Russia and Ukraine signed separate agreements Friday to reopen blockaded Ukrainian ports and allow grain exports to begin to flow, Axios reported. Ukraine is one of the world's top exporters of wheat, sunflower oil and other agricultural products. With those exports almost entirely blocked due to Russia's Black Sea blockade, the food crisis plaguing countries in Africa and elsewhere has deepened. The deal, which was brokered by the UN with the help of Turkey, would be in place for 120 days and can be renewed, UN officials said.
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Russia
Russian natural gas began flowing again at a reduced volume through a critical pipeline into Europe on Thursday, buying time for governments to decouple from the Kremlin’s exports amid what they expect will be an increasingly unreliable supply of energy from Moscow heading into the winter, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The number of Russian citizens who have declared bankruptcy and faced liquidation in the first half of 2022 rose by 37.8% over the same period from last year, a Russian Ministry of Economic Development report shows, the Egypt Independent reported. From January to the end of June, 121,313 Russian citizens filed for bankruptcy and had their assets liquidated to pay off debts, the report stated. Among them, the largest number of bankruptcy declarations were from Moscow at more than 6,000 individuals, followed by the region surrounding the capital, with more than 5,600.
Russia's foreign ministry on Thursday said that the latest round of European Union sanctions were illegitimate and would have "devastating consequences" for security and parts of the global economy, Reuters reported. European Union diplomats on Wednesday agreed on a new round of sanctions against Moscow for invading Ukraine, including a ban on importing gold from Russia and freezing the assets of the country's top lender Sberbank.
Europe must drastically cut its use of natural gas immediately, and by a total of 15 percent between now and the springtime, to prevent a major crisis as Russia slashes gas exports, the European Union’s executive branch said on Wednesday, calling for hard sacrifices by the people of the world’s richest group of nations, the New York Times reported. “Russia is blackmailing us,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said as she introduced the E.U.’s plan to reduce gas consumption.
The energy crisis unfolding in Europe is starting to weigh on a growing number of the continent’s oil, gas and utility companies, The Epoch Times reported. Uniper, Germany’s struggling natural gas utility giant, recently filed a bailout application to the government after facing significant financial challenges, according to Finnish majority owner Fortum.
The EU is set to add Russia's top lender Sberbank and the head of giant zinc and copper firm UMMC to its list of individuals and companies banned for supporting Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, according to draft documents, Reuters reported. The 48 individuals and nine entities to be added to the sanctions list, prepared by the EU foreign affairs service, also include a motorcycle club, actors, politicians and family members of previously sanctioned businesspeople.
Russia's competition authority said on Tuesday it would fine U.S. tech giant Apple for violating Russian antitrust laws and abusing its dominant position in the app store market, Reuters reported. The federal anti-monopoly service (FAS) said it would levy a turnover-based fine against Apple, the size of which would be determined during the course of an administrative investigation. Moscow has long objected to foreign tech platforms' influence in the Russian market, but the simmering dispute has escalated since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
Alphabet's Google was fined 21.1 billion roubles ($373 million) on Monday by a Moscow court for a repeated failure to remove content Russia deems illegal, such as "fake news" about the conflict in Ukraine, Russia's communications regulator said, Reuters reported. Moscow has long objected to foreign tech platforms' distribution of content that falls afoul of its restrictions. But the simmering dispute has erupted into a full-on battle since Moscow assembled its armed forces before sending them into Ukraine in February.