Ukraine

Ukraine shut down a pipeline Wednesday that carries Russian natural gas to homes and industries in Western Europe, while a Kremlin-installed official in a southern region seized by Russian troops said the area will ask Moscow to annex it, the Associated Press reported. The immediate effect of the energy cutoff is likely to be limited, in part because Russia can divert the gas to another pipeline and because Europe relies on a variety of suppliers. But it marked the first time since the start of the war that Ukraine disrupted the flow westward of one of Moscow’s most lucrative exports.

Ukraine's leading agricultural group, Ukrlandfarming, said on Tuesday Russia's invasion had caused it losses totalling hundreds of millions of dollars, mainly because of the loss of access to land and the destruction of farms, Reuters reported. Ukrlandfarming, which produces grain, meat, eggs and sugar, said in a statement that it had lost control of 40% of its land portfolio. The territory had either been occupied by Russian forces or was located in areas where sowing was impossible because of fighting, it said.

Foreign financial aid will ensure the stability of Ukraine's central bank reserves as the country deals with the economic shock from the Russian invasion, central bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko said late on Monday, Reuters reported. The central bank's international reserves fell to $26.8 billion as of beginning of May from $28.1 billion a month earlier. "We have an adequate stock of international reserves, despite the ... government's fulfilments of all its foreign debt obligations," Shevchenko wrote on the NV Business media portal.

Ukraine’s central bank warned that its financial lifeline to the government has its limits and urged the finance ministry in Kyiv to lean on outside help in efforts to shore up the economy as Russia presses forward with the invasion, Bloomberg News reported. The monetary authority, which began direct purchases of Ukrainian government bonds after the war began in late February, added 50 billion hryvnia ($1.65 billion) to its debt portfolio in April, bringing the tally to 70 billion hryvnia.

The sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine will not be lifted until Moscow reaches a peace agreement with Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, adding that it was for Ukraine to determine the peace terms, Reuters reported. Scholz, in an interview broadcast Monday on ZDF public television, said Russian President Vladimir Putin had miscalculated if he had anticipated he might be able to gain territory from Ukraine, declare an end to hostilities, and see Western countries drop sanctions. "He didn't think his entire Ukraine operation through," Scholz said.

Euro zone economic growth was slower than expected in the first three months of the year, preliminary data showed on Friday, as the war in Ukraine started on Feb 24 hit economic activity and helped drive inflation to a new high, Reuters reported. The European Union's statistics office Eurostat said gross domestic product in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose 0.2% quarter-on-quarter for a 5.0% year-on-year gain. Economists polled by Reuters had expected 0.3% quarterly growth.

Hungary's OTP Bank, Central Europe's largest independent lender, is under pressure from the government of Ukraine, where the bank is also present, to sell its Russian unit, Chief Executive Sandor Csanyi said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Earlier this month Csanyi said the bank would sell its Russian operation if there was a buyer, adding market presence there could become a moral issue. The Russian and Ukrainian units accounted for 15.8% of OTP's profit last year.

Canada plans to give itself the power to seize the assets of sanctioned Russian individuals and companies and use them to compensate victims of the war in Ukraine, Bloomberg News reported. The new measures will be included in the government’s budget legislation, meaning they are almost certain to pass in parliament by summer. Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the law will be the first of its kind in the Group of Seven. Canada has now sanctioned more than 1,100 Russian individuals and companies since President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Germany’s employers and unions have joined together in opposing an immediate European Union ban on natural gas imports from Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, saying such a move would lead to factory shutdowns and the loss of jobs in the bloc’s largest economy, the Associated Press reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday he spoke with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva about Ukraine's financial stability and the country's post-war reconstruction, Reuters reported. "Discussed with IMF Managing Director Georgieva the issue of ensuring Ukraine's financial stability & preparations for post-war reconstruction. We have clear plans for now, as well as a vision of prospects. I’m sure cooperation between the IMF & Ukraine will continue to be fruitful," Zelenskiy said in a tweet.