Top stories from the Russian press on Friday, April 29th, prepared by TASS
Izvestia: United Nations seeks to help resolve Ukrainian conflict
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky expressed hope for the evacuation of people from the Azovstal steel complex after talks with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Before visiting Kiev, the UN chief had held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The goal of his trips was to put an end to the humanitarian disaster in Ukraine. However, what has so far been achieved is a formal consent of all parties to ensure the exit of people from the Mariupol plant, which would be sponsored by the UN, Izvestia writes.
Guterres suggested creating a UN-backed contact group for Russia and Ukraine to coordinate their efforts to set up humanitarian corridors. Moscow has not accepted the proposal yet. An informed Russian source told the newspaper that Moscow had already established an interagency center tasked with providing humanitarian assistance to civilians in the Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine, as well as to the people in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths, who is working with the center, visited both Moscow and Kiev in early April.
Experts point out that the UN has not been playing an active role in efforts to resolve the conflict. "It is largely because there is no consensus in the UN Security Council. It turns out that the Security Council is in fact helpless at the moment," Director of the Center for European Information Nikolay Topornin explained. "The UN secretary general is not a politically independent figure, as he has to translate the will of the world’s countries. When there is no common position, he can express his own views, but it will hardly lead to any tangible results," the analyst added.
The way that sanctions are introduced nowadays is another thing that points to a decline in the United Nations’ influence. In the past, the UN mechanism of sanctions was the only legitimate one but now, no one even tries to activate it in order to legitimize their restrictions, the expert emphasized.
Vedomosti: US simplifying seizure of Russian oligarchs’ assets to aid Ukraine
US President Joe Biden has announced the creation of an easy administrative procedure to seize the property of sanctioned Russian oligarchs. The US House of Representatives promptly passed the Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act, which enables the US president to use the Russian assets that were frozen as part of sanctions on Moscow in order to provide assistance, including military aid, to Kiev, Vedomosti writes.
The quick passing of the bill was to be expected, and the practice is highly likely to be later adopted by other countries as well, Director of Programs at the Russian International Affairs Council Ivan Timofeev noted. According to him, it will primarily be applied to the individuals whose assets have already been blocked based on the sanctions triggered by the conflict. However, the bill won’t apply to the frozen gold and foreign currency reserves of the Russian Central Bank.
Meanwhile, in Timofeev’s words, the adoption of the bill will establish an important legal mechanism that the United States will eventually be able to use in relation to any sanctioned and frozen assets, including those of Russia’s Central Bank.
Head of Sanctions Law and Compliance at the Pen & Paper bar association Sergey Glandin emphasized that although the law would create a mechanism, decisions on asset seizures would be made by courts.
A commission that the White House suggests setting up based on the seizure law will apparently issue rules for itself and the Department of Justice, which is part of the commission, will take legal action to seize frozen properties for the benefit of Ukraine. After that, yachts, business jets and other properties will go up for auction and the money from their sale will be handed over to Kiev.
Kommersant: Russian-Ukrainian conflict pushing food prices up
Russia’s military operation in Ukraine has seriously affected the stability of the global food market. Ukraine, one of the major suppliers of grain and sunflower oil, has actually been isolated. Many logistics chains have been cut. As a result, food prices are hitting historic highs all across the globe. The situation could benefit Russia, another big food supplier, but customers are concerned about sanctions, payment and transportation issues, Kommersant writes.
Sovekon Director Andrey Sizov points out that the main reason for tensions on the global market is that Ukraine has nearly collapsed as a global supplier of corn and wheat. According to the expert, if Ukraine’s port infrastructure does not suffer much damage and a ceasefire is achieved in the coming months, then the country will be able to promptly resume grain exports, which may lead to a fall in global prices. However, if Ukraine faces serious crop losses, a balance of supply and demand on global markets will be badly hit.
Russia’s food exports have not been significantly interrupted, unlike those of Ukraine. This season, Russia can try to preserve its status as the largest wheat supplier to the global market. Director General of the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies Dmitry Rylko says that skyrocketing food prices on global markets and bad weather in a number of countries are positive for Russia’s grain exports. However, problems with banking transactions, ship insurance and freight are still there, he noted.
Chairman of the Board at the Russian Union of Grain Exporters Eduard Zernin believes that the situation will get easier once solutions are found to issues related to insurance of logistics risks, and most importantly, to the launch of ruble payments for Russian grain exports, which is what major consumers are prepared for.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Are EU countries seeking to close their borders to refugees?
A scandal is unfolding in the European Union that may change EU policy towards illegal migration. An investigation by a number of media outlets has uncovered that the EU’s Frontex border agency deliberately seeks to reduce the number of refugees from the third world arriving in Europe. Frontex allegedly sent boats carrying illegal migrants back at the very beginning of their journey to get to Greece, Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes.
The scandal may also spill over into the United Kingdom, where human rights activists are questioning the legitimacy of the government’s new measures aimed at sending illegal migrants to Rwanda. It is yet unclear if these measures will apply to all migrants and if so, then why the UK is easing admission rules for refugees from Ukraine.
"There certainly is a more tolerant attitude towards Ukrainians than to other refugees. However, authorities in EU countries will have to do something about the migration issue one way or another at least because their voters are pushing for that. For instance, although the far-right Marine Le Pen lost the French presidential election, she still got significant support. As for Emmanuel Macron, he seems to be fighting illegal migration but half-heartedly," Leading Researcher with the Department of Social and Political Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Europe Sergey Fedorov noted. According to him, the EU has no common approach to asylum seekers. In fact, Hungary and Poland don’t welcome anyone but Ukrainians. "Macron sought to change the situation but other EU members failed to support him," Fedorov stressed.
The expert points out that human rights groups and left-wing forces will oppose the tightening of migration policies but the fight against illegal migrants will inevitably be expanded because this is what voters want.
Kommersant: Seizure of Russian government assets boosts demand for gold
Central banks across the world have a particularly increased interest in gold. Financial regulators in Egypt and Turkey purchased 81 tonnes of gold in the past quarter. The West’s move to freeze the Russian Central Bank’s foreign currency reserves may boost other foreign regulators’ demand for gold as a reserve asset, said experts interviewed by Kommersant.
"Investors are actively buying physical gold because the recent political steps that the United States took are causing concern about the sustainability of the dollar as the main reserve currency," Head of the Bond Department at Ingosstrakh Investment Nikolay Ryaskov noted.
Investor demand for gold will remain the key consumption driver in the coming quarters. Portfolio Manager at Alfa Capital Dmitry Skryabin expects that the increasing risks of a global economic downturn amid rising geopolitical tensions will support demand for the defensive asset.
In addition, the precedent of freezing Russia’s foreign currency reserves may have long-term consequences, making other countries diversify their own assets and replacing the dollar with gold.
"Demand for gold as a tool for the diversification of gold and foreign currency reserves may come first and foremost from Asia and the Middle East," Skryabin stressed.
