🔹Russia 🇷🇺 and Kazakhstan 🇰🇿 are facilitating the launch of multilateral negotiations to develop an international convention to combat biological terrorism.

🔹Russia is redirecting its exports and imports to new markets against the backdrop of an international trade crisis, Russian 🇷🇺 President Vladimir Putin said at a forum of interregional cooperation with Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan 🇰🇿 will prioritize cooperation with its close neighbors, including Russia and China 🇨🇳. They would continue to work with the US, EU, Middle Eastern nations.

🔹Russia 🇷🇺 and Kazakhstan 🇰🇿 want convention on Caspian Sea legal status to enter into force soon. This is stated in the declaration adopted by the Presidents of the two countries, Vladimir Putin and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Kazakhstan wants to handle greater volumes of cargo moving between Russia and Iran🇮🇷 , an increasingly important trade route.

🔹The Dutch 🇳🇱 government plans to buy and close down up to 3,000 farms near environmentally sensitive areas to comply with EU 🇪🇺nature preservation rules.

🔹The Netherlands is attempting to cut down its nitrogen pollution & will push ahead with compulsory purchases if not enough farms 🚜 take up the offer voluntarily. They are looking at taxing nitrogen emissions to encourage more 'sustainable' practices.

🔹 The Netherlands is the world’s 2nd largest agricultural exporter, after the U.S.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 🇳🇱 Farmers Defence Force, representing 8 agro-organisations, (95% of the industry), locked out of the 1st round of negotiations.

💠 Protests 🔥 previously erupted over the gov't's draconian nitrogen oxides curbing plan.

💠 Gov't policy will result in the destruction of meat/diary farming 🐂 🐄 in The Netherlands.

💠 Dutch 🚜 farmers have been resilient in not backing down.

💠 Netherlands 🇳🇱 plan to implement CO2 emission social credit scheme.

Video courtesy Big Picture.

🔹Moldova 🇲🇩 - Protesters call for the resignation of the president & the gov't yesterday (Nov 28). Police detained 26 people who behaved 'suspiciously'. Protestors called for criminal investigation against gov't officials involved in mass corruption & abuse of office.

Previous posts on this channel:

💠 Nov 13th, 60,000 protestors marched through Chisinau, escorted by retired military & veterans.

💠 Oct. 30th, Stand-offs between Moldovans & police grow violent amid protests over inflated 📈 prices for gas, electricity, water & other utilities.

💠 Oct. 23rd, police 🚓 brutalities continued amid a breakout of protests in Moldova. 🇲🇩

💠 Oct. 16th, 50,000 protestors gathered across Chisinau🇲🇩, the capital of Moldova. Weekend before 60,000 protested.

💠 Thousands protest high energy prices during September in Chisinau. State-backed gas distributor Moldovagaz failed to fulfil wholesale payments to its sole gas supplier, Russia's 🇷🇺 Gazprom.

🔹The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) 🇷🇺 🇦🇲 🇰🇿 🇰🇬 🇧🇾 is interested in setting up a common payment system with BRICS nations. Plans include a single payment card that unites the national payment systems including Russia’s Mir, China’s Union Pay, India’s RuPay, Brasil’s Elo & others.

🔹Vladimir Kovalev, EAEU Advisor, said "The global financial system is changing, there is a need to create a new reserve currency & a settlement currency". "Taking into account the structure of trade relations between the BRICS 🇧🇷🇷🇺🇮🇳🇨🇳🇿🇦 & the EAEU, the use of national currencies in mutual settlements is most justified".

Last reported on this channel:

💠Russia’s 🇷🇺 Minister of Economy, urges EAEU towards formation of an alternative system of international settlements

💠 "Interested SCO member states" 🇷🇺🇨🇳🇮🇷🇮🇳🇵🇰🇰🇬🇰🇿🇹🇯🇺🇿 agreed a "roadmap for the gradual increase in the share of national currencies in mutual settlements", outside western currencies/payment systems

Video courtesy Left Lens.

🔹Moscow 🇷🇺 & Beijing 🇨🇳 are developing a system of settlements to allow cross-border transactions without using SWIFT. This could transform the ruble & yuan into world reserve currencies.

🔹Russia 🇷🇺 is now the 4th largest user of the yuan, after Hong Kong, UK, & Singapore. Yuan's share of Russian FX up from 1% to 45% 📈. Russian brokerages reported that their clients were keeping an increasingly large part of their assets in 🇨🇳 yuan.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 China 🇨🇳 signed a 27-year landmark $60 billion agreement for purchases of LNG from Qatar 🇶🇦.

💠 Payments for supplies of petroleum products are being proactively shifted to national currencies🇷🇺🇨🇳.

💠 Russian 🇷🇺bank, VTB launches money transfers to China in yuan, bypassing SWIFT.

💠 Gazprom move payments for gas exports to China 🇨🇳 away from USD/Euros.

💠 Ruble-yuan 📈 trade up 1067% in Q2 of 2022.

💠 Russia 🇷🇺 added grain & sunflower oil to the list of exports that must be paid for in rubles.

Video: Sean Foo

🔹Russia 🇷🇺 is discussing a possible “gas union” with Kazakhstan 🇰🇿 & Uzbekistan 🇺🇿 to support shipments between the 3 countries & to other energy buyers, including China 🇨🇳.

🔹Kazakhstan 🇰🇿 & Uzbekistan 🇺🇿 have rapidly developing economies, with a growing domestic demand for gas. “Russia, Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan have effectively had a single gas transportation system ever since the Soviet times.

🔹The 3 countries are connected by the Central Asia – Center gas pipeline system controlled by Gazprom. It runs from Turkmenistan via Uzbekistan & Kazakhstan to Russia. A separate pipeline, Central Asia – China, crosses both Uzbekistan & Kazakhstan on its way from Turkmenistan 🇹🇲 to China 🇨🇳.

🔹Imports of Russian 🇷🇺 liquefied natural gas 🚢 to the EU 🇪🇺 have increased by 42% (17.8 bcm) between the months of Jan & Oct 2022 mainly to Belgium, France, Spain, & the Netherlands. The EU's share in Russian LNG however lowered by 16% in 2022 as a result of also a 42% increase of US LNG imports.

🔹EU 🇪🇺, moves closer to confiscation of Russia's 🇷🇺 assets, frozen in western jurisdictions. EU says, one short-term option is to create a fund to manage & invest liquid assets belonging to Russia's Central Bank. This way they are technically not taking the assets, just the proceeds from investing it.

🔹The EU failed to tell Europeans that, seizing frozen assets is only legally possible where there is a criminal conviction. The EU 🇪🇺 decision to recognize Russia as a state supporting terrorism is the first step towards making a 'legal' case for confiscation.

🔹Assets of blacklisted Russian 🇷🇺 citizens are also difficult to seize as they are registered as belonging to family members or trustees.

🔹The EU 🇪🇺 has undermined ‘Lex Mercatoria’ (Latin – ‘Merchant Law’). The autonomous legal order of international economic relations for trade & rules for settling disputes. The west has now destroyed, how money & currencies function in relationship to trade & private property rights.

🔹Dutch 🇳🇱 farmers protest gov't imposed nitrogen rules that are destroying farmers livelihood. Yesterday (Dec. 1st) clashes with police & arrests occurred in the province of Overijssel in Zwolle. (Protest videos in the comments)

🔹The Dutch gov't has warned farmers 🚜 “there is no better offer coming” but to sell off their farms to the state or adopt stringent nitrogen rules. Farmers claim these rules will destroy the industry.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 The Dutch 🇳🇱 gov't plans to buy & close down, up to 3,000 farms near environmentally sensitive areas.

💠 🇳🇱 Farmers Defence Force, representing 8 agro-organisations, (95% of the industry), locked out of the 1st round of negotiations.

💠 Protests 🔥 previously erupted over the gov't's draconian nitrogen oxides curbing plan.

💠 Gov't policy will result in the destruction of meat/diary farming 🐂 🐄 in The Netherlands.

💠 Dutch 🚜 farmers have been resilient in not backing down.

💠 Netherlands 🇳🇱 plan to implement CO2 emission social credit scheme.

🔹India's 🇮🇳 finished steel imports from Russia hit 4-year high in April-October, up 400%. Indian steelmakers 🏭 have so far imported record 5-6 million tonnes of Russian coking coal in 2022/23, compared with less than 2 million tonnes last year.

🔹India 🇮🇳 scrapped export taxes on low-grade iron ore & on some intermediate steel products after months of complaints from miners & steel makers about loss of foreign sales opportunities.

🔹Russia's 🇷🇺 Severstal Steel Co. faces $400 million in losses due to western sanctions imposed on their international accounts & warehouses.

🔹Lower inventory levels at Chinese 🇨🇳 ports suggest that China, which buys about 70% of global seaborne iron ore, has scope to lift imports in coming months.

🔹🇦🇺 Rio Tinto (world’s largest iron-ore producer) expects iron-ore shipments from its Australian mines to be steady in 2023.

🔹Recently, we reported that multiple steel plants shut down or are idled across Europe 🇪🇺 due to high energy & natural gas prices.

🔹"December's Eurostat Report for Oct. 2022".

Industrial producer prices up by 30.8 % in the euro area & by 31.2% in the EU 🇪🇺compared with October 2021.

🔹The highest monthly increases 📈 in industrial producer prices were recorded in Greece 🇬🇷 (+9.6%), Hungary 🇭🇺 (+6.2%) and Belgium 🇧🇪 (+2.8%).

🔹Industrial producer prices in the euro area (EA-19 💶) & EU (EU-27🇪🇺) respectively in October '22, y/y, increased by:

📌Energy Sector - 65.8% & 67.0%,

📌Intermediate Goods - 17.4% & 17.6%,

📌Non-durable Consumer Goods - 16.0% & 17.1%,

📌Durable Consumer Goods - 9.8% & 10.0%,

📌Capital Goods - 7.5% & 7.7%.

🔹However, when October '22 is compared to September '22, industrial producer prices are down 📉, by 2.9% in the euro-area & by 2.5% in the EU.

🔹Italian🇮🇹 gov't places Russia's Lukoil owned ISAB refinery in Sicily under trusteeship with talks of a possible future nationalisation. Lukoil, Russia's 🇷🇺 2nd largest oil & gas co. was not sanctioned by the US, & the refinery is the 2nd largest in Italy & 5th largest in Europe.

🔹The EU 🇪🇺 embargo on imports of Russian crude by sea 🚢 takes effect on December 5. The Italian gov't, is trying to keep the refinery operational & avoid risks to jobs, also they want to avert risks of litigation with Lukoil for nationalisation.

🔹Lukoil said it is ready to ensure uninterrupted operation, given the feedstock stored up for the coming months are of non-Russian origin 🛢 oil to comply with the EU embargo. Lukoil wants to be a reliable partner for all its clients, suppliers & contractors.

🔹U.S. 🇺🇸 authorities have reassured Italy that its banks are not at risk of fines for breaching sanctions against Moscow if they help a Lukoil-owned refinery buy non-Russian oil.

🔹Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari urges heads of neighbouring states participating in the Lake Chad Basin Commission to confront the issue of Western arms smuggling from Ukraine.

🔹The Nigerian 🇳🇬 president & other African 🇧🇯 🇹🇩 🇳🇪 🇨🇫 presidents agreed to step up military coordination in their countries' war against Boko Haram & ISIS terrorists, who are now receiving weapons from Ukraine.

🔹In October, Finland 🇫🇮 began warning of weapons sent to Ukraine making their way to different countries criminal gangs.

🔹CBS retracted a report on Aug 7th, that 70% of weapon deliveries to Ukraine 🇺🇦 end up in a black hole of corruption. Also a USA-made stinger from Ukraine was detained in Germany.

🔹In July, this channel warned about weapons from 🇪🇺NATO countries to Ukraine being purchased on the dark web (pics in original post). We also drew reference to two Caesar self-propelled howitzers ($7 million each) sold by Ukrainians to Russia 🇷🇺 for $120,000 though an intermediary.

🔹 OPEC+ agrees to stick to its existing policy of reducing oil production ahead of the G7/EU🇪🇺 oil price cap on Russian 🇷🇺 seaborne crude.

🔹Led by Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 & Russia in OPEC+, a 2 million barrels per day production cut was started in November.

🔹An OPEC+ statement yesterday, (Dec 4th) pushed back against criticism of OPEC+'s decision, saying the cut had been "recognized in retrospect by the market participants to have been the necessary and the right course of action towards stabilizing global oil 🛢markets."

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Oil inventories in developed economies are at their lowest level 📉since 2004.

💠 India 🇮🇳 continues to have no interest in joining the EU/G7 led oil price cap on Russian crude.

💠 Saudi Arabia's 🇸🇦 energy minister warns nations' that use emergency oil reserves to manipulate prices.

💠 OPEC+ defends their role in 🛢 oil market stability at JMMC of the OPEC+ group HQ 🇦🇹.

Video courtesy Algeria's 24News

🔹French 🇫🇷 President Macron said there was no reason to panic about possible power cuts this winter. He called on citizens to use less energy & on state utility EDF 💡to restart nuclear plants 🏭 to prevent outages in case of cold weather.

🔹France is accused of helping to fund Russia 🇷🇺 by continuing to import Russian nuclear fuel. EDF has revealed plans for a massive recruitment drive to bolster ageing nuclear reactors.

🔹The U.K. 🇬🇧 will become a 50% shareholder in EDF's new nuclear power plant project after China's 🇨🇳General Nuclear Power Corp. exited the project.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 🇫🇷 EDF said that it had lowered its nuclear output target for 2022 due to the impact of strikes on its reactor maintenance schedule.

💠EDF is rushing to get nuclear power stations 🏭 online. 20 of 56 offline due to strikes & corrosion issues. (Last reported 6 of 12 with corrosion issues being repaired).

💠The French 🇫🇷 gov't to fully nationalize the EDF. which runs a 29 billion Euro loss.

🔹Brent ($82.40) & WTI ($88.19) crude prices up over 3%, as EU/G7 price cap of $60 🛢 on Russian 🇷🇺 seaborne crude comes into effect.

🔹Russian Urals crude trails WTI & Brent price trajectory. Urals-Brent differential (usd/bbl) has been $23 avg. in the past 3 months. Urals 🛢 crude is trading today above the imposed price cap on international markets of $60.62.

🔹Some anticipated a price drop today, but this has not happened. Western media claim OPEC+'s confirmation to continue an already implemented production cut decision & China 🇨🇳 oil buying as the reasons for todays oil price increases.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Russian 🇷🇺 Deputy PM Novak warns of an unpredictable surge in oil prices due to the EU/G7 oil price cap.

💠 Oil inventories in developed economies are at their lowest level 📉since 2004.

💠 India 🇮🇳 continues to have no interest in joining the EU/G7 led oil price cap on Russian crude.

💠 Oil inventories in developed economies are at their lowest level since 2004.

🔹Russia's 🇷🇺 ESPO oil blend from the Far Eastern port of Kozmino selling for around US$79 a barrel in Asian markets, (well above EU/G7 price cap).

🔹Russia's Deputy PM confirms Moscow will only deal with nations that will work on market conditions. Russia is looking to bolster its exports to China 🇨🇳, India 🇮🇳, Turkey 🇹🇷 & other countries that have greatly boosted their purchases of Russian oil.

🔹Russia has discretely assembled a "shadow fleet" 🚢 of more than 100 tanker ships. The largely anonymous tanker purchases can be tracked by the big increase in unnamed or new buyers appearing in registries.

🔹Russian Urals crude trails WTI & Brent price trajectory, that is up 3% 📈 this morning as detailed on this channel's previous post.

🔹India 🇮🇳 bought about 40% of all Urals seaborne export volumes loading in November.

🔹Russia will sell crude oil to Pakistan 🇵🇰 at a discounted price.

🔹Hungary 🇭🇺 got exemptions from the EU's oil price cap on Russian 🇷🇺 crude. Hungary vetoed the price cap embargo on Russia & negotiated an exemption.

🔹The EU withholds both Hungary's budgeted allocation of 7.5 billion euros & it's post-pandemic recovery funds of 5.8 billion euros.The country is accused of corruption, lacking judicial independence & discrimination against LGBTQ citizens. Slovakia 🇸🇰 may support Hungary for release of EU funds.

🔹Hungary does not intend to train Ukrainian 🇺🇦 military as it believes it will only escalate the conflict. Lithuania accuses Hungary of being immoral for refusing approval of funding for Ukraine.

🔹Hungary is facing a partial shortage of fuel ⛽️ stocks across its network of filling stations.

Previous posts on this channel:

💠 Hungary denied it’s holding up the NATO entry bids of Finland 🇫🇮 & Sweden 🇸🇪 .

💠 EU 🇪🇺 declares Hungary is no longer a democracy.

💠 Hungary 🇭🇺 would not support a price cap on Russian gas.

Video courtesy FirstPost.

🔹Pension funds & other 'non-bank' financial firms have more than $80 trillion of hidden, off-balance sheet dollar debt in FX swaps, —— Bank for International Settlements 🇨🇭.

🔹Foreign currency exchange swaps allow banks & large institutions to swap interest payments on one loan made in a local currency with another in a foreign currency. Hence, 2 companies can swap their debt amounts, paying the interest in dollars 💵 other than their own.

🔹The $80 trillion-plus "hidden" debt estimate exceeds the stocks of dollar 🇺🇸 Treasury bills, repo and commercial paper combined. For both non-U.S. banks and non-U.S. 'non-banks' such as pension funds, dollar obligations from FX swaps are now double their on-balance sheet dollar debt.

🔹Like all derivatives, the market for swaps is very complex. Other banks & large institutions use swaps for hedges or relatively cheaper financing. But when done through unregulated banks 🏦 (shadow banks), the risks of these hedges can outweigh the value they provide.

🔹Iran 🇮🇷 has discovered new oil 🛢 reserves in the country’s southwest, using new tech & methods, details to be announced. Iranian experts have also carried out well-logging on an offshore exploratory block in the Persian Gulf with gas reserves estimated at 30 trillion cubic feet.

🔹 Iran's 🇮🇷 oil sales rose by 20% 📈 in H1 '22 to reach 1.2 million barrels per day, despite US sanctions that bar countries from buying Iranian oil. Iran has been prevented from paying its dues to the OPEC because of US 🇺🇸 sanctions.

🔹Iran and Tajikistan 🇹🇯 have signed 25 cooperation documents in a joint economic cooperation commission over the past year.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Iran 🇮🇷 has lost $450 billion in oil revenues in a decade due to US sanctions.

💠 Iran & Armenia 🇦🇲 signed a MOU on energy / economic cooperation.

💠 Russia & Iran working out mechanisms to implement oil 🛢 & gas swap deals. Iran's First VP calls Caspian littoral states to create an oil & gas cooperation committee.

🔹A crucial section of the East Route natural gas pipeline between Russia & China is completed. The section will allow gas to be transported to China's 🇨🇳 eastern economic powerhouse Shanghai.

🔹The 5,111 km cross-border pipeline runs through nine provincial regions, supplying natural gas to areas along the route, including Beijing, Shanghai, & Tianjin. It is part of the East Route project, connecting to Russia's 3,000 km Power of Siberia pipeline🇷🇺.

🔹The East Route was partially launched in December 2019, becoming the first pipeline to supply Russian gas to China. The designed annual natural gas transmission volume of the pipeline is 38 bcm. By 2025, the volume of channeled natural gas will meet the demand of 130 million households.

Last reported on this channel:

💠China is getting nearly 30% more gas from Russia so far this year via the Power of Siberia pipeline & discounted Russian LNG.

💠Gazprom 🇷🇺 move payments for gas exports to China 🇨🇳 away from USD/Euros & shift to rubles & yuan.

🔹China's 🇨🇳President Xi Jinping arrived in Riyadh & received a warm Saudi welcome. When the president's plane entered Saudi 🇸🇦airspace it was escorted by 4 Saudi fighter jets & at lower altitudes by 6 concierge aircraft.

🔹Xi is expected to attend a Saudi-Chinese summit, the Gulf 🇧🇭🇰🇼🇴🇲🇸🇦🇶🇦🇦🇪-China Summit, & the Riyadh Arab-China Summit during his 3-day visit. Talks on a free trade agreement between China and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council are entering a “final stage,”. Saudi Aramco revived discussions to build a multi-billion dollar refining and petrochemicals complex in China.

🔹Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 & China 🇨🇳 would seek to boost cooperation in energy supply chains by establishing a regional centre in the Gulf Arab state for Chinese factories. More than 20 initial agreements worth SR110 billion ($29.26 billion) will be signed during Xi’s visit.

🔹The US 🇺🇸 White House warns that China’s attempts to exert its influence worldwide were “not conducive” to the international order.