US-based Development Finance Corporation (DFC, formerly OPIC), an agency of the US federal government, has announced its readiness to lend to Ukrainian businesses within individual projects in amounts ranging from $1 million to $1 billion each, Deputy Economy Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Hryban said.
“The DFC agency is ready to lend to projects in Ukraine for amounts from $1 million to $1 billion. For the sake of Ukraine, they made an exception and are ready to issue loans even if an American investor is not represented in Ukrainian business,” he said.
At the same time, this information is not yet available on the DFC website. The press release of the corporation says that its head Scott Nathan within the framework of the 77th UN General Assembly last week joined a meeting chaired by President of Poland Andrzej Duda and with the participation of Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal. At the meeting, representatives of Polish and Ukrainian business circles discussed efforts to restore the Ukrainian economy in light of the devastation caused by Russia’s unprovoked war.
According to Hryban, DFC is ready to support Ukraine with several different financial instruments, in particular, to provide coverage for credit risks, including political and war ones.
In addition, the official added that DFC is ready to issue free financial grants to those companies that are recognized as promising, but which have not yet passed an international financial audit.
The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology notes a multiple drop in the share of those wishing to leave for permanent residence in the United States or EU countries in the event of obtaining citizenship of these countries from the fall of 2020.
“In October 2020, KIIS conducted an all-Ukrainian telephone survey, which, among other things, posed the question “And if you were now granted US or EU citizenship without conditions, would you go to these countries for permanent residence?” At that time, 28% of all adults of Ukrainians were ready to go abroad.In September 2022, we asked this question again… 91% became more of those who would not want to leave,” the press release on the results of the study says.
At the same time, KIIS notes that currently about 10% of adult Ukrainians are now abroad as refugees. “However, even if half of them would answer yes to this question (recent surveys of Ukrainian refugees show that in fact the majority still want to return home, that is, the answers “yes” would most likely be less than half), then the decline in emigration sentiment would also be significant, from 28% to around 13%.
According to the results of the study, in all regions of Ukraine, the absolute majority of the population (90-92%) would not want to travel abroad.
In terms of age, younger respondents are more willing to emigrate, but in fact, among all ages, the vast majority (at least 84%) would not want to go to live in the US/EU. “In 2020, almost half (46%) of young people under 30 would like to leave, now it is 13%,” the KIIS stressed.
The survey was conducted on September 7-13 by the method of telephone interviews using a computer (CATI) among 2,000 respondents from all regions of Ukraine, controlled before February 24, and did not cover citizens who left abroad. The statistical sampling error under normal circumstances (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.1) did not exceed 2.4% for indicators close to 50% and 1.1% for indicators close to 5%. In war conditions, a certain systematic deviation is added to the error, but the results obtained still retain high representativeness, the KIIS notes.
Stock indices of Japan and Australia rose at the auctions on Monday, following the US stock market, which confidently strengthened at the end of last week.
At the same time, the exchanges of China, Hong Kong and South Korea were closed. China celebrates the autumnal equinox, while Korea celebrates Chuseok.
American stock indexes closed trading on Friday with active growth, ending the first week of the last four in positive territory. Investors followed the statements of the world’s central banks and signals about global inflation.
This week, market participants are waiting for data from the US Department of Labor on the dynamics of consumer prices in August, which will be published on Tuesday, as well as data on industrial production, retail sales and capital investment in China in August, which will be released on Friday.
Meanwhile, outbreaks of coronavirus in China and the restrictive measures introduced in connection with them remain a cause for concern, writes MarketWatch.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 closed up 1.16%. The indicator reached its maximum value in two weeks.
The growth leaders among the components of the index are the shares of retailer Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd (+4.7%), providing online medical services M3 Inc. (+3.9%) and rail and bus operator Keisei Electric Railway Co. (+3.6%).
Asia’s largest clothing retailer Fast Retailing rose 2.3%, while automaker Nissan Motor Co. – by 2.45%.
The Australian S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.02%.
The market value of the world’s largest mining companies BHP and Rio Tinto increased by 3.5% and 1.8%, respectively.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 0.8%, Westpac Banking Corp. – by 1.04%, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. – by 1.35%.
The World Bank Group on Monday, August 8, announced an additional $4.5 billion in grant funding to Ukraine from the United States under the PEACE project, which aims to help the government meet urgent needs caused by the ongoing war.
The United States, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in coordination with the U.S. Treasury Department, is providing an additional $4.5 billion in direct budgetary support to the government of Ukraine to help mitigate the severe budget deficit caused by Putin’s brutal military aggression. USAID release.
According to him, the government of Ukraine will receive funding in tranches, starting with a payment of $3 billion in August.
The World Bank indicates that the additional funding will help maintain the government’s ability to perform core functions at the national and regional levels.
In particular, the funds will help the government of Ukraine cover social benefits, medical services and pensions that are necessary for the well-being of the country’s citizens and mitigating the social and economic consequences of the war.
“Ukraine needs the continuation of public services, including health care, education and social protection, to prevent further deterioration of living conditions and poverty,” World Bank Group President David Malpass said in the release.
He thanked the United States for its continued support through the World Bank’s rapid support mechanisms and for a generous grant that will greatly support the Ukrainian people.
The bank clarified that the additional funding is in addition to the $1.49 billion Investment Project Financing (IPF) approved in June 2022. To date, the World Bank has mobilized almost $13 billion in emergency funding, including commitments and pledges from donors, to support the continuation of essential public services in Ukraine and mitigate the effects of the war. As of the end of July 2022, more than $6.3 billion has been disbursed from this funding.
Beijing’s countermeasures against the visit of Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan will be powerful, they will be felt both in the US and on the island itself, CGTN TV channel reported on Wednesday.
“Special Chinese countermeasures against Pelosi’s visit to the Taiwan region will be strong, powerful and effective, and will be constantly felt by the authorities in the United States and Taiwan,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said on the channel.
She also stated that the speaker’s visit to Taiwan is not related to democracy and concerns the issue of China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Pelosi arrived in Taiwan late Tuesday despite strong protests from China.
First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska and First Lady of the United States Jill Biden discussed the National Program for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, as well as a number of humanitarian projects, during the meeting, the press service of the Office of the President of Ukraine reports.
“As part of her visit to the United States, First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska met with First Lady of the United States of America Jill Biden at the White House. The wife of the Ukrainian head of state was also met on the porch of the White House by US President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. During the event, discussed the National Program for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, the implementation of which was launched in Ukraine,” the message posted on the website on Wednesday evening reads.
It is noted that for the implementation of the National Program for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, “expert consultations of foreign, including American, specialists in overcoming the consequences of traumatic situations caused by the war are needed.”
“The first ladies of Ukraine and the United States paid considerable attention to a number of humanitarian projects aimed at alleviating the suffering of people affected by the war. In particular, they talked about the treatment of Ukrainian children in the United States and their prosthetics in American clinics, as well as a number of educational initiatives and assistance to temporary internally displaced persons,” the statement said.
In addition, Zelenskaya met with Douglas Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris.
The meeting, which was held in an expanded format, was also attended by US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Chief Medical Officer Vivek Merty, Assistant Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, USAID First Deputy Administrator Isabelle Coleman, US National Security Council Senior Director for Europe Amanda Sloat.
The First Lady of Ukraine emphasized that “the main thing today is the supply by the United States of Ukraine of powerful precision weapons that will help us protect children and civilians, as well as accelerate victory in the war.”
In addition, Zelenskaya “told about the project ‘The Book of the Executioners of the Ukrainian People’, which collects confirmed data on war criminals from the Russian army.”
The wife of the head of the Ukrainian state thanked the United States for significant efforts in the UN for isolation and deprivation of a seat in the UN Human Rights Council of the Russian Federation, as well as for condemning Russia, and called for further strengthening of sanctions and recognizing the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
On the second day of her visit to the United States, Olena Zelenska had lunch with influential American women.
It was attended by Marcy Kaptur – congresswoman, co-chair of the Ukrainian caucus in Congress; Robin Dunnigan – Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs; Dr. Beth van Skak, US Department of State Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, and others.
“The concept of a “strong woman” is the same in Ukraine and in America: a woman takes responsibility and makes decisions in the most difficult situations. She told the American “power women”, among whom are diplomats and senators, about strong Ukrainian women. This is how each of us is now “About those fighting in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who go to work under shelling, who start all over again in a new place for the sake of children. We have a whole country of power women!”, the First Lady of Ukraine stressed.
