The Group of Seven plans to implement a price cap for global purchases of Russian oil — a measure the US hopes will ease energy market pressures and slash Moscow’s overall revenues. Separately, Russia’s Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline to Europe is expected to restart Saturday after three days of maintenance.
(Bloomberg) — The Group of Seven plans to implement a price cap for global purchases of Russian oil — a measure the US hopes will ease energy market pressures and slash Moscow’s overall revenues. Separately, Russia’s Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline to Europe is expected to restart Saturday after three days of maintenance.
The EU is preparing to unveil a new $5 billion package of aid for Ukraine, possibly next week. Global food prices tracked by the UN fell for a fifth month after hitting records in the spring, helped at the margins by the restart of Ukraine’s grain exports.
UN monitors staying on at a Russian-occupied atomic plant in Ukraine will evaluate how continued military attacks against the facility risk a nuclear accident. One team is to remain at the Zaporizhzhia plant as a “resident expert presence,” International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said late Thursday.
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Key Developments
- Russian Gas Link Set to Restart as Traders Weigh Further Halts
- Russia Wheat Shipments Falter While Ukraine Ramps Up Exports
- G-7 Backs Price-Cap Plan for Russian Oil to Limit Revenue
- EU Set to Unveil $5 Billion Package for Ukraine Next Week
- IAEA Chief Leaves Ukraine Nuclear Plant After Brief Visit
- World Food Prices Extend Drop as Supply Uptick Offers Relief
On the Ground
Ukraine continued artillery attacks on Russian reserves, control centers and transport inside occupied territories. An ammunition depot near an airfield in Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia was targeted, said Mayor Ivan Fedorov. Russian forces struck military and civilian targets in the east and south of Ukraine with artillery, missiles and aviation bombs. Four civilians were reported killed and 10 wounded in Donetsk region as of this morning.
(All times CET)
Russia Ready to Ramp Up Grain Exports, Tass Reports (4:50 p.m.)
Russia is ready to export as much as 30 million tons of grain in the second half of 2022, Tass reported, citing the country’s agriculture ministry.
The estimate looks high given Russia’s shipments in July and August, which fell 22% from a year earlier to 6.3 million tons.
Russia is expected to harvest a record wheat crop of almost 95 million tons, according to the research firm SovEcon, but has been struggling to move grain out of the country.
Ukraine Says Nuclear Power Unit Back on Grid (4:05 p.m.)
Power unit No. 5 at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which was shut down on Thursday due to shelling in the surrounding area, is back on the grid, Ukraine’s Energoatom said on Telegram.
The unit was reconnected at 1:10 p.m. Kyiv time, and capacity is being added, the plant operator said.
Two power units are currently operating at the plant, producing energy for domestic needs. IAEA monitors who arrived Thursday to evaluate the facility continue to work, Energoatom said.
Suspected Russian Group Hacks Italian Energy Agency (3:58 p.m.)
A hacker group with links to Russia has claimed responsibility for a recent ransomware attack targeting Italy’s energy industry, amid an escalation the Rome-based government says could be related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
G-7 Backs Price-Cap Plan for Russian Oil (2:59 p.m.)
The Group of Seven industrialized countries said they plan to implement a price cap for global purchases of Russian oil, a measure the US hopes will ease energy market pressures and slash Moscow’s overall revenues.
The ministers said they plan to implement a price cap in line with the timing of European Union sanctions on Russian oil set to kick in on Dec. 5.
G-7 Backs Price-Cap Plan for Russian Oil to Limit Revenue
Number of Internally Displaced Ukrainians Still Rising (2:15 p.m.)
As Russia’s invasion “shows no signs of abating” well into its sixth month, evacuations from eastern and southern regions of pushed the number of internally displaced Ukrainians up 5% to almost 7 million, the International Organization for Migration said in a survey conducted in the second half of August.
The number of the displaced dropped in early summer from a peak of over 8 million people around May, but started to rise again from late June, the Geneva-based group said.
Nearly half of adult displaced Ukrainians aren’t earning money, and most displaced households cut essential expenses, took on lower-income or lower-qualification jobs, and dipped into savings. The situation is “particularly alarming” as winter approaches, the IOM said.
EU to Soon Unveil $5 Billion Package for Ukraine (1:16 p.m.)
The European Union is preparing to release a new funding package of 5 billion euros for Ukraine, said diplomats familiar with the plan.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, will propose the loan package next week to help Kyiv cover urgent costs including salaries and benefits, the people said.
EU Set to Unveil $5 Billion Package for Ukraine Next Week
Nord Stream 1 Gas Pipeline Set to Restart on Saturday (12:25 p.m.)
Russia looks set to resume gas supplies on Saturday through a key pipeline to Europe, a relief for markets even as fears persist about more halts this winter. Prices plunged as much as 16%.
The move will bring some consolation to policy makers who had feared Moscow could decide against switching the gas back on after the latest round of maintenance.
World Food Prices Continue to Tick Lower (11:24 a.m.)
Global food prices, which hit record levels this spring in a United Nations index, fell for a fifth month after demand for some products weakened and there was a seasonal uptick in supplies, including the trickle of grain exports from Ukraine.
Costs fell across the board in August, with vegetable oils pushed slightly below their level from a year earlier. The index tracks export prices for raw goods and excludes retail mark-ups, so it may take a while before their impact is felt by consumers.
Long-Term Presence of Inspectors Needed at Plant, IAEA Says (9:27 a.m.)
IAEA’s inspectors arrived at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on after a harrowing journey across the frontline separating Ukrainian and Russian forces. The sounds of heavy machine gun fire, artillery and mortars accompanied them during the crossing, Grossi said late Thursday.
“It is obvious that the plant and the physical integrity of the plant has been violated several times,” the Argentine diplomat said en route back to Vienna. A long-term presence is needed because inspectors currently “don’t have the elements to assess” whether one side or the other was deliberately targeting the plant, he said.
Zelenskiy Says Russia Did All It Could to Foil IAEA Mission (10:10 p.m.)
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the Russian occupiers of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are “trying to turn the really necessary IAEA mission into a fruitless tour of the station.”
“Russia did many cynical things to deceive” the inspectors, Zelenskiy said in his daily video statement, including allowing in “Russian propagandists” but not Ukrainian and international reporters. “It is bad that we so far have not heard calls from the IAEA” to demilitarize the territory of the station, he said.
But Grossi said his team of IAEA monitors collected important information during the visit and he had access to the “key things” he wanted to see, BBC Ukraine reported.
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