Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry put out a statement on Jan. 10 condemning the violence in Kazakhstan over the past week, surprising many with the communiqué’s cautiousness and lateness. The statement came three days after that made by U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and two days after that
Kazakhstan faces an uncertain future as a Russian-led military contingent arrived in the country on Jan. 6 to support embattled president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev amid mass anti-government protests. What started as a demonstration over fuel prices in one city on Jan. 2 rapidly spread nationwide, culminating in large-scale armed clashes over
Ukraine, a European nation of 41 million, has been at the mercy of geopolitical forces far more than most similarly sized countries on the continent. The country is currently making global headlines due to Russia’s build-up of 122,000 troops on its borders, seemingly ready to launch an invasion.
Ukrainian low-cost carrier SkyUp Airlines announced on Dec. 17 that it would launch six new regular flights from three Ukrainian regional capitals to destinations in Austria, Greece and Spain. The flights will be launched in 2022. The western city of Lviv will benefit the most, receiving four twice-weekly SkyUp flights
Germany’s new foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, told German broadcaster ZDF on Dec. 12 that Russia’s current hostile actions towards Ukraine are “a factor” in the certification delay of the Kremlin’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. This is the first time a member of the German government has
A dispute between Ukraine and Belarus flared up over the weekend after Belarus’s State Border Service accused a Ukrainian military helicopter of breaching Belarus’ airspace on Dec. 4, which Kyiv denied. The State Border Service of Belarus told state-owned media outlet BELTA that a Ukrainian Mi-8 military helicopter, flying
Ukraine’s parliament approved the state budget for the year 2022 on Dec. 2. A total of 268 of Ukraine’s 423 lawmakers voted for the bill, which sets planned expenditures for the year at $55 billion and projected revenues at $48.5 billion. The projected budget deficit for 2022
On the morning of Dec. 1, President Volodymyr Zelensky gave his annual speech to Parliament. Here are the key points from his address: Dialogue with Russia Zelensky’s headline-grabbing statement was that Ukraine “cannot end the war (in the Donbas) without direct dialogue with Russia.” The president said that Ukraine’
Parliament voted the bill through in its second reading. The bill had been labelled as “anti-Akhmetov,” as two of its key provisions will hurt the steelmaking and energy business interests of Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest man. The provisions in question are a new calculation system for iron ore mining
The company’s announcement highlighted the improvement compared to the third quarter of 2020, when the state-owned oil and gas giant lost $66 million. This is also the first quarter in 2021 in which Naftogaz registered a profit, having lost $62 million from January to June. Andriy Kobolev, Naftogaz’s
Ambassador Anka Feldhausen made the comments in an interview with news agency Interfax Ukraine on Nov. 29, adding that the delay was caused by the need to unbundle Nord Stream 2 AG, the Russian-owned company responsible for the undersea pipeline, into separate entities. She said that the temporary suspension of
Naftogaz announced on Nov. 26 that it broke its contract to supply 6 billion cubic meters of gas, approximately 15% of Ukraine’s annual consumption, to oligarch Dmytro Firtash’s Ye Energy. The state-owned oil and gas giant’s communications director, Maksym Bilyavskyi, estimated that Naftogaz could have lost $4
Ukrainska Pravda journalist Mykhailo Tkach quoted anonymous sources in a Nov. 27 podcast, alleging that several guards have been fired for failing to shoot down Ukrainska Pravda’s camera drone flying over the state residence Synohora in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast on Nov. 21. The State Guard Administration denied the accusations and
The company’s foreign currency bonds, which mature in 2027, fell sharply after Zelensky alleged in his Nov. 26 press conference that DTEK owner Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest man, was being pulled into a Russian-backed coup attempt (see more on it above). Akhmetov denied the accusations. DTEK is Ukraine’s
Ukraine revoked the international passports of five former intelligence operatives who were involved in the botched July 2020 operation to capture Russian Wagner Group mercenaries, RFE/RL reported on Nov. 25. According to a recent Bellingcat investigation, Ukrainian intelligence lured 33 mercenaries to Belarus and planned to intercept them en
U.S. President Joe Biden is trying to quash defense bill amendments that would impose strong sanctions on companies involved in Nord Stream 2 and limit his ability to waive them, according to a Nov. 24 article by Foreign Policy magazine. Five Republican senators introduced the amendments, which some Democrats
As of the evening of Nov. 21, 415 megawatts of power was flowing across the border every hour. Belarus stopped electricity exports to Ukraine on Nov. 18 due to a “reassessment of technical capabilities,” according to the Belarusian Energy Ministry. While Ukraine is typically a net exporter of energy, it
The ship brought 60,000 tons of thermal coal from the U.S. to Odesa’s Pivdennyi Port on Nov. 20, energy company DTEK announced. DTEK, owned by Ukraine’s richest man Rinat Akhmetov, chartered seven ships to deliver 470,000 tons of emergency coal to cover a national shortage.
Oligarch Rinat Akhmetov’s DTEK, the largest private electricity producer in Ukraine, made the threat on Nov. 17. The state-owned Guaranteed Buyer asked Oschadbank to freeze the $115 million originally intended to pay off its debts to DTEK. On Nov. 12, Guaranteed Buyer, a company responsible for buying up renewable
On Nov. 17, the Anti-Monopoly Committee refused to consider an application to complete the controversial purchase of the Bilshovyk machine-building plant. The agency said that the application didn’t comply with its requirements. Tycoon Vasyl Khmelnytsky and his business partners bought the Kyiv plant for a mere $53 million through
The Russian state-owned gas export monopoly did not purchase any additional transit capacity through Ukraine for December on top of its contractually agreed minimum volume. The decision caused European gas futures to spike by over 5%. Gazprom is contractually obliged to pay Ukraine for the transit of 109 million cubic
Yuriy Vitrenko, the head of the Ukrainian state-owned gas company, made the announcement on Nov. 15. According to Vitrenko, the undersea pipeline, which runs from Russia to Germany bypassing Ukraine, doesn’t comply with EU regulations. Naftogaz will now be able to present arguments against the pipeline’s certification to
Six hundred elite British Special Air Service (SAS) and Parachute Regiment troops could be sent to Ukraine due to concerns about a large Russian troop build-up on the country’s border, British tabloid The Mirror reported on Nov. 13, citing unnamed sources. On Nov. 14, President Volodymyr Zelensky said there
The buyer is Lorten Group, an obscure business entity with registered capital of less than $4. The company will take on the factory’s $36 million debts. The plant once employed over 10,000 workers and was one of the largest computer producers in the Soviet Union. In the past
The company is responsible for buying all renewable electricity from producers. Its head, Kostyantyn Petrykovets, was fired by the Cabinet of Ministers on Nov. 13 for allegedly mismanaging electricity sales, which they lost the taxpayers $190 million and triggered $573 million of lawsuits against Guaranteed Buyer. Petrykovets claimed that he
