Ukraine
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UKRAINE REMONT: rail freight companies prepare for reconstruction
Ukrainian freight operators are racing to develop the country’s rail logistics and capture market share ahead of a potential end to hostilities and reconstruction.
COMMENT: Zelenskiy is increasingly monopolising power in Ukraine
In a surprisingly negative article for the normally pro-Ukraine The Economist, the magazine has heavily criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for monopolising power and undermining its democratic institutions.
North Korea is making billions of dollars a year from supplying Russia with weapons
North Korea has rapidly transformed into a significant arms supplier for Russia and is making billions of dollars a year in the process.
Who is going to Moscow May 9 victory day parade?
Who will attend Putin’s Victory parade on May 9? The guest list will be a barometer of Russia’s standing in the world and how far he has got in building an alternative international community in the Global South.
EU is discussing plan to sidestep Hungary’s veto on renewing sanctions
The EU is discussing a plan to sidestep Hungary’s veto on renewing sanctions that boils down to not holding the biannual vote to renew them. Under EU rules if the sanctions are not renewed the measures currently in place remain in effect.
IMF: Migration and refugee policies steer people, and economies, in new directions
When destination countries tighten migration and refugee policies, it has economic ripple effects elsewhere, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a blog. Migration has always been an integral part of humanity’s history and success.
New study reveals extent of Russian disinformation targeting Emerging Europe
'Pravda network' targeting regions of geopolitical interest for the Kremlin with negative impact on democracy and regional stability.
Farm to front line: Ukraine's wartime agriculture sector
Despite the twin pressures of war and drought, Ukraine’s agricultural sector continues to be a driving force behind the country’s economy, with experts confident of continued growth and investment.
Ukrainian pilot wanted for treason dodges jail by going to space on Russian rocket
A Ukrainian military pilot convicted of high treason has re-emerged in Earth’s orbit – rather than behind bars – after securing a spot aboard a Russian space mission.
COMMENT: Could the US strike a deal to restart Nord Stream gas pipeline?
US President Donald Trump has made it clear that he wants to do business with Russia and tap into its vast raw material resources. But restarting the Nord Stream gas pipeline is the only US-Russian business project that looks viable.
Asian giants thrive in Russia despite sanctions
Maintaining a complex balance between profit, geopolitical alignment and risk management, the presence of Asian nations in Russia reveals a divergence between Western corporate exodus and Eastern mercantile strategy.
TULGAN: Of Cheese and Chelnoki, the return of shuttle trading
The Trump Administration’s clumsy introduction of punitive tariffs recalls the days when similarly capricious sanctions wreaked havoc over Moscow food supplies that ended up in a shuttle trade in cheese.
Trump’s and Putin’s men to talk Ukraine in Istanbul on April 10
The US and Russian delegations will on April 10 hold their next meeting in Istanbul, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on April 8. The meeting will be launched at 10h Istanbul time in Russia’s consulate.
UKRAINE REMONT: INTERVIEW – "Ukraine will boom once reconstruction starts" – EBRD Ukraine head
In an exclusive interview with bne IntelliNews, EBRD’s Ukraine head Arvid Tuerkner discusses the bank’s activities in Ukraine, and why he has great hopes for the country’s postwar recovery.
Ukraine's costly return to gas imports
Russian attacks against Ukraine’s natural gas production facilities have precipitated yet another energy security crisis for the beleaguered country.
UKRAINE REMONT: The battle to build: signs of recovery in Ukraine's construction industry
Ukraine’s construction industry is resilient as it gears up for the restoration of the country’s decimated housing and infrastructure. But the sector has a mountain to climb as it contends with ongoing war and shortages of material and labour.
Kremlin envoy Dmitriev says “significant progress” made in talks during Washington trip
Russia and the US have made significant progress in discussing a settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO and Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev said during a visit to Washington on April 3.
Russia, Cuba, Belarus and North Korea exempted from tariffs as already sanctioned
US President Donald Trump dropped a tariffs bomb on the whole world on “Liberation Day” by imposing sanctions on every country the US trades with – with a very few notable exceptions: Russia, Cuba, Belarus and North Korea.
Trump threatens extreme secondary sanctions on countries dealing with Russia if Putin doesn’t do ceasefire deal
President Donald Trump has thrown his weight behind a sweeping bipartisan bill that could impose 500% secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian oil if Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t do a ceasefire deal with Ukraine.
COMMENT: EU’s foreign policy chief Kallas’ releases a white paper on European Defence sector plans
EU foreign policy chief and former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas recently unveiled a controversial White Paper on the “Future of European Defence: Readiness 2030”, but it received a very mixed reception from EU member states.