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Tag: ukraine

  • Black Sea Tensions Threaten Asian Food Supply Chains, Embassy Warns

    Black Sea Tensions Threaten Asian Food Supply Chains, Embassy Warns

    Tensions in the Black Sea region are creating significant risks for global food security and supply chains, with direct implications for Asian markets, warned the Russian Embassy in Cambodia. The embassy issued a comment responding to an article on food security originally published by The Indian Express and reprinted by Khmer Times, stating that the “Kiev regime and its sponsors” are overlooked as main beneficiaries of supply chain disruption.

    According to the statement, Ukrainian forces have increased attacks on coastal transport, logistics infrastructure, and civilian vessels in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. These attacks, reportedly utilizing unmanned systems and intelligence from NATO and the EU, have targeted essential agricultural shipments such as grain and sunflower oil.

    Shipping Under Attack

    The embassy cited several incidents, including a June 5 drone attack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) on dry cargo ships Natra and Zirkon in the Sea of Azov, which resulted in five fatalities and three injuries. In July, there were over 100 reported drone attacks by Ukrainian forces against private vessels transporting Russian agricultural products to the global market. An attack on July 18 targeted the commercial bulker MV OMORFI, which was sailing under the Marshall Islands flag and transporting grain, leading to the death of an Indian sailor.

    Further incidents included AFU attacks on the grain export terminal in Rostov-on-Don between July 25-27, followed by the seaport of Taman on July 30. Ukrainian drones also targeted the Nadezhda, a ship flagged by Cameroon and operated by a Turkish company, and the Turkish bulk carrier Yaşar on August 3. These actions, described by the embassy as militarily pointless, violate international law on civilian vessel safety and cause delays in deliveries of crucial commodities to international importers.

    Global Market Impact

    The embassy asserts that this military campaign by the Kiev regime aims to create chaos in the global food market, serving the interests of several Western countries. This strategy, combined with financial, economic, and energy restrictions, is contributing to a deficit in grain and fertilizers, pushing up global food prices. The statement emphasized that countries in the Global South and East are becoming hostage to these policies, facing increased costs.

    In response, the Russian Armed Forces are reportedly taking measures to ensure navigation safety, including precision strikes against Ukrainian facilities used to destabilize shipping and infrastructure involved in delivering Western military hardware to Ukraine. These operations will continue until security threats in the Sea of Azov and Black Sea are eliminated, and unimpeded agricultural product exports are guaranteed.

    For Asia-Pacific retailers and consumers, these ongoing disruptions translate to higher import costs and potential supply volatility for staple goods like grains and oils. The region, heavily reliant on international trade, is particularly vulnerable to such geopolitical pressures on global commodity flows. This dynamic aligns with broader concerns RetailNews Asia has tracked regarding global supply chain resilience and its impact on regional retail sectors.

  • Russia-Ukraine crisis cuts Vietnam’s seafood exports

    Russia-Ukraine crisis cuts Vietnam’s seafood exports

    Vietnamese exporters of seafood to Russia and Ukraine are in trouble, with some reporting double-digit percentage declines as the military confrontation between the two countries continue.

    Five Vietnamese catfish exporters to Russia have reported a year-on-year drop in export value by 29.8 percent to $2.18 million in January, according to data from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

    This is a contrast to a 72.5 percent increase in exports value last year to Russia. Vietnam was Russia’s third biggest importer of catfish last year, behind Argentina and China.

    “Since the beginning of the year, and especially after Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, export of catfish to this market has faced disruptions and challenges,” VASEP said in a report.

    Catfish exporters say that the 30 percent plunge in the ruble has made buyers unwilling to pay for their orders. Payment processes have also become difficult as a result of Western nations’ sanctions on Russia.

    Shipping has also become a challenge with transport firms not accepting orders to Russia, given the high chances of having the goods seized on the way.

    Vietnamese catfish exporters have stopped signing new orders to Russia even though importers still want to buy.

    Meanwhile, Vietnamese shrimp exporters have reported a year-on-year decline of 23 percent in Russia exports value to $3.3 million from January 1 to February 15.

    Exporters say there is no certainty that their shipment will be cleared to enter Russia and all transactions are facing difficulties.

    Russia and Ukraine are among the top 20 export markets for Vietnamese tuna, but exporters say several shipments have been returned amid the military conflict, and they are trying to find new markets now.

    Russia’s military operation in Ukraine has entered its 13th day with no rapid end in sight despite the multitude of sanctions that Western countries have imposed on Moscow.

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  • Google Maps traffic triples in Ukraine

    Google Maps traffic triples in Ukraine

    Google’s Transparency reports are designed to show “how the policies and actions of governments and corporations affect privacy, security, and access to information online.” And the policies and actions of the government in Russia, by invading Ukraine, are having an effect on the demand for information available online in the latter country.

    Maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise considering what is going on in Ukraine, but usage of Google Maps nearly tripled in that country over the last few days as many families have been taking to the roads trying to get over the Ukrainian border to Poland. Television reports show hours-long waits at service stations and heavy traffic on the roads leading to the border.

    The impact on Google Maps usage in Ukraine can be seen graphically thanks to the charts tweeted by Damian Menscher, who is the Security Reliability Engineer responsible for DDoS defense at Google. Menscher tweeted a graph showing how the online traffic from inside Ukraine to Google Maps rose from a score of 55.239 on February 23rd, to 157.275 the very next day, peaking at 186.983 on February 24th.

    That’s only half the story. Menscher included in his tweet a graph showing the declining traffic from Ukraine to Google Docs and Google Sheets as businesses are not running as usual in the country thanks to the invasion. Traffic to both sites from Ukraine declined by about 3x during the same time period.

    Gmail, Search, and YouTube traffic from Ukraine did not significantly budge since the invasion. We’ve heard reports of Ukrainians seeking shelter in the subway watching YouTube to catch the latest news on the War and to pass the time. This might have propped up YouTube’s numbers inside the country since we’re sure that most Ukrainians are not interested in watching cat videos at this time.

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