🔹President of Turkmenistan🇹🇲 Serdar Berdimuhamedov noted that the country could continue to work on the implementation of new projects related to the supply of Turkmen natural gas in the Chinese direction.

🔹Parties are discussing the construction of the fourth branch (D) of the Turkmenistan 🇹🇲-China🇨🇳 gas pipeline, which would pass through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Between 2009 and December 2022, Turkmenistan delivered more than 350 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China through three pipeline branches that transit Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

🔹As the second-largest state in Central Asia and the southernmost of the five republics in the region, Turkmenistan acts as a corridor for China to reach important import and export markets in South Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and beyond, as well as to access the Caspian Sea, which lies on the country's western border.

🔹The EU’s 🇪🇺 desire to expand cooperation with Central Asia, particularly through the Trans-Caspian Pipeline, is facing severe challenges. European countries are not willing to enter into long-term contracts for gas supplies due to their goal of stopping gas imports altogether in 10 to 15 years.

Previously reported on this channel:

💠 Turkmenistan attends the China-Central Asia Summit in China 🇨🇳 to coordinate development strategies.

💠 Chinese President Xi Jinping wants China to cooperate more with SCO member Turkmenistan 🇹🇲 on energy.

💠 A trilateral gas swap deal between Iran 🇮🇷, Turkmenistan & Azerbaijan 🇦🇿 helps foil sanctions imposed against Iran.

Video source - New China TV

🔹Bulgaria 🇧🇬 - The building of the European Commission Representation in Sofia was splashed with red paint today (May 21st) during a protest against "Brussels' 🇪🇺 interference in Bulgaria's internal affairs". Police presence was tightened in the area and the Foreign Ministry firmly condemned the act of vandalism.

🔹Thousands rallied for a peace march against Bulgarian arms supplies to Ukraine 🇺🇦 and to demand the country embraces neutrality. "Bulgaria has no place in international conflicts that defend foreign interests. Our sons, husbands, brothers have no place on the battlefield,” a protester said. "Only leaving NATO - an aggressive, hypocritical, lying and murderous alliance for us - can help us really guarantee peace for ourselves, peace for our children.... added a second.

🔹Demonstrators also collected signatures for a referendum named 'Bulgaria 🇧🇬for Peace and Sovereignty'. For such a referendum to be held, the organizers must collect 600,000 signatures, according to Bulgarian law. "We want the Bulgarian people to say NO to the war and to say YES to the opportunity to directly express the will of the Bulgarian people through referendums," said lawyer, Rumiana Chenalova.

Recently reported on this channel:

💠 Bulgaria & others sign MoU for the supply of additional gas from Azerbaijan 🇦🇿 through the upgraded transmission network systems called the "Solidarity Ring".

💠 Bulgaria and other eastern bloc countries face growing protests from farmers 🚜 who are concerned about falling prices and a lack of storage facilities for this year's 🌾 harvest due to an overabundance of Ukrainian grains due to the EU's zero tariff for Ukrainian grains.

Video source - RT News

🔹 Venezuelan 🇻🇪 President N. Maduro said that his country will move forward on the path of ditching the US dollar in economic transactions. He remarked, "this is the path of Venezuela and the path of a free economy, where currencies are not used to punish countries and impose sanctions".

🔹The US' 🇺🇸aggressive financial tightening has led to serious inflation in Latin American countries, hollowing out of foreign exchange reserves and growing debt pressure. Latin American countries previously had close economic relations with the US, but the US' hegemony and abuse of economic sanctions have exposed the disadvantages of overly relying on the dollar.

🔹Based on the strength of the US dollar 💵, the rationale has long been that the American economy is so important to the international financial system that any measures taken by the US and its allies to cut off a country, group, or individual would ultimately change that actor’s behavior.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 The US 🇺🇸 will gradually lift sanctions on Venezuela 🇻🇪 only if the country moves toward restoring 'fair' elections.

💠 Russia's 🇷🇺 FM S. Lavrov visited Venezuela to discuss the formation of a multipolar world order.

💠 Iran 🇮🇷 & Venezuela to share technological advances in petrochemicals, oil & gas sectors.

💠 Trinidad & Tobago 🇹🇹 asked the US for authorization to import Venezuelan gas.

💠 Türkiye's 🇹🇷 FM M. Çavuşoğlu calls on the US to lift sanctions on Venezuela.

Video source - Francisco Rodríguez

🔹More than 23,000 people in northeast Italy 🇮🇹 were still displaced today, (May 22nd) almost one week after heavy rains ⛈ sparked widespread flooding and left 14 people dead. Six months of rain fell in just 36 hours early last week, causing almost two dozen rivers to burst their banks, transforming streets into rivers and submerging huge tracts of farmland.

🔹🇮🇹 Agricultural lobby Confagricoltura said at least 10 million fruit trees will have to be uprooted, and possibly as many as 40 million. More than 600 roads remained closed on Monday, with the region estimating at the weekend that more than 620 million euros was needed to rebuild the water-logged road and transport network.

🔹Italian PM Giorgia Meloni left the G7 summit in Hiroshima 🇯🇵 a day earlier to attend to the situation in Italy. In the midst of Italy's crisis she continues to pledge military aid to Ukraine, saying "Ukraine knows it can count on Italy's all-round support". Her gov't is now considering help to train Ukrainian 🇺🇦pilots in using F16 jets. Italy has contributed about one billion euros thus far to Ukraine.

🔹Yesterday, Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, 🌋 was erupting, spewing ash on Catania, eastern Sicily’s 🇮🇹 largest city, and forcing a suspension of flights at that city’s airport. The 10,925-foot-high volcano, the tallest in Europe, has been known to erupt multiple times per year, though the last major event was in 1992.

Video source - CityNews & euronews

🔹Finnish 🇫🇮 state-owned gas wholesaler Gasum has terminated a contract to buy natural gas from Gazprom Export via pipelines from Russia 🇷🇺. Gazprom ceased pipeline-based natural gas deliveries to Gasum last year May in a dispute over payments, and the two sides had been in talks to resolve the matter.

🔹Gasum said it would not fulfill Gazprom’s demand to pay for piped gas in rubles after US & EU sanctions prevented payments through normal agreements. Russian fossil gas has been piped into Finland since the 1970s, with the state-owned Gasum having been responsible for the supply.

🔹The termination concerns only pipeline supply, whereas “the long-term LNG supply contract Gasum has with Gazprom Export remains in place,”. Gasum 🇫🇮 has bought around $188 million worth of natural gas from Russia since February 2022. Gazprom supplied the company with 1.49 billion cubic meters of gas in 2021, representing two-thirds of Finland’s total consumption.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Finland 🇫🇮 tests their newest nuclear reactor Olkiluoto 3.

💠 Finland has proposed a temporary 30% windfall tax on profits from the country's electricity 💡companies.

💠 Finland terminated a contract with Russia's 🇷🇺 Rosatom to build a nuclear facility in Finland.

💠 Gazprom cuts gas supply to Finland due to failure to pay in rubles but continues to buy Russian LNG 🚢 supplies.

🔹President E. Raeisi says Iran 🇮🇷 and Indonesia 🇮🇩 aim to increase their trade value to 20 billion dollars, stressing that both sides are resolute on promoting exchanges using national currencies. The Iranian president, is on an official visit to Indonesia at the head of a high-ranking politico-economic delegation. His visit to Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, comes in the shadow of fresh EU 🇪🇺 sanctions this week on Iran.

🔹In the presence of Raeisi 🇮🇷 and Indonesian president J. Widodo, senior officials of Iran and Indonesia signed 11 documents and agreements to strengthen cooperation in preferential trade, cancellation of visas, cultural exchanges, supervision over the pharmaceutical products, science and technology as well as oil and gas.

💠 Indonesia 🇮🇩 & Iran applies to join the BRICS group and Indonesia is interested in joining the BRICS Bank (NDB).

💠 Iran and Russia 🇷🇺 have signed an agreement on the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway, within the framework of the International North-South Transport Corridor.

💠 The Bank of Indonesia will launch its domestic card payment system to reduce dependency on foreign systems.

Video source - PressTV

🔹Russian 🇷🇺PM Mikhail Mishustin attended a high-level business forum in Shanghai, China 🇨🇳. He expects that bilateral trade between China and Russia could hit the $200 billion goal by this year and cooperation will expand beyond traditional areas.

🔹Russian farmers 🚜 and other producers are ready to further increase exports to China, while both countries are working to provide opportunities for cross-border cooperation between businesses. He will then head to Beijing, to meet President Xi Jinping and his Chinese counterpart, PM Li Qiang.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Moscow & Beijing 🇨🇳 are developing a system of settlements to allow cross-border transactions bypassing SWIFT.

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

💠 The yuan's share of the Russian currency market has risen to as much as 45%, up from less than 1% at the start of 2022.

💠 The yuan's share of Russia’s import settlements jumped to 23% by the end of last year from only 4% in January 2022. The yuan’s share in export settlements also surged, 📈 from 0.5% to 16%.

💠 The share of trade between Russia & China in national currencies has reached roughly half of turnover (yuan- ruble).

Video source - IntelRepublic

🔹Spain's 🇪🇸 severe drought and parched soils have sent olive oil prices to levels not seen in more than a decade. Spanish extra-virgin olive oil prices have jumped 200% since 2020 to 5,870 euros per metric ton -- the highest level since 2010. Most of the price surge was recorded in the last year.

🔹Spain accounts for 40% of the world's supply, indicating prices across Europe and other regions are being pushed higher. Spain 🇪🇸 is under severe weather stress, with barely any rainfall since January. The drought ☀️is damaging crops.

🔹The global price of the oil is now almost $6,000 per metric ton, the highest since 1997, when it reached $6,225. Spain is pleading with the EU 🇪🇺 for emergency funds to help farmers, but no confirmation yet on any aid from the EU. Simultaneously, the EU gave 500 million euros of funding dedicated for EU member states to Ukraine 🇺🇦 & the Council of the EU agreed to provide 1 billion euros for the purchase of weapons to Ukraine.

🔹For about a decade, Italy’s 🇮🇹 olive trees have been under vicious attack from the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa. It has killed more than 21 million olive trees so far in the southern Puglia region, which until recently, produced 50% of the country’s olive oil.

🔹Walter Zanre, CEO of Filippo Berio UK 🇬🇧 Ltd, the biggest olive oil company in the UK with 25% of the market, said he feared UK supermarkets will suffer shortages this year. Tunisia's olive oil exporters see promising opportunities for their products in the Brazilian market.

Recently reported on this channel:

💠 Floods destroy farming operations in northeast Italy.

💠 Italy 🇮🇹 projects a drop 📉 of 37% in production of olive oil this season. Producers have warned of rising prices ever since the drought last summer.

Video source - Firstpost & CNA.

🔹 The 51st edition of the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) summit kicked off at the Central Bank of Iran's 🇮🇷 compound in Tehran with reducing dependency on the US dollar 💵 on the agenda of the participants. The regional banking bloc seeks easier clearing of payments between its member states, & have agreed to launch a system that will rival the SWIFT international payment network.

🔹 The (ACU) countries decided to have a customized system for themselves considering that SWIFT is not available to all countries and given that it has its own costs. The main objectives of the clearing union are to facilitate payments among member countries for eligible transactions, thereby economizing on the use of foreign exchange reserves and transfer costs, as well as promoting trade and banking relations among the participating countries.

🔹Currently, the members of ACU are the central banks of Iran 🇮🇷, India 🇮🇳, Bangladesh 🇧🇩, Bhutan 🇧🇹, Maldives 🇲🇻, Nepal 🇳🇵, Pakistan 🇵🇰, Sri Lanka 🇱🇰, and Myanmar🇲🇲. Four other guests from Russia 🇷🇺, Belarus 🇧🇾, Afghanistan 🇦🇫 and representatives of the Islamic Development Bank also attended the meeting.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 An official meeting of all ASEAN nations' Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors was held to discuss reduced dependence on the US Dollar, Euro, Yen, and British Pound from financial transactions and move to settlements in local currencies.

💠 Experts tell a U.S. 🇺🇸 House Financial Service subcommittee that alternative payment systems to SWIFT pose a serious threat to US national security.

Video source- RT

🔹 "China 🇨🇳 is ready to continue interacting with Russia based on firm mutual support and taking into account each other's key interests," —China's president Xi Jinping at the meeting with Russian 🇷🇺PM Mikhail Mishustin. Today (May 24th) in Beijing, PM M. Mishustin met with premier of the State Council of China Li Qiang & president Xi Jinping. The sides signed a number of bilateral agreements, including a memorandum on expanding trade cooperation.

🔹 "China is ready to work with Russia and countries of the EAEU 🇷🇺 🇦🇲 🇰🇿 🇰🇬 🇧🇾 to promote and connect the Belt and Road Initiative with the union in order to develop and establish a bigger regional market, ensure a more stable and robust global supply chain so [we can] bring real and tangible benefits to the countries in the region," Xi was quoted as saying.

🔹 Nearly three-quarters of transactions between Moscow and Beijing are currently made in rubles or yuan. As of early May, Russia's inflation slowed to 📉 2.3% year-over-year. This is the lowest figure among all European countries.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Russian 🇷🇺PM M. Mishustin attended a high-level business forum in Shanghai, China, yesterday to boost trade ties between both countries.

💠 Moscow & Beijing 🇨🇳 are developing a system of settlements to allow cross-border transactions bypassing SWIFT.

💠 The yuan's share of the Russian currency market has risen to as much as 45%, up from less than 1% at the start of 2022.

💠 The yuan's share of Russia’s import settlements jumped to 23% by the end of last year from only 4% in January 2022. The yuan’s share in export settlements also surged, 📈 from 0.5% to 16%.

Video source - RT

🔹Robusta coffee climbed to the highest since 2008 as forecasts for lower output in key producers threaten to tighten global supply. Production in Indonesia 🇮🇩, the third-biggest Robusta grower, is projected to fall by 20% after heavy rains hindered pollination, while the increased humidity hit bean quality.

🔹An emerging El Niño weather pattern will curb output from top supplier Vietnam 🇻🇳, bringing hotter, drier conditions later this year.The premium that higher-end arabica beans command over the Robusta variety narrowed to the lowest in four months as demand for the less costly coffee ☕️ surges. Over the last year and a half, the cost-of-living squeeze has pushed more consumers to cheaper Robusta beans versus high-quality arabica beans.

Previous coffee reports on this channel:

💠 In Colombia 🇨🇴, the world's second top arabica coffee producer, crops are drowned in too much rain. Yields are expected to decline in Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, while Vietnam 🇻🇳, the largest Robusta supplier, will also see stockpiles tumble because of poor harvest.

💠Sanctions on 🇷🇺 Russian/🇧🇾 Belarussian fertilizers affecting Brazil coffee farmers and other coffee farmers in Latin America/Africa.

💠 Kenya's 🇰🇪 2022/23 coffee production is forecast to decrease by 10%.

Video source ET Now & AFP.

🔹Germany 🇩🇪, is confirmed to be in a recession. GDP fell by 0.3% in Q1 '23 when adjusted for price & calendar effects, following a decline of 0.5% in Q4 '22. Household consumption was down 1.2% quarter on quarter after adjustments.

🔹Inflation reached 7.2% 📈 in April, which has been fuelled by the increased cost of energy. R. Habeck, Germany's economy minister, blames previous high dependency on Russian 🇷🇺 energy for the recession. Analysts hoped that mild winter temperatures, a rebound in China 🇨🇳, easing supply chain problems would get the economy out of the recessionary danger zone.

🔹Germany had some of the highest electricity💡costs in Europe. The number of new startups is declining due to excess bureaucracy & financing difficulty. Patent data shows that Germany’s ability to stay at the forefront is fading. Escalating signs of economic malaise in Europe sent the euro 💶 to multi-month lows against the US dollar 💵.

🔹Germany's 🇩🇪economic decline is heavily related to energy, which include:

🔸Blowing up of the Nordstream 1 & 2 gas pipelines.

🔸 Implementing sanctions on Russian 🇷🇺 energy companies and cutting off oil & gas supplies from Russia. Paying higher prices for pipeline gas from Norway & much more expensive LNG from the US.

🔸Shutting down all nuclear power plants 🏭, pushing "green solutions" such as wind & solar despite Germany's limitations by its relatively small coastline and lack of sun.

🔸Cascading shutdown of carbon based industry leading to losing investment capital to other countries.

💠 Check out my 7-part series of posts thus far on the de-industrialisation of Germany 🇩🇪.

Video source - Bloomberg

🔹More reports are surfacing that both human and organ trafficking is rampant throughout Ukraine despite Western media censorship. Last week in Poland 🇵🇱, a Ukrainian woman who ran an orphanage for 14 years in Ukraine and had recently fled to Poland, is now before the Polish courts ⚖️ for trafficking children. She have been selling children in the illegal sex trade and to pedophiles.

🔹Whistleblowers are coming forward and alleging that Ukraine 🇺🇦 serves as a hub for networks of organ trafficking. Growing evidence also includes accusations against the Ukrainian Red Cross Society over “shady activities” that suggest they are harvesting children’s organs.

🔹There have been reports of organ trafficking in Ukraine as far back as 2003. Thee 🇬🇧BBC published news on Karkiv's Maternity Hospital #6, where a grave of 30 full-term babies were missing organs, vital to the illegal stem-cell 🧬 trade. The European Centre for Law & Justice 14 years ago, published the claims of Vadym Lazariev, a Ukrainian doctor turned activist, that babies are killed and declared stillborn so they can be harvested.

🔹Back in 2015, Disability Rights Int'l released a report of the exploitation of children in Ukraine's 🇺🇦 orphanages. That same year the Int'l Organization for Migration report claimed Ukraine as one of the most notorious sources for organ trafficking.

🔹The Council of Europe's 🇪🇺 Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings second report (2018) concluded that more should be done by the Ukrainian gov't to prevent trafficking after six victims were found trafficked for the purpose of the removal of organs.

🔸Link to documentary - Tanks for Kidneys.
🔸Link to interview by American journalist George Eliason.
🔸Link to confession of a 'transplantologist' in Ukraine.
🔸Link to GoPro camera footage from dead Ukrainian solder.

🔹 Oman’s 🇴🇲 Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said and his delegation are in Iran 🇮🇷 to improve relations. Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi says Iran and Oman have a common stance on the improvement of security, peace and welfare of the nations in the region.

🔹Iranian and Omani officials signed 12 cooperation documents and MoU's for the expansion of bilateral cooperation in various fields. Experts say an investment agreement with Oman secures new access for Iranian firms to invest in the Arab country while managers and specialists from Iranian companies will be able to work in Omani subsidiaries for several years without restrictions.

🔹Iranian 🇮🇷 Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, added that the implementation of the Ashgabat agreement and the establishment of a four-way transit route between Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan 🇹🇲 and Uzbekistan 🇺🇿 were among other important issues discussed with the Omani delegation.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Oman 🇴🇲 voluntarily cuts oil production in co-ordination with OPEC+ 🛢members.

💠 India’s 🇮🇳 opens special rupee vostro accounts in Oman for settling payments in Indian rupees.

💠 The US 🇺🇸 warns Oman of a possible embargo if they continue to evade US sanctions on Russia.

💠 Oman imported more Russian 🇷🇺oil in the first 10 months of 2022 than in the previous 3 years combined.

Video source - Oman News Center & PressTV

🔹 Today, (May 29th), KFOR (NATO -led force in Kosovo) & Kosovo 🇽🇰 police deployed stun grenades and tear gas at a group of demonstrators in the majority-Serb town of Zvecan in Kosovo , injuring around 50 people. This resulted in Serbian 🇷🇸 demonstrators pelting rocks at the NATO troops with KFOR responding with baton strikes and rubber bullets. 25 KFOR soldiers were injured in the melee, 11 of those were Italians 🇮🇹. The protestors vowed to return tomorrow.

🔹Over the weekend violent clashes between police and ethnic Serbian protesters in four municipalities in northern Kosovo. Serbs turned out in force to protest the installation of the four newly-elected mayors (all ethnic Albanians) after boycotting (only 4% of area residents voted) April’s elections, which they viewed as an illegitimate power-grab aimed at reducing their influence in the region.

🔹The previous local mayors resigned last year after authorities in Pristina 🇽🇰, announced plans to force residents to switch their Serbian identity documents for Kosovo-issued paperwork. This caused the election boycott. Serbia 🇷🇸 placed its army on high alert, moving some units closer to the region’s border.

🔹Serbian President Aleksander Vucic plans to meet with Russian 🇷🇺 Ambassador to Serbia tomorrow amid the current escalation in Kosovo and Metohija. He called on NATO to take urgent measures to put an end to violence against Serbs in Kosovo. He also pleads with int'l community to 'talk some sense' into the Kosovo PM.

💠 At the end of 2022 we reported on this channel that the US 🇺🇸 & EU 🇪🇺 pretend not to violate the Serbia/Kosovo Brussels & Washington Agreements. “Radical” Albanian extremists & Kosovo authorities, backed by the US & EU are escalating tensions.

Video sources - BellumActa & Xaoquin Flores - New Resistance.

🔹United States 🇺🇸 president Joe Biden condemned Uganda's 🇺🇬 new anti-gay law (one of the world's toughest anti-LGBTQ laws), and said the US may impose sanctions and will evaluate the implications of the law "on all aspects of US engagement with Uganda." Biden said, "this shameful act is the latest development in an alarming trend of human rights abuses and corruption in Uganda".

🔹The US 🇺🇸 may restrict visas issued to Ugandan officials and will review Uganda’s eligibility for the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which provides duty-free treatment to goods of designated sub-Saharan African countries. Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, as in more than 30 African countries, but the new law goes further.

🔹Last year, Uganda 🇺🇬 announced a discovery of 31 million metric tons of gold, awaiting to be mined. The Ugandan gov't licensed China's 🇨🇳 Wagagai gold mining company to start producing gold products, indicating the African shift away from the West. Recently, India’s 🇮🇳 opened a special rupee vostro accounts in Uganda for settling payments in Indian rupees.

🔹Trade earnings for 2023 has seen an uptick 📈 in Uganda, on account of higher export earnings from mineral products, tobacco, maize and cotton.

Video source - AFP & SABC News.

🔹The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)🇸🇦 imported 174,000 barrels of diesel and gasoil a day from Russia 🇷🇺 in April '23. At the same time, the KSA emerged as the EU’s 🇪🇺 number one supplier due to the kingdom ramping up production at refineries. This way they are not evading any sanctions.

🔹 The KSA is buying cheap diesel and gasoil from Russia for domestic consumption and selling their own to Europe at a higher market price. Saudi Arabia outpaced the US 🇺🇸 to become the world’s second-biggest exporter of diesel and gasoil in April. Nearly 35% of the kingdom’s overall April exports were reportedly shipped to EU member states and the UK 🇬🇧.

🔹The Saudis may reduce the official selling price of its flagship Arab Light grade 🛢 for Asian buyers further, having done so several times already for 2023 so as to secure market share in a region that has become the largest importer of Russian crude.

🔹They are also importing unprecedented amounts of this cheap Russian diesel and in turn shipping 🚢 record volumes to Singapore 🇸🇬, where the fuel can achieve higher margins. That allowed state oil giant Saudi Aramco to increase its May import arrivals to Singapore to record levels and cash in on better arbitrage netbacks in the east than Europe.

Previously reported on this channel:

💠 Russia 🇷🇺 started exporting diesel to the KSA, which could be refined further & re-exported.

💠 Saudi Arabia will not sell oil 🛢 to any country that imposes a price cap on its supply.

💠 The KSA 🇸🇦 imports Russian fuel oil, resulting in having more unrefined crude to sell on international markets at higher prices.

Video source - Firstpost & Forbes.

🔹Leaders and representatives from 12 South American countries gathered in Brazil 🇧🇷 for a summit on May 30th to discuss a possible revival of the regional bloc previously known as the Union of South American Nations, or UNASUR. This is the first meeting they have had in nine years. Eleven of the continent's 12 heads of state attended.

🔹Brazil's president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva promoted the idea of creating a regional trade currency, one that could rival the dominance of the United States 🇺🇸 dollar. Venezuelan 🇻🇪President Nicolas Maduro received a warm welcome by Lula, just several years after he was banned from entering Brazil. Maduro called for a “multi-polar” world rather than one dominated by the US. Lula expressed his favor of Venezuela's entry in BRICS 🇧🇷🇷🇺🇮🇳🇨🇳🇿🇦.

🔹The "Bi-Oceanic Corridor," project was mentioned, a transportation artery to enable countries to ship goods across the continent overland instead of by sea. On the agenda was also a common energy market and integration of the region’s defense and security.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Venezuela 🇻🇪 will move forward on the path of ditching the US dollar in economic transactions.

💠 Bolivia's 🇧🇴 is evaluating the possibility of using China's 🇨🇳yuan as a replacement for the U.S. dollar in its foreign trade.

💠 Argentina 🇦🇷 is set to follow Brazil and start to pay for Chinese imports in yuan rather than US dollars 💵.

💠 Argentina & Brazil 🇧🇷 want to "advance discussions on a common South American currency" to be used for financial and trade flows.

Video source - InContext & IntelRepublic

🔹Russia's 🇷🇺 Rosneft's net profit for Q1 2023 attributable to shareholders increased by 46% quarter-on-quarter to 323 billion rubles ($3.9 bln). It's Russian Far East Sakhalin-1 oil production was up 📈 1.8 times in Q1 with increases in liquid hydrocarbons and gas also. Rosneft gives priority to payments made in rubles and currencies of friendly countries for settlements under export supplies.

🔹Oil output from the 🇷🇺 Sakhalin-1 project has bounced back to its plateau level of about 200,000 bpd 🛢 from zero. India's 🇮🇳 state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) hopes to reclaim its 20% stake in the project in coming months after some 'terms and conditions' are fulfilled. ONGC is not in a hurry to repatriate almost $100 million of dividend pending from Sakhalin-1, and could even consider reinvesting it in the project.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Japan's crude oil imports from the Sakhalin 2 project gets exempted from the G-7/EU 🇪🇺 price cap as it considers it a matter of energy security.

💠 Japan 🇯🇵, backtracks on sanctions, & remain involved in Sakhalin-1.

💠 Sakhalin-1, will be transferred to a local entity. The same was done for the Sakhalin- 2 earlier.

💠 LNG 🚢 from Russia's Sakhalin 2 accounts for roughly 9% of Japan's 🇯🇵 total LNG imports.

🔹The BRICS 🇧🇷🇷🇺🇮🇳🇨🇳🇿🇦 Ministers of Foreign Affairs and International Relations met in Cape Town, South Africa on June 1st for a BRICS summit. A meeting was also held with the "Friends of BRICS Foreign Ministers" (candidate countries wishing to join). The member countries reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening the framework of BRICS cooperation under the three pillars of political/security, economic and cultural cooperation.

🔹The Ministers expressed concern about the use of unilateral coercive measures, which are incompatible with the principles of the Charter of the UN 🇺🇳 and produce negative effects notably in the developing world. They recommitted to instil new life in the discussions on reform of the UN Security Council & the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN.

🔹They committed to engage constructively to pursue the necessary World Trade Organisation reform and the restoration of a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system ⚖️ accessible to all members by 2024. They called on continuing the process of IMF governance reform under the 16th General Review of Quotas. They encouraged the BRICS New Development Bank to follow the member-led and demand-driven principle, aiming to be a premier multilateral development institution.

🔹The Ministers recalled their national positions concerning the situation in and around Ukraine. They noted with appreciation relevant proposals of mediation and aimed at peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy. They called for the full and effective implementation of the Black Sea Grain 🇺🇳🇷🇺🇹🇷🇺🇦 Initiative. The Ministers expressed concern about the outbreak of violence in Sudan 🇸🇩.

Video source - RT