The dollar value of China exports are expected to decline 9.5% in June from a year earlier, according to a Reuters poll, deepening a 7.5% annual decline in May.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
China’s exports contracted in June at the fastest pace since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, as high inflation in key developed markets and geopolitics hit global demand.
Thursday’s trade data release is yet another fresh indication that China’s leaders will not be able to count on external factors in reviving the faltering growth momentum. The decline in June imports was also more severe than expectations, suggesting local demand is also waning.
The dollar value of China’s exports plunged 12.4% in June from a year ago, customs data showed Thursday. This is a far bigger drop than expectations for a 9.5% decline in a Reuters poll and the 7.5% annual decline in May. The percentage decline was the biggest that the world’s second-largest economy has recorded since February 2020.
Imports declined 6.8%, in June from a year ago, also worse than expectations for a 4% decline and the 4.5% annual decline in May.
China’s trade still faces rather great pressure in the second half of the year, partly due to high inflation in developed countries and geopolitics, Lu Daliang, a spokesperson for China’s customs bureau, said at a press conference Thursday.
This is breaking news. Please check back for more updates.
Montana will soon crack down on synthetic marijuana and intoxicating hemp products that have proliferated through regulatory loopholes despite concerns they pose a health risk to children.
The Cannabis Control Division, the marijuana regulatory arm of the Montana Department of Revenue, said Tuesday eradicating synthetic products will be the “biggest lift” for the agency between now and the 2025 Legislature.
“Most of these businesses that we will be inspecting will be glass shops, gas stations, vape shops,” division administrator Kristan Barbour told the committee. “We’re just going in and making sure they know that any synthetic cannabinoid or hemp intoxicating product is no longer carried.”
The substances were identified by the agency in January as the likely culprit in a rash of youth hospitalizations raised by local health officials after the first year of marijuana legalization in Montana.
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House Bill 948, carried by Republican Rep. Steve Galloway of Great Falls, established a statewide prohibition on the manufacturing and sale of synthetic marijuana and intoxicating hemp products. Such substances previously fell outside of purview of the Cannabis Control…
Summer… it’s startin’ to drag a bit, no? Don’t get me wrong: I love having my bean home with me. But by the end of a week, where I’m not only trying to work from home but give him a great summer, saying “I’m pooped” is the understatement of the year!
I’ve stumbled upon a few good ideas of fun things to do this summer that you haven’t thought of… they’ll keep your kids busy, active, and away from screens (and out of your hair). If you’re starting to loathe summer, these ideas should help…
The reading caterpillar. I wanted to ensure my son kept up on his book and reading time this summer. So, in addition to getting him his very own library card at the start of summer and scheduling weekly trips there, we created a caterpillar on his bedroom door. I cut out a little paper head and taped it to the top of his door, as well as a whole bunch of coloured circles for his body – each time he reads a book he gets to add a circle. He’s loving the challenge of seeing how long he can make the caterpillar (and getting in tons of book time too!).
STEM building activities. STEM learning is a curriculum based on the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — in an interdisciplinary and applied approach. In other words, finding new, creative ways to teach our children to learn. My most recent fave STEM activity: a container of toothpicks and either Playdoh or mini marshmallows. By using the little marshmallows or small blobs of rolled up Playdoh, and affixing them to the toothpick ends, you can build and make all sorts of cool structures.
Dinosaur egg excavation. Why is it that kids are obsessed with eggs? Toys that come in eggs, chocolate eggs, etc. So I put a few dinosaurs into some regular-sized balloons, filled them with water and froze them. Then, I cut away the balloon and TA DA: dinosaur eggs. Now arm your kid with a mallet or hammer and protective eye gear, and see if they can get the dinosaurs out!
LEGO challenge. Make a list of some inspiring LEGO ideas (build a catapult, build a zipline, build your initials/name, build a robot) and gave em a bin of LEGOS. You’re welcome.
Water droplet races. Roll out some wax paper and give your kids some eye droppers, a straw and a small bowl of coloured water each. Have them put a droplet of water on the wax paper and then “move it” by blowing at it through the straw. You can give each child a different colour of water and they can race.
Make bubble wands using pipe cleaners. Configure all kinds of shapes. Decorate the handles with beads.
Make magic wands. Buy short wooden dowels at the dollar store and decorate with Washi tape, coloured electrical tape, stickers, paint, markers, glitter and more. Affix long strands of ribbon from the end to make it “magical.”
Create your own comic books. Gather up those spare comic books, old reading books, magazines, newspapers, stickers, etc. and have your kid turn them into his/her own comic book. Have the siblings work on one together.
Make your own dream-catchers. Take a paper plate and use a hole puncher to punch a circular pattern around the interior of the plate. Have your child thread yarn through in his/her own pattern. Use feathers, beads and other decorations to personalize it.
Water pistol painting. Fill a few dollar store water guns with coloured water, and have them blast away at paper or a canvas.
A full-time work-from-home mom, Jennifer Cox (our “Supermom in Training”) loves dabbling in healthy cooking, craft projects, family outings, and more, sharing with readers everything she knows about being an (almost) superhero mommy.
I think it’s finally safe to say: summer is here and it’s HOT BABY!
We all know what can happen to overtired, overheated kids (and parents): we get cranky, frustrated and downright nasty. So, if you’re looking for a few ways to beat the heat this summer, we hope these suggestions will keep you cool, calm and collected.
Go to a movie. During the summer many theatres provide cheaper matinees, or they play older movies for reduced ticket prices. Theatres are always air conditioned and offer a great reprieve from the summer sun.
Visit a pet store. Again, these are air conditioned, and it can be lots of fun to see all the different animals and explore a pet store. Create a scavenger hunt in the store where the kids have to find certain critters or pet items (brown mouse, blue dog ball, etc.).
Make icy treats. Did you know that all you need to make ice cream right in your backyard is some ice, baggies, cream, sugar, vanilla, and rock salt? Or make up your own popsicle flavours (the dollar store has lots of fun moulds to make it in).
Find some water play. Neighbourhoods across the island of Montreal and beyond always offer public pools or splash pads for kids. These can be great places to bring a lunch or snack, and cool off with some fun water play. In fact, you can find lots of fun ways to use your hose in the backyard to cool down as well: drape your hose over a tree branch and create a shower effect, connect the oscillating sprinkler, fill up some water balloons, or use your hose to fashion your own water feature out of a pool noodle or a PVC pipe with holes drilled in it. You can also put holes into a two-litre soda bottle and connect the hose to that.
Put on a show. Why not challenge the family to a talent show? All of the rehearsals and performing can be done within the comfort of the (cooler) indoors. Make puppets and have everyone put on an entertaining show.
Go out early or stay out later. It’s always cooler in the morning hours and as it starts to get dark, so these are the optimal times to venture out on a bike ride or to head to the park.
Germany’s trade surplus fell unexpectedly on month in May, as exports declined marginally and imports rose, a sign that domestic demand could be improving despite a global economic slowdown, as the country’s economy tries to shake off the recession it suffered in the winter.
The country’s adjusted trade surplus–the balance of exports and imports of goods–dipped to 14.4 billion euros ($15.72 billion) in May, compared with a revised EUR16.5 billion in April, data from the country’s statistics office Destatis showed Tuesday.
In May, exports ticked down 0.1% on month on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis to EUR130.5 billion, suggesting global demand for German manufacturing goods receded somewhat.
Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected the trade balance at EUR17.6 billion and exports to rise by 0.5%.
However, imports increased 1.7% to EUR116.1 billion, a sign that domestic demand could be growing. Domestic consumption slumped in Germany over the winter as the economy suffered a recession, contracting by 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2022 and 0.3% in the first of this year.
Outside the European Union, the country receiving the most German exports in May was the U.S., though exports there declined by 3.6% on month, Destatis said. Exports to China increased 1.6%, while they rose by 5.8% to the U.K., it added.
A union representing port workers in Western Canada officially began striking, an action that could have ripple effects reaching beyond the U.S.’s northern neighbor.
The International Longshore & Warehouse Union Canada’s Longshore Division announced its labor strike began in a Saturday Facebook post signed by union president Rob Ashton. More than 99% of members of the union, who support West Coast ports such as Vancouver and Prince Rupert, voted to approve the strike last month. Notice of the strike came Wednesday.
“The ILWU Canada Longshore Division has not taken this decision lightly, but for the future of our workforce we had to take this step,” Ashton said in the post. “We are still hopeful a settlement will be reached through FREE Collective Bargaining!”
The union has been open to bargaining since February with the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association, which represents port owners, and remains ready to continue working on a contract, Ashton added.
The employers association, known as the BCMEA, said in a statement it has worked to “advance proposals and positions in good faith, with the objective of achieving a fair deal at the table.” It noted the role of federal mediators and said it was open to “any” solution that can get the parties to a balanced agreement, including a mediated arbitration process.
Cruises remain able to sail and bulk grain is moving, but containerized grain is not. Canadian labor minister Seamus O’Regan Jr. tweeted seemingly in support of continued negotiations between the two groups, noting that “the best deals for both parties are reached at the table.”
The two parties are at odds over issues including automation, the use of contract work and the cost of living for workers. Two mediators appointed by the Canadian government oversaw discussions that ran through the end of May. Those discussions were followed by a so-called cooling-off period between the two groups.
A strike in the western ports occurring around holidays in both the U.S. and Canada could result in impacts on the American economy, industry followers say. The Port of Vancouver and Port of Prince Rupert are popular destinations for U.S. trade because these ports are among the major ports of call for goods arriving from Asia. Some logistics managers have told CNBC that rail service out of those ports is a lot faster than going through the port of Seattle or Tacoma.
The International Longshoremen’s Association said it won’t take diverted cargo from ports with striking workers, while the head of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents West Coast port workers in the U.S., made a statement of solidarity with the Canadian union but did not mention any specific action.
The strike could lead to congestion in these ports with longshoremen unable to unload vessels. Congestion can turn into backlogs and lead to delayed pickups from terminals, which can then lead to late fees that are often passed on to consumers — a situation similar to what occurred during the pandemic.
“With the Canadian holiday and July Fourth holidays, the volume of containers moving are lighter than normal but now vessels are not being worked because of the strike,” said Paul Brashire, vice president of drayage and intermodal at ITS Logistics. “If this strike continues into the middle of next week, it will impact congestion in the coming weeks at Chicago and Detroit rail terminals because of the amount of containers that would have built up and eventually moved to those rail terminals.”
The Canadian ports handle nearly $225 billion in cargo each year, according to estimates, with items spanning industries such as home goods, electronics and apparel transported by rail. Approximately 15% of consumer trade going through the Port of Vancouver is headed to or coming from the U.S., according to port authority data. Around two-thirds of containerized import volume going to the Port of Prince Rupert are headed to the U.S., port data shows.
Three Class 1 railways operate at these ports: CN, Canadian Pacific and BNSF, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. In an email to CNBC, BNSF said it had no comment on a strike impact. CN could not be immediately reached for comment.
In a CPKC customer advisory issued Wednesday, the railway said: “The work stoppage related to this notice could impact port operations in British Columbia. At this time, we do not anticipate any significant service interruptions to result from this work stoppage and, as such, CPKC has not initiated embargoes related to a potential service interruption but we are closely monitoring developments to evaluate any impact to shipments on CPKC’s network. We will provide updates as necessary.”
Steve Lamar, CEO of the American Apparel and Footwear Association, told CNBC that the “fragile and recovering supply chains cannot tolerate a strike,” while urging the Canadian government to help keep parties at the table.
BRUSSELS — EU countries are bickering over granting billions in new funds to deal with migration as asylum applications soar and backlogs pile up at the Continent’s borders.
Germany, which received a quarter of all EU asylum applications in 2022, specifically wants to “revitalize” the EU’s ties with neighboring Turkey, according to a senior German official — a nod to the last time the bloc faced such levels of migration.
Then, in 2016, the EU offered Turkey billions in exchange for the country housing thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing civil war. Now, there is a push to authorize up to €10.5 billion in new money for not just Turkey, but also countries like Libya or Tunisia, hoping it would help them prevent people from entering the EU without permission.
The debate has jumped onto the agenda of an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. And countries are sparring over whether to reference a monetary request in the meeting’s final conclusions, according to five diplomats and officials from four different countries.
The behind-the-scenes fight illustrates how much migration has come to dominate the political agenda. Organizers for the summit had hoped to keep the divisive migration talk to a minimum in favor of discussions on Russia, China and economic security. But with high-profile disasters like the recent migrant shipwreck near Greece and arrival figures continuing their steep climb, the heated issue is becoming increasingly hard to avoid.
Notably, draft conclusions for the summit, dated Wednesday evening and seen by POLITICO, still had two indirect references to the fresh migration funds: The €10.5 billion pot and another €2 billion for “managing migration” within the EU’s own borders.
Whether that language survives until Friday is another question.
Germany: Let’s talk Turkey, not money
Germany, as always, is one of the key players in the debate — and in this instance, it is making arguments for both sides.
On one side, Berlin wants to renew the EU’s relationship with Turkey, hoping it can take in more asylum seekers and help cut down on unauthorized border crossings. In return, the Germans want the EU to improve trade ties with the country.
On the other side, however, Berlin is fiercely opposing the attempt to explicitly mention money in the summit conclusions. The logic: Committing to fresh billions now would imperil upcoming talks over whether to add €66 billion to its budget. Germany wants to discuss the whole package at once, instead of approving parts of it in advance.
As of Wednesday night, the summit conclusions draft still contained an indirect endorsement of the money.
Germany, as always, is one of the key players in the debate — and in this instance, it is making arguments for both sides | David Gannon/AFP via Getty Images
The document mentions “financing mechanisms” — seen as a reference to the €10.5 billion — for “the external aspects of migration.” That money would go to countries like Turkey, Libya and Tunisia, which migrants often traverse on their way to Europe.
There’s also an indirect reference to the €2 billion for internal EU migration management. The text calls for “support for displaced persons,” particularly from Ukraine, via “adequate and flexible financial assistance to the member states who carry the largest burden of medical, education and living costs of refugees.” Translated, that would mean more money for countries that host the bulk of Ukrainian refugees, like Poland and Germany.
Yet during a meeting of EU ambassadors on Wednesday, German officials urged their counterparts to cut or massively reduce both passages, according to the five diplomats and officials, who, like other officials in this story, were granted anonymity because they are not allowed to publicly discuss the talks.
As of Wednesday night, that appeal had failed. But German Chancellor Olaf Scholz may take up the issue himself with his counterparts on Thursday.
The German argument is that including the figures would mean EU leaders are essentially making a big step toward endorsing the full budget package — which the European Commission requested just last week — before even discussing it, two of the officials said.
Nevertheless, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to briefly present her €66 billion budget plan during the gathering of EU leaders on Thursday, meaning there will likely be an initial debate about the money, the officials said.
Von der Leyen’s plans are expected to run into resistance from a number of countries, particularly the so-called “frugal” countries, including Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden.
Speaking to a briefing for reporters in Berlin on Wednesday, a senior German official also voiced caution about von der Leyen’s plan.
“One of the questions is: Is the Commission’s assessment of the situation convincing?” said the senior official, who could not be named due to the rules under which the briefing was organized.
Time to work with Erdoğan again?
At the same time, the senior German official stressed Berlin’s interest in renewing the EU relationship with Turkey.
“[Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan has been re-elected, and this must be an opportunity for the EU to take another broad look at its relationship with Turkey,” the official said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan | Adem Altan/AFP via Getty Images
“For us, it’s a matter of putting EU-Turkey relations once again on the agenda … to possibly revitalize them, if all sides want to commit to this,” the official continued, adding that the European Commission and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell should “come back in the fall with proposals.”
One idea could be an update of the EU’s trade rules with Turkey — a thorny issue, though, as talks between Brussels and Ankara have failed to make progress on modernizing the so-called EU-Turkey customs union for several years.
Germany’s Scholz held a phone call with Erdoğan on Wednesday during which both leaders discussed how “to cooperate further and deepen exchanges on various cooperation issues,” according to Steffen Hebestreit, Scholz’s spokesperson.
Any progress in EU-Turkey relations would also require the agreement of the EU countries perpetually at odds with Turkey — Greece and Cyprus.
At least in that sense, there seems to be progress: “We agreed to include a paragraph on Turkey and the future relations,” a Greek diplomat said.
The latest draft conclusions from Wednesday evening ask Borrell and the Commission “submit a report” on EU-Turkey relations “with a view to proceeding in a strategic and forward-looking manner.”
Barbara Moens, Jakob Hanke Vela, Lili Bayer, Jacopo Barigazzi and Gregorio Sorgi contributed reporting.
Pet Adoption Special: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays, through Sept. 30, Burlington Animal Services, 221 Stone Quarry Road, Burlington. All dogs weighing more than 20 pounds and all cat adoptions are reduced to $20. Adoptions include…
Pet Adoption Special: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays, through Sept. 30, Burlington Animal Services, 221 Stone Quarry Road, Burlington. All dogs weighing more than 20 pounds and all cat adoptions are reduced to $20. Adoptions include…
There’s no one I want to show more appreciation toward than my son’s teachers. All of them. The aids. The gym and music teachers. The volunteers. Heck, we even made a thank-you gift for the janitor.
And it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. Homemade gifts show that you and your little one took the time to make something for them, and they can cost very little. Here are some quick ideas for homemade teacher appreciation gifts.
Custom wine labels. Yep, I gave my kid’s teachers wine. Because they deserve a drink. They got wine at the holidays and are getting wine again. I made up quick labels that said “Thanks for helping our kid learn how to think, Now it’s time to have a drink.”
We also made small pedicure kits for my son’s teacher and teacher’s aide. We bought items at the dollar store (a fun summer cup, nail file, polish, toe separators, etc.) and attached a small tag that says “Have a toe-tally awesome summer.”
His music teacher is getting a small canvas where the bean painted some musical notes. Yes, they’re not to scale (pun intended), but they were created by him.
For his two gym teachers, they’re getting mason jars filled with gumballs and a label that says “I had a ball in gym.” Just a small token to show our appreciation.
And finally, the janitor. My son had his heart set on getting him a trophy, which we found a plastic one at the dollar store. Then we glued a tiny mop to it (from my old dollhouse), although we were going to just make one from a small skewer and some thread. The janitor seemed very touched.
Don’t spend an arm and a leg. And do show your gratitude. Even a box or tin of homemade treats or cookies would surely brighten their days.
A full-time work-from-home mom, Jennifer Cox (our “Supermom in Training”) loves dabbling in healthy cooking, craft projects, family outings, and more, sharing with readers everything she knows about being an (almost) superhero mommy.
Europe cannot ignore Taiwan’s desire for “better relations” if EU countries such as Germany are keen to acquire advanced microchip-making technologies from the island, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said.
Speaking to POLITICO and other media on his trip to Europe, Wu questioned the enticements Europe is offering TSMC when asked why the world-leading chipmaking giant based in Taiwan has still not come to a decision to build a new plant in Germany.
“If Europe has provided very positive incentive, and also speak with the TSMC in a way that will make the TSMC feel comfortable, that their investment in Europe is going to produce very positive results … their investment in Europe is certainly not going to be stopped by the government,” Wu said.
“Even though we are not selfish in stopping the TSMC, for making investment in other countries, we certainly hope that other countries who want to attract TSMC to make investment can also think about the situation Taiwan is in, or TSMC’s position in Taiwan, and the position Taiwan is seeing in this geo-strategical landscape,” he said.
In contrast, Wu called Japan and the U.S. — where TSMC plants will be completed next year — a “like-minded partner” and “a very good partner of Taiwan,” respectively.
“I think this is some philosophical thinking, rather than government policy of putting conditions on TSMC making investment in other [countries],” Wu said. “That philosophical issue is that when a country is in shortage of computer chips, they will ask Taiwan, ‘you should do this, and you should do that’ — but they don’t seem to be thinking about a broader picture of better relations with Taiwan, economic or otherwise.”
Wu’s comments are a pointed though veiled criticism aimed at Germany.
At the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2021, then-German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier asked his Taiwanese counterpart, Wang Mei-hua, to intervene regarding TSMC’s reduced supply to the German auto industry, according to a letter reported by Reuters. “I would be pleased if you could take on this matter and underline the importance of additional semiconductor capacities for the German automotive industry to TSMC,” said the letter written by Altmaier, who was a key member of Angela Merkel’s government which put a priority on trade with China.
Deterring China
One of Wu’s main missions in Europe — in a trip that took him to Prague, Brussels and Milan — was to shore up diplomatic support for Taiwan among European leaders.
He welcomed the EU’s repeated calls on Beijing to maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. “China might also sense that it might come down with some economic price for their possible aggression against Taiwan, so sanction or other types of economic means against China, and I think the European countries have been discussing about that as well,” he said.
Even if the EU has taken a more critical view of China as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which began in China, as well as Beijing’s stance on Russia’s war against Ukraine, Taiwan still faces challenges while engaging with Europe.
On trade, the European Commission has been reluctant to begin negotiations for a bilateral investment agreement (BIA) with Taiwan, apparently out of concern about retaliation from Beijing.
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu traveled to Europe to shore up diplomatic support from European leaders | Vladimir Simicek/AFP via Getty Images
“We are very concerned that the BIA between Taiwan and EU seems to be called as a hostage to the stalling CAI negotiations,” Wu said, referring to the comprehensive agreement on investment between the EU and China. “But if you look at the linkage — close linkage — between Taiwan and the EU, in economic sense, I think EU needs to find an alternative to strengthen the bilateral economic or trade relations, rather than get bogged down by the CAI which is not going anywhere,” he said.
“We hope we can persuade the EU leadership to think about this in a positive way,” Wu added.
Due to diplomatic protocol under which all EU member countries recognize the “one China” policy, the Taiwanese officials requested that POLITICO and the other media not disclose the location where the interview was conducted. Nor could Wu say which EU officials he met with, or whether he planned to have meetings at NATO, also based in Brussels. (One of the few EU figures confirming Wu’s presence in Brussels was European Parliament Vice President Nicola Beer, who tweeted about their meeting and called Taiwan a “firm member of the democratic family.”)
Despite the EU’s lack of public acknowledgment of his visit — as well as the European public’s preference of “staying neutral” in the event of a U.S.-China conflict over Taiwan — Wu still has high hopes that the bloc’s attitude would change.
“I don’t think morally, any sensible country, any sensible leader can stay neutral and say, ‘No, we’re not going to pay any attention to [the] atrocity,'” he said, referring to potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
“And I think the same can apply to the situation between the U.S. and China. If China initiated any aggression against other countries, in killing innocent people, violating international laws, causing atrocities and destructions, and killing innocent people, and all that, and the United States is trying to help, I don’t think the European countries can say that it’s a matter … between the U.S. and China,” Wu said.
“When the international community discuss about the major international principles,” he said, “I think it’s going to be very hard for Europe to say that ‘I don’t care’.”
As gear reviews go, it was a glowing one: In a 60-second video clip posted on Telegram, a masked sniper sporting the death’s-head insignia of the Wagner mercenary army sings the praises of the Russian-made Orsis T-5000 rifle.
“The equipment comes very well recommended,” the soldier, pictured in the charred interior of a building, tells a war reporter from the Zvezda TV channel run by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Pulling out the clip of the weapon at his side, he continues: “It uses Western .338 caliber ammunition. It works very well. It can penetrate light cover if the enemy is behind it. And, in the open, it can strike the enemy at a range of up to 1,500 meters.”
Filings obtained by POLITICO indicate that Promtekhnologiya and another Russian firm called Tetis have acquired hundreds of thousands of rounds made by Hornady, a U.S. company that trademarks its wares as “Accurate. Deadly. Dependable.” Hornady, founded in 1949, sums up its philosophy with the phrase: “Ten bullets through one hole.”
The findings add to a growing body of evidence that supplies of lethal and nonlethal military equipment are still reaching Russia despite the West’s imposition of unprecedented sanctions in response to President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine last year. The exigencies of war have exposed Russia’s lack of capacity to manufacture high-end sniper rounds, say defense experts, and that is fueling a flourishing black market for Western ammunition.
Information on the procurement of such gear is hiding in plain sight: Details of deals — importers, suppliers and product descriptions — can be found online by anyone with access to the Russian internet and a grasp of international customs classification codes.
Anything but bulletproof
In a “declaration of conformity” filed with a Russian government registry and dated August 12, 2022, Promtekhnologiya stated that it planned to sourcea batch of 102,200 Hornady lead bullets for the assembly of “hunting cartridges” used in “civilian weapons with a rifled barrel.” The specifications — .338 Lapua Magnum bullets weighing 285 grains — match those of a product in the Hornady catalog.
A second declaration bearing the same date is for a batch of “uncapped cartridge cases for assembling civilian firearms cartridges” made by Hornady with the same .338 Lapua Magnum specification.
The description is misleading: The .338 Lapua Magnum isn’t a “hunting cartridge;” it’s a high-powered, long-range projectile that was developed by Western militaries in the 1980s and used by their snipers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Reached by POLITICO, Steve Hornady, CEO of the family company based in Grand Island, Nebraska, denied selling ammunition to Russia in wartime.
“The instant Russia invaded Ukraine, we were done,” Hornady said in a brief telephone call.
Hornady declined at first to elaborate and, when asked to review the evidence, requested that it be sent by fax or courier as he did not use email. He eventually responded after POLITICO sent written requests for comment with supporting documentation by courier.
“We categorically are NOT exporting anything to Russia and have not had an export permit for Russia since 2014,” he replied. “We do not support any sale of our product to any Russian son-of-a-bitch and if we can find out how they acquire, if in fact they do, we will take all steps available to stop it.”
Hornady added that he had contacted the U.S. authorities following POLITICO’s inquiry. He pointed out that current U.S. law required that customers must obtain permission from the Department of Commerce to re-export articles made in the United States. “To the best of our knowledge, none of our customers violate that law,” he said.
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, asked which ammunition his troops used, told POLITICO they had “a huge amount of NATO-issue ammunition left over from the Ukrainian army.” In a sarcastic voice message sent to a POLITICO journalist, the Russian warlord also asked for help procuring F-35 combat jets and U.S.-made sniper rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers.
Promtekhnologiya denied filing any customs declarations to import ammunition; said it had no relationship with Hornady; and that it had the capacity to manufacture its own ammunition. The company also said in emailed comments to POLITICO that the Orsis rifle and the ammunition the company makes are intended for “hunting and sporting” purposes and are freely available on the civilian market.
Both Promtekhnologiya and Alexander Zinovyev, listed as the company’s general director in the filings, have been sanctioned by Ukraine, which cites evidence that its Orsis rifles “have been used in Russian military operations in Eastern Ukraine.”
Promtekhnologiya is also in Washington’s sights: “We take any allegation of sanctions violation or evasion seriously and are committed to ensuring that sanctions are fully enforced,” a spokesperson for the National Security Council said in response to a request for comment from POLITICO.
“We have taken steps to hold Russia accountable for its war in Ukraine and have imposed an unprecedented sanctions regime to disrupt Russia’s ability to access funds and weapons that fuel Putin’s war machine. That includes sanctioning companies like Promtekhnologiya.”
Criminal, or wilful, violations of U.S. sanctions can trigger penalties of up to $1 million per violation, as well as up to 20 years’ imprisonment for individuals. Civil penalties can run to the higher of either twice the value of the underlying transaction or around $350,000 per violation.
Describing military-grade ammunition as for hunting or sporting use, as the filings do, amounts to a thinly veiled ruse to evade targeted “smart” sanctions aimed at starving the Russian military of the means to fight the war, said defense analyst Maria Shagina.
“Strictly speaking, smart sanctions are not supposed to target anything civilian to avoid humanitarian collateral damage,” said Shagina, a research fellow at the U.K.-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. “But the targets in authoritarian countries will really exploit this.”
Steve Hornady, CEO of the family company based in Grand Island, Nebraska, denied selling ammunition to Russia in wartime | Leon Neal/Getty Images
Russia reloaded
Another Russian buyer of Hornady ammunition is a company called Tetis, which has disclosed two shipments since Russia’s full-scale invasionof Ukraine beganon February 24, 2022. The most recent was in April for more than 300,000 “units” comprising a wide range of products that checked out with the Hornady catalog.
The main owners of Tetis, Alexander Levandovsky and Sergey Senchenko — who each own stakes of 41.1 percent — have links to the Russian military.
Both were previously listed as shareholders in another company called Kampo, which according to company filings holds licenses to make weapons and military equipment and has done business with the Ministry of Defense and the Special Flight Detachment that operates Putin’s presidential plane.
Although Tetis doesn’t offer Hornady ammo on its website, it does advertise itself as an international distributor for RCBS, a U.S. maker of reloading equipment. This is used to assemble cases, primer, propellants and projectiles into cartridges that can then be fired — as seen in this video posted by a Russian gun enthusiast.
A database check revealed that the most recent declaration of conformity filed by Tetis for RCBS, for electronic weighing scales, predated Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24 of last year by just over a month.
Russia’s trade bureaucracy allows local firms to vouch for the goods they are importing by filing declarations of conformity, such as those that mention the Hornady products. This means that the supplier listed on the form may not be aware of specific shipments that could have been handled by an intermediary.
Tetis did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Matt Rice, a spokesman for RCBS owner Vista Outdoor, said Tetis was no longer an international distributor for RCBS. “Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, our business made the decision to end all sales of goods with the country,” Rice said in an email, adding that RCBS would remove the listing for Tetis from its website.
Doing the rounds
Hornady ammunition or its components are freely available in Russia, along with other high-end foreign military gear.
Take the “Sniper Shop” on Telegram, an encrypted messaging app that is popular in Russia: It features a current offer for a full range of Hornady products, with the seller inviting buyers to visit a showroom in Sokolniki, a Moscow district, and offering delivery throughout Russia by courier or post. Contacted by POLITICO, the poster confirmed the Hornady ammo was in stock but declined to comment further on how it was sourced.
Then there is “Anton,” who advertises products from Hornady and RCBS on his profile. He also touts gear from Nightforce, maker of thermal optical sights; Lapua, which helped design the eponymous .338 ammo; MDT, a maker of chassis systems, magazines and accessories for rifles; and precision gunsmith AREA 419. All are American with the exception of Lapua, which is based in Finland and owned by a Norwegian company called Nammo.
Western high-end foreign military gear seems to be freely available in Russia | Leon Neal/Getty Images
“Anton” posted an offer for Hornady cartridges last October 24. Contacted via Telegram to ask whether he was still stocking Hornady, he replied: “We don’t do ammunition.”
POLITICO has, in the course of its research, also found declarations from several other Russian companies for ammunition made in Germany, Finland and Turkey.
The thriving black market reflects a structural deficit in Russia’s war economy. Its military-industrial complex can produce good small arms, like the Orsis rifle, but lacks the capacity to churn out the amount of ammunition needed by an army fighting a war across a front stretching hundreds of miles.
“Despite the quality of the rifles produced, a successful hit directly depends on the components used in the cartridges, and they, unfortunately, are imported,” a correspondent lamented in a post on a Russian military news site a few months into the war. Gunpowder produced in Russia lacks stability, the correspondent added, saying this is “unacceptable in the framework of high-precision shooting.”
The continuing access to specialized rifle cartridges made in the West, such as the .338 Lapua Magnum, by a sanctioned Russian small arms manufacturer like Orsis maker Promtekhnologiya is “egregious,” said Gary Somerville, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a British defense think tank.
“At present, there is only one manufacturer of this cartridge in Russia,” he added. “Preventing the shipment of these types of ammunition from Western countries to Russia is an easy win for those seeking to constrain Russia’s ability to wage war in Ukraine.”
Balkan route
It’s not just ammunition from the U.S. that is reaching the battlefront around Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, recently captured by Prigozhin’s mercenaries after a bloody, months-long battle.
There also appear to be cartridges from the European Union, which has imposed no fewer than 10 rounds of sanctions against Russia in a so-far inconclusive attempt to starve Putin’s war machine of the means to fight on.
Promtekhnologiya has filed four declarations since October covering shipments of 460,000 units described as “Orsis hunting cartridges” — most are of the .338 Lapua Magnum type. These identify a Slovenian company called Valerian as the supplier.
The first of the filings, dated October 13, 2022, includes an air waybill number whose first three digits — 262 — indicate that the shipper was Ural Airlines, a Russian carrier. It was not immediately possible to trace the route of the flight, however.
Valerian was founded on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with paid-in capital of €7,500 by Gašper Heybal, who previously worked for U.S. military outfitter Voodoo Tactical. On its home page, Valerian says: “Our goal is to equip you for your mission, whatever it might be, and wherever you are going.”
In online posts over the past decade — including on a Facebook Group called EU Guns with a declared mission of “easier transfer of weapons between European gun owners” — Heybal has done little to dispel the impression that he is an active small arms dealer.
Bakhmut was recently captured by Prigozhin’s mercenaries, the Wagner mercenary group| Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images
The telephone number Heybal shared publicly in those posts is the same as the one for Valerian, which is registered at an address in a village around 40 minutes’ drive southeast of the Slovenian capital Ljubljana.
Reached at that number, Heybal denied that Valerian had shipped ammunition to Russia: “We don’t sell any … firearms or ammunition, and also there is an embargo on Russia,” said Heybal.
In a follow-up email on the declarations of conformity, Heybal said: “Firstly, we must stress that we do not know, nor do we understand how the name of our company, Valerian d.o.o., appears on the document.”
“Secondly, Valerian is not listed there as a supplier but as the producer, and this is not possible, as we do not produce ammunition. That being said, it still makes absolutely no sense to us as to how our name could appear on it. We are glad you brought this to our attention so we can figure out what is going on.”
A Slovenian diplomat said that, while Valerian had never applied for authorization to export weapons or ammunition to Russia, it had shipped “individual parts” to Kyrgyzstan.
The Central Asian state is one of the countries that the EU has in mind as it discusses an 11th round of measures targeting third countries that are suspected of helping Russia evade sanctions.
“The competent services in the Republic of Slovenia have already initiated the appropriate procedures to investigate the facts concerning the company,” the diplomat told POLITICO, adding that they would verify the possible diversion of goods to the Russian Federation. “Slovenia is firmly committed to supporting Ukraine, we have been supportive of all sanctions packages and especially this anti-circumvention one.”
An official at the European Commission deflected a request for comment, saying the bloc’s member countries were responsible for implementing sanctions. “As this seems like a very specific case, these allegations need to be investigated further by the competent authorities,” the official said.
Sergey Panov reported from Spain, Sarah Anne Aarup from Brussels and Douglas Busvine from Berlin. Additional reporting by Steven Overly in Washington.
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Sergey Panov, Sarah Anne Aarup and Douglas Busvine
Pakistan has enough problems — including escalating attacks by Taliban insurgents and a spiraling economic crisis — without the added headache of a new Cold War between China and the U.S.
In an interview with POLITICO, Pakistan’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar insisted Islamabad had no appetite to pick a side in the growing global rivalry between Washington and Beijing.
As a nuclear-armed heavyweight of 250 million people, Pakistan is one of the most closely watched front-line states in the contest for strategic influence in Asia. While Pakistan’s old Cold War partner Washington is increasingly turning its focus to cooperation with Islamabad’s arch-foe India, China has swooped in to extend its sway in Pakistan — particularly through giant infrastructure projects.
Khar insisted, however, that Islamabad was worried about the repercussions of an all-out rupture between the U.S. and China, which would present Pakistan with an unpalatably binary strategic choice. “We are highly threatened by this notion of splitting the world into two blocs,” Khar said on a visit to Brussels. “We are very concerned about this decoupling … Anything that splits the world further.”
She added: “We have a history of being in a close, collaborative mode with the U.S. We have no intention of leaving that. Pakistan also has the reality of being in a close, collaborative mode with China, and until China suddenly came to everyone’s threat perception, that was always the case.”
It’s clear why Pakistan still sees advantages to walking the strategic tightrope between the U.S. and China. Although U.S. officials have expressed frustration over Pakistan’s historic ties to the Taliban in Afghanistan — and have rowed back on military aid — Washington is still a significant military partner. Last year, the U.S. State Department approved the potential sale of $450 million worth of equipment to maintain Pakistan’s F-16 fighter jets.
Simultaneously, Beijing is pledging to deepen military cooperation with Pakistan — partly to outflank the common enemy in India — and is delivering frigates to the Pakistani navy. China is also building roads, railways, hospitals and energy networks in its western neighbor. While these Chinese investments have boosted the country’s economic development, there are also downsides to going all in with China, with Beijing’s critics arguing that Pakistan has become overly indebted and financially dependent on China.
Khar grabbed headlines in April when a leaked memo appeared in the Wall Street Journal in which she was cited as warning that Pakistan’s instinct to preserve its partnership with the U.S. would harm what she deemed the country’s “real strategic” partnership with China.
She declined to comment on that leak, but took a more bullish line on continued American power in her interview in Brussels, saying the U.S. was unnecessarily fearful and defensive about being toppled from its plinth of global leadership, which she argued remained vital in areas such as healthcare, technology, trade and combating climate change.
“I don’t think the leadership role is being contested, until they start making other people question it by being reactive,” she said. “I believe that the West underestimates the value of its ideals, soft power,” she added, stressing Washington’s role as the world’s standard setter. China biggest selling point for Pakistan, she explained, was an economic model for lifting a huge population out of poverty.
Leverage — and the lack of it — in Kabul
Khar’s sharpest criticism of U.S. policy centered on Afghanistan, where she said restrictions intended to hobble the Taliban were backfiring, causing a humanitarian and security crisis, pushing many Afghans to “criminal activities, narcotics strategy and smuggling.”
The Taliban in Kabul are widely seen as supporting an expanding terror campaign waged by the Pakistani Taliban | Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images
A weakened Afghanistan is causing increased security problems for Pakistan, and the Taliban in Kabul are widely seen as supporting an expanding terror campaign waged by the Pakistani Taliban. Ironically, given the long history of Pakistan’s engagement with the Afghan Taliban, Islamabad is finding it difficult to exercise its influence and secure Kabul’s help in reining in the latest insurgency wave.
When the Afghan Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021, Pakistan’s then Prime Minister Imran Khan celebrated their victory against “[American] slavery” and spy chief Faiz Hameed made a visit to Kabul and cheerily predicted “everything will be O.K.” Khar, who took office last year, said Khan had reacted “rather immaturely” and argued her government always knew “the leverage was over-projected.”
While the violence has put Pakistan’s soldiers and police on the front line of the fight against the Taliban at home, Khar said Islamabad was taking a highly diplomatic approach in seeking to win round the Taliban in Afghanistan, pursuing political engagement and focusing on economic development — rather than strong-arm tactics.
“Threatening anyone normally gets you worse results than the ones you started with. Even when it is exceptionally difficult to engage at a point when you think your red lines have not been taken seriously, we will still try the route of engagement.”
She firmly rejected the idea that any other country — either the U.S. or China — could play a role in helping Pakistan defeat the Taliban with military deployments. “When it comes to boots on the ground, we would welcome no one,” she said.
Pakistan is seeking bailout cash from the International Monetary Fund as the economy is hammered by blazing inflation and collapsing reserves. When asked whether she reckoned Washington was holding back on supporting Pakistan, partly to test whether China would step up and play a bigger role in ensuring the country’s stability, Khar replied: “I would be very unhappy if that were the case.”
No to navies
When it came to Europe’s role in the Indo-Pacific region, she was wary of the naval dimensions of EU plans, an element favored by France. She was particularly hostile to any vision of an Indo-Pacific strategy that was dedicated to trying to contain Chinese power in tandem with working with India.
One of the leading fears of the U.S. has long been that China could use its investments in the port of Gwadar to build a naval foothold there, a move that would inflame tensions with India, and allow Beijing to project greater power in the Indian Ocean.
Khar said Europe should tread carefully in calibrating its plan for the region.
“I would be very concerned if it is exclusively or predominantly a military-based strategy, which will then confirm it is a containment strategy, it must not be a containment strategy,” she said of the EU’s Indo-Pacific agenda.
“[If it’s] a containment strategy of a certain country, which then courts a certain country that is a very belligerent neighbor to Pakistan, then instead of stabilizing the region, it is endangering the region.”
A lot of us moms and dads are preparing for a family vacation, and the whole process of preparing for a big getaway can be daunting. First things first: make a list. You’ll want a packing list for carry-on stuff or the car ride (depending on your mode of transportation), a packing list for suitcases, and a shopping list. Having a list will help to ensure that you don’t forget anything. Some suggestions for your in-transit bag:
– Chargers
– Colouring books, crayons and other basic art supplies (stamp pads, stickers, and more)
– Journals and blank paper
– Fun books like Where’s Waldo, nature or learning books, or activity/art books – get loads of ideas for great kids’ reads, plus activities to go along with those books, in our Little Readers blog section.
– Healthy snacks and water (from here or here)
– Folder for travel docs, brochures, print-outs of reservations, etc.
Try and stay organized as much as possible. Organization is key to a successful family vacation (especially road trips). Having an organized car, as well as well-planned-out luggage, will make the entire process all the smoother.
Group “like” items together to make packing (and living out of a suitcase) all the easier. This means keeping toiletries together, swimming stuff (bathing suits, towels and pool toys), shoes and outdoor gear, medication, your jewellery and accessories, and so on. Smaller clear cases or bags work well for smaller items, while more durable reuseable bags like these are ideal for the bigger stuff.
Use labels to keep everyone organized. That way, everyone knows where to get their clothes and other necessities, as well as where to put things like dirty clothes.
Come up with a schedule for your travel days, and discuss it as a family so there are no unexpected surprises on the day of. If it’s going to be a longer day of travelling, consider having a few “markers” along the way where you’ll celebrate or do something fun/special/different (each hour of a car ride, or during a layover).
The mother of a 6-year-old boy who shot his teacher in Virginia is expected to plead guilty in federal court Monday to using marijuana while possessing a firearm, which is illegal under U.S. law.
The labor strife continues on the west coast with the announcement of the Port of Seattle shutting down due to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) refusing to dispatch labor to work at the container terminals. This is according to an announcement by the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) which represents the terminals at the ports.
The West Coast ports have faced continuous worker slowdowns and stoppages all week where an estimated $5.2 billion of trade is floating off the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland.
In an email statement, the ILWU said the union remains committed to bargaining a contract that is “fair and equitable and represents the hard work and contributions of its members toward the ongoing success of the multibillion-dollar shipping industry.”
The ILWU also accused the PMA of using the media to leverage one-sided information in an attempt to influence the process.
“Despite what you are hearing from PMA, West Coast ports are open as we continue to work under our expired collective bargaining agreement,” stated International President Willie Adams.
The Port of Seattle and its twin port, The Port of Tacoma, make up what is called the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA). The Port of Seattle is one of the top maritime ports in North America that U.S. ag exporters rely on to ship their produce and grain. Some 40% of the State of Washington’s jobs are tied to trade.
Top trading partners were China, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and India in 2022.
Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC) which represents ag shippers tells CNBC these disruptions are exporters hurting the reputation of U.S. ag exporters as a reliable trading partner.
“When the ILWU-PMA negotiations broke down at the end of a previous contract, Japan’s Agriculture Ministry wrote our U.S. Dept of Agriculture, to the effect, ‘Your ports aren’t working but our cows are still eating.’ The impact of these West Coast disruptions is felt worldwide,” stressed Peter Friedmann, executive director of AgTC.
The top six U.S. exports according to the port’s website include apples (valued at $2.185 billion), milk, ($1.209 billion), cattle (valued at $801.5 million), wheat (valued at $756.8 million), potatoes, (valued at $712.4 million), and hay (valued at $601.7 million). The total value of the exports in 2022 was $5.66 billion.
The NWSA is the country’s second-largest gateway for refrigerated containers called, “reefers.” Frozen products like french fries, meat, dairy, apple, and fish are transported in these specialized containers.
“Our agriculture can’t stand by and can’t be stored on terminals,” said Friedmann. “We can’t continuously miss sailings and delivery commitments to overseas buyers.”
Friedmann said ag exporters, with very few exceptions, do not have the option to shift from West Coast gateways to the East and Gulf coasts. But he warned clients, foreign buyers do.
“They’re called Argentina, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand,” said Friedmann. “We don’t want to lose these customers.”
The NWSA is also a port importer of automobiles with a terminal dedicated to Roll-On and Roll-Off vessels. Auto imports were up 6.5% in 2022 compared to 2021, with 172,979 units delivered. Kia and Hyundai automobiles use this gateway.
CNBC reached out to the Port of Seattle and at the time of press does not have a comment.
The U.S. trade deficit jumped 23% in April to a six-month high of $74.6 billion, reflecting an increase in imports such as cell phones and foreign autos. Exports fell.
The trade gap rose $14 billion from $60.6 billion in March.
Larger deficits subtract from gross domestic product, the official scorecard for the U.S. economy. The trade deficit has bounced around sharply since last year and has had an unusually large impact on GDP.
Key details: Imports rose 1.5% to $323.6 billion in April. The biggest increases were in autos, parts and consumers goods such as cell phones.
Oil imports fell.
Exports fell 3.6% last month to $249 billion. The U.S. shipped less oil and fewer pharmaceutical drugs.
Big picture: The key trend in trade since last fall has been a broad decline in imports from a record high. They peaked at $348 billion a year ago and haven’t come close to that level since then.
Americans are buying relatively fewer goods and spending more on services, for one thing. And a slower U.S. economy has also reduced demand.
The increase in imports in April is unlikely to lead to a sustained reversal in those trends. High inflation and rising U.S. interest rates have dampened demand for consumer goods.
Looking ahead: “Trade was neutral for U.S. economic growth in the prior quarter but will likely be modestly negative for growth in the current quarter,” said senior economist Abbey Omodunbi of PNC Financial Services.
Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.27%
and S&P 500 SPX, -0.38%
rose in Wednesday trades.
The EU is creating a new sanctions weapon, but is afraid to load it.
After adopting 10 sanctions packages following Russia’s attempted invasion of Ukraine, the EU is now designing a new mechanism to punish countries that enable sanctions evasion. If third countries, for example in Central Asia, fail to comply with Western sanctions against Moscow or can’t explain a sudden rise in trade in banned goods, they would face EU punishment.
The sanctions have so far been effective in curbing direct exports of sanctions from the EU to Russia, according to new research by a group of European experts, while the increase in imports from non-sanctioning countries has substituted no more than a quarter of missing volumes.
But there has been a spike in volumes of certain items previously sold to Russia being exported to neighboring or nearby countries like Turkey, Kazakhstan and Armenia. The evidence here points to the rerouting of popular consumer electronics like cell phones and computers — but microchips that might be of military use may also be slipping through the net.
One recent investigation has, meanwhile, found evidence that sensitive technologies — such as drones and microelectronics — have found their way to Russia through third countries like Kazakhstan with the help of local companies founded by Russian owners.
By putting a gun on the table, the EU hopes more countries will comply.
But that proposal is now being watered down, according to the latest version of the draft proposal, dated Wednesday and seen by POLITICO.
This comes after concerns expressed by several EU countries, including heavy-hitter Germany. They fear such a mechanism would hurt diplomatic relations, and even drive countries into the arms of Russia and China. Rather than hitting the countries that are allowing sanctioned goods to be re-exported to Russia, Berlin is proposing to focus on companies, according to an earlier discussion document dated May 5 and seen by POLITICO.
To win over the skeptics, the European Commission has included more safeguards.
The most recent version of the sanctions proposal sets out a more careful and step-by-step approach before targeting third countries. For example, it classifies such steps as “exceptional, last resort measures.” And, as a latest change to the draft, the Commission would have to demonstrate that “alternative measures taken have been ineffective” before punishing third countries.
This is the second time the Commission has been introducing extra safeguards in the proposal to accommodate countries’ concerns, even though sanctions experts have warned that the threat of the instrument has to be credible enough in order for it to work.
The anti-circumvention ban is not the only outstanding issue. Greece and Hungary are still holding out over Ukraine listing some of their companies as “war sponsors.” Athens and Budapest want some of their companies struck off this list before they will agree to the sanctions package.
EU countries now hope to get a deal on the package done next week, three EU diplomats said. There will be consultations ahead of the next discussion by EU envoys on June 7. “An agreement is within reach,” said one of them, while adding that the exact timing is “still hard to predict.”
