time, he noted that the company had very strong ideas to build an enterprise in the UAE.
But the UAE has taken an unclear position with regard to Ukraine, “Kadyrovites and simply fugitive Russians have created their own almost hub there, and I stopped to consider Dubai or Abu Dhabi as an attractive haven,” Brodsky said. He also noted that he had to reformat his plans concerning titanium products: “Even now I really want to produce purely civilian products. And we are going to do that. Perhaps later… Now the market says completely different things. The world has completely changed with the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine.
According to Brodsky, it was decided to build the company in the United States, which is Ukraine’s main and reliable ally in the fight against Russian invaders and also the leading leader in technology and weapons production.
PKF VELTA LLC was registered in April 2000. The main activity is the extraction and production of ilmenite concentrate.
VELTA Holding LLC owns 100% of PKF VELTA LLC. The ultimate beneficiaries are three individuals: Andrey Brodsky (60%), Vadim Moskalenko (20%) and Vitaly Malakhov (20%).
The U.S. authorities on Monday may announce the allocation of another package of military aid to Kyiv, this time in the amount of $2.6 billion, according to Western media, citing U.S. officials.
The package, among other things, will include various types of ammunition, anti-tank weapons, air surveillance radar, equipment for crossing water barriers, recovery vehicles, and missiles for NASAMS air defense systems.
The reports note that work on this military assistance in the United States has not yet been completed, and therefore changes may occur in the list of transferred weapons.
The U.S. economy will enter recession in the coming months, Jeff Gundlach, head of investment company DoubleLine Capital, said on CNBC.
According to Gundlach, only a rise in unemployment is needed for a recession to begin under current conditions. The Federal Reserve (Fed) will need to take “very decisive” action, he believes, and expects the regulator to lower interest rates this year.
Since March 3, the two-year U.S. Treasury yield has fallen about 100 basis points to 4.078%. Until it recovers, the Fed won’t raise rates, Gundlach believes.
The Fed has been tightening monetary policy throughout the year. As Bloomberg notes, this forces investors to reallocate capital in favor of cash and instruments with yields higher than deposit rates, including Treasury bills and units of money market funds.
The number of homes under construction in the U.S. in February rose 9.8 percent from the previous month to 1.45 million at an annualized rate, a five-month high, according to the country’s Commerce Department.
According to the revised data, the number of new buildings in January was 1.321 million, rather than the 1.309 million previously announced. Despite the revision, the January figure was the lowest since June 2020.
Experts had predicted an increase in the number of new buildings in February to 1.31 million from the previously announced January level, according to Trading Economics.
The number of new buildings was down 18.4 percent from February 2022.
The number of new home construction permits issued in the U.S. in February increased 13.8% to 1.524 million on an annualized basis from 1.339 million a month earlier. Analysts’ consensus forecast suggested that the number of permits in February would be 1.34 million.
Construction of single-family homes rose 1.1% last month, to 830,000. Permits for such homes rose 7.6%, to 777,000.
In the case of apartment buildings (including apartments and condominiums), a more volatile market segment, there was a 24.1% increase, to 608,000. The number of permits for construction of apartment buildings increased 21.1%, to 747,000.
International rating agency Moody’s Investors Service has changed its outlook for the U.S. banking system to “negative” from “stable,” the agency said in a statement.
The decision follows “a rapidly deteriorating operating environment” following the bankruptcies of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and Silvergate Bank.
“Although the Treasury Department, the Fed and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have announced that all SVB and Signature Bank depositors will receive full compensation, the rapid and significant decline in depositor and investor confidence underscores the asset-liability management risks among U.S. banks, which are exacerbated by rising interest rates,” the press release said.
The United States has provided more than $46 billion in security, economic and humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began and will continue to provide the economic assistance that makes Ukraine’s resistance possible by supporting the home front: funding critical public services and helping the government work, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.
“In the coming months, we expect to provide about $10 billion in additional economic support to Ukraine,” she reiterated at a news conference Thursday in Bangalore, India, of earlier U.S. commitments.
The secretary recalled U.S. President Joseph Biden’s words about supporting Ukraine in its struggle for as long as it takes and thanked allies for stepping up their direct assistance.
“And we think it is critical that the IMF move quickly to a fully funded program for Ukraine, as it has promised,” Yellen said.
“We very much want the IMF to come to an agreement on lending to Ukraine. The managing director (of the Fund) has made it clear that she should agree on a full program by the end of March,” the secretary added.
She stressed that continued and reliable support for Ukraine would be a major topic of discussion during her visit to India, where she is attending the G20 finance ministers’ meeting.
Yellen recalled that since the early days of the war, the U.S. has worked with a multilateral coalition of more than 30 countries to impose serious economic costs on Russia for its brutal attack.
“Our twin goals are to degrade Russia’s military-industrial complex and reduce the revenue it can use to finance its war,” she said, pointing out that Russia’s economy has become increasingly isolated, with nearly a million Russians leaving the country last year.
Responding to questions, the U.S. Treasury chief said a joint communiqué from G20 finance ministers was still under discussion. “Of course, we would like to see a sharp condemnation of the impact that the war has had on Ukraine and on global economic prospects. It is one of the most significant factors reducing growth and causing very negative side effects, especially for low-income countries,” Yellen stressed.
As reported, Ukraine hopes that the IMF Monitoring Program will be replaced by the Extended Funding Facility program as early as the second quarter of 2023, which can partially cover the gap in covering the $38 billion deficit of the state budget-2023, which is now about $10 billion. Kiev expects that the U.S. will provide $10 billion in grant aid by September, and the EU – EUR18 billion of preferential credit support during the year.
