Thursday, February 1st. An important role in the news background of this day was played by Ukraine's "neighbors", other countries. Belarus increases tariffs for Russian oil transit. The corresponding decision of the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus came into force on February 1, 2018. Belarus' foreign debt grows by almost a quarter. The debt of Belarus as of January 1, 2018 amounted to $ 16.7 billion, an increase over the past year by $ 3.1 billion, or 22.6%, according to the Ministry of Finance of the country. Czech Republic doubles the quota for workers from Ukraine. The Czech government agreed to double the quotas for the reception of workers from Ukraine - up to 19.6 thousand. a year to help local firms that claim a shortage of labor Italy Italy increased imports of goods from Ukraine. The export of Italian goods to Ukraine in 2017 increased by 26.8%, and imports - by 23.5%, said Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano. Russia Russian ruble is under threat due to US sanctions. Strengthening US sanctions against Russia may force foreign investors to abandon Russian bonds, which could potentially lead to the collapse of the Russian ruble in 2018. The Reserve Fund of Russia officially ceased to exist. Exactly 10 years after the establishment, the Reserve Fund officially ceased to exist from February 1. The balances on his accounts as of January 1 were zeroed out. Switzerland A large international trader started gas supplies to Ukraine. The international energy trader with registration in Switzerland, DufEnergy, for the first time delivered natural gas to its Ukrainian subsidiary Dufenergy Ukraine. USA Klitschko responded to Starbucks refusal to work in Ukraine. The American Starbucks chain will sooner or later enter the Ukrainian market. This was announced by the mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, after Starbucks disowned the plans to enter the Ukrainian market. The US Federal Reserve made a decision on the discount rate. The US Federal Reserve has decided to keep the interest rate on federal funds (federal funds rate) in the range of 1.25-1.50% per annum. The US Treasury: sanctions against the "Kremlin list" will be imposed sanctions.

The US Treasury Department assures that the so-called Kremlin report has a classified section that talks about future economic sanctions against its defendants. IMF: salary increase is a temptation for the authorities. IMF representative in Ukraine, Yosta Ljungman, said that the authorities of Ukraine are tempted to increase their salary very quickly, but this will be bad for the growth of the economy.

Original article: Finance Day, February 1: IMF and temptations for power, US sanctions and the Russian ruble, Klitschko and Starbucks.