Author: Steven Sahiounie

Over $3 billion is allocated monthly from the state budget to cover costs of defense, according to the finance ministry Ukraine spends 130 billion hryvnia ($3.5 billion) a month on its military, Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko has revealed. The minister, who was meeting with the country’s European Business Association (EBA) on Wednesday, also disclosed that Ukraine’s budget receives 80 billion hryvnias in revenue (almost $2.2 billion) monthly. “The key task is to create conditions for financing the military,” Marchenko reportedly said while disclosing the numbers, according to EBA’s press service. He stressed it’s important to collect the anticipated taxes this year,…

The countries want to use the Northern Sea Route to transport cargo reliably and safely, a Russian official says Moscow and New Delhi are discussing the possibility of launching a trans-Arctic container shipping line and processing facilities along the Northern Sea Route (NSR), according to the Russian minister for the development of the Far East and Arctic. Aleksey Chekunkov’s announcement was made during his working visit to India on Tuesday, where he met with the country’s Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal. “The ministers discussed an alternative route to transport cargos from India to Europe – not by…

Keeping the national currency allows Warsaw to maintain independence and sovereignty, according to the central bank Poland’s central bank governor, Adam Glapinski, has urged the government to not allow the abandonment of the national currency, the zloty, in favor of the euro. The current government has opposed joining the Eurozone for the foreseeable future. Maintaining our “own currency brings many benefits. Thanks to [the fact that we have] our own currency, which allows for a sovereign monetary policy, Poland has been able to enjoy stable economic growth for years,” Glapinski wrote in a letter to the participants of the Monetary Sovereignty Forum,…

Potential GOP presidential candidates have cast doubts on support for Kiev, the Ukrainian president has admitted Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky “worries” that support in Washington for his country will dwindle after next year’s US presidential election, Associated Press (AP) reported on Wednesday. “The United States really understands that if they stop helping us, we will not win,” the Ukrainian leader told the news agency this week, during what it described as a “morale-building journey” by train across the country. US President Joe Biden has been criticized by some Republican politicians for what they described as writing a “blank check” for Kiev. Last year, his administration secured $112…

Yousaf’s leadership is already being questioned after defeated rival Kate Forbes refused to serve in his cabinet. Humza Yousaf was sworn in as Scotland’s first minister on Wednesday, becoming the first Muslim leader of a government in western Europe but already facing unrest in his party. At 37, Yousaf is also the youngest leader yet of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and is vowing to revive its campaign for independence. But after he won the race to succeed the long-serving Nicola Sturgeon on Monday, his leadership was already being questioned after defeated rival Kate Forbes refused to serve in his cabinet. The outgoing Finance…

According to a federal judge, the former Vice President must testify to a grand jury about conversations he had with Donald Trump leading up to January 6, 2021. Former vice president of the United States Mike Pence was ordered to testify, by judge James Boasberg, to the grand jury on conversations he had with former President Donald J. Trump leading up to the infamous Capitol attack on the 6th of January 2021.  The details of the ruling remain under seal. However, Pence can refuse to answer questions relating to his actions on January 6, since he was serving as president…

Credit Suisse is complicit in ongoing tax evasion by ultra-wealthy Americans, including a potentially criminal conspiracy involving the failure to disclose nearly $100 million in secret offshore accounts held by a single family, a Senate investigation released Wednesday finds. The two-year investigation by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden alleges major violations of the 2014 plea agreement Credit Suisse reached with the US Justice Department after it enabled thousands of wealthy Americans to avoid taxes. “At the center of this investigation are greedy Swiss bankers and catnapping government regulators,” Wyden said in a statement, “and the result appears to be a massive, ongoing conspiracy…

Classifying XRP as a commodity could mean Ripple wins its case against the SEC, which some traders may consider bullish for the token. Bitcoin (BTC) showed signs of resilience Wednesday, shedding tremors from regulatory action against crypto exchange Binance to recover above the key $28,000 level. XRP tokens jumped for a second straight day, adding 11% in the past 24 hours. They were buoyed by speculation that the classification of bitcoin and ether (ETH) as commodities in the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) suit against Binance might mean XRP tokens are classified as commodities as well. That might hurt the U.S. Securities and…

The Bank of England’s upcoming crypto regime would try to ensure that funds are returned to customers when certain crypto firms enter a crisis. The U.K.’s central bank wants to protect citizens against the collapse of large stablecoin issuers by updating an existing regulatory regime – a move which is imminent. Global standard setters are working on norms for stablecoins, especially as regulators fear that they will get more entangled with the broader financial system. The U.K. is joining other economies like the U.S., European Union and Hong Kong, which are also working to set up targeted regulations for crypto pegged to the value of…

One observer said poor order book depth is primarily responsible for the rally, while others pointed to the cryptocurrency’s sound money appeal and Fed pivot speculation as bigger catalysts. Bitcoin (BTC) has begun 2023 with a bang, marking a positive turnaround from a year-long swoon. The leading cryptocurrency by market value has added almost 72% to $28,500 this year, its best quarterly gain in two years, CoinDesk data show. The price rally has lifted the cryptocurrency’s market value to $542 billion. Just three months ago, some experts were mulling the possibility of bitcoin falling to as low as $12,000 this quarter, after its valuation…