position:deputy finance minister

A Strip apart? Gaza grapples with politics of expanded Egyptian administration in Trump’s ‘century deal’ | MadaMasr

▻https://www.madamasr.com/en/2018/06/29/feature/politics/a-strip-apart-gaza-grapples-with-politics-of-expanded-egyptian-administrat

An economic delegation from the Gaza Strip arrived in Cairo on Tuesday night to discuss the United States’ proposal concerning the humanitarian and economic state of the besieged Palestinian territory, as Washington continues to push talks concerning the “deal of the century.”

Deputy Finance Minister Youssef al-Kayali headed up the Gaza delegation, which, according to a Palestinian political source who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity, was in Cairo “to listen to what the Egyptian side proposes without a preconceived position and without violating known Palestinian principles.”

To this point, indications of Gaza’s appetite for the deal have been absent from the unfolding diplomatic discussions. The US diplomatic envoy headed by Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, and Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, was primarily focused on informing regional leaders of the defining features of Trump’s initiative to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but, notably, did not meet with Palestinian actors during last week’s regional tour, which included stops in Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

The framework of the US’s “century deal” involves the construction of a joint port on the Mediterranean between the Egyptian and Palestinian cities of Rafah, according to US and European diplomatic sources that spoke to Mada Masr ahead of the US delegation’s visit last week. The joint port would act as a prelude to extensive economic activity, for which North Sinai would serve as a hub, and would include five principal projects that would be funded by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with a labor force that would be two-thirds Palestinian from the Gaza Strip and one-third Egyptian.

Hanjin scrambles to prevent ship seizures as more vessels blocked | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/hanjin-shipping-debt-idUSL3N1BH033

South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping plans to take legal action in jurisdictions worldwide to prevent its vessels being seized, as more of its ships were blocked from docking at ports in the wake of its collapse.

As of Monday, 79 Hanjin ships including 61 container ships and 18 bulk carriers have been denied port access, according to South Korea’s maritime ministry. That figure includes one vessel seized in Singapore by a creditor, a company spokeswoman said. Hanjin has 141 ships, of which 128 are operating.

At least three U.S. firms have launched legal action against Hanjin to seize vessels and other assets over unpaid bills.
[…]
Hanjin vessels are currently carrying cargo worth 16 trillion won ($14.5 billion) belonging to some 8,300 cargo owners, the Korea International Trade Association said, adding that the carrier has unpaid bills of 610 billion won.

As part of its efforts to gain legal protection for its ships, Hanjin has filed a Chapter 15 petition in a U.S. bankruptcy court in New Jersey. It plans to pursue legal action in roughly 10 countries this week and later expand that to 43 jurisdictions, South Korea’s financial regulator said.

Many port authorities and service providers are demanding cash to work on Hanjin ships, the Hanjin spokeswoman said.

Its lead creditor, the state-run Korea Development Bank, met with officials of parent firm Hanjin Group to discuss its commitment to paying fees so stranded ships can enter ports, but did not reach a conclusion, a bank spokesman told Reuters.

Mongolia officially pays off its 3.8 million USD debt to Russia | The UB Post
▻http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/?p=18637

Prime Minister Ch.Saikhanbileg received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Mongolia Iskander Kubarovich Azizov on Monday to present confirmation of the payment of 3,832,515 USD in Mongolian debt owed to Russia.
During the meeting Ch.Saikhanbileg noted, “We promised to pay off the remainder of the great debt to Russia in February. In this regard, I am handing over a receipt for a transaction of 3,832,515 USD from Mongol Bank to the Russian Finance Ministry.” Emphasizing that this day marked a historic event in relations between the two countries, he noted that new economic opportunities are being opened for the future by paying off the remainder of Mongolia’s financial obligations. At the end of their meeting, the Prime Minister conveyed his gratitude to the authorities who were involved in forgiving Mongolia’s debt, on behalf of Mongolia’s leaders.
During the meeting Ambassador Azizov stressed, “All the financial obligations of Mongolia to the former Soviet Union, the current Russian Federation, have now ended. New opportunities are now open to develop bilateral financial and economic relations,” highlighting that he believes a new door has opened for Mongolia to enter the international financial market.

Finance ministry still torn between two salary tax models
▻http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/finance-ministry-still-torn-between-two-salary-tax-models-396166.html

The Finance Ministry of Ukraine will soon decide whether single social security tax and individuals’ income tax are united into one tax, or if the existing model should be retained, Deputy Finance Minister Olena Makeyeva has said.

(intégralité de la brève)

Trancher le débat sur l’éventuelle fusion de l’IR et de la CSG ?
Bientôt, en… Ukraine.

Ukraine crisis puts Britain’s Cameron on spot over Russian donations - Yahoo News
▻http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-crisis-puts-britains-cameron-spot-over-russian-180603504.html

British Prime Minister David Cameron came under pressure over the Ukraine crisis on Wednesday after he was forced to defend a party political donation from the wife of a former minister in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government.

Lyubov Chernukhina, the wife of Vladimir Chernukhin, a former deputy finance minister in Putin’s government, agreed to pay 160,000 pounds ($272,500) to Cameron’s Conservative Party at a fund-raising gala this month in exchange for a game of tennis with Cameron and Boris Johnson, the mayor of London.

But that and other donations to Cameron’s party to fund its campaign for re-election in 2015 have come under scrutiny after the British leader called for sanctions on Putin’s “cronies and oligarchs” following the downing of a Malaysian plane in eastern Ukraine last week.

The opposition Labour Party has questioned Cameron’s credibility to talk tough on the issue at the same time as his party is taking donations from people with links to the Russian government, which it said were worth 910,000 pounds.

And abroad, French politicians have accused Cameron of hypocrisy for criticizing France’s sale of two Mistral warships to Russia, while doing nothing that would affect Russian interests in Britain, home to many wealthy Russians.

Cameron, who lawmakers queried on Wednesday on why Britain had granted licenses to sell arms to Russia, said criticism of his party’s funding was misplaced and that it would not be handing back Chernukhina’s donation.

“Of course I wouldn’t accept money from someone who is a Putin crony but my understanding is that this person certainly isn’t that and has lived in Britain for many years and is now actually a British citizen so I don’t think that would be the right approach,” Cameron told British TV.

A source close to Cameron’s party said Chernukhina’s husband had been sacked by Putin and could not be credibly described as having any links with the Russia’s government.

Documents from Britain’s electoral watchdog show that Chernukhina had made three previous cash donations to the Conservative Party totaling 5,500 pounds since August 2012. Another donation of 10,000 pounds, in April 2012, was rejected because she was not eligible to vote at the time.

Labour called on Cameron to be honest about Russia-linked party donations.

“People will be surprised at the extent of Russian wealth bankrolling David Cameron’s re-election fund,” Sheila Gilmore, a Labour member of parliament, said in a statement.

“There can be no impression of conflicts of interest or hypocrisy at such an important time.”

Johnson told Sky News that he would not play tennis with any crony of Putin’s.

Resignation of Hany Kadry, a veteran deputy finance minister, could deal a blow to Egypt’s aspirations of securing a loan from the International Monetary Fund

▻http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/70339.aspx

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