A Ukrainian serviceman stands in front of silos of grain from Odesa's Black Sea port, before the shipment of the grain amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, July 29, 2022. (Credit: Nacho Doce/Reuters)
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The Sierra Leone-flagged Razoni, carrying grain from Ukraine, left Odesa bound for Lebanon on Monday with 27,000 tons of grain, the first such shipment since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The shipment was made possible after Turkey and the United Nations brokered a grain-and-fertilizer export agreement between Russia and Ukraine last month. Lebanon was chosen "because of the circumstances they're facing,” a crew member said. On Sunday, a committee tasked with policing bread production and the distribution of subsidized wheat and flour announced that “the bread crisis is 90 percent over” after shortages partly caused by the interruption of Ukrainian grain exports caused bakery queues and quarrels.
United States mediator in the Lebanese-Israeli maritime border negotiation Amos Hochstein expressed “optimism” after what was a “positive” meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, according to a Presidential Palace source. Tensions flared up between Lebanon and Israel after the latter deployed on June 5 a vessel to the disputed Karish field. Hochstein visited Lebanon in June to receive the government’s official stance on border delineation, which as of yesterday is “not giving up any gas fields,” a presidential source said. In a speech Sunday night, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who had previously stated willingness to respond if Lebanon’s maritime resources were infringed upon, said the party would decide "how to behave" after seeing the results of Hochstein's visit.
Judicial assistants announced the end of a two-week strike yesterday in response to “the aid approved by the government for public sector employees.” Judicial assistants, along with other civil servants, began an open-ended strike on July 18 to protest deteriorating working conditions, demanding that their salaries be re-assessed and that they receive owed wages. The government recently approved an aid payment for civil servants equivalent to a monthly salary, a daily transportation allowance of LL95,000 and an attendance allowance. However, the judicial assistants said that these funds did not satisfy “the list of all their demands.”
The Energy Ministry updated gasoline prices and set new monthly prices for metered generators. The price of kilowatts per hour decreased by 0.08 percent, to LL13,545 compared to the price in June, which was around LL13,556. This July tariff was calculated based on the average price of fuel per 20 liters, which decreased around 0.41 percent compared to June.
The Lebanese Army celebrated its 77th Army Day, commemorating the handover of the army from colonial powers to the Lebanese state. The gathering was held during the Military Academy’s graduation ceremony in Fayadieh, with many politicians and religious representatives present. The event shut down part of the Beirut-Damascus Highway, preventing many people from reaching their jobs in Baabda and surrounding areas. President Michel Aoun, a former military general, lamented over delays in forming a government during a speech at the celebration, and said that he will “work with all [his] strength to provide the appropriate conditions for the election of a new president who will continue the arduous reform process,” adding that he hopes “that the fate of the presidential elections will not be similar to the fate of the formation of the new government.” Aoun’s term is set to end on Oct. 31, 2022.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “My Journey in Lebanon.”