San Marino. Francesca Busignani (Ucs): “War is an abomination and it is an abomination anywhere in the world”
“War is an abomination and it is in any part of the world, in creed from ethnicity, creed, religious color of the skin, resources of the subsoil, production of raw materials or internal wealth”.
The president of the San Marino Consumers Union, Francesca Busignaniwho in a note affirms that he shares the will of the secretariat of state for foreign affairs to “act as a collector of all the initiatives in or to be promoted, concretely the Ukrainian population” and wants to be “an active part in conveying and publicizing such initiatives”.
The crisis between Russia and Ukraine “did not break out suddenly, the conflict has openly been going on for eight years, or since April 6, 2014, when the Ukrainian separatists called for a referendum for independence which was denied by Ukraine”. The referendum “was nevertheless held on 11 May 2014, so from 6 April the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic proclaimed their independence, effectively starting an internal conflict”.
A few days ago, “with the entry of the Russian armed forces and the bombing of Ukraine, the war took on even more dramatic connotations destined to have even more terrible repercussions, primarily on the humanitarian side, but also on the energy and geo- politic”.
Everyone, including the San Marino Consumers Union, “we hope that a ceasefire will be reached as soon as possible, but unfortunately in addition to the enormous tragedy that is the war in all parts of the world, especially in this case probably, yes they will also have strong repercussions on the pockets of San Marino consumers and beyond “.
Russia “supplies Europe with about 40% of its gas needs through pipelines and in 2021 22% of the Russian gas supplied to Europe passed through Ukraine”.
With the war in Ukraine and the sanctions applied to Russia, “unfortunately, the energy markets are recording an increase in prices, which rise both because the picture appears very uncertain, and because of the rush to buy gas to store it in the event that the situation is subject to slowdowns or the blocking of supplies by Russia ”.
“The business on utilities, not from the war arising for consumers in San Marino, has already been introduced and the first invoices will arrive shortly; unfortunately, this war risks raising them “, underlines Busignani, who then adds:” On February 28, the benchmark gas index in Amsterdam recorded an increase of over 35% to 126 euros per MWh, and oil prices Brent spiked over 100 dollars a barrel “.
Moscow “is the main supplier of oil to Europe, even if in this case the transit from Kiev is limited”. With such data, “it is unfortunately clear that there is a risk of further energy drain on gas consumers’ pockets and the increase in utilities, especially from ‘too important’, could become completely unsustainable for many San Marino consumers”.
The consequences of the tragedy in Ukraine “also weigh on other sectors of Ukraine; in addition to the surge in the prices of fossil fuels, there is also that of food raw materials ”.
Ukraine and Russia are “major producers and exporters of wheat, corn and soy which at the beginning of the week increased in cost by almost 9%, 5% and 4% respectively; then the stop of exports, that is the stop of commercial shipments from the Black Sea ports of Ukraine which, together with Russia, represents almost a third of the world trade in wheat, together with the hauliers who have crossed their arms due to expensive fuel and to some pasta factories that have announced the stop of production, they will raise the price of bread and pasta and the like “. All this, “inevitably, reverberates on final consumer prices also in San Marino”.
Furthermore, “the chip market, to be clear, that component that is used to make all computers, cell phones, network appliances work, but also cars, systems, not to mention transport and logistics, etc. there is a risk of having another crisis ”.
In Taiwan “60% to 90% of the chips are manufactured”, but Russia and Ukraine “play a primary role, being important exporters of materials for the production phases”. Ukraine is, in fact, “one of the main exporters of a precious metal used in many chips” and Russia is “one of the main exporters of scandium and erbium, materials related to 5G / 6G technologies, metal alloys for lasers, amplifiers and for optical fibers “.
Furthermore, the war in Ukraine “also on the financial markets can lead to stricter financial conditions on a global level; the stock exchanges had a sharp decline, triggering an earthquake in the lists of the whole world with sharply falling indices that also affect consumers’ savings “.
“We could go on with multiple examples of the repercussions on consumers for which the conflict must be stopped as soon as possible, but clearly it is war that kills innocent people the real dramathat it should never be contemplated or implemented anywhere in the world a non-commissioned officer We therefore hope that diplomacy will prevail over this abomination ”, comments the president of the San Marino Consumers Union, Francesca Busignani.