Translated material
The cost of war in Ukraine. Online March 6
The Bell continues to host an online video dedicated to the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine that began on February 24, 2022.
THIS MATERIAL (INFORMATION) IS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED BY A FOREIGN AGENT OF THE BELL OR IS RELATED TO THE ACTIVITIES OF A FOREIGN AGENT OF THE BELL. 18+
This online is complete. Read the new one here , the evening newsletter for March 6 is here .
21:02 On March 3, Vladimir Putin signed a decree that introduces a new procedure for transactions with Russian securities purchased from residents from so-called "unfriendly countries." We explain how it will work and what it means for investors.
19:07 Oleg Tinkov commented on his request to lift Western sanctions from him. In his opinion, the majority of Russian businessmen who have fallen under the restrictions "completely deserve it." “Some would never have been as successful without the corruption that held back a country that had such potential. Others support this terrible war. I am neither one nor the other, ”Tinkov wrote on Instagram (part of the recognized extremist Meta).
The businessman believes that the sanctions against him are a mistake that can be corrected. “When the war started, I gave up EVERYTHING I built and worked on because I couldn’t associate with the country I loved. I gave up my business, my home, many friends. My life was threatened after I spoke out, ”Tinkov added. He thanked everyone who asked for the sanctions to be lifted from him.
19:02 The Central Bank extended for another six months, until September 9, restrictions on the withdrawal of foreign currency. All current limits and conditions remain:
- If a foreign currency account or deposit was opened before March 9, 2022, it is possible to withdraw the amount of the balance of funds from it at 00:00 of the specified date, but not more than $10,000 or the equivalent amount in euros. The rest of the funds can still be received in rubles.
- Foreign currency is issued in dollars or euros, regardless of the deposit or account currency.
- For banks, the ban on charging citizens a commission for issuing currency from accounts or deposits has been extended for six months.
- Currency transfers without opening an account and through electronic wallets are issued in rubles.
- Banks can sell to citizens dollars and euros received at their cash desks from April 9, 2022. There are no restrictions on the sale of other foreign currencies.
- Resident legal entities can receive cash for travel expenses - no more than $5,000 or an equivalent amount in euros, pounds, yen. There are no restrictions on other currencies.
- Non-resident legal entities cannot receive cash in dollars, euros, pounds and yen; there are no restrictions on other currencies.
17:03 The federal budget deficit in January-February amounted to 2.58 trillion rubles, according to the Ministry of Finance. This is 88% of the deficit planned for 2023. In February, the deficit amounted to about 0.8 trillion rubles after 1.8 trillion in January. Oil and gas revenues for the first two months of the year decreased by 46%. Spending increased by 52%. The Ministry of Finance explains the increased costs by "prompt conclusion of contracts and advance financing for certain contracted costs."
16:22 The Prosecutor General's Office recognized Transparency International as an undesirable organization. “It has been established that the activities of this organization clearly go beyond the declared goals and objectives. Formally acting as an organization fighting corruption around the world, it interferes in the internal affairs of the Russian Federation, which poses a threat to the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the Russian Federation, ”the ministry said in a statement.
15:53 Russia is hesitant to buy missiles from Iran because of fears that Ukraine's allies will supply it with ATACMS missiles with a range of up to 300 km in response, writes the Financial Times. At the same time, the sources of the publication believe that soon Moscow may change its position due to the lack of its own missiles. “The Russians are in a desperate situation. They need rockets,” one of the FT’s interlocutors said.
According to Western intelligence services, Iran has sent hundreds of its drones to Russia, which are used to attack Ukrainian targets. Tehran and Moscow deny this.
Judging by the frequency of contacts between Russia and Iran at different levels, relations between the two countries go beyond military cooperation, writes FT. Today Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with his Iranian counterpart. The Kremlin does not provide details of the conversation. Last week, Tehran was visited by the head of Gazprom, Alexei Miller. In the near future, the head of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina will go to Iran, the newspaper notes. According to the source, she will discuss the integration of payment systems of Russia and Iran.
12:58 The FSB announced the prevention of an assassination attempt on the founder of the Tsargrad TV channel and the sponsor of the events in Donbass in 2014, Konstantin Malofeev. He allegedly tried to blow up the Russian Volunteer Legion, which claimed responsibility for the attack in the Bryansk region last week. But there are obvious oddities in the FSB version .
The main thing for the night and morning:
- RBC learned about the latest iteration of the Yandex section. The main news is the sale of 51% of Russian Yandex to investors selected by the company itself (49% is expected to be retained by Yandex NV). The list of 20 billionaires from Vladimir Lisin to Tatyana Bakalchuk. One of RBC's sources suggests that "many on this list will be surprised that they are even there."
- Yuan in February 2023 became the most popular exchange currency of the Moscow Exchange by the end of the month. The volume of trading in the Chinese currency (with the calculation "tomorrow") reached 1.48 trillion rubles (almost 40%), in the dollar - 1.42 trillion rubles. This was facilitated by the sale of yuan by the Ministry of Finance under the new budget rule.
- The share of Shell that left Russia in Sakhalin-2 (27.5%) is ready to be bought by Novatek. It seems that one of the main difficulties is the fate of Shell's contract for 1 million tons of cheap LNG from the project. It is beneficial for Novatek to include it in its portfolio, for Gazprom (50% of Sakhalin-2) and the Japanese Mitsui and Mitsubishi (12.5% and 10%) to sell it at high spot prices.
- The structures of MTS, which already owns Ticketland and Ponominalu, are negotiating the purchase of the TicketsCloud ticketing platform from founder Egor Yegerev. With the loss of Western performers, the ticket market has been redistributed and consolidated, while sales are recovering.
- Two-thirds of investors surveyed by Bloomberg expect their portfolio holdings in 2023 to be more than just a safety net, but a net positive. Even US professional investors will prefer foreign assets (47%) and passive funds (37%) to active strategy funds (30%) this year.
- The parliamentary elections in Estonia were won by the "Reform Party" of the incumbent Prime Minister Kai Kallas with 31.2%. The results were better than pre-election polls, and accusations of too unconditional support for Ukraine and a lack of fighting inflation by the nationalist Conservative People's Party did not work.
- US authorities have detected a data breach threat comparable to Huawei tracking in Chinese port cranes. Due to their relatively low cost and good performance, Chinese ZPMC cranes operate in almost all US ports, and the equipment installed on them has access to data on the origin and destination of containerized cargo, including military ones.
- The largest crypto exchange in the world, Binance, seems to have serious new problems. As found out The Wall Street Journal , the international business of the crypto exchange could be connected with the American one (Binance US) much more closely than the company indicated. US regulators are investigating. If they believe that Binance controlled Binance US, this will give them a reason to take over the entire business of the crypto exchange (which many investors consider a “black box”) and personally founder Changpeng Zhao.
- The oil market is again confidently talking about oil at $100 before the end of the year. The main driver of demand will be China recovering from "zero tolerance" for covid, and the growth in US production may be exaggerated, analysts say.