Russia may gain access to SWIFT for grain related transactions under new EU proposal: The EU is considering allowing the sanctioned Russian Agricultural bank to create a subsidiary that would reconnect it to global financial network Swift, five people in the know told Financial Times. The move would act as a means to safeguard the Black Sea Grain agreement that allows for grain and fertilizer shipments to depart from Ukrainian ports safely during the war. The plan, proposed by Moscow during UN-brokered negotiations, would allow the Russian bank to handle payment related to grain exports, and to use the global Swift financial messaging system which halted its involvement with Russian banks following the Ukrainian invasion.

Background: This comes as Russia seems reluctant to re-extend the Black Sea Grain agreement beyond July, when the agreement is expected to expire. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had last week said that he sees no reason to agree to an extension due to Western countries’ “outrageous behavior,” the FT reports.

One step closer to economically viable decarbonized shipping: Norwegian fuel cell technology developer Alma Clean Power has tested the world’s first 6 kilowatt direct ammonia fuel cell system, which can be used for economically viable, zero-emission deep sea shipping, according to a press release. This is the first step to developing a 100 kw Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) system — which enables direct feeding of ammonia into the fuel cell system, bypassing the need for energy intensive pre-treatment that converts the fuel into hydrogen prior to electricity, according to the release. The unit delivers electrical efficiency of 61-67%, which can make ammonia operated maritime energy systems economically viable for ship owners, and can help decarbonize the maritime industry.

ALSO WORTH KNOWING-

  • MSC Air Cargo inked a multi-year cargo management agreement to useIBSSoftware’s iCargo platform for air cargo management to digitize its cargo operations. (Statement)
Tags: