Page 11 - UKRRptOct23

To this end, Zelenskiy has begun a campaign to reign in the worst egresses of the oligarchs. Kolomoisky was first targeted with the so-called anti-Kolomoisky law in May 2020 that made it impossible for the former owner of bank that has been nationalised to retake control of it. Zelenskiy then broadened the campaign with his oligarch speech in March 2021 and an oligarch law in September 2021.
NABU has sent a formal petition to the High Anti-Corruption Court, also nominally independent of the government, seeking the confirmation for the seizure of Kolomoisky assets.
Kolomoisky was offered the opportunity to post bail of $14mn, but refused and is currently being held in pre-trial detention.
2.4 Ukraine sues Poland, Slovakia, Hungary over grain ban, as first ship leaves the Chornomorsk port
Grappling with the Russian-made headache of how to get its grain to market, Kyiv filed a lawsuit at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as the first of two grain ships leaves the Chornomorsk port.
World wheat prices declined following the departure of the first ship from the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk on September 19, falling 1.3% to $5.84 per bushel, following a 2.2% decrease the previous day, Bloomberg reports. Wheat futures have fallen by approximately 26% this year, partly due to record harvests in various Northern Hemisphere regions, including Russia, taking pressure off supplies.
One of the world’s biggest providers of traded wheat, Ukraine had been sending part of its grain out via rail and the Central European counties, but the arrival of large amounts of cheap Ukrainian wheat caused the local grain price to collapse and Poland banned the imports. That decision was temporarily extended by the European Commission (EC) until September 15.
However, after the deadline expired Poland, Slovakia and Hungary all introduced unilateral bans on the import of Ukrainian wheat in defiance of Brussels’ decision to lift the ban. Indeed, Hungary not only renewed the ban, but extended it to another 24 agricultural products that were not previously banned. The EU ban covered wheat, maize, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds.
Kyiv has complained, as grain exports is currently its major source of foreign exchange earnings and has now formally filed a complaint with the WTO arbitration body to seek compensation. Zelenskiy also took a backhanded swipe at the three governments during his UN speech on September 19, where I called for “unity” amongst the allies without naming three by name.
“It is fundamentally important for us to prove that individual member states cannot ban the import of Ukrainian goods,” Ukrainian deputy Prime Minister and economy minister, Yuliya Svyridenko, said in a statement announcing the decision on 18 September.
The three EU countries’ grain ban is a “violation of international obligations”, according to the statement, which called the unilateral actions of EU member
11 UKRAINE Country Report October 2023 www.intellinews.com