10 Apr 2014
EMEA EM Express: Ukrainian hryvnia plunges to record low on rising tensions with Russia
FXStreet (Łódź) - Russian President Vladimir Putin informed EU leaders on Thursday that Ukraine's gas debt situation was “critical” and that the country's failure to meet its obligations would have an impact on the supplies of gas to European countries which receive it via pipelines which cross Ukraine.
Putin met with government ministers on Wednesday and decided that no critical measures against Ukraine would be taken until further talks with EU officials were held. PM Dmitry Medvedev said that Ukraine owed Russia 2.2 billion dollars for the supplied gas. Earlier on Tuesday Ukrainian Energy Minister Yury Prodan said that the country was temporarily reducing gas imports from Russia and halting the payments for March, until the issue was settled. PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk called Gazprom's recent 80% gas price hike an “aggression against Ukraine.”
Jamie Coleman from FXBeat suggests that because Ukraine is the key transit route for Russian gas to Europe, “Putin could leverage that fact to get Europe to cover Ukraine's gas debt in order to keep supplies flowing.”
“With Europe in the midst of a weak recovery, the last thing it needs is an energy crisis,” the expert adds.
Kiev meanwhile is searching for alternative sources of gas supply and if Poland and Hungary start providing it soon enough, Ukraine might cope without the energy from Russia.
Economic data
On Thursday Romania's National Institute of Statistics informed that March CPI was at 1%, down from 1.1% seen in February.
Also Industrial Production data was released, showing a 1.3% month-on-month decline in February, compared with 6.4% growth in January.
South Africa's Manufacturing Production Index climbed 1.4% in February year-on-year, following 2.2% growth recorded the previous month, according to data released today by Statistics South Africa Head Office.
Technicals
Ukrainian hryvnia tumbled to a new record low against the dollar at 12.70 on Thursday, on the exacerbation of the gas row with Russia, separatist unrest in its eastern regions and the ongoing negotiations on rescue funds
On Wednesday USD/UAH jumped by 4.39% to 12.40. The daily FXStreet Trend Index was slightly bullish, and the OB/OS Index extremely overbought. RSI was at 89 at the last close.
This year so far the hryvnia rate has fallen by 44.69% from 8.2730 UAH/USD to 11.97 UAH/USD in the interbank market.
Putin met with government ministers on Wednesday and decided that no critical measures against Ukraine would be taken until further talks with EU officials were held. PM Dmitry Medvedev said that Ukraine owed Russia 2.2 billion dollars for the supplied gas. Earlier on Tuesday Ukrainian Energy Minister Yury Prodan said that the country was temporarily reducing gas imports from Russia and halting the payments for March, until the issue was settled. PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk called Gazprom's recent 80% gas price hike an “aggression against Ukraine.”
Jamie Coleman from FXBeat suggests that because Ukraine is the key transit route for Russian gas to Europe, “Putin could leverage that fact to get Europe to cover Ukraine's gas debt in order to keep supplies flowing.”
“With Europe in the midst of a weak recovery, the last thing it needs is an energy crisis,” the expert adds.
Kiev meanwhile is searching for alternative sources of gas supply and if Poland and Hungary start providing it soon enough, Ukraine might cope without the energy from Russia.
Economic data
On Thursday Romania's National Institute of Statistics informed that March CPI was at 1%, down from 1.1% seen in February.
Also Industrial Production data was released, showing a 1.3% month-on-month decline in February, compared with 6.4% growth in January.
South Africa's Manufacturing Production Index climbed 1.4% in February year-on-year, following 2.2% growth recorded the previous month, according to data released today by Statistics South Africa Head Office.
Technicals
Ukrainian hryvnia tumbled to a new record low against the dollar at 12.70 on Thursday, on the exacerbation of the gas row with Russia, separatist unrest in its eastern regions and the ongoing negotiations on rescue funds
On Wednesday USD/UAH jumped by 4.39% to 12.40. The daily FXStreet Trend Index was slightly bullish, and the OB/OS Index extremely overbought. RSI was at 89 at the last close.
This year so far the hryvnia rate has fallen by 44.69% from 8.2730 UAH/USD to 11.97 UAH/USD in the interbank market.