Translated material
The cost of war in Ukraine. Online December 23
The Bell continues to conduct online, dedicated to the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine, which began on February 24.
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21:15 The Ministry of Justice recognized human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina, political scientist Andrei Kolesnikov and Roskomsvoboda as foreign agents. Also on the register were journalists Anastasia Zhvik and Gleb Pyanykh, LGBT Sports Community, Anti-Corruption Foundation and Feminist Anti-War Resistance.
19:57 In social networks today there were reports that the largest bank in Georgia - the Bank of Georgia - is massively closing accounts for Russians, as well as citizens of Belarus. This has been reported, for example, here and here . It takes a few days to withdraw the funds.
A representative of the bank confirmed to Kommersant that some accounts were indeed forcibly closed, but, according to him, the changes affected a certain category of customers "regardless of their citizenship." The Bank of Georgia declined to name the reason for closing the accounts. The interlocutor of RIA Novosti at the bank said that the closure of accounts was due to violations of internal policies by customers or suspicious transactions.
Another Kommersant source noted that Russians can still open an account with the Bank of Georgia “in the prescribed manner,” that is, by submitting an income statement and passing a security check.
The telegram news channel of journalist Nikolay Levshits, which was the first to report the problem, as well as other Georgian news channels with links to bank managers, write that cryptocurrency transfers may be the most likely reason for the blocking (but blocking of accounts with other types of activity is not ruled out). considered suspicious by bank officials).
17:40 The Ministry of Finance gave a positive response to the bill on cryptocurrency mining, learned . Interfax
The main thing in the recall is the proposal to legalize the exchange of cryptocurrencies for rubles, albeit with great restrictions. It will take place only in the experimental legal regime of the Central Bank and only for two categories - miners and traders who receive payment for exports in cryptocurrency. Until now, it has been proposed to allow mining cryptocurrency in Russia, but to sell it and use it as a means of payment - only abroad, "without the use of Russian infrastructure."
Cryptocurrency mining still remains in the gray legal zone, and the bill designed to fix this is the subject of a fierce dispute between the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance. The Central Bank has consistently advocated a ban on mining and circulation of cryptocurrencies, seeing them as a threat to investors and a loophole for money laundering (the regulator outlined his arguments here ).
17:26 The Ministry of Education and Science has sent a military training course, developed jointly with the Ministry of Defense, to universities for inclusion in educational programs.
“Mastering the module is aimed at developing primary skills and abilities to prepare students for military or other public service,” writes the Ministry of Education and Science. Among the sections are the legal foundations of military service, combat training, the basics of tactical and medical training.
Basic military training will also appear in Russian schools, but the course will be extracurricular.
17:15 Vladimir Putin arrived in Tula, where he will hold a meeting on the material support of the Armed Forces and visit the Instrument Design Bureau (KBP), which deals with high-precision weapons. The president is expected to make an open speech at a meeting with the leadership of the defense industry.
A similar platform (the Defense Ministry board) was used by Putin this week to publicly call for constructive criticism of the Defense Ministry and announce unlimited funding for the army. But the main announcement was about shifting the draft age by three years, from 18-27 to 21-30 years old, then made by Minister Sergei Shoigu.
14:58 Bloomberg learned the true extent of the coronavirus outbreak in China, which was reported to the country's leadership: 18% of the population in 20 days. Read more here .
12:56 The price of the January futures on the European hub TTF today fell by 8%, to 85 euros per megawatt-hour, which corresponds to $930 per thousand cubic meters. The last time prices were at this level was in early June. There are several reasons for the decline in prices: warm weather in most of Europe, reduced consumption of gas and electricity by industry before the holidays, significant generation at wind farms and high supply of LNG.
12:02 The US Senate on the eve unanimously approved in the package of the law on the budget an amendment to confiscate the assets of "subscribed Russian oligarchs and people who support Putin", their further implementation and use for the needs of the restoration of Ukraine. Its co-sponsor, Senator Lindsey Graham, expects it to bring in "billions of dollars" at no cost to American taxpayers.
The text of the amendment states that the US Department of Justice transfers funds from the sold confiscated assets to the disposal of the US Secretary of State for "use to assist Ukraine in repairing the damage from Russian aggression." The Ministry of Justice could previously seize sanctioned assets, but did not have the authority to direct funds from them for the needs of Ukraine (and asked Congress to give them). The amendment closes exactly that gap, Graham notes.
11:33 "Subsidiaries" of foreign companies in Russia will be able to obtain permission to pay dividends in the relevant ministries only under certain conditions, writes RBC. No more than half of the net profit for the previous year can be directed to dividends, foreign owners must be ready to continue working in Russia, and the activities of the “daughter” must have a positive impact on the technological and industrial sovereignty of the country.
The main thing for the night and morning:
- China's move away from zero-tolerance to Covid has already led to an unprecedented spike in cases. The economic consequences will inevitably affect Russia, although so far the markets are still working out the increase in activity due to the lifting of strict measures.
- Profile Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak expects a reduction in oil production by 5-7%, or 500-700 thousand b/d, at the beginning of 2023. Russia will do this by banning the supply of oil and oil products "to those countries and those legal entities that will demand compliance in contracts with the price ceiling."
- The Central Bank is preparing to soften new property requirements for qualified investors - up to 15-20 million rubles from 30 million. This is still significantly higher than the current 6 million rubles and will have a bad effect on investment activity, brokers say.
- The dollar after the opening of trading on Friday remains at the level of 70 rubles. This confirms the hypothesis that speculators and exporters, who managed to exchange foreign exchange earnings at a favorable rate before the start of the tax period, are to blame for the surge in the dollar.
- Extradited to the US from the Bahamas, the founder of the FTX crypto exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried, was released on $250 million bail, one of the largest in US history. The ex-billionaire, who has only about $ 100 thousand left, will not have to pay such an amount .
- European enterprises cannot cope with the production of 155-mm artillery shells for Ukraine and NATO: with a total capacity of 300,000 per year, 40,000 per month “burn out” in a war. Only Germany needs 20 billion euros to bring the arsenals back to the requirements of the alliance.
- The "generation storm" will last the entire Christmas weekend and affect 200 million people, or more than half of the US population. The invasion of the Arctic air has brought heavy snowfalls, strong winds and severe frosts to most of the adjacent states of the country, more than 4 thousand flights have been canceled. There are no signs of last year's energy system collapse yet, but LNG exports are likely to drop markedly .