The price of Putin's death and Nestlé's partial withdrawal from Russia: Highlights on war in Ukraine as of March 23

Author

Olexandra Zakharova

The twenty-eighth day of the war against the Russian invaders continues in Ukraine. This day has been quite eventful for business, politics, and economics. has compiled a digest that will help you to know the situation in Ukraine.

The major developments of the day are:

Photo: Getty Images

Russia's bloodthirsty dictator Vladimir Putin is betting on the capture of Chernihiv. Anton Herashchenko, Adviser to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, reported about this on the air of a unified telethon. The invaders pull in heavy equipment and make pontoon crossings: this night, they broke the bridge across the Desna. Russian troops also blocked the exit of people from Mariupol to Ukrainian-controlled territory.
The Russian authorities are preparing the forces of the Rosgvardiya to block traffic on the Crimean bridge and the ferry crossing from the occupied Crimea to the Russian Federation. This is how Putin is trying to respond to panic among Russian citizens, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said in a statement. First of all, family members of Russian officers, law enforcement officers, and representatives of the occupation administration of Sevastopol are trying to leave the peninsula. In total, there are 600,000 citizens of the Russian Federation in Crimea illegally staying on the peninsula.
Hundreds of names and other data of the Russian invaders committing war crimes on the territory of Ukraine have been uploaded on the Internet. Information with the names of the terrorists appeared on the website of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

Politics

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Belarus announced the closure of the Consulate General of Ukraine in Brest and the expulsion of 12 Ukrainian diplomats from the territory of the country, the Telegram channel Belta reported, citing the decision of the Foreign Ministry in Minsk. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called it "an unprovoked unfriendly act against Ukraine," Oleg Nikolenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian ministry, reported, according to RBC-Ukraine. Ukraine will not leave the actions of Belarus without a proper response, he assured.
Russia is intimidating China that its weakening will be the next goal for the US after the Kremlin. This statement was made by former President and Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev.
Meanwhile, Russian oligarchs are already discussing the possibility of eliminating Vladimir Putin, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported on Facebook.

According to intelligence, a meeting was held in Moscow between oligarch Petr Aven and Kazakh billionaire Alexander Mashkevich. THe "big business" representatives are looking for ways to influence the dictator or his inner circle and even discuss the cost of Putin’s physical elimination.

Economy

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The National Bank of Ukraine and the National Bank of Poland have facilitated the exchange of Ukrainian hryvnia for Polish zlotys for Ukrainians in Poland. The agreement will come into force on March 25, 2022, the NBU reports. Adult citizens of Ukraine can exchange up to 10,000 UAH in cash per person. Polish banks will accept banknotes in denominations from 100 to 1,000 UAH.
Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to convert payments for Russian gas into rubles for those countries that have imposed sanctions against the Kremlin. This refers to the UK and the EU, Russian propaganda media report. The conversion of settlements will force foreign gas buyers from the EU to buy rubles from Russia, which could strengthen the Moscow currency, Obozrevatel explains.
The Russian Federation oil industry has faced problems over the sanctions, although the EU has not yet imposed an embargo on purchasing oil from Moscowia. In Russia, in the first half of March 2022, fuel refining volumes decreased by 6%. Most likely, the decline will continue, Obozrevatel reports with reference to the Russian media. Meanwhile, according to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, the French oil and gas company TotalEnergies has decided not to purchase Russian oil and oil products.
Meanwhile, Gazprom could be stripped of managing storage facilities in the EU if it fails to fill its reservoirs. This proposal was approved by the European Commission, but the decision has yet to be approved by the EU Council and the European Parliament, Deutsche Welle reports.
The French banking group Crédit Agricole decided to completely suspend the activities in Russia.

Business

Photo: Getty Images

Nestlé, after Anonymous hacker attacks, refuses to sell most of its products in Russia, but keeps the sale of baby and medical food. At the same time, the company assured on its website that it would transfer all the profits obtained in Moscowia to humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
The Finnish company Nokian Tires, a manufacturer of tires (including tires for large vehicles), was urged to leave Russia. This is stated in an open letter from the Ambassador of Ukraine to Finland Olga Dibrova on Facebook.

New Zealand dairy manufacturer Fonterra closes its office in Moscow and leaves Russia.
The Cabinet of Ministers has imposed daily monitoring of prices for socially important commodity categories. This is stated in the report of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection. The commodity list includes:

wheat flour;
alimentary products;
loaf of bread;
bread;
buckwheat;
oatmeal;
pork;
beef;
poultry (chicken carcasses);
milk;
butter;
sour cream;
chicken eggs;
sunflower oil;
granulated sugar;
white cabbage;
bulb onion;
beet;
carrot;
potato;
ethanol (solution 96%);
domestic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs;
domestic antibacterial drugs;
gasoline (A-92 and A-95);
diesel fuel;
liquefied gas for vehicles.

The State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection urged businesses not to allow unreasonable price increases.

The Polish Chamber of Tourism that includes 500 enterprises in the hotel, tourism and logistics sector announced its intention to stop cooperation with Russian business.

Context.