Samstag, 2. Oktober 2021

Ukraine bat Borrell um Hilfe Insbesondere die drei baltischen EU-Länder sowie Polen, Rumänien und die Slowakei drängten auf eine eigenständige militärische Ausbildungsmission. Sie würden dabei von Schweden und Finnland unterstützt. Ende Juli hatten der ukrainische Außen- sowie der Verteidigungsminister in einem vertraulichen Brief an Borrell bereits um eine militärische Ausbildungsmission seitens der EU gebeten.

SONNTAG, 03. OKTOBER 2021

Krieg gegen SeparatistenEU erwägt Militärausbildung für Ukraine

Seit sieben Jahren schon befindet sich die Ukraine im Krieg gegen Separatisten im Osten des Landes. Russland hat die Krim annektiert. In einem internen Papier spricht sich der Auswärtige Dienst der EU nun für eine Ausbildung ukrainischer Offiziere aus.

Die Europäische Union prüft eine eigenständige militärische Ausbildungsmission, die den Namen "EU Military Advisory and Training Mission Ukraine" (EUATM) tragen soll. "Eine militärische Mission würde die Sichtbarkeit und das Engagement gegenüber den Ländern der Partnerschaft unterstreichen", heißt es in einem internen Arbeitspapier des Europäischen Auswärtigen Dienstes (EAD), das der "Welt am Sonntag" vorliegt.

Der EAD stellt in dem Dokument eine Ausbildungsmission für ukrainische Offiziere in Aussicht. "Ein solcher Einsatz würde ein Ausdruck der Solidarität mit der Ukraine sein angesichts der fortlaufenden militärischen Aktivitäten der Russischen Föderation an den Grenzen zur Ukraine und in der illegal annektierten Krim", heißt es in dem von der Zeitung zitiertem Arbeitspapier.

Demnach erwähnt die Behörde unter Führung von EU-Chefdiplomat Josep Borrell noch drei weitere Möglichkeiten, wie die EU dazu beitragen könnte, die militärischen Fähigkeiten der ukrainischen Armee zu verbessern. Dazu gehöre auch, die bereits seit 2014 bestehende Beratermission zur Reform des zivilen Sicherheitssektors (EUAT Ukraine) zu erweitern. Die zuständigen EU-Botschafter hätten erst kürzlich im "Politischen und Sicherheitspoltischen Komitee" (PSK) erstmals über das EAD-Dokument beraten, berichtet die Zeitung.

Ukraine bat Borrell um Hilfe

Insbesondere die drei baltischen EU-Länder sowie Polen, Rumänien und die Slowakei drängten auf eine eigenständige militärische Ausbildungsmission. Sie würden dabei von Schweden und Finnland unterstützt. Ende Juli hatten der ukrainische Außen- sowie der Verteidigungsminister in einem vertraulichen Brief an Borrell bereits um eine militärische Ausbildungsmission seitens der EU gebeten. Die Ukraine strebt eine engere Anbindung an den Westen an und hofft, eines Tages in die Nato aufgenommen zu werden. Russland sieht darin eine Bedrohung für die eigene Sicherheit und hat die ukrainische Halbinsel Krim annektiert.

Die Ukraine befindet sich seit 2014 mit von Russland unterstützten Separatisten im Osten des Landes im Krieg. Bislang wurden in dem Konflikt mehr als 13.000 Menschen getötet. Die Ukraine und ihre westlichen Verbündeten werfen Russland vor, die Separatisten mit Soldaten und Waffen zu versorgen, was Moskau zurückweist. Seit Jahresbeginn starben 54 ukrainische Soldaten. Im gesamten vergangenen Jahr waren es 50. Die Separatisten meldeten seit Jahresbeginn mehr als 30 getötete Kämpfer in den eigenen Reihen.

Im April hatte Russland rund 100.000 Soldaten an der ukrainischen Grenze zusammengezogen, was zu Befürchtungen einer erneuten größeren Eskalation führte. Später kündigte Moskau dann einen Rückzug an.

Quelle: ntv.de, rpe/rts/AFP

Better Than Expected Argentina's economy grew 11.7% from year-earlier in July, 0.8% from June

Economics

Argentine Economy Grew More Than Expected Amid Reopening

Patrick Gillespie

28. September 2021, 21:29 MESZ Updated on 28. September 2021, 22:59 MESZ

Economic activity expanded 11.7% y/y in July; 0.8% m/m
Economy has only grown in four of first seven months in 2021

Argentina’s economy expanded up more than expected in July as Covid-19 cases and lockdown restrictions continued to ease.

The economy grew 11.7% in July from a year ago, faster than the 8.5% median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Activity in July expanded 0.8% on a monthly basis, a slower pace from June, according to government data published Tuesday.

All but two sectors posted annual gains in July. Argentina’s hotels and restaurants saw activity grow 55%, while construction and manufacturing also recorded double-digit gains.

Better Than Expected

Argentina's economy grew 11.7% from year-earlier in July, 0.8% from June

Sources: Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Censos.

The recovery has sputtered at times this year as elevated inflation, a massive Covid wave and some export restrictions worsened an already challenging business environment. President Alberto Fernandez is seeking to increase government spending before a midterm vote in November, potentially complicating the economic outlook and an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.

His government expects the economy to grow 8% this year, boosted by the base effect of the economy’s steep decline last year. Private economists see an expansion of 7.2%, according to the central bank’s monthly survey.

— With assistance by Rafael Gayol

(Adds details on Argentina’s economic sectors)

Freitag, 1. Oktober 2021

Government launches ‘digital bolivar,’ prints new banknotes U.S. dollar is used for two-thirds of retail transactions

Markets

Venezuela’s Battered Bolivar Gets Makeover With Six Fewer Zeroes

Alex Vasquez

and

Nicolle Yapur

1. Oktober 2021, 10:30 MESZ Updated on 1. Oktober 2021, 16:40 MESZ

Government launches ‘digital bolivar,’ prints new banknotes
U.S. dollar is used for two-thirds of retail transactions

A person holds a 200,000 bolivar banknote outside a bank in Caracas, Venezuela. Photographer: Manaure Quintero/Bloomberg

Venezuela is launching a new version of the bolivar in the latest attempt to salvage a currency so beaten down by years of hyperinflation that residents have adopted the U.S. dollar.

The so-called digital bolivar, which is being introduced Friday, effectively removes six zeroes from the “sovereign bolivar,” which started circulating just three years ago.

New banknotes and coins will be put into use. Bank accounts will be adjusted to reflect the redenomination. And debit and credit card purchases will become easier: there were so many digits involved in some transactions that merchants were forced to split the transaction into multiple card swipes.

Venezuelan Central Bank Issues New Currency Redenomination — An employee displays an old bolivar banknote, right, next to new bolivar banknotes at a Banesco Banco Universal branch ahead of a currency redenomination in Caracas, Venezuela, on Oct. 1.
Photographer: Carolina Cabral/Bloomberg

It’s another maneuver aimed at propping-up the national currency, even though President Nicolas Maduro’s government is permitting the use of the U.S. dollar as a way to cope with runaway inflation and shortages. The government has implemented two other currency changes since 2008, dropping eight zeroes. Hyperinflation, among the highest in the world, has slowed to 2,146% per year from more than 300,000% in 2019, according to Bloomberg’s Cafe Con Leche index.

Under Friday’s change, the largest former banknote, for 1 million bolivars -- worth about $0.23 --will be replaced by a 1-bolivar coin. One dollar will fetch around 4.2 bolivars instead of 4.2 million bolivars at the official exchange rate.

“This is useless. Prices will continue to rise and, in a few months, the new bills will be useless,” said Leida Leon, a 37-year-old cleaning worker at a Caracas school.

The price of a coffee, an inflation indicator, has risen 345% this year

On Thursday, demand for dollars rose as people feared a prolonged suspension of banking services as the redenomination is rolled out, said Luis Arturo Barcenas, senior economist at Caracas-based financial analysis firm Ecoanalitica.

The central bank said Friday it would intervene on the FX market, selling $50 million through the banks’ exchange mechanisms, according to a notice sent to financial institutions. The amount, larger than normal interventions, comes after a spike in the parallel exchange rate over the past two days.

Two-thirds of retail transactions involve the U.S. dollar, according to Ecoanalitica. Yet, many Venezuelans need bolivars for everyday transactions, like bus fares and to buy gas subsidized by the government. While the government is attempting to boost the use of digital payments, many regions are beset by regular electrical blackouts that affect communications.

Venezuelans have faced disastrous government policies and pressure from U.S. sanctions that have put the country on the brink of its eighth-straight year of economic contraction. More than 5 million people have fled the country, once one of Latin America’s wealthiest.

An estimated 76.6% of Venezuelans are living in extreme poverty, up from 67.7% last year, according to a university survey on living conditions known as Encovi.

(Adds central bank notice to financial institutions in 8th paragrap

Venezuela has an estimated $160bn in outstanding debt, including bonds, arbitration awards and other liabilities.

Venezuela close to losing more overseas assets

A Dutch court has dealt the latest blow to Venezuela's shrinking overseas portfolio that neither the Venezuelan government nor its political foes has succeeded in defending from creditors and arbitration claimants.

In a 14 September Dutch appeals court ruling, Curacao's state-owned RdK won the right to sell shares in Venezuelan state-owned PdV's Netherlands subsidiary Propernyn to cover $52mn in unpaid debt.

The real winner in the case is ConocoPhillips, which already has an attachment to Propernyn shares to cover $10bn in Venezuelan arbitration debt. In a process expected to take several months at least, a Dutch court bailiff will now move to valuate and sell the asset, with a pro rata payout to the two claimants.

In parallel, PdV and the plaintiffs are engaged in an international arbitration proceeding that could lead to a settlement before a sale is executed, Argus has learned.

For Caracas, losing Propernyn would bear a political cost, and take away a platform to recover international commercial ties in the future. But the challenge for the plaintiffs is the asset's real value. The company owns 15pc of European niche refiner Nynas and the 10mn bl Bopec terminal in Bonaire, both originally designed to handle Venezuelan crude. Nynas underwent a restructuring last year to reduce PdV's shareholding from 50.1pc to 15pc, freeing the company from US sanctions on companies controlled by PdV. The Bopec terminal is out of service and already in liquidation with substantial environmental liabilities.

Like Curacao and Aruba, Bonaire was once a key part of PdV's Dutch Caribbean logistical network. In recent years, US sanctions, aggressive attachments by ConocoPhillips and other claimants, and PdV's lack of investment and falling oil supply effectively stripped the company of its Dutch Caribbean commercial ties.

For RdK, the Dutch court victory distracts from tensions at home, where years-long efforts to restart the 335,000 b/d Isla refinery once operated by PdV have fallen flat, sparking job losses. But it is not clear how much money RdK would actually win from the Propernyn share sale.

For ConocoPhillips, the short-term payout appears to be less important than longer-term commercial opportunities in Venezuela. The firm declined to comment on the specific case, saying: "On behalf of the company's shareholders, we remain committed to pursuing all available legal avenues to obtain a full and fair recovery of our awards."

Fighting for crumbs

Propernyn's Nynas and Bopec subsidiaries are the last substantial international assets still controlled by Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro's government. In the context of ongoing political negotiations with opposition parties, Maduro is demanding the restoration of control over all Venezuelan international assets, including some $2bn in central bank gold at the Bank of England. A decision over control of the gold is pending in the UK Supreme Court.

Venezuela's main overseas asset is PdV's US refining subsidiary Citgo and Colombia-based fertilizers company Monomeros. Both are controlled by the US-backed political opposition since 2019, when Washington and other countries recognized an interim Venezuelan government led by Juan Guaidó.

Citgo's Delaware-based parent firm Citgo Holding is the target of arbitration claimants including ConocoPhillips. Unpaid PdV 2020 bondholders have an explicit pledge on a majority of shares in Citgo Holding's parent PdV Holding. In Colombia, a regulatory intervention and bankruptcy of Monomeros has sparked a battle among Venezuelan opposition parties eager to avoid blame for mismanagement and corruption there.

Venezuela has an estimated $160bn in outstanding debt, including bonds, arbitration awards and other liabilities.

By Patricia Garip

rolfs venezuela restructurierungs blog