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There is a reason why Ukraine is called the granary of the world.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is more than likely to have ripple effects in Europe and the rest of the world. One of the most immediate consequences of the conflict will be a reduction in the supply of wheat and corn.

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Already strained supply lines are likely to face more stress due to the war in Ukraine. (iStock)

About a quarter of the world’s wheat trade and a fifth of the world’s corn come from the region, according to Bloomberg. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, both countries have had to close ports used to export goods. It is not known when any of the countries will be able to reopen these ports.

On Friday, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iuela explained that the situation would have a significant impact on the price of bread and other wheat products for ordinary people.

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About a quarter of the world’s grain and about a fifth of the world’s corn come from the world’s bread basket. (iStock)

Countries that buy wheat and corn from Ukraine and Russia will now have to look elsewhere, which puts more strain on international suppliers.

An expert speaking to Bloomberg explained that the situation will put more pressure on areas of the world where supplies are already lower than normal.

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Barley, one of the key ingredients in beer production, is heavily produced in Ukraine. (iStock)

Fox Business previously reported that due to the shortage of wheat beer is likely to increase prices in the coming months.

Barley, one of the key ingredients in beer production, is heavily produced in Ukraine. The region is often called the “granary of Europe” because of the large amount of grain grown in the region.

However, it is not clear what effect this will have on the price of beer. Large brewers, such as Molson Coors, have reportedly managed to bear the higher costs while maintaining the same price for consumers.

Stellantis does not rely solely on Chrysler’s concept to determine the future of EV. As part of the new Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, the automaker introduced Jeep’s first all-electric SUV. The company did not provide specifications or even a name, but the Jeep EV launched in early 2023 and appears to be relatively compact like the Compass. Autoblog notes that Jeep can use the STLA Small platform, which supports up to 82kWh battery and 300 miles range.

It is still coming in 2024. You will find a more off-road oriented model and SUV “lifestyle” in 2024. The jeep will not be alone either, as Ram will launch an electric ProMaster van in 2023 and 1500 pickups (shown in the middle) of next year.

Careful implementation leaves Stellantis behind Ford, GM and other established brands that already have a number of electric cars either on the road or coming this year. This doesn’t just include electric badges like Tesla or Rivian. To date, the company is focusing on converted cars such as the Fiat 500e or its 4xe plug-in hybrids.

However, the new machines and the new plan of Stellantis can help with that. Under Dare Forward, the brand hopes to sell five million EVs in 2030. That’s enough to completely replace car sales in Europe and half of all cars and trucks in the United States. There will be over 25 EVs aimed at American buyers. The only question is whether the brand can make up for lost time, especially with competitors such as GM, which is already planning to eliminate sales of internal combustion cars.

BERLIN – Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the German luxury carmaker, said on Tuesday that it had stopped exporting vehicles to Russia and would stop assembling vehicles with a partner in Kaliningrad.

“We condemn the aggression against Ukraine and monitor developments with great concern and concern,” said a BMW spokesman. “Due to the current geopolitical situation, we will stop local production and exports to the Russian market until further notice.

BMW also said that supply chain disruptions, such as the closure of some suppliers’ plants in Ukraine, would affect production at some factories.

BMW decided two years ago not to build its own plant in Kaliningrad and instead has a partnership with the Russian carmaker Avtotor, which assembles BMW cars from so-called half-breakdown kits.

The kits contain the components of the vehicle and are assembled into functioning cars in the factory, a practice that is common in the automotive industry when it is not economically viable to operate a full-fledged factory.

BMW’s decision comes after a growing number of car companies have idle factories in Russia or stopped selling vehicles there after Western countries imposed a series of economic and financial sanctions on Moscow.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) rose more than 5% on Tuesday, despite a reluctance to take risks to lower blue-chip stocks and the technologies that cryptocurrencies have been linked to for weeks as markets embraced new developments in Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Data released this week by Kaiko show that the volume of trade in bitcoin and stable coins such as Tether (USDT-USD) has jumped in the last few days within the Ukrainian and Russian markets, as the ruble fell on world markets to just pennies against the US dollar.

In recent sessions, digital tokens have been seen as risk-sensitive assets rather than an alternative asset class that should be – including bitcoin, which some market participants see as a safe haven.

However, the move to sanction Moscow – including excluding Russia from the global financial system SWIFT – appears to have caused a shift in sentiment in favor of crypto. Some crypto investors have suggested that government-sponsored financial repression reinforces the benefits of the more decentralized digital token sector.

“The Ukraine-Russia situation has caused significant financial turmoil and individuals, companies and, in fact, government agencies – not only in the region but also worldwide – are looking for alternatives to traditional systems,” said Nigel Green of deVere Group, citing growing financial chaos in Russia. which is affecting ordinary citizens.

With the closure of banks, ATM money is running out, threats to personal savings are being taken to pay for war, and SWIFT’s main international payment system is armed, among other factors, with a viable, decentralized, borderless, resilient “The counterfeit monetary system, which cannot be confiscated, has been exposed.”

“And because alternatives, such as crypto, are proving reliable and workable, the reserve status of the dollar could eventually be jeopardized,” he added.

“There are currently many cases of using crypto, which is a relatively quick and effective way to move money across borders,” CoinDesk’s global macro editor and CoinDesk TV presenter Emily Parker told Yahoo Finance Live on Tuesday.

The story continues

On Monday, the demand for bitcoin from buyers jumped its price by 17% within 24 hours. Meanwhile, the Standard and Poor’s index ended slightly lower (-0.25%), and the Nasdaq closed slightly higher (+ 0.44%). This was a complete reversal from last week, when BTC’s 60-day correlation with the S&P 500 reached a new all-time high – meaning it has never been so closely linked to equities.

When that happened, Noel Acheson, head of market insight at Genesis Trading, told Yahoo Finance last Wednesday that widespread uncertainty over monetary and geopolitical policy seemed to be causing a sell-off by investors in all risky assets.

According to CoinMetrics, BTC’s 60-day correlation with the S&P 500 is heading south – and analysts like Acheson are paying close attention.

Although it is still too early to call the trend, Acheson and others are seeking to see if this breakthrough signals a deeper directional change or “separation” from capital investment. If this is the case, the current dynamics of bitcoin may signal a major change in the way investors value the asset.

According to Acheson, part of Bitcoin’s performance yesterday may be due to derivative-driven “short squeeze” in addition to other factors of trading momentum. However, some indicators suggest that something deeper may be happening.

Indicators in the chain from data provider Glassnode suggest that the majority of bitcoin purchases in the last few days come from smaller retail investors or buyers who own less than 1 bitcoin. Given the high acceptance of bitcoin by larger investors, this is the first increase in demand from retailers that the asset saw this year.

For more information on cryptocurrency, see:

Dogecoin, what is this? How to buy it

Ethereum: What is it and how do you invest in it?

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Colgate toothpaste display on store shelf in Westminster, Colorado, April 26, 2009. REUTERS / Rick Wilking / Files

March 1 – Get ready for a $ 10 toothpaste tube.

Colgate-Palmolive Co. (CL.N) CEO Noel Wallace told an industry conference last week that the household goods maker sees its new Optic White Pro toothpaste as a premium product, “vital” for its ability to raise prices. which will help increase profits this year.

His remarks come as many consumer product companies raise prices as much as they can to offset their own rising costs, a trend that could continue due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, whose economic risks include rising gasoline prices. Read more

So far, retailers and consumers appear to be largely indifferent to higher prices. But some lawmakers and consumer advocates say companies are raising prices excessively to boost profits and return money to shareholders.

“We are seeing significant increases in the prices of almost every item that consumers buy,” said US spokesman David Sicillin, who is working on proposed antitrust legislation aimed at reducing prices. “They cause real difficulties. People take things out of their food carts because it’s too expensive.”

In the past, large retailers such as Walmart Inc (WMT.N) have repulsed rising prices. But now retailers like Walmart and Target Corp.

Target said in a profit talk on Tuesday that rising prices are the last lever he pulls when faced with increased costs. Read more

The US Federal Trade Commission has been investigating the incredible prices and supply chain disruptions for the past three months, requiring companies including Procter & Gamble, Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC.O), Kroger Co (KR.N) and Walmart to hand over domestic documents for profit margins, prices and promotions.

Comments on the inquiry are due by March 14 and so far show that small grocers are angry that they need to pay more and receive less important products. Consumers wrote that they could not find oatmeal, cereals and cat food.

In an interview with Reuters, Cicilline cited Colgate as an example of a company that advertises price increases, makes basic items too expensive and pays more to investors.

Colgate expects its margins to increase this year, in part due to higher prices. He also bought almost 50% more shares last year, which is an advantage for investors.

Rising prices are a “key capability” for Colgate that will help boost profits, Wallace said last week.

A Colgate spokesman said in a statement that the company has a wide portfolio of products at various price points and advertised its new $ 10 toothpaste as the first with 5% hydrogen peroxide, with “demonstrated efficacy for teeth whitening.”

Consumer goods companies began raising prices last year in response to rising raw material costs and labor shortages due to the pandemic. Read more

“There is an incredible appetite for our products,” said Katie Dennis, a spokeswoman for the Consumer Brands Association, a trading group for consumer packaging companies, including Colgate. “We do the most important things. And there is no option not to deliver them.”

Prices have also risen on competing private label items, analysts said.

The White House is focused on corporate profits as it fights inflation. Bharat Ramamurti, deputy director of the White House National Economic Council, said there were examples of companies outside the meat packaging industry – which is especially in the White House’s field of vision – raising prices beyond their own expense. Read more

Lindsay Owens, executive director of the progressive nonprofit Groundwork Collaborative, called diapers a low-competitive category, paving the way for aggressive price increases.

The margins of Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB.N) declined in 2021 due to rising costs. Diaper maker Huggies is betting that consumers will buy more expensive options made with plant materials, which will help its profits recover, conference executives said last week.

P&G executives said last week that they expect margins to continue to improve as higher prices hit stores. The company also plans to buy back more shares than originally planned. Read more

“Many companies are taking advantage of high consumer demand to keep raising prices when not needed,” said Jack Gillis, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America, a nonprofit group. “As long as consumers are willing to pay these prices, there is no incentive to lower them.”

Report by Jessica DiNapoli in New York; Edited by Leslie Adler and Andrea Ritchie

Our standards: ‘ principles of trust.

An investment fund backed by Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the European Union since the invasion of Ukraine has ties to Teneo, an influential corporate consulting firm based in the United States.

The public relations and strategy giant was hired in 2020 by LetterOne, a Luxembourg-based private investment company that counts sanctioned billionaires Mikhail Friedman, a native of Ukraine, and Peter Aven as co-founders. The deal, seen by CNBC, appears to have paid Teneo more than $ 3.6 million to arrange interviews and consultations on US media strategy.

LetterOne was founded by Friedman, Aven, Alexei Kuzmichev, Andrei Kosogov and German Khan – all of whom are some of the richest business leaders based in Russia. All five founders were on the board of LetterOne, with Friedman as chairman, according to data from PitchBook, reviewed by CNBC. The executives started the company in 2013 after founding Alfa Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Russia.

Friedman and Aven were accused by the EU of having ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, allegations denied in a statement to CNBC. The statement did not answer any of CNBC’s questions about LetterOne’s work with Teneo or how the investment fund plans to move forward now that two of its founders have been sanctioned. Friedman’s bank, Alpha Bank, is also sanctioned by the United States. He called for an end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

After CNBC asked a LetterOne spokesman Monday about their business, including their relationship with Teneo, several pages of their website, including the “our people” section, appear to have been deleted since Tuesday morning. An error message now appears in this section, which lists the founders and CEOs of the company. The LetterOne board section is still active, but no longer shows Friedman and Aven as board members.

Joshua Hardy, a spokesman for LetterOne, said Friedman and Aven had retired on Tuesday. CNBC first contacted the private investment company on Monday.

Although the emails to Teneo were not returned, Kathleen Lacey, senior managing director of the company, which was listed in the document as working with the LetterOne account, told CNBC in a brief phone call Monday that they are no longer one of its customers and believe he no longer represented them in her company.

The FARA division of the Department of Justice, which oversees lobbying and consulting work in the United States for foreign representatives, told CNBC on Tuesday that it believes the agreement between Teneo and LetterOne “remains active.”

LetterOne has multiple ties to Teneo, which was founded by two Democrat advisers who worked for former presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The private equity firm has been involved in nearly a dozen deals valued at more than $ 1 billion, according to PitchBook. Uber, for example, made a $ 200 million investment from LetterOne in 2016.

Since then, Teneo has become a consulting giant with past clients, including Dow Chemical and Coca-Cola. Foreign clients include Neom, a company that has backed a huge public investment fund to create a metropolis in Saudi Arabia, and a foundation run by the Princess of the Emirates.

Their senior advisers listed include political and business leaders, including former Republican Speaker Paul Ryan, former IBM CEO Ginny Rometti, former Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liverris, and Harvey Pitt, former Commission Chairman. securities and stock exchanges.

Doug Band, once one of Bill Clinton’s closest associates, founded Teneo with Declan Kelly and Paul Curry. Kelly served as Special Envoy for Northern Ireland to the Obama administration and helped Hillary Clinton run for president in 2008. Since then, Bend and Kelly have left the company, with the latter stepping down as Teneo’s chief executive after reports that he was drunk and behaving inappropriately at an event organized by the non-profit organization Global Citizen. Kiri became CEO after Kelly’s resignation.

A contract between Teneo and LetterOne, reviewed by CNBC, shows that the consulting firm was hired in 2020 for $ 150,000 a month to advise the fund on their media strategy. Under the agreement, Teneo was expected to “provide strategic and engagement advice to the company’s stakeholders and board members (including, but not limited to, scheduling media interviews, assisting with media briefings, coordinating stakeholder engagements and related activities) ‘.

Under the contract, LetterOne was on track to pay Teneo more than $ 3.6 million as of September 2020. There were at least four Teneo representatives working on the account, according to other documents filed with the Justice Department.

Additional documents show that last year Teneo took credit for its attempts to arrange interviews for LetterOne leaders with producers and TV presenters, including those at CNBC, Bloomberg and Fox Business. A document shows that a Bloomberg representative has been connected almost a dozen times to see if LetterOne can sponsor one of their Bloomberg Invest events.

There are other connections between Teneo and LetterOne.

The non-executive chairman of LetterOne is Evan Davis, a British businessman who was once the UK’s Secretary of State for Trade, Investment and Small Business. He is also a senior advisor at Teneo.

VEON, a telecommunications company operating in Russia and Ukraine, is listed on the LetterOne website as one of its active investments. Ursula Burns was chairman of VEON for almost three years before retiring in 2020. She later became chairman of Teneo.

VEON, meanwhile, announced on Tuesday that Mikhail Friedman had resigned from their board.