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Russia recognizes Luhansk and Donetsk republics: West vows sanctions
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 22 Feb 2022

On February 21 Putin announced that he was recognizing the two regions that have broken away from Ukraine. Russia now regards the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) and the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) as independent countries. Putin announced that Russian troops had moved into these regions as p...

The BoI prepares markets for imminent tightening
ISRAEL · Report · 22 Feb 2022

1. The forward guidance in the monetary statement shifted sharply, conveying the likelihood of tightening in “coming months”. 2. The various factors in the monetary statement all support tightening: inflation has accelerated, growth is robust, unemployment has declined and the Omicron wave ...

Russia recognizes occupied territories: the play comes to the end
UKRAINE · In Brief · 22 Feb 2022

Everything develops in line with the scenario we described here. Russia recognized occupied territories of Donbas and Luhansk as independent states and deployed ‘peacekeepers’ in those territories. We see this development as a face-saving withdrawal for Kremlin. Moscow has been raising stakes thu...

The BoI prepares the market for imminent tightening
ISRAEL · In Brief · 21 Feb 2022

The BoI prepares the market for imminent tightening Rates remained unchanged today (as expected) but the big news was the sharp shift in the forward guidance from “The Israeli economy’s process of recovery from the crisis continues. However, there are still challenges to economic activity. The Co...

The PMI declines sharply
ISRAEL · In Brief · 21 Feb 2022

The PMI declined in January by 4.9 points to 42.9, with both the domestic and export orders declining sharply (by over 7 points) to reflect contraction. The employment component fell by 18 points. Activity in January was influenced by the Omicron wave, but nevertheless, this sharp decline in all ...

Big Brother economics
TURKEY · Report · 20 Feb 2022 · 1 response

The Ukraine Crisis looms as a not-so-small threat to economic stability, not to mention the political implications. Having covered the politics of it in our previous reports, we take a brief look at the potential economic fallout. Erdogan’s UAE’s visit was hailed as a major political and econ...

Robust growth supports monetary tightening
ISRAEL · In Brief · 20 Feb 2022

The Israeli economy expanded by 8.1% in 2021 Annual GDP growth in Q421 reached 16.6% following 6.7% in Q321. The level of GDP in Q421 is 8.9% above Q419 (pre-Covid), basically reflecting rapid annual growth of above Israel’s estimated growth potential of 4%. The output gap is rapidly closing. Lab...

Uzbekistan receives USD 10 million from Gulnara Karimova
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 20 Feb 2022

On February 15 the government announced that it had recovered assets that it says the daughter of the late president misappropriated. The money was returned from France. Uzbekistan is working with Switzerland, the USA, France, Russia to recover more of Gulnara Karimova's assets.A multiparty trust...

Fighting intensified in East Ukraine
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 20 Feb 2022

On February 19 the Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe recorded 1,500 breaches of the ceasefire. That is the highest number in 2021. Fighting is fiercest in Luhansk. The Ukrainian Interior Minister dived for cover when a mortar fell within 500 meters of him. Putin said the situation i...

​DR Government places foreign bonds and carries out liability management operation
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC · In Brief · 19 Feb 2022

The Ministry of Finance reported that sovereign bonds were placed in the international capital market for USD3.56 b. About USD2.3 b will finance the 2022 Public Budget, covering 63.6% of the total external financing to be contracted in accordance with Law 345-01. The remaining USD1.26 b are desti...

Brazilian President visits Russia
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 19 Feb 2022

On February 16 Jair Bolsonaro visited Moscow and met Putin. The US lobbied hard for Bolsonaro not to visit Russia. Bolsonaro has been an outspoken admirer of Putin. The visit's timing is very welcome as it proves that Russia has friends far beyond its borders. However, the visit was planned month...

Culmination of the Kremlin’s staging
UKRAINE · In Brief · 19 Feb 2022

We are approaching the culmination of the staging with Russian troops’ deployment. Russians have started evacuating civilians from occupied territories of Donbass but ordered all men of military age to stay in place. Also Russians are bringing heavy armor closer to the frontlines in Donbas. These...

Beyond the Russian threat, monetary tapering looms
UKRAINE · Report · 18 Feb 2022

The threat of a Russian invasion has dominated the headlines for several months now. Ukraine still sees Russia deploying more troops and combat support elements on its border as a big bargaining game, and Ukrainian officials do not expect Russia to undertake serious military action. However, the ...

Atilla Yesilada’s interview with Global Business Europe: inflation and popular sentiment, tourism, and outreach by Turkey to the GCC
TURKEY · Report · 18 Feb 2022 · 2 responses

We present Atilla Yesilada's February 17, 2022 interview with daily business show Global Business Europe, in which he speaks about popular sentiment in the face of high inflation, the prospects for the tourism sector from a geopolitical standpoint, and the recent trip by President Erdogan to the ...

GDP up by 4.7% in 2021
RUSSIA ECONOMICS · In Brief · 18 Feb 2022

The Russian GDP reached nearly R130.1 trln in 2021 and was up by 4.7%. These numbers are higher than was expected earlier, however, permanent upward revisions of selected historical data during the year prompted that surprises from Rosstat could not be ruled out. Still, the currently available qu...