ReportWire

Tag: cz

  • Aster Explodes After CZ Drops Bombshell: He Owns $2.5M Worth

    [ad_1]

    They say journalists never truly clock out. But for Christian, that’s not just a metaphor, it’s a lifestyle. By day, he navigates the ever-shifting tides of the cryptocurrency market, wielding words like a seasoned editor and crafting articles that decipher the jargon for the masses. When the PC goes on hibernate mode, however, his pursuits take a more mechanical (and sometimes philosophical) turn.

    Christian’s journey with the written word began long before the age of Bitcoin. In the hallowed halls of academia, he honed his craft as a feature writer for his college paper. This early love for storytelling paved the way for a successful stint as an editor at a data engineering firm, where his first-month essay win funded a months-long supply of doggie and kitty treats – a testament to his dedication to his furry companions (more on that later).

    Christian then roamed the world of journalism, working at newspapers in Canada and even South Korea. He finally settled down at a local news giant in his hometown in the Philippines for a decade, becoming a total news junkie. But then, something new caught his eye: cryptocurrency. It was like a treasure hunt mixed with storytelling – right up his alley!

    So, he landed a killer gig at NewsBTC, where he’s one of the go-to guys for all things crypto. He breaks down this confusing stuff into bite-sized pieces, making it easy for anyone to understand (he salutes his management team for teaching him this skill).

    Think Christian’s all work and no play? Not a chance! When he’s not at his computer, you’ll find him indulging his passion for motorbikes. A true gearhead, Christian loves tinkering with his bike and savoring the joy of the open road on his 320-cc Yamaha R3. Once a speed demon who hit 120mph (a feat he vowed never to repeat), he now prefers leisurely rides along the coast, enjoying the wind in his thinning hair.

    Speaking of chill, Christian’s got a crew of furry friends waiting for him at home. Two cats and a dog. He swears cats are way smarter than dogs (sorry, Grizzly), but he adores them all anyway. Apparently, watching his pets just chillin’ helps him analyze and write meticulously formatted articles even better.

    Here’s the thing about this guy: He works a lot, but he keeps himself fueled by enough coffee to make it through the day – and some seriously delicious (Filipino) food. He says a delectable meal is the secret ingredient to a killer article. And after a long day of crypto crusading, he unwinds with some rum (mixed with milk) while watching slapstick movies.

    Looking ahead, Christian sees a bright future with NewsBTC. He says he sees himself privileged to be part of an awesome organization, sharing his expertise and passion with a community he values, and fellow editors – and bosses – he deeply respects.

    So, the next time you tread into the world of cryptocurrency, remember the man behind the words – the crypto crusader, the grease monkey, and the feline philosopher, all rolled into one.

    [ad_2]

    Christian Encila

    Source link

  • BNB Chain Memecoin Season? 70% Of Investors In Profit As Four.Meme Surpasses Pump.Fun

    [ad_1]

    As BNB’s price records a massive 30% rally, the BNB Chain ecosystem also experiences a remarkable performance, fueled by Chinese-themed memecoins launched on the Four.meme launchpad.

    Related Reading

    BNB Chain Momentum Steals Memecoin Spotlight

    Amid BNB’s run to the $1,300 barrier, the BNB Chain ecosystem is experiencing a memecoin frenzy, with multiple BNB Chain-based tokens gaining significant traction over the past few days.

    Notably, the ongoing momentum has seen tokens like Palu (PALU), 币安人生 (BinanceLife), 4 (FOUR), PUP (PUP), and CZ’s Dog (BROCCOLI) record massive rallies.

    According to DeFiLlama data, the BNB Chain-based memecoin launchpad, Four.meme, has overtaken Pump.fun, Solana’s leading launchpad, in daily revenue.

    In the past 24 hours, Four.meme has gained around $1.4 million in revenue, surpassing Pump.fun’s $885,420. Meanwhile, CoinGecko data shows that the Four.meme ecosystem tokens have surged around 88% to an overall market capitalization of $1.044 billion and a daily trading volume of $963.4 million.

    Four.meme flips Pump.fun in daily revenue. Source: DeFiLlama

    Nonetheless, the Solana-based launchpad continues to lead in higher timeframes, with weekly and monthly revenues of $8.34 million and $40.9 million, respectively. Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, highlighted the recent memecoin frenzy in the BNB Chain.

    On Tuesday, CZ acknowledged the “BNB meme szn” on X, affirming, “I didn’t expect this at all.” On-chain analytics platform Bubblemaps declared that the “BNB memecoin szn is real,” noting that over 100,000 on-chain traders bought into the new memecoin frenzy, with 70% of them being in profit.

    As the platform detailed, 21,000 investors have made over $1,000, while 900 have earned over $100,000 with the leading tokens. Meanwhile, 40 traders have made over $1 million, and one has profited more than $10 million.

    Can BNB’s Memecoin Season Last?

    A crypto community member weighed in on how long the ongoing memecoin trend could last and whether it was worth participating in it. According to the X post, the investor considers that the BNB Chain tokens frenzy might continue, arguing that “this time is different.”

    Following the rapid surge of BinanceLife, which has reached a market cap of $372 million in less than a week, the investor listed multiple reasons why BNB Chain’s memecoin season could last for a while.

    They argued that “CZ and He Yi won’t let this wave fade easily,” suggesting that they will “likely keep pushing it forward.” The investor pointed out that the ecosystem is more mature and capital is more abundant. Previously launched memecoins “aimed” for a Binance listing, while the new project’s exit path is clearer.

    “First generate hype through reposts, then launch on Alpha, followed by listing on Aster spot and Binance spot—each step driving upward momentum in a relentless surge,” they explained.

    Lastly, the investor argued that the rules have changed, as this Memecoin bull run is spearheaded by the Chinese-speaking community, who “stand at the crest of the wave” this time.

    “Those who embrace change swiftly profit first; Those with biases neither gain nor lose,” they concluded.

    BNB, BNBUSDT
    BNB’S performance in the one-week chart. Source: BNBUSDT on TradingView

    Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com

    [ad_2]

    Rubmar Garcia

    Source link

  • Binance Freezes $11.8 Million In Stolen Assets Following Kidnapping Incident – Details

    Binance Freezes $11.8 Million In Stolen Assets Following Kidnapping Incident – Details

    [ad_1]

    Chief Executive Officer of Binance, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, has shared a report in which the exchange intervened in the theft of millions of dollars worth of crypto assets. Through a fast response operation, the Binance Global Head stated they were able to prevent the bad actors from making away with over 90% of the stolen loot.

    Binance Confiscates $11.8 Million In Assets Belonging To Kidnapped Clients

    In a Friday post on X, CZ stated that executives from one of Binance’s client companies were deceived into going on a business trip to Montenegro, during which they were kidnapped and forced to forfeit all assets in their crypto wallets.

    In total, the Binance CEO stated that the bad actors were able to obtain approximately $12.5 million dollars worth of digital assets from their victims, which were all converted to USDT and moved to a TRON wallet. 

    However, Binance was able to quickly intervene in the matter, alerting their partners to the situation, who were then able to freeze the wallet. In doing so, Binance foiled the kidnapper’s access to $11.8 million of the $12.5 million loot.

    The incident recounted by CZ is not a new occurrence in the crypto space, as sometimes bad actors resort to such brazen methods to steal crypto assets from investors.

    In 2020, Le Duc Nguyen, a Vietnamese investor, was kidnapped and robbed of about VND 35 billion ($1.5 million) worth of crypto assets by another Vietnamese man named Ho Ngoc Tai with the help of 15 gang members.

    Tai claimed that he lost 1,000 Bitcoins valued at VND 100 billion by investing in other tokens based on financial advice. The crypto investor felt cheated and proceeded to obtain a “refund” via forceful means. 

    Albeit, Tai and his hired hands were eventually apprehended by the police and faced trial in May 2023, during which 14 of the 16 culprits were given sentences ranging from 9 to 19 imprisonments.

    CZ Faces Questions On Crypto’s Decentralization

    Following Zhao’s account of the successful crypto asset recovery, some crypto enthusiasts raised concerns over Binance’s ability to freeze users’ assets at will, a feature synonymous with the fiat banking system.

    However, the Binance boss stated that crypto users have a choice to avoid such occurrences, as assets can only be frozen on centralized exchanges (CEX). Using other forms of storage, such as non-custodial wallets, users’ assets are bound to remain inaccessible to any third party.

    Total crypto market valued at $1.382 trillion on the daily chart | Source: TOTAL chart on Tradingview.com

    Featured image from Shuttershock, chart from Tradingview

    [ad_2]

    Semilore Faleti

    Source link

  • China says it respects sovereignty of ex-Soviet states after EU uproar

    China says it respects sovereignty of ex-Soviet states after EU uproar

    [ad_1]

    • Chinese ambassador to Paris caused uproar in EU
    • Comments focused on Ukraine, ex-Soviet states
    • Beijing says he was expressing personal views
    • EU welcomes ‘clarification’

    LUXEMBOURG, April 24 (Reuters) – China respects the status of former Soviet member states as sovereign nations, its foreign ministry said on Monday, distancing itself from comments by its envoy to Paris that triggered an uproar among European capitals.

    Several European Union foreign ministers had said comments by ambassador Lu Shaye – in which he questioned the sovereignty of Ukraine and other former Soviet states – were unacceptable and had asked Beijing to clarify its stance.

    Asked if Lu’s comments represented China’s official position, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that Beijing respected the status of the former Soviet member states as sovereign nations following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

    Mao told a regular news briefing that it was her remarks on sovereignty that represented China’s official government stance.

    The Chinese embassy in Paris issued a statement later on Monday to say that Lu’s comments on Ukraine “were not a political declaration but an expression of his personal views”.

    Both statements, following the backlash, appeared to be an effort to ease the tension with the EU while Washington also cited growing closeness between Beijing and Moscow.

    “Beijing has distanced itself from the unacceptable remarks by its ambassador,” Josep Borrell told a news conference, saying it was “good news”.

    The French foreign ministry said it was “taking note” of Beijing’s “clarifications” and that the minister’s chief of staff had met with Lu on Monday, told him his comments were unacceptable and urged him to speak in a way “that is in line with his country’s official stance.”

    Lu has earned himself a reputation as one of China’s “wolf warrior” diplomats, so-called for their hawkish and abrasive style.

    Asked about his position on whether Crimea was part of Ukraine or not, Lu had said in an interview aired on French TV on Friday that historically it was part of Russia and had been offered to Ukraine by former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

    “These ex-USSR countries don’t have actual status in international law because there is no international agreement to materialize their sovereign status,” Lu added.

    Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky speaks during a news conference, in Riga, Latvia April 21, 2023. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

    ‘TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE’

    Monday’s statements from the Chinese foreign ministry and embassy in Paris came after criticism from across the EU.

    Speaking ahead of a Luxembourg meeting of EU foreign ministers earlier in the day, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said Lu’s comments were “totally unacceptable”.

    “I hope the bosses of this ambassador will make these things straight,” he told reporters.

    A spokesperson for Germany’s foreign ministry said it had taken note of Lu’s comments “with great astonishment, especially as the statements are not in line with the Chinese position we have known so far.”

    Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said the three Baltic countries would summon Chinese representatives to officially ask for clarification.

    He said Beijing was “sending the same message” as Moscow on questioning the sovereignty of former Soviet countries, which he described as “dangerous”.

    Lithuania and its Baltic neighbours Latvia and Estonia were incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940, but regained independence after its break-up in 1991.

    EU leaders would discuss the bloc’s stance towards China and its future relations with Beijing during their next summit in June, EU Council President Charles Michel said.

    Lu has been summoned to France’s foreign ministry several times in the past, including for suggesting France was abandoning old people in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic and for calling a respected China scholar at a French think-tank a “mad hyena”.

    Asked about Chinese officials’ comments, White House spokesperson John Kirby told MSNBC broadcaster that China and Russia are clearly aligning, adding: “These are two countries that want to challenge outright the international rules-based order … that respects sovereignty around the world.”

    “They want to undermine it. They want to reduce and diminish not only the United States and our influence around the world but also our allies and partners.”

    Reporting by Bart Meijer

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Ukraine’s tech entrepreneurs fight war on a different front

    Ukraine’s tech entrepreneurs fight war on a different front

    [ad_1]

    PRAGUE, April 4 (Reuters) – Eugene Nayshtetik and his five co-workers shuttered their company developing medical and biotech startups to join the defense forces days after Russia invaded Ukraine. Within two months, their commanders agreed it would be more useful if they swapped their military gear for computers.

    With the government’s blessing, Nayshtetik and his team of engineers moved to neighboring Poland where they raised initial funding from a Polish company, Air Res Aviation, to develop a new drone for the Ukrainian military.

    Jerzy Nowak, president and co-owner of Air Res Aviation, said his company’s initial investment in the drone project amounted to around $200,000.

    The Defender drone, now ready for testing, is designed to withstand strong winds to enable surveillance in bad weather, can fly vertically and carry big payloads. It’s an example of how some startups in Ukraine’s dynamic tech sector are switching to pursue military projects.

    “We had our own portfolio of medical and biotechnology civilian projects before the war,” Nayshtetik told Reuters. “We never dreamt of killing people. We wanted to heal people but the situation changed.”

    Reuters spoke to more than a dozen entrepreneurs, as well as Ukrainian and Western officials who said the shift to military innovation in Ukraine’s once-thriving technology sector has bolstered the country’s out-manned and out-gunned armed forces.

    Military experts and Ukrainian officials told Reuters that innovations developed by these startups are making a difference on the battlefield, ranging from software applications that can target enemy positions more quickly to civilian drones adapted for military use, and systems that integrate data to give commanders more detailed battlefield views.

    “The Ukrainians are outmatched by every numerical scale: in terms of numbers of forces; in terms of numbers when it comes to equipment. And yet they’re holding their own,” said a senior NATO official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “One of the reasons they’re holding their own is that they have, in a very innovative way, integrated technology into warfighting.”

    Before Russia’s invasion, Ukraine represented one of the fastest growing tech hubs in central and eastern Europe. The enterprise value of startups soared more than 9-fold between 2017 and 2022 to reach 23 billion euros, according to data from Dealroom.com.

    Ukraine offered a host of advantages for emerging technology businesses, including a tradition of producing graduates strong in math and computer science. A low cost base also allowed entrepreneurs to do more with less.

    The country boasted 285,000 software developers in 2021 with an additional 25,000 graduating from tech universities annually, according to software development outsourcing company Softjourn.

    But with most emerging companies in Ukraine focused on the domestic market, many startups suffered a collapse in demand following the war – which has killed tens of thousands of people, reduced cities to rubble and wreaked havoc on infrastructure.

    Pavlo Kartashov, director of the Ukrainian Startup Fund (USF), a government-backed organization that seeds technology startups, told Reuters his group resumed funding in October. It hopes to finance around five to 10 emerging companies a month with grants of up to $35,000.

    Most will focus on military technology, he said.

    The fund also aims to unveil in April a new platform to connect emerging companies more closely with the military to identify the needs on the battlefield and to speed the transformation of ideas into tools that can be used in the conflict.

    “If you have something innovative and efficient it will definitely be used by the army,” he told Reuters. “We need new technology to fight the enemy and can try different approaches in real time.”

    PLOUGHSHARES INTO SWORDS

    Since the war, Western venture capital firms often have required strict term sheets that include having at least one founder and other key parts of the business located outside Ukraine. So the government has become the sole source within the country of early stage funding – the lifeblood of the technology sector – more than half a dozen founders and venture capitalists said.

    Demand from the government has driven the shift to military technology, but most of the entrepreneurs who spoke to Reuters said that patriotic duty also played a role.

    Take Kiev-based efarm.pro, a startup founded in 2016 whose GPS technology attached to tractors helps farmers more precisely monitor how fertilizer has penetrated the ground. Many of its customers are located in parts of Ukraine that became too dangerous to farm after the Russian invasion so the company adapted its product to detect mines.

    The self-driving technology is only aimed at farmers for now but could also work for military vehicles, the company’s founder Alexander Prykhodchenko told Reuters.

    “Clients were calling us in the first days of the war saying they don’t know how they can work in the field,” Prykhodchenko said. “The war started on February 24 and on February 26 we started work on the new project.”

    Currently, only three of the tractors are in use as the autonomous technology remains in the testing and development phase, Prykhodchenko said.

    Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov said the intensity of the fighting has meant that some concepts can flow from the drawing board to the battlefield in months, if not days.

    While acknowledging the critical role of weapons supplied by Western nations in helping to fight the Russians, he added that the ability to utilize the know-how of tech-savvy Ukrainians at home and abroad has proved invaluable.

    “One of the few areas where Ukraine has managed to stay consistently ahead of Russia is in the use of innovative military technologies,” he wrote in a February article for the Atlantic Council.

    Russia says its own weapons industry is increasing production and introducing new technology fast to meet the demands of military operations in Ukraine.

    Gregory Allen, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington DC, highlighted the so-called “Uber for Artillery” application developed by a network of Ukrainian programmers before the Russian invasion that networks together infantry, reconnaissance and artillery units to spot and land an artillery strike more quickly.

    He also said that a pair of anonymous Ukrainian software developers had rapidly created a program in mid-2022 that used machine learning to analyze video feeds from drones to detect more effectively military vehicles camouflaged in forests. Reuters was not able to confirm independently the details of the software.

    “I used to work in the Defense Department, and I have almost never seen high quality military machine learning systems go from an idea in someone’s head to a real system being used in war in a matter of weeks,” Allen told Reuters. “The value of the Ukrainian software systems is impressive but the speed is astonishing.”

    The Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer Bill LaPlante has described Ukraine’s use of technology in the war as a “wake up call.”

    “We are seeing true innovation on the battlefield: new combinations of technologies and concepts being developed and implemented, and the cycle from idea to prototype to a warfighter’s hands collapsed to months, if not weeks,” LaPlante told a U.S. Congressional committee last month.

    ISRAELI MODEL

    While Ukraine’s government and tech founders are focused on war-time innovation to aid the military now, they say these emerging start ups can also underpin Ukraine’s post-war economy — pointing to Israel as an example of how military technology laid the foundation for a booming technology sector.

    Government support and experience working on military projects transformed Israel into a global tech hub and propelled the nation into a leader in cybersecurity and autonomous driving vehicles — a path Ukraine officials and tech leaders like Valery Krasovsky hope to emulate for a country with a pre-war population nearly five times that of Israel.

    “There are much more ideas in military technology,” said Krasovsky, the founder and chief executive of Swedish-Ukrainian Sigma Software Group.

    For now, the scarcity of seed funding in Ukraine has forced some companies to flee to places like to neighboring Poland. Groups like the Polish-Ukrainian Start Up Bridge – a Polish-government backed venture – offer emerging Ukrainian tech companies small grants to fund basic business needs and a co-working space in Warsaw.

    “Startups have had the past year to teach themselves how to survive and adapt to the new reality,” Mykhailo Khaletskyi, an advisor for the Startup Bridge and Ukrainian government, told Reuters.

    Additional Reporting by Andrew Gray and Sabine Siebold in Brussels, Elizabeth Piper in London and Mike Stone in Washington, Editing by Daniel Flynn

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Free-diver plunges to record depth beneath frozen Swiss lake

    Free-diver plunges to record depth beneath frozen Swiss lake

    [ad_1]

    LAKE SILS, Switzerland, March 14 (Reuters) – David Vencl emerged from the depths of Switzerland’s Lake Sils on Tuesday after a record dive beneath the ice to a depth of more than 50 meters without a wetsuit.

    The 40-year-old Czech diver’s record vertical plunge to 52.1 meters in a single breath follows his entry into the Guinness World Records book for swimming the length of a frozen Czech lake in 2021.

    Vencl dived through a hole in the ice then retrieved a sticker from a depth of 50 meters to prove his feat before re-emerging through the same hole. He spat some blood, sat down for a minute and then opened a bottle of champagne. A later visit to the hospital confirmed there was nothing serious.

    [1/3] Czech freediver David Vencl dives to 52 metres under the ice of Lake Sils in one breath and wearing only a swimsuit in this picture taken from a video in Sils near St. Moritz, Switzerland March 14, 2023. David Vencl Organisation/Handout via REUTERS

    The Swiss plunge in temperatures of between 1 and 4 degrees Celsius took him 1 minute 54 seconds, his promoter Pavel Kalous said, which was a bit slower than expected.

    “He kind of enjoyed it but he admits he was a little more nervous than usual and he had some problems with breathing,” he told Reuters.

    “There is nothing difficult for him to be in cold water… Lack of oxygen is something normal for him. But this was completely different because it’s really difficult to work with the pressure in your ears in cold water,” he added.

    Latest Updates

    View 2 more stories

    “If you combine all these three things: cold water, lack of oxygen and the problem with working with pressure, it’s something very unique,” he added.

    Reporting by Denis Balibouse in Lake Sils, Switzerland
    Writing by Emma Farge
    Editing by Matthew Lewis

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • The Binance Black Box: Assessing Reserves And Liabilities

    The Binance Black Box: Assessing Reserves And Liabilities

    [ad_1]

    BM PRO Free Trial 30 day

    [ad_2]

    Dylan LeClair And Sam Rule

    Source link

  • Everyone SBF Planned To Blame In Front Of Congress Today — Before He Was Arrested

    Everyone SBF Planned To Blame In Front Of Congress Today — Before He Was Arrested

    [ad_1]

    Before he was arrested Monday in the Bahamas, disgraced FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was planning to testify before Congress on Tuesday about the dramatic collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Weapons industry booms as Eastern Europe arms Ukraine

    Weapons industry booms as Eastern Europe arms Ukraine

    [ad_1]

    • E.Europe arms companies step up production for Ukraine
    • Hope to find new markets as defence spends rise
    • Can produce and service Soviet-era and NATO-standard weaponry Poland, Czechs among big suppliers of military aid to Kyiv
    • Industry’s history stretches from 1800s and through Cold War

    PRAGUE/WARSAW, Nov 24 (Reuters) – Eastern Europe’s arms industry is churning out guns, artillery shells and other military supplies at a pace not seen since the Cold War as governments in the region lead efforts to aid Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

    Allies have been supplying Kyiv with weapons and military equipment since Russia invaded its neighbour on Feb. 24, depleting their own inventories along the way.

    The United States and Britain committed the most direct military aid to Ukraine between Jan. 24 and Oct. 3, a Kiel Institute for the World Economy tracker shows, with Poland in third place and the Czech Republic ninth.

    Still wary of Russia, their Soviet-era master, some former Warsaw Pact countries see helping Ukraine as a matter of regional security.

    But nearly a dozen government and company officials and analysts who spoke to Reuters said the conflict also presented new opportunities for the region’s arms industry.

    “Taking into account the realities of the ongoing war in Ukraine and the visible attitude of many countries aimed at increased spending in the field of defence budgets, there is a real chance to enter new markets and increase export revenues in the coming years,” said Sebastian Chwalek, CEO of Poland’s PGZ.

    State-owned PGZ controls more than 50 companies making weapons and ammunition – from armoured transporters to unmanned air systems – and holds stakes in dozens more.

    It now plans to invest up to 8 billion zlotys ($1.8 billion)over the next decade, more than double its pre-war target, Chwalek told Reuters. That includes new facilities located further from the border with Russia’s ally Belarus for security reasons, he said.

    Other manufacturers too are increasing production capacity and racing to hire workers, companies and government officials from Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic said.

    Immediately after Russia’s attack some eastern European militaries and manufacturers began emptying their warehouses of Soviet-era weapons and ammunition that Ukrainians were familiar with, as Kyiv waited for NATO-standard equipment from the West.

    As those stocks have dwindled, arms makers have cranked up production of both older and modern equipment to keep supplies flowing. The stream of weapons has helped Ukraine push back Russian forces and reclaim swathes of territory.

    Chwalek said PGZ would now produce 1,000 portable Piorun manpad air-defence systems in 2023 – not all for Ukraine -compared to 600 in 2022 and 300 to 350 in previous years.

    The company, which he said has also delivered artillery and mortar systems, howitzers, bulletproof vests, small arms and ammunition to Ukraine, is likely to surpass a pre-war 2022 revenue target of 6.74 billion zlotys.

    Companies and officials who spoke to Reuters declined to give specific details of military supplies to Ukraine, and some did not want to be identified, citing security and commercial sensitivities.

    HISTORIC INDUSTRY

    Eastern Europe’s arms industry dates back to the 19th Century, when Czech Emil Skoda began manufacturing weapons for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

    Under Communism, huge factories in Czechoslovakia, the Warsaw Pact’s second-largest weapons producer, Poland and elsewhere in the region kept people employed, turning out weapons for Cold War conflicts Moscow stoked around the world.

    [1/6] GROT C16 FB-M1, modular assault rifles system is seen at PGZ (Polska Grupa Zbrojna) arms factory Fabryka Broni Lucznikin Radom Poland, November 7, 2022. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

    “The Czech Republic was one of the powerhouses of weapons exporters and we have the personnel, material base and production lines needed to increase capacity,” its NATO Ambassador Jakub Landovsky told Reuters.

    “This is a great chance for the Czechs to increase what we need after giving the Ukrainians the old Soviet-era stocks. This can show other countries we can be a reliable partner in the arms industry.”

    The 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and NATO’s expansion into the region pushed companies to modernise, but “they can still quickly produce things like ammunition that fits the Soviet systems”, said Siemon Wezeman, a researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

    Deliveries to Ukraine have included artillery rounds of “Eastern” calibres, such as 152mm howitzer rounds and 122mm rockets not produced by Western companies, officials and companies said.

    They said Ukraine had acquired weapons and equipment via donations from governments and direct commercial contracts between Kyiv and the manufacturers.

    NOT JUST BUSINESS

    “Eastern European countries support Ukraine substantially,” Christoph Trebesch, a professor at the Kiel Institute, said. “At the same time it’s an opportunity for them to build up their military production industry.”

    Ukraine has received nearly 50 billion crowns ($2.1 billion) of weapons and equipment from Czech companies, about 95% of which were commercial deliveries, Czech Deputy Defence Minister Tomas Kopecny told Reuters. Czech arms exports this year will be the highest since 1989, he said, with many companies in the sector adding jobs and capacity.

    “For the Czech defence industry, the conflict in Ukraine, and the assistance it provides is clearly a boost that we have not seen in the last 30 years,” Kopecny said.

    David Hac, chief executive of Czech STV Group, outlined to Reuters plans to add new production lines for small-calibre ammunition and said it is considering expanding its large-calibre capability. In a tight labour market, the company is trying to poach workers from a slowing car industry, he said.

    Defence sales helped the Czechoslovak Group, which owns companies including Excalibur Army, Tatra Trucks and Tatra Defence, nearly double its first-half revenues from a year earlier, to 13.8 billion crowns.

    The company is increasing production of both 155mm NATO and 152mm Eastern calibre rounds and refurbishing infantry fighting vehicles and Soviet-era T-72 tanks, spokesman Andrej Cirtek told Reuters.

    He said supplying Ukraine was more than just good business.

    “After the Russian aggression started, our deliveries for Ukrainian army multiplied,” Cirtek said.

    “The majority of the Czech population still remember times of a Russian occupation of our country before 1990 and we don´t want to have Russian troops closer to our borders.”

    ($1 = 4.5165 zlotys)

    ($1 = 23.3850 Czech crowns)

    Reporting by Michael Kahn and Robert Muller in Prague and Anna Koper in Warsaw; Editing by Catherine Evans

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Binance Intends On Buying FTX – Here’s What’s In The Tentative Deal

    Binance Intends On Buying FTX – Here’s What’s In The Tentative Deal

    [ad_1]

    Cryptocurrency exchange Binance may soon acquire rival FTX, according to a tweet by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.

    [ad_2]

    Source link