Цьогоріч Україна заробить на транзиті газу близько двох мільярдів доларів, повідомив голова НАК «Нафтогаз України» Андрій Коболєв в інтерв’ю журналістці Яніні Соколовій на ютубі.

«Я думаю, у цьому році цифра буде близькою до двох мільярдів доларів», – сказав Коболєв.

30 грудня 2019 року Національна акціонерна компанія «Нафтогаз України» і російський газовий монополіст «Газпром» підписали контракт про транзит російського газу до Європи з використанням української газотранспортної системи за правилами Європейського союзу на п’ятирічний термін із можливістю продовження.

Голова «Нафтогазу» Андрій Коболєв заявив, що мінімально Україна отримає 7,2 мільярда доларів.

Термін раніше чинного контракту 2009 року на транзит, як і контракту на постачання російського газу до України, збіг вранці 1 січня 2020 року. Підписанню цього контракту передувало укладення між сторонами мирової угоди – договору про врегулювання претензій.
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U.S. President Donald Trump hosted the signing of the “Abraham Accords” at the White House Tuesday, a deal that normalizes Israel’s relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Experts say the accords signify a shift away from the decades-long regional strategy that in exchange for diplomatic recognition, Israel must provide concessions to the two-state solution towards an independent Palestinian state. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story.
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Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden traveled to Florida on Tuesday to court the Latino vote in this crucial battleground state. VOA’s Brian Padden reports, nationwide, Latino voters still favor Biden over Trump, but recent polls show Biden’s advantage eroding, and Trump now holds a slight lead among Latinos in Florida, due in part to the president’s hardline policies toward Cuba and Venezuela.  
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Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has confirmed reports of his improved health following a near fatal poisoning in Siberia last month — posting to social media from his hospital room in Germany while his team insisted he plans to return home to Russia once fully recovered. 
“Hi, this is Navalny. I miss you all,” he wrote in a comment accompanying an Instagram photograph of him surrounded by his wife and two children. View this post on InstagramПривет, это Навальный. Скучаю по вам 😍. Я все ещё почти ничего не умею, но вот вчера смог целый день дышать сам. Вообще сам. Никакой посторонней помощи, даже простейший вентиль в горле не использовал. Очень понравилось. Удивительный, недооценённый многими процесс. РекомендуюA post shared by Алексей Навальный (@navalny) on Sep 15, 2020 at 2:38am PDT“I can still hardly do anything, but yesterday I could breathe all day on my own. Actually on my own,” said Navalny — his first words after three weeks in a coma.  
 
“A surprising process underestimated by many,” he quipped.  “I recommend it.”  
 
The post had over a million likes and counting within several hours — and it fueled inquiries about Navalny’s possible return to Russian politics.  Within hours, his press secretary, Kira Yarmysh, dismissed journalists’ suggestions Navalny intended to remain in exile out of his concerns for his safety.    “I’ll confirm again to everyone: no other options were ever considered,” Yarmysh tweeted.Все утро мне пишут журналисты и спрашивают, правда ли, что Алексей планирует вернуться в Россию. Я понимаю причину вопроса, но тем не менее мне странно, что кто-то мог думать иначе. Ещё раз подтверждаю всем: никаких других вариантов никогда не рассматривалось https://t.co/sSq5Bb4ufr— Кира Ярмыш (@Kira_Yarmysh) September 15, 2020When asked for reaction on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov demurred.  
 
“Any citizen of the Russian Federation is free to leave Russia and return to Russia,” said Peskov.  
 
“If a citizen of the Russian Federation recovers his health, then of course everyone will be happy about that.”   A sudden sickness  A leading critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Navalny fell violently ill while flying home during a campaign trip from Siberia to Moscow on August 20.   
 
An emergency landing and subsequent treatment by Russian doctors in the city of Omsk offered few clues as to what had happened.  
 
The Omsk doctors insisted they could find no traces of poison.  
 
They also delayed requests by Navalny’s family to evacuate for him treatment elsewhere — a move supporters interpreted as an attempt to hide any lingering evidence of what had felled the politician.  Upon his subsequent evacuation to a clinic in Berlin, German toxicologists said they discovered Novichok — a Soviet-era military grade toxin suspected in previous Russian-linked attacks in the United Kingdom — in Navalny’s blood and urine.Russia Denies Role in Latest Britain Poisoning

        Russia is denying any role in the poisoning of a British couple who British authorities insist are the latest victims of Novichok — allegedly a Russian-made military-grade nerve agent first implicated in an assassination attempt on a former Russian spy and his daughter on British soil last March.The initial attack left former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, hospitalized in serious condition for several weeks before their ultimate recovery. 

Anti-corruption work Navalny has long been a problematic figure for the Kremlin — detailing government corruption and excess on his popular YouTube channel. 
 
The channel’s mix of investigative journalism and caustic humor has resonated with younger Russians in particular. 
 
It has also landed Navalny with a long list of powerful enemies in government and business circles. 
 
Navalny has also made no secret of his political ambitions. He tried to run a campaign for president in 2018 that ultimately was undone by a lingering criminal conviction. His supporters — and the European Court of Human Rights — agreed that the charges were levied to keep him out of the race. Investigations denied  
 
Navalny’s associates argue the nature of Novichok — a banned military grade substance — means the attack could only have been carried out on Putin’s orders. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other Western leaders have demanded answers from the Kremlin and warned of “an appropriate, joint reaction” should answers not be forthcoming.  
 
But the Russian government has dismissed the German demands, arguing Berlin had yet to provide proof or share evidence of its findings.  
 
Indeed, Kremlin officials have openly floated conspiracy theories that Germany may have staged the attack in a false-flag operation to initiate another round of Western sanctions or undermine key Russian-German trade deals.     
 
On Tuesday, Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, insisted Navalny left Russia with no poison in his system — and that the country had long ago destroyed its Novichok reserves under existing international chemical weapons agreements. 
 
“Therefore, we have many questions for the German side,” added Naryshkin. Similarly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Germany to stop “politicizing” the Navalny case during a phone conversation with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Tuesday. The Kremlin has yet to approve an investigation into what felled the opposition leader — arguing it thus far sees no evidence of criminality behind whatever ailed “the Berlin patient.”    
 
Government officials rarely pronounce Navalny’s name in public.   
 
The Russian argument was undercut by separate toxicology reports issued by Sweden and French laboratories on Monday.   
 
Both findings separately supported the German conclusions about the use of Novochik. 
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Europe has called on China to take down trade barriers and rebalance the economic relationship, following a virtual summit held Monday between EU leaders and Chinese President Xi Jinping. EU officials also raised human rights issues including the crackdown on protests in Hong Kong – but Beijing is rejecting any interference in its affairs. Henry Ridgwell has more from London.
Camera: Henry Ridgwell   Produced by: Rod James 
 
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A new issue released Tuesday of the World Tourism Barometer from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reports the coronavirus pandemic caused an unprecedented 65% decrease in international travel during the first half of the year.According to UNWTO, the plunge in international travel from January through June of this year resulted in the loss of $460 billion in export revenues from tourism.Tourists practice social distancing as they wait to extend their visa at Immigration Bureau in Bangkok, Thailand, March 27, 2020.The drop is five times greater than the loss in international tourism earnings recorded in 2009 amid the global financial crisis.The U.N. body said in a statement it estimates it will take between two to four years for tourist arrivals to return to 2019 levels.The report indicates that Asia and the Pacific were the first regions to feel the impact of COVID-19, and overall, the area faced the steepest decline with a 72% fall in tourists over the course of a six-month period.Europe was the world’s second-hardest hit region, with a 66% decline in tourist arrivals for the first half of 2020. The Americas, Africa, and Middle East showed comparable rates of decline.”This represents an unprecedented decrease, as countries around the globe closed their borders and introduced travel restrictions in response to the pandemic,” the tourism organization said.All world regions and sub-regions recorded declines of more than 50% in international tourism arrivals, placing millions of jobs and businesses at risk.
The report shows that as of early September, 53% of international destinations have eased travel restrictions.Looking ahead, however, UNWTO estimates that based on current trends, there will be an overall decline of 70% in international tourist arrivals in 2020. This number could increase, as some destinations have begun to reinstate international travel restrictions.
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The U.S. city of Louisville, Kentucky, has agreed to pay $12 million to the family of Breonna Taylor, a Black medical technician who was shot to death in her apartment in March during a “no-knock” police raid linked to a bungled drug investigation. The payment in the civil suit against the mid-South city came as national and Kentucky investigators continue to probe the circumstances surrounding the death of the 26-year-old Taylor and whether three police officers involved in the incident should be criminally charged. One of the three officers who fired the shots that killed Taylor has already been dismissed from the city police department, although he is appealing his ouster. The Taylor case has drawn national attention in the U.S., part of the country’s reckoning over race relations and police treatment of minorities. Street demonstrations, some of them violent, have erupted from coast to coast since the late May death of a Black man, George Floyd, while in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Taylor’s death quickly became part of the national conversation, her name often printed on face masks people wear to fight against transmission of the coronavirus. FILE – Signs are held up showing Breonna Taylor during a rally in her honor on the steps of the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort, Ky., June 25, 2020.As part of the Louisville settlement, city officials agreed to various police reforms in an effort to prevent a repeat of the circumstances that led to Taylor’s death, including more thorough reviews by high-level police commanders of raids before they are carried out. The city had already passed a law named for Taylor banning use of no-knock warrants, which police often use in drug cases for fear that evidence could be destroyed if they announce their arrival. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer fired former police chief Steve Conrad in June and last week named Yvette Gentry, a former deputy chief, as the new interim police chief. Gentry is the first Black woman to lead the force of about 1,200 officers. Lonita Baker, a lawyer for the Taylor family, said they would continue to press state and federal officials to investigate the case and present evidence to a grand jury in the hope that the officers involved will be criminally charged. FILE – This undated photo provided by Taylor family attorney Sam Aguiar shows Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Ky.The lawsuit against the city was filed by Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, who alleged that police used erroneous information when they obtained a no-knock warrant to enter Taylor’s apartment.  Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were roused from bed by police, who said they announced their presence outside the apartment before busting their way into the housing unit. Walker says he never heard police. Walker, with a licensed gun, has said he fired once at the officers thinking intruders were breaking into the apartment. Investigators say police were returning fire when they shot Taylor several times. No drugs were found at her home. The warrant leading to Taylor’s death was one of five issued in a drug trafficking investigation of a former boyfriend of Taylor’s, Jamarcus Glover, who was arrested at a different location about 16 kilometers away from Taylor’s apartment on the same evening.  
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A top U.S. spokesman on the coronavirus has accused government scientists of “sedition,” saying their handling of the pandemic is meant to undermine President Donald Trump.  Michael Caputo, assistant secretary of public affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), also said that left-wing hit squads are preparing for an armed insurrection if Trump wins reelection in November. Caputo contended without evidence Sunday that a “resistance unit” of medical personnel “deep in the bowels” of the government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working to defeat Trump, even if it means the U.S.’s world-leading coronavirus death toll of more than 194,000 continues to rise. He accused the scientists of abandoning science to become “political animals.” Caputo has drawn intense criticism in Washington for attempting to alter the CDC’s weekly reports on U.S. coronavirus infections and deaths to adhere to Trump’s repeated assertions that the pandemic is under control and that a vaccine will soon be available, possibly before the election on Nov. 3.    ‘Mental health has definitely failed’Caputo voiced a string of bizarre and unsupported accusations on Facebook Live and in subsequent newspaper interviews, saying his physical health has declined and his “mental health has definitely failed.” Caputo, 58, expressed fears for his personal safety at the hands of Trump foes, telling his supporters, “If you carry guns, buy ammunition, ladies and gentlemen, because it’s going to be hard to get.” The coronavirus spokesman was named by the White House in April to oversee the government’s often disjointed response to the pandemic. Months ago, Trump acknowledged to journalist Bob Woodward that he intentionally misled Americans by depicting the virus as nothing much worse than the seasonal flu in order to avoid a panic in the country as the airborne virus swept into the U.S. from China. Woodward’s new book “Rage” recounts how U.S. intelligence officials had earlier warned Trump that the coronavirus would be the most serious national security threat of his presidency. Claims of ‘deep state’Caputo’s belief that career government experts are working to thwart Trump’s reelection in his campaign against former Vice President Joe Biden echoes the president’s yearslong claim that a “deep state” within the Washington bureaucracy is trying to undermine him.  Trump has often assailed what he sees as the Washington political opposition — Democratic lawmakers, the national news media and long-entrenched civil servants.  Caputo claimed CDC scientists “haven’t gotten out of their sweatpants except for meetings at coffee shops” to plot “how they’re going to attack Donald Trump next. There are scientists who work for this government who do not want America to get well, not until after Joe Biden is president.” Caputo described his own dismay with life working for the government. “I don’t like being alone in Washington,” he said, describing “shadows on the ceiling in my apartment. There alone, shadows are so long,” he said. He said the mounting number of COVID-19 deaths was taking a toll on him. Caputo told The Washington Post that “since joining the administration, my family and I have been continually threatened, and in and out of criminal court dealing with harassment prosecutions. This weighs heavily on us, and we deeply appreciate the friendship and support of President Trump as we address these matters and keep our children safe.” The White House had no comment on Caputo’s claims. He deactivated his personal Twitter and Facebook accounts on Monday, while HHS called him “a critical, integral part of the president’s coronavirus response, leading on public messaging as Americans need public health information to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic.” Calls for removalLate Monday, several Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Patty Murray of the state of Washington, and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, called for Caputo to be fired. In a statement, Murray said Health Secretary Alex Azar, Caputo’s boss, “has a basic responsibility to ensure our public health experts are able to do their jobs, our COVID-19 response is not undermined by misinformation or conspiracy theories, and the data used to inform our efforts is free of political interference.” Democrats on the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis said they have launched an investigation into political interference in the CDC’s science reports on the pandemic.  
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Europe has called on China to take down trade barriers and rebalance their economic relationship, following a virtual summit held Monday among EU leaders and Chinese President Xi Jinping.  European leaders also raised human rights concerns, but Beijing has rejected what it calls interference in its affairs.  Monday’s videoconference was a substantially downsized version of the original plan to hold a face-to-face summit among all 27 European Union heads of state and the Chinese president in the German city of Leipzig.  A resurgent coronavirus pandemic in Europe forced the change of plan. The virtual meeting was attended by Xi, along with European Council President Charles Michel; European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the council of the EU. European Council President Charles Michel arrives for an online press conference at the European Council building in Brussels, Sept. 14, 2020.Speaking at a press conference after the meeting, Michel reiterated demands for China to open its markets. “Europe needs to be a player, not a playing field,” he told reporters. “Today’s meeting represents another step forward in forging a more balanced relationship with China.”  European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attends an online press conference at the European Council building in Brussels, Sept. 14, 2020.Von der Leyen was more direct. “We expect that the market access barriers in China will be removed,” she said. Europe has voiced frustration at its lack of access to Chinese markets and at having to compete with state-backed industries. Brussels sees the current trade relationship with China as deeply unfair, but is not seeking a trade war, said analyst Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London. “The reality is that the EU would want to be strengthening its economic relationship with China with some adjustments,” he told VOA.  “I think COVID-19 has changed a lot of things in terms of the relationship with China. Many of these countries have found China less than an entirely reliable trading partner or supplier of essential goods like medical supplies. So, some of that will change. But they really don’t want to have an economic decoupling with China,” Tsang said. Human rightsThe trade talks were overshadowed by growing criticism in Europe of China’s human rights record. The EU has requested that Beijing end its clampdown on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong following the imposition earlier this year of a so-called “national security law,” which critics say effectively ends the right to protest and freedom of speech. The law will allow the Communist Party to markedly expand its power in and tighten control of the Asian financial hub. Europe has voiced growing alarm over China’s treatment of the Muslim Uighur population in Xinjiang province, where human rights groups say millions of people are being detained amid reports of forced labor and sterilizations. China denies the accusations.  Speaking at a press conference after the summit, Merkel said Europe would continue to raise these issues with Beijing. “The human rights dialogue will continue. (Chinese President Xi Jinping) offered this,” Merkel said. “So, there are already points of contact for further joint action. But that does not mean that there is agreement on these issues.”  European Council President Charles Michel, top right, speaks with China’s President Xi Jinping, top left, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, bottom right, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a virtual summit, Sept. 14, 2020.The United States has also repeatedly raised concerns over China’s human rights record. Speaking on France Inter radio Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asked Europe to take a tougher stance.  “We’ve always said that when human rights are under risk — whether it’s the inability to practice one’s religion and one’s faith, or the simple ability to speak and exercise the basic rights of conscience — that the United States has a role in making clear that that’s unacceptable,” Pompeo said.  “It’s what we’ve done with respect to what’s taking place in western China. It’s what we’ve done in other parts of the world. It’s what we hope and we expect of other nations around the world. And we think the Europeans understand this risk in the same way that we do. We hope that they’ll take actions that reflect the seriousness with which these human rights violations need to be viewed.” Reaction from XiChina’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported that Xi rejected any interference in Chinese affairs during Monday’s virtual summit, particularly on human rights.  The Brussels-Beijing relationship is strained, analyst Tsang said.  “Governments generally, and the EU as a whole, also take a more robust stance, reflecting the shift in public opinion towards China.” The EU is China’s top trading partner, and analysts say Beijing wants to avoid further disputes amid its trade war with the United States. Brussels said it will continue to bring up security and human rights concerns, even as it seeks more trade. 
 
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На українському міжбанківському валютному ринку триває повільне знецінення гривні. За даними Finance.ua, станом на 12:40 котирування сягнули 28 гривень 5–7 копійок за долар – з рівня попереднього закриття торгів 27 гривень 98 копійок – 28 гривень рівно за долар.

«Важливою буде поведінка НБУ, який поки ніяк не реагує на зростання долара на міжбанку. Як стало відомо вчора, Міністерство фінансів заклало в проект держбюджету на 2021 рік курс гривні на рівні 29,1 за долар. Тому невтручання головного банку країни може бути сприйнято як підготовка до нових рівнів і цін на валюту. У разі, якщо сьогодні зростання котирувань продовжиться, а регулятор проігнорує його і не вийде з інтервенцією, припущення знайдуть своє підтвердження», – писали перед початком торгів 15 вересня аналітики сайту «Мінфін».

Національний банк України лише частково відбив тренд міжбанку, встановивши довідкове значення курсу 28 гривень 2 копійки за долар – на дві копійки більше, ніж офіційний курс на 15 вересня.

Ще чотири тижні тому, 17 серпня, долар оцінювався на міжбанку значно дешевше, тоді торги завершилися на рівні 27 гривень 23,5–25,5 копійки за одиницю американської валюти.
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The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) and Ugandan authorities are working to restore peace after clashes between locals and refugees in northern Uganda last week left about at least 10 refugees dead. The violence followed an argument between South Sudanese refugees and the host community at a shared water point. Rights activists say the fighting underscores scarce resources in Uganda, which hosts Africa’s largest population of refugees.The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Uganda is calling for calm and an investigation into the violence that left the refugees dead.The incident last Friday also left 19 refugees injured and 10 others missing.Officials say it happened when a dispute near a shared water tap at the Tika village in the Rhino refugee settlement turned violent.Joel Boutroue, the UNHCR representative in Uganda, says the violence was alarming.“The disproportionate violent reaction by the host community, to what was a communal dispute, signals a threat to the delicate balance of peaceful coexistence in the rural villages where refugees live alongside their Ugandan hosts,” said Boutroue. “In an environment of scarcity of resources, tragic incidents such as that of last Friday are alarming.”Uganda Refugee Aid Groups Cry Foul Over Government SuspensionsSome activists worry the suspensions could impact 1.4 million refugees who reside in UgandaThe UNHCR also points out that 15 refugee houses were burned to the ground and another 26 looted and vandalized. Musa Ecweru, Uganda’s state minister for refugees, told VOA the incident was regrettable and said investigations are under way.According to Ecweru, refugees beat and killed a child from the host community, for reasons unknown. This triggered what he called the disproportionate reaction from local residents. He said the incident shows weaknesses in the refugee support system that need to be addressed.“The first one is psychosocial support to the refugees first, to really let the Dinkas and all these communities know that violence must not be all the time employed when there’s a kind of a misunderstanding,” said Ecweru. “They could have been annoyed by this child but beating the child to death was not something that was necessary.”The UNHCR has deployed teams on the ground to support refugees traumatized by the attack.  Achieng Akena, executive director for the International Refugee Rights Initiative, notes that community resources are being stretched thin, especially now that Uganda is facing an economic crunch due to coronavirus restrictions which have made life very difficult for many people, especially refugees.Akena says both the government and the UNHCR need to not only effectively implement peaceful community mechanisms, but stop being reactional.“There need to be appropriate punishments done and appropriate prosecutions of the people who have been accused of having committed these offences,” said Akena. “The biggest challenge is if this goes unresponded to, or if the community feels that justice was not served, the next conflict will be even worse.”Refugee rights activists note that as the world continues to focus on COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, it could mean increased tension between refugees and their host communities, if one side perceives the other to be competing for scarce resources.
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