Bankst Telegram channel: messages dated 06/20/2023

???? Want to gain exposure to a currency without the risk of blocking? Take a closer look at the Alfa Capital Currency Bonds Fund! We have launched a new fund for Eurobonds and replacement bonds in dollars and euros issued by companies in Russian jurisdiction ???? What are the advantages of the fund: • the product helps to protect the portfolio from ruble devaluation; • payment for securities takes place at the current exchange rate; • absence of external risks — securities are stored in the Russian infrastructure and are settled in rubles; • You can invest in the product and monitor the portfolio dynamics in a convenient mobile application. Making investments in currency instruments closer ???? @alfacapital Disclaimer
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Russian hackers from Killnet and Anonymous Sudan said they attacked the infrastructure of the European Investment Bank (EIB). The entire bank and its functionality will not work for at least ten days, Killnet representatives predict. @banksta
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A visitor to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was banned from taking part in the events, as she handed out business cards to the participants with the inscription “I’m looking for a husband.” An entrepreneur from Moscow decided to use the forum for “non-core” purposes. The woman prepared business cards with the inscription “Looking for a husband” and her phone number and began distributing them at SPIEF 2023. As a result, the organizers closed her access to events due to the distribution of unapproved business cards. @banksta
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Every fifth Russian tried to play phone scammers. 8% of respondents did not hesitate to express their dissatisfaction, 6% humiliated them, and 4% talked to them on various topics, according to Kaspersky Lab. @banksta
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The Russian Ministry of Finance added unfriendly countries to the list of offshore zones – countries that provide preferential tax treatment or do not provide information on financial transactions. Now this list includes states that are themselves the instigators of the global fight against money laundering, including the United States, Great Britain and the main countries of the European Union. @banksta
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The second real estate developer in Russia, Samolet Group, has signed an agreement to buy the MIC development group for ₽40 billion. The company will firmly stake out the second place in the ratings in terms of construction volume. @banksta
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Lithuania plans to hit the Russian economy by going beyond Western sanctions, writes Bloomberg. Vilnius is unilaterally preparing to ban the transit of dual-use goods that can enter Russia through Belarus and other countries. Lithuania’s restrictions will apply to third countries shipping goods across its land border with Belarus. Lithuanian officials are particularly concerned that recent increases in exports to countries such as Kazakhstan, Georgia or Kyrgyzstan suggest that many goods transiting through Russia remain there. @banksta
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In Germany, exercises will be held in case of a reduction in gas supplies. The exercises will last one day, their purpose is to test the readiness of companies to reduce gas supplies. The German Ministry of Economy did not rule out problems for the country’s industry if Moscow and Kyiv do not renew the transit agreement. @banksta
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Investments in new buildings in Northern Cyprus with a yield of 30% per annum – myth or reality? ⠀ ???? Learn all about profitability and even more at the MIPIF online conference on June 21 at 16:00 (Moscow time) ⠀ ✔️ Free registration using this link Experts from Just Prime Homes and one of the leading developers in Cyprus Fenergioğlu will discuss the following topics: gained its popularity among European and Russian investors ✅ How the market for the sale and rental of real estate is changing due to growing demand ✅ Will Northern Cyprus be recognized by the world community – the pros and cons of recognition ✅ In which cities is it more profitable to buy property – an overview of popular locations ✅ How is the buying process real estate in Northern Cyprus and what are the pitfalls ✅ Presentation of the best projects from the developer Fenergioğlu ⠀ ???? Ask questions and get a valuable gift for the best question from Just Prime Homes. ⠀ See you at the conference!
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Discounts on some new business-class buildings in Moscow have reached 35%. Most often, discounts are found in the mass segment, discounts for such objects average 19%, Metrium analysts said. @banksta
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General Electric closed access to the system for monitoring the operation of gas turbines at Russian thermal power plants – this happened after the entry into force of US sanctions, Kommersant writes. @banksta
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The actor of the TV series “Margosha”, 40-year-old Dmitry Polesyuk decided to acquire housing in the capital and was looking for suitable options. During this period, an unknown person wrote to him on the Web, who introduced himself as a “real estate manager” and offered his services in processing the necessary documents. Dmitry did not suspect anything strange, and when the desired apartment was found, he gave the “employee” ₽12.8 million like a kid so that he would arrange everything as it should. For a while, the “manager” reported that “everything is in progress”, but then disappeared. @banksta
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The main contender for the purchase of Bosch factories for the production of refrigerators and washing machines in the Leningrad Region is the Chinese Hisense. Earlier, the German company sold enterprises in the Saratov and Samara regions. @banksta
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Businessman Elon Musk responded to a tweet by entrepreneur David Sachs, general partner of the venture capital fund Craft Ventures, about the progress of the UAF counteroffensive. “Well said,” he wrote. According to Sachs, “every day it becomes clear that the Ukrainian counter-offensive is not achieving any of the originally stated goals.” He added that the administration of US President Joe Biden was betting that the offensive would “deprive Russia of territorial gains, cut the land bridge to Crimea and force it to the negotiating table.” “It almost certainly won’t happen,” Saks said. The entrepreneur said that the situation in Ukraine is close to what the United States received in Afghanistan. “For two decades we have been assured that we are winning in Afghanistan. All of these reports turned out to be lies. Unfortunately, it seems that we are moving towards the same result in Ukraine,” Sachs concluded. @banksta
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A 20-year-old Muscovite Maxim Zakharov staged a fireworks explosion in the Khimki bank. Ukrainian scammers scammed it on behalf of the Central Bank employees according to the classic scheme “transfer your money to safe accounts.” The guy lost all his savings. He went to such a diversion in order to return the money that the scammers stole. After the fireworks fired, he went inside and began to film the situation, commenting on what was happening to his Ukrainian curators. The man told the employees that he was “manipulated”. @banksta
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Companies for 2022 declared before tax revenue in the amount of 1268 trillion rubles. (or almost 1.3 quadrillion, that is, the sum with 15 zeros). This is almost twice the revenue of 2021, which amounted to 655 trillion rubles, follows from the data of the Federal Tax Service (FTS), which was analyzed by RBC. For the first time in the history of Russia, the revenue of companies exceeded the threshold of 1 qdrl. However, with a two-fold increase in revenue, their profit increased slightly – from 29.4 trillion in 2021 to 31.1 trillion rubles. (by 5.9%). With an average inflation rate of 13.8% in real terms in 2022, profit actually declined. @banksta
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Crypto exchange OKX closes access to some of its products to Russian users. Selected Earn offers, Shark Fin and Double Investment products will not be available to OKX users in Russia. @banksta
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The Ministry of Internal Affairs takes another approach to the eternal topic of fighting bank frauds of all sorts. Asks for the authority to extrajudicially freeze money in accounts and wallets used by villains to withdraw their booty. If this can help at all, then only a little bit and against the most stupid. For the obvious reason that law enforcement officers with these blocks will still continue to be late. As long as the villainous catch remains in the banking circuit, in theory it is really vulnerable to blocking, but in practice it is usually withdrawn to cash or crypto, if not in minutes, then in hours. Not the pace that one can seriously hope to keep up with, even if obtaining prior judicial authorization is removed from the processes of this pursuit. For drops, that is, monkeys who, for a small share, provide their accounts for the withdrawal of swag to them or through them, one must take on a completely different side. If not fastening them to the relevant criminal cases as accomplices, then at least bringing their activity to a special administrative staff. Which would provide for a sanction in the form of a ban on all forms of non-cash banking services for a year or two or three. And that’s all, and this drop is not there, and the next one that you can find will be just as disposable. What prevents me from looking at the problem as a chain from which an irreplaceable link must be torn out is a big mystery to me.
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India stands for peace in the situation around Ukraine, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. According to him, the country will support “all real attempts to end the conflict and guarantee sustainable peace and stability.” @banksta
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Decathlon stores plan to return to Russia in October this year. They will start with about 30 outlets, new names and assortment, writes Mash. According to media reports, the sale of the business has already taken place – the money has been transferred, contracts have been signed, about 90 stores across the country + the rest of the goods have been transferred to the new team. There are several possible naming options – “Deathlon”, dec. and “DK”. @banksta
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Chinese oil imports from Russia jumped to record levels in May. According to the Main Customs Administration of the People’s Republic of China, in May, the volume of deliveries from Russia amounted to 9.71 million m tons, or 2.29 million barrels per day. Shipments jumped 15.3% from 1.98 million bpd in the same month of 2022. This is the largest monthly volume of Russian oil imports in history; it is 32.4% higher than the April level of 1.73 million barrels per day. Saudi oil imports to China fell to 7.32 million tons, or 1.72 million barrels per day, in May, down 16.0% from 2.05 million barrels a month earlier. @banksta
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About $ 10 billion are now in the Atlantic Ocean and are waiting for rescue – in a bathyscaphe, which is stuck near the Titanic shipwreck: – British businessman Hamish Harding (worth – $ 1 billion); – One of the richest people in Pakistan, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleiman (Shahzada’s fortune is about $ 8 billion). – CEO of OceanGate, which organized the mission in the Atlantic, Rush Stockton. @banksta
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Russian oil companies suddenly faced a massive drop in demand from China. In June, China halved purchases, Reuters writes, citing data from Refinitiv Eikon and information from traders. According to the agency, from June 1 to June 19, only 0.26 million tons of Urals grade were shipped to China from Russian ports, while over the same period in May, deliveries reached 0.67 million tons. @banksta
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The “Gosuslugi” began accepting documents to Russian universities, according to the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation. “The application can be submitted to any 5 universities in the country with up to 5 specialties in each. Without a personal visit to the admissions committees, queues and paper documents. This will require only a confirmed account on the “Gosuslugi”, the message says. @banksta
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Russian companies continue to keep their earnings in euros in European banks. Western economists call company owners fools, and Robin Brooks of the Institute of International Finance suggests simply taking them away. @banksta
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In Russia, there are almost no citizens left who are able to buy housing. Across the country, only 5% of people have the opportunity to purchase an apartment immediately, with a mortgage – 10%, according to the Institute for Socio-Economic Research. @banksta
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Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, will plead guilty to three federal charges (taxes, guns), the Justice Department said today in a lawsuit. @banksta
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Alfa took the main award of the technology award FinTech Awards Russia for the best digital bank of the year. And just in case, I grabbed two more – for the convenience and functionality of a mobile bank in the browser and FinTech Visionary of the Year, which went personally to Vladimir Kitlyar, head of the Alfa-Online directorate. No wonder the banksters were sweating over Face ID, QR payment, a phone number scanner, and, in general, over the interface. @banksta
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During a press conference this morning, EU President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European budget will be exhausted 4 years before it ends. Member states are asking for 50 billion for Ukraine, 15 billion for migration and 10 billion for competitiveness. @banksta
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Union Pay cards issued by Russian banks have practically ceased to be accepted in China. “For a week of traveling around Zhangjiajie and nearby cities, we managed to pay with a UnionPay card only in a coffee shop in the ancient city of Fenghuang and at the airport in Zhangjiajie,” ATOR reports. @banksta
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The Russian economy grew by 5.6% in 2021, but decreased by 2.1% in 2022. Nabiullina said that economic activity is already close to the level of the end of 2021. @banksta
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Sber offers its clients to use the service “Crediting payments to the self-employed”, which helps to make registered transfers of funds to the accounts of the self-employed faster. The service is integrated into the salary project. For legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, the service will start working automatically upon the conclusion of a salary project. You can check the contractor’s registration status in the Sber service for the self-employed for free in SberBusiness Internet Banking. And if the performer is not registered in the service, you can send him an invitation through the bank’s application. It is convenient that you can create a register for payment at any time and quickly receive self-employed checks when enrollment occurs. The service will be relevant for almost all areas of business, for example: construction, cleaning, recruitment, seasonal work, fitness and logistics.
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U.S. Attorney’s have decided to drop five charges towards an indictment against Democratic donor Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of cryptocurrency platform FTX, ahead of trial in October. The five charges, including those of fraud and bribing Chinese officials, were filed by prosecutors following Bankman-Freed’s extradition from the Bahamas. Also in the United States, they decided to forgive the son of President Biden for non-payment of taxes and improper storage of weapons. @banksta
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The State Duma adopted amendments according to which digital rubles can be the object of marital property, transactions and inheritance. Virtual money can be bequeathed to children and grandchildren or divided between spouses during a divorce. @banksta
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British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley believes that Russian businessmen should finance the restoration of Ukraine. He expressed this opinion at a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. He stated that such a principle is called “break-pay”. Which of the businessmen that broke, he did not voice. @banksta
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The Pakistani government has decided to lease a giant steel plant to Russia for a period of 5 years. More than 5 thousand employees will be restored. Every year, Pakistan imports iron and steel worth about $4.5 billion. @banksta
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The Latvian “daughter” of Swedbank was fined for transfers to the Crimea. During 2015-2016, the company’s client used the e-banking platform to send money to individuals in the peninsula. Payments went through the American banks-respondents. The US Treasury reported that Swedbank Latvia paid $3.4 million for 386 violations of anti-Russian sanctions. @banksta