Showing posts with label sanctions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sanctions. Show all posts

Friday, July 21, 2023

Wheat prices soar after Russia threatens ships

"The Black Sea grain deal enabled the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) to ship more than 725,000 tonnes of wheat from Ukraine to countries facing acute hunger, including Ethiopia, Yemen and Afghanistan. So Ukraine provided more than half the WFP's wheat grain last year.


More than half the total grain shipped under the deal was corn, however. Of the nearly 33m tonnes exported, the biggest amount went to China (8m tonnes), then Spain (6m tonnes) and Turkey (3.2m tonnes), UN data shows.


Turkey has been milling grain into flour for the WFP. Corn is used as biofuel and animal feed, besides human consumption". Read more.


Report from BBC News

By Emily McGarvey

BBC News

Published Thursday 20 July 2023


Ukraine war: Wheat prices soar after Russia threatens ships


Media caption,

WATCH: Footage shows the impact of attack on Odesa grain terminals


Wheat prices have risen sharply on global markets after Russia said it would treat ships heading for Ukrainian ports as potential military targets.


Moscow pulled out of a UN deal on Monday that ensured safe passage for grain shipments crossing the Black Sea.


For the past three nights Russia has bombarded Ukraine's grain facilities in Odesa and other cities.


Moscow also warned that from Thursday any ships going there would be seen as siding with "the Kyiv regime".


White House spokesman Adam Hodge suggested Russia was planning to hit civilian ships and blame Ukraine.


Russia had laid more sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports, he said, as part of a co-ordinated Russian effort to justify attacking civilian ships.


The Kremlin did not immediately respond to the allegation.


Meanwhile in a similar warning to Russia's, Ukraine has said ships heading towards Russian or occupied ports on the Black Sea could be viewed as carrying military cargo.


Wheat prices on the European stock exchange soared by 8.2% on Wednesday from the previous day, to €253.75 (£220; $284) per tonne, while corn prices were up 5.4%.


US wheat futures jumped 8.5% - their highest daily rise since just after Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.


Prices in shops will not immediately increase when market prices go up. But if the interruption in supplies leads to a prolonged period of higher prices, the impact will make itself felt around the world in the coming months.


The sharp increase in grain cost after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year lead to rising prices - not just for food items based on grains, but also for meat and poultry, as animals are often fed with grain.


Countries which depend most heavily on Ukraine's supplies are likely to be most affected. Before the war Lebanon received nearly three-quarters of its grain from Ukraine, while Pakistan, Libya and Ethiopia are also very heavily dependent.


Earlier, President Vladimir Putin said he would return to the international grain agreement immediately if his demands were met. They include lifting sanctions on sales of Russian grain and fertiliser and reconnecting Russia's agricultural bank to a global payment system.


Russian air strikes on the Black Sea coastal cities meanwhile continued for a third night, leaving more than 20 people wounded in Odesa and Mykolaiv.


Mykolaiv regional governor Vitaliy Kim said 19 people had been hurt in the regional capital, including children. 


Apartment blocks were targeted and in one building the second and top floor were partially destroyed.


Several people were also wounded in Odesa, when a four-storey building was badly damaged.


IMAGE SOURCE,

DSNS UKRAINE

Image caption,

Odesa was targeted for the third night running


Russian-occupied Crimea was also hit overnight, according to its Russian-appointee leader Sergei Aksyonov.


A teenage girl was killed when a drone hit four administrative buildings in the north-west of the peninsula.


Crimea has been hit on three consecutive days. A suspected Ukrainian drone attack from the sea damaged a bridge from the occupied peninsula to southern Russia on Monday. Part of a key motorway was also shut on Tuesday because of explosions at a nearby munitions depot.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of deliberately targeting grain export infrastructure and putting vulnerable countries at risk.


Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi said strikes had destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain and damaged considerable parts of the grain export infrastructure.


The Black Sea grain deal enabled the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) to ship more than 725,000 tonnes of wheat from Ukraine to countries facing acute hunger, including Ethiopia, Yemen and Afghanistan. So Ukraine provided more than half the WFP's wheat grain last year.


More than half the total grain shipped under the deal was corn, however. Of the nearly 33m tonnes exported, the biggest amount went to China (8m tonnes), then Spain (6m tonnes) and Turkey (3.2m tonnes), UN data shows.


Turkey has been milling grain into flour for the WFP. Corn is used as biofuel and animal feed, besides human consumption.


The defence ministry in Moscow said that from Thursday all vessels sailing on the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports would be regarded as "potential carriers of military cargo" and that the ships' "flag states... will be considered to be involved in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of the Kyiv regime".


IMAGE SOURCE,

EPA

Image caption,

A grain ship that left a Ukrainian port earlier this week


On Wednesday Mr Putin accused the West of using the grain deal as "political blackmail". Moscow has accused Ukraine of using the Black Sea grain corridor for "combat purposes".


Ukraine's options for exporting grain by rail are also very limited: rail capacity is smaller than shipping volumes and several EU countries in Eastern Europe are blocking Ukrainian grain, in order to protect their own farmers.


Some Ukrainian grain may now be shipped via the Danube, using Romanian territorial waters, though again the volumes are likely to be relatively small.


Marex Capital analyst Charlie Sernatinger said Russia's threatened escalation could "cut all of the waterborne grain shipments off from the Black Sea, both Russian, and Ukrainian", which would cause a similar situation to that at the start of the war.


Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko called on the UK, US, France and Turkey to protect the grain ships with military convoys and provide Odesa with air defences.


"Clearly Putin has an aim to disrupt food security and cause a peak in world food prices, which in the developed countries will lead to inflation, but in developing countries that will lead to social destabilisation, starvation and new waves of migrants."

Russia-Ukraine war



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Wednesday, July 12, 2023

Sudan: UK sanctions businesses linked to SAF and RSF

Press release [here is a full copy]:

UK Sanctions Businesses Funding Sudan War


English

العربيَّØ©


New sanctions have been announced which will target the businesses associated with the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.


From:

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, The Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP, and The Rt Hon James Cleverly MP


Published

12 July 2023















  • UK Government sanctions imposed on businesses associated with leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, the military groups behind the ongoing conflict in Sudan.
  • Strict measures will cut funding sources and pressure the warring parties to engage in the peace process, allow access for humanitarian aid and end atrocities against the Sudanese people.
  • The sanctions are part of the UK’s response to ongoing hostilities since fighting broke out in April and a growing humanitarian crisis.

The UK has today (12 July) imposed new sanctions on businesses which are fueling the devastating conflict in Sudan by providing funding and arms to the warring militias. These sanctions will ensure that any assets held in the UK by these conglomerates and companies will be frozen.


These strict measures on companies controlled by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) will limit their financial freedom by preventing UK citizens, companies and banks from dealing with them and put pressure on the parties to engage in the peace process.


Almost three months of violence in Sudan has resulted in 25 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, over 2.2 million internally displaced and 682,000 people estimated to have fled to neighbouring countries. In Darfur, there are also reports of increasing ethnic violence.


The war has been exacerbated and prolonged by the vast financial empires supporting the SAF and RSF. The multi-billion-dollar conglomerates and companies associated with both parties have provided them with a steady source of funds and weapons, enabling the continuation of fighting which has seen atrocities committed against civilians.


The UK has designated six commercial entities in total, with each of the two warring parties having three associated businesses targeted. These sanctions will send a strong message to those providing funding and supplies to the SAF and RSF that the ongoing conflict is unacceptable and the violence must stop.


Foreign Secretary James Cleverly says:


These sanctions are directly targeting those whose actions have destroyed the lives of millions. Both sides have committed multiple ceasefire violations in a war, which is completely unjustified.


Innocent civilians continue to face the devastating effects of the hostilities, and we simply cannot afford to sit-by and watch as money from these companies, all funding the RSF or SAF, is spent on a senseless conflict. Working with international partners, we will continue to do all we can to support a meaningful peace process, stop the violence and secure free humanitarian access.


These new measures are aimed at pressing the parties driving the conflict to engage in a sustained and meaningful peace process, stop blocking life-saving humanitarian aid into Sudan, and end the violence and atrocities.

Minister for Development and Africa Andrew Mitchell said:


The SAF and RSF have dragged Sudan into a wholly unjustified war, with utter disregard for the Sudanese people, and must be held accountable. These sanctions are designed to pressure the parties to engage in a meaningful and lasting peace process.


These sanctions will not impact vital aid to the region and include a humanitarian exemption, ensuring that aid can continue to be delivered by the UN and other eligible organisations.


The UK continues to pursue all diplomatic avenues to end the violence, de-escalate tensions and secure safe humanitarian access, including engaging with the UN Security Council, African Union and other partners to achieve this.


The businesses sanctions announced today are:


Companies associated with the RSF:

  • Al-Junaid, a large Rapid Support Forces owned conglomerate set up by Rapid Support Forces leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hemedti”. This company has provided at least tens of millions in financial backing for the militia, enabling it to continue the conflict.
  • GSK Advance Company Ltd, a key front company owned by the Rapid Support Forces, providing some funding to the militia to support the purchase of materiel.
  • Tradive General Trading co, a company associated with the Rapid Support Forces, supplying it with funds and materiel such as vehicles retrofitted with machine guns for the RSF to patrol the streets.

Companies associated with the SAF:

  • Defense Industries Systems (DIS), a large Sudan Armed Forces-owned conglomerate, which provides some of the finances for General Abdel Fattah al Burhan to continue fighting, Defensive Industries System has over 200 companies and makes a profit of $2bn per annum.
  • Sudan Master Technology, a Sudanese company involved in the sale of arms with close commercial ties to Defense Industries System, the economic and manufacturing arm of the Sudan Armed Forces which supplies it with funds and equipment.
  • Zadna International Company for Investment Limited, a subsidiary of DIS, owned by the Sudan Armed Forces, and reported to be one of its top three ‘major earners’.

Media enquiries

Email newsdesk@fcdo.gov.uk

Telephone 020 7008 3100

Contact the FCDO Communication Team via email (monitored 24 hours a day) in the first instance, and we will respond as soon as possible.


Published 12 July 2023


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Published 12 July 2023


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View original: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-sanctions-businesses-funding-sudan-war


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