Oorlog in Oekraïne #988:

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Ten More Ukrainians Freed from Russian Captivity
Ten Ukrainian citizens have been successfully returned from Russian captivity, as announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Those freed include Nariman Dzhelyal, the Deputy Head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, detained in Crimea in 2021. Olena Pekh and Valeriy Matiushenko, civilians held since 2017–2018, are also among the freed. Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church priests Bohdan Heleta and Ivan Levytsky, captured in Berdyansk, have been released. Additionally, five civilians captured in Belarus—Mykola Shvets, Nataliya Zakharenko, Pavlo Kupriienko, Lyudmyla Honcharenko, and Kateryna Bryukhanova—are now back in Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on the release, stating, “We are grateful to everyone who helped bring our people home. This success highlights our unwavering commitment to securing the freedom of every Ukrainian held in captivity.”

The Vatican played a crucial role in facilitating the exchange that led to the return of ten Ukrainian citizens from Russian captivity.

On June 25, 2024, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the return of 90 Ukrainian defenders from Russian captivity, including soldiers from various military branches. He thanked those involved in the exchange, including the UAE, and reaffirmed Ukraine’s commitment to liberating all captives.

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Dozens of MPs and Senators Added as Friends a Fake Z-Poet Who Published Translations of German Nazi Poems

Anti-war activists created an account on VKontakte of the fictional z-poet Gennady Rakitin, on whose behalf they published patriotic poems, which were actually translations of poems by Hitler’s Nazis. During the year of the existence of the profile, “Rakitin” received a certificate from the organizers of the All-Russian competition of patriotic poetry named after Tvardovsky, which is held by the Kaluga branch of the Union of Professional Writers, and dozens of deputies, senators and z-bloggers were added to his friends. Among the “poet’s” friends, for example, are Andrei Klishas and Dmitry Rogozin. In addition to z-publics, Rakitin’s work was published by Nikita Mikhalkov and the Moscow magazine.

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IMF approves US$2.2 billion tranche for Ukraine
The IMF Board of Directors has completed the fourth review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Ukraine, approving a decision to disburse about US$2.2 billion to Ukraine to be used for budget support.

Source: IMF’s statement

Quote: "Ukraine’s performance remains strong under the EFF despite challenging conditions. All quantitative performance criteria for end-March were met, and all structural benchmarks through end-June were implemented on time or with a short delay.

The Ukrainian economy continues to be resilient although the outlook remains subject to exceptionally high uncertainty. Sustained reform momentum and timely disbursement of external support are necessary to safeguard macroeconomic stability, restore fiscal and debt sustainability, and enhance institutional reforms to lay the path to European Union accession."

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Russian coal industry profit drops by 93% amid sanctions and loss of clients – The Moscow Times
The profit of the Russian coal industry, one of the largest raw materials industries in the economy, fell by 93%, or 15 times, over the year, The Moscow Times reported on June 27 with reference to Rosstat data.

Profitable companies accumulated 72 billion rubles ($840.4 million) of profit in January-April 2024, while unprofitable companies recorded 58 billion rubles ($677 million) of loss. In total, the Russian coal industry made 14 billion rubles ($163.4 million) in profit. This is almost 200 billion ($2.3 billion) less than in the same period a year earlier.

Less than half of the industry's companies ended the first four months of 2024 in the black, although a year ago there were two-thirds of them, and their total financial result was reduced threefold. At the same time, one in two companies, according to official statistics, became unprofitable (52.4%).

"Cut off from Western markets by sanctions, coal companies are rapidly losing clients in countries that the Kremlin calls 'friendly,'" the newspaper writes.

In the first quarter, Russian coal exports decreased by 13%, and in March the decline reached 17%. Every month, the industry lost about 3 million tons of exports, and prices for Russian coal fell to a three-year low: $95 per ton in the ports of the Far East (-6% since the beginning of the year), $72 per ton in Taman (-13% since the beginning of the year), and only $61 in the ports of the Baltic Sea (-14%).

India, which accounts for about a third of Russia's coal exports, reduced purchases by 22% to 6.76 million tons in March-May, NV reported earlier. Exports to Turkiye, South Korea, and Japan also fell.

China, the largest buyer of Russian raw materials, has imposed an import duty on coal that does not apply to other suppliers, such as Indonesia and Australia, which are members of the free trade zone with China.

India's largest steel company stopped buying Russian coal in May 2022.

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Op zaterdag 29 juni 2024 07:43 schreef PluggieOD het volgende:

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Zonder steenkool kun je niet eens een (huidige) windmolen maken.

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Op zaterdag 29 juni 2024 08:16 schreef PluggieOD het volgende:

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We verbruiken wereldwijd steeds meer steenkool.

https://www.iea.org/energy-system/fossil-fuels/coal
Global coal consumption reached an all-time high in 2022 and the world is heading towards a new record in 2023. Global coal demand reached a record high in 2022 amid the global energy crisis, rising by 4% year-on-year to 8.42 billion tonnes (Bt).