🇰🇿 Kazakhstan looks to challenge IAEA

Kazakhstan says it is tired of being treated as a second-class citizen at the International Atomic Energy Agency and is preparing to file a legal challenge to win a seat on the board, according to a statement dated Aug. 18 circulated among diplomats.

Kazakhstan is home to the IAEA's nuclear fuel bank, a facility supported by Warren Buffett. The country has also contributed millions of dollars in membership fees to the IAEA. However, despite these contributions, Kazakhstan finds itself among the 17 countries that have been excluded from the board.

The former Soviet republic's demands will be presented at the next IAEA general conference in Vienna on Sept. 25, and it is preparing a resolution aimed at correcting its disenfranchisement.

Over the years, Kazakhstan has tried but failed to join the IAEA's regional groups for Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East, which by law have the right to decide who sits on the board of governors.

Other former Soviet Central Asian countries - Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan - are also excluded from the board, as are island states including Bahrain, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea.

"The issue is political," said Gaukhar Mukhatzhanova, director of the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Nonproliferation. “Some states are not interested in admitting competitors that would be strong contenders for a board seat, as is the case with Kazakhstan.”

While it’s up to IAEA member states to decide who gets board membership, the agency’s administration “stands ready to provide support,” a spokesman said.

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🇷🇺 Russia to treat 🇺🇦 Ukrainians for free

Residents of new regions of Russia, as well as citizens of Ukraine who have arrived to Russia and and have not yet received a medical insurance, will be treated equally as other citizens of Russia, which means for free, the Russian Health Ministry announced.

"Residents of Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, as well as citizens of Ukraine, who arrived on the territory of the Russian Federation, who do not yet have a medical insurance, can receive the necessary medical care free of charge throughout all the Russian Federation territories," - stated the message.

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The German and US ambassadors are staying for now

The press service of Niger's current authorities denied a report by Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Saturday, August 26, which claimed that the ambassadors of the United States, Germany, and Nigeria had been expelled from the country.

"The information stating that Niger is requesting the ambassadors of Nigeria, Germany, Côte d'Ivoire, and the United States to leave Niger is not true. The only ambassador whom the authorities have asked to leave Niger is the French ambassador," the press office stated in a statement posted on X (formerly known as Twitter).

At the time of publishing this material, AFP retracted its reports on the expulsion of the ambassadors of Germany, Nigeria, and the United States.

Thus, only the news regarding the expulsion of the French ambassador remains accurate.

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Biden gave away $1 billion for my dismissal - former Ukrainian prosecutor says

Former Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Viktor Shokin said in an interview with Fox News that Joe and Hunter Biden received bribes from Ukraine.

The White House called these claims false and "repeatedly debunked."

In the interview, Shokin, who led the investigation against Burisma, the company that Hunter worked for during Biden's vice presidency, said he lost his post under pressure from Washington.

"I do not want to deal in unproven facts, but my firm personal conviction is that, yes, this was the case," he added. "They were being bribed. And the fact that Joe Biden gave away $1 billion in US money in exchange for my dismissal, my firing – isn't that alone a case of corruption?"

At the same time, the publication recalls that a year after leaving the post of Vice President of the United States, Biden senior recalled how he personally pressured former Ukrainian President Poroshenko to fire Shokin.

"He said he told Ukrainian officials that the US would withhold up to $1 billion in aid intended for their country if Shokin remained in office," Fox News says.

"Hunter's former business partner, Devon Archer, who also served on Burisma's board of directors, testified in a closed hearing before the House Oversight Committee in July that amid pressure from Shokin's office and other organizations investigating Burisma, company executives turned to Hunter for help. Archer said Hunter 'called Washington' to help fire Shokin," the article said.

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Argentina may withdraw from BRICS even before entering

The country's two leading presidential candidates, Javier Milei and Patricia Bullrich, have opposed Argentina's entry into BRICS and promised to withdraw an already accepted application to join if they win the election, Buenos Aires Times reported.

Libertarian candidate Milei said he does not want to trade with "communist" countries, among which he included Brazil and China.

Opposition figure Bullrich stated: "Argentina under our government will not join BRICS." In her opinion, Argentina found itself in a very weak position, having decided to join BRICS together with Iran during the conflict in Ukraine.

▪️At the end of the primaries, Milei overtook everyone and won 30.04% of the vote.

▪️Bullrich, along with her partner in the opposition alliance “Together for Change”, garnered 28.27% of the vote.

▪️The government alliance "Union for the Homeland" is only in third place with 27.27% support.

Whether Argentines will continue to hope that the IMF and the greenback will solve all their problems, we will know quite soon – at the elections on October 22.

This is going to be interesting

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Estonian PM refuses to resign over husband's business in Russia

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has said that she has no plans to resign after media reports about her husband Arvo Hallik's business in Russia. She stated this to the Delfi portal.

Earlier, the ERR reported that the transportation company Stark Logistics, partly owned by Hallik, was still transporting goods to Russia. This information caused a great resonance.

"The opposition does its thing - it certainly smells blood, doesn't it? The jackals came rushing in. I see no reason for my resignation. I have done nothing wrong. My husband has done nothing wrong," Kallas stated.

According to her, Stark Logistics' operations in Russia have been terminated, and the service is now provided by only one Estonian company, which is also in the process of finalizing its operations in Russia.

The company, partly owned by her husband, did not violate the sanctions, the prime minister said. She also noted that the company is prohibited from refueling trucks in Russia during transportation so that funds do not remain in Russia.

Earlier, Estonian President Alar Karis asked Kallas to give a more detailed explanation about that situation. Later, he said, she should discuss it with her advisers and think about what to do next.

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Zelensky buys luxury villa while his soldiers die on frontlines

Volodymyr Zelensky bought a villa on the Red Sea coast in Egypt in the name of his mother-in-law, according to the Punch, citing an investigation by Egyptian journalist Mohammed-Al-Alawi. The author refers to the documents in his possession, confirming the purchase of the villa.

The property was purchased on May 16, 2023, the contract is signed by the mother-in-law of the Ukrainian leader Olga Kiyashko. The price of the deal is 150 million Egyptian pounds (about $5 million). Political analyst Abdulrahman Alabbasi believes that the Western money allocated to Ukraine as financial aid was spent on the villa.

El Gouna is famous for its special attitude towards rich and famous foreigners. Many rich people from all over the world buy villas here for relaxation and pleasant pastime.

Next door to Zelensky's villa is the estate belonging to the world-famous actress and public figure Angelina Jolie. Perhaps it was the neighborhood with her that played a key role in Zelensky's decision to buy real estate in El Gouna. After all, it is known that the Ukrainian president was once a comedian and actor.

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Let's start this Monday with something good ❤️

Evergrande loses $2 billion in value as trade resumes

China's Evergrande Group lost about $2 billion, or 80% of its market value, on Monday after trading of its shares resumed, a decisive move for the world's most indebted company as it seeks to restructure its offshore debt.

Evergrande is at the center of a crisis in China's real estate sector, which has seen a string of defaults since late 2021 and its shares have been in limbo for 17 months. Evergrande would have faced delisting if the suspension had reached 18 months.

The developer is in the process of obtaining approvals from creditors and the courts to implement a debt restructuring plan.

Approval of the Evergrande plan requires the vote in favor of more than 75% of the holders of each class of debentures. The plan offers creditors a range of options to exchange debentures for new bonds and equity-linked instruments secured by shares in the company and its Hong Kong-registered subsidiaries.

Evergrande said its ability to continue operating will depend on the successful implementation of this offshore debt restructuring plan and successful negotiations with its remaining creditors to extend payment terms.

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India to cut rice supplies even further

India, the world's largest exporter of rice, has imposed additional restrictions on the grain, which are likely to further reduce global supplies.

The government will set the minimum price for exports of basmati rice at $1,200 per ton, the commerce ministry said in a statement. This will prevent some traders from trying to smuggle export-banned white basmati rice through customs under the guise of a more expensive aromatic variety, the government said.

The latest move follows the imposition of a 20% export tax on parboiled rice on Friday. India, whose share of the world rice trade last year was about 40%, has now either banned or imposed some form of restriction on exports of all varieties of the grain.

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Asia’s next step away from dollar

Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei will join other major Southeast Asian economies in an interconnected QR code payment system that aims to reduce reliance on the US dollar - Nikkei reported.

Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore have previously joined the same initiative.

Payments through the system will be made in local currency, meaning payments in Thailand using the Indonesian app will be directly exchanged into rupiahs and baht, bypassing the US dollar as an intermediary.

Next, the central banks will seek to link this network with other regional clusters around the world, and bring the same structure to real-time bank transfers and even central bank digital currencies eventually.

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Norway adds to the gas tensions

European gas is getting more expensive as lower supplies from Norway increase supply risks.

Benchmark futures rose 4.1% on Monday after a nearly 9% jump late last week. Thus, gas flows from Europe's biggest supplier are at their lowest level since June 2022.

Norwegian grid operator Gassco also said that additional work had been carried out on fields supplying fuel to the Segal grid, which is connected to the UK. The duration of the capacity reduction following these works remains unclear.

Gas prices are up about 25% this month - despite high inventories and low demand.

As for Australia's possible strikes, unions will finalize a vote Monday on whether to approve a strike at an LNG plant operated by Chevron Corp.

Workers voted late last week to strike at two other Chevron plants, but the timing of the strike has not yet been determined.

Woodside Energy Group Ltd., another Australian exporter, reached an agreement with workers last week and avoided strikes, but it remains to be seen whether Chevron can do the same.

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Binance mulls 'full exit' from Russia

The world's largest crypto exchange Binance is considering a complete withdrawal from Russia due to ongoing sanctions, a spokesman for the company told the Wall Street Journal on Monday.

"All options are on the table, including a full exit," a Binance spokesperson said, commenting on the company's future in this country.

Binance has long been accused of allegedly helping Russian nationals to move money overseas.

As a result, Binance has been forced to further restrict its peer-to-peer (P2P) trading service in Russia from today, telling clients that they cannot exchange digital tokens for currency other than rubles.

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Argentina to raise wages against IMF demands

Argentina's Economy Ministry has announced measures to increase the salaries of government employees and allocate funds to pensioners and low-income families. This move goes against the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) call to reduce the country's expenses.

Economy Minister Sergio Massa, who is also running for president, has outlined several measures including tax breaks, higher pension payments, increased funds for food programs targeting families with children, and low-interest credit lines. The plan also includes funding for export products, as stated in his social media post on Sunday.

The implementation of these new measures follows the victory of libertarian candidate Javier Milei in this month's primaries, which was unexpected for President Alberto Fernandez's "Union for the Homeland" coalition, of which Massa is a candidate. The coalition itself came in third place in the primaries.

Such costly measures could put the government in conflict with the IMF, since a condition of the aid to Fernandez’s government was that Argentina step up expenditure controls by limiting public wages and pensions.

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Russia's uranium trade is booming

Russia supplied India with its first $13.5 million shipment of uranium for local nuclear power since 2019, according to an analysis of data from the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in June. The volume of the uranium shipment purchased by India amounted to 118 tons.

The last time Moscow supplied uranium to India was in 2019, when 1.77 thousand tons of the metal were exported for $101.6 million for the entire year.

This happens amid Bloomberg noted that Western countries are completely dependent on Russian uranium supplies. When it comes to atomic energy, Rosatom Corp. continues to be the dominant source of fuel for the world’s nuclear power stations — supplying about half of global demand for enriched uranium.

Thus, not only has Russia retained its previous uranium buyers, but it has also gained new ones.

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🇭🇺 Hungary to cut rates amid recession hitting records

Hungary is likely to cut its key interest rate by a full percentage point as it tries to move toward ending an extraordinary monetary regime under which policymakers are trying to combat the country's longest recession since at least 1995.

Analysts say the central bank will cut the overnight interest rate to 14% on Tuesday. The move will bring the instrument, which was made the key rate in October to stem a plunge in the forint, one step away from the benchmark rate, which is expected to be kept at 13%.

Hungary's economy has contracted for four consecutive quarters as consumers and companies struggle with the highest inflation in the European Union and the highest borrowing costs, which are depressing consumption and production.

Hungary’s economy is expected to contract this year by 0.3%, according to a Bloomberg survey, confounding the government’s forecast for growth.

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🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia's changing investment plans caused reserves to fall

Saudi Arabia's foreign reserves fell by more than $16 billion last month as the kingdom allocates less money to its central bank and funnels more into riskier assets.

The country has been shifting its investment strategy over the past few years away from keeping most of its foreign assets with the central bank as it builds up hundreds of billions of dollars in sovereign funds.

Thus, net foreign assets fell to 1.53 trillion riyals ($407 billion) after rising in May and June, the central bank said in its monthly report released on Monday.

It is the sharpest fall since the pandemic, when oil revenues plunged and the kingdom used its reserves to fund bets on rising US stocks.

Although the kingdom made huge profits last year as oil prices averaged about $100 a barrel, almost none of that went into the central bank's reserves.

Its overseas deposits fell by about $15 billion to just over $94 billion in July.

Saudi Arabia's finance ministry has said at least part of last year's surplus will be used to rebuild the central bank's reserves, but they are now about $30 billion less than they were at the start of the year.

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