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Co-owner of AgroGasTrading, Oleksandr Horbunenko, announced on his Facebook page that both he and his company have become targets of information attacks, which he links to his interest in participating in the privatization of the Odesa Port Plant (OPZ).

“Recently, incredible myths and stories have been actively constructed around my name again… Today, people are trying to impose fabricated ‘connections’ between me and certain businessmen, including Tymur Mindich,” Horbunenko wrote.

In his post, Horbunenko referred to a Ukrainska Pravda article claiming that he had allegedly been detained in the U.S. in connection with a case involving “schemes” at the Odesa Port Plant and later released. The publication also linked Horbunenko to Tymur Mindich and alleged money laundering activities.

“I emphasize: neither I personally, nor any companies I am associated with, have ever had any business, financial, or personal relations with this person or others mentioned in the article, nor with their business structures or companies,” he added.

Horbunenko noted that AgroGasTrading has been cooperating with OPZ since 2017.

“If Ukrainska Pravda refers to ‘sources,’ let me remind you — I am also a source. Fully available for any questions that can be asked directly, and I can provide answers without hints or speculation,” he wrote.

He also recalled that a similar situation occurred in 2020, when information attacks on AgroGasTrading began after the company announced its intention to participate in the privatization of OPZ.

“This is not a coincidence. It’s a reaction to the emergence of an independent participant who isn’t embedded in anyone’s system of influence. Information attacks during privatization are a convenient tool for those who don’t want competition… Personally, I take this calmly — our company operates openly and within the law. The privatization of assets like OPZ must be transparent, competitive, and free from manipulative influence,” Horbunenko emphasized.

Commenting on the reports about procedures in the U.S., Horbunenko explained that it concerned a standard immigration procedure related to data accuracy, which has no connection to his professional activities in Ukraine.

Last month, the State Property Fund of Ukraine announced its fifth attempt to privatize the Odesa Port Plant. The auction is scheduled for November 25, with a starting price of ₴4.5 billion.

Naftogaz Group and Polish company Orlen have signed an agreement for additional deliveries of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Ukraine, with a total volume of up to 300 million cubic meters, Naftogaz CEO Serhii Koretskyi announced on Facebook.

“This is another step in continuing our strategic cooperation with Orlen on supplying American LNG to the Ukrainian market,” Koretskyi wrote.

According to him, the agreement addresses two key issues.

First, it ensures additional volumes of imported gas, which are critically needed during the heating season due to Russian attacks.
Second, Orlen and the Polish export credit agency KUKE are providing a credit facility for post-payment of the delivered volumes, which helps cover liquidity shortages at this stage, he noted.

The deal covers at least 300 million cubic meters of gas. The main conditions have already been agreed upon, and deliveries are now being planned. A contract with post-payment terms and insurance instruments will be signed soon.

Since the beginning of 2025, under its partnership with Polish state-owned Orlen, Naftogaz has imported over 400 million cubic meters of U.S. LNG into Ukraine.

A technical meeting between representatives of the European Commission and Belgium on Friday, November 8, failed to achieve a breakthrough on the transfer of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, Euronews reported, citing sources.

According to the report, official Brussels is concerned about the lack of alternative proposals from the European Commission on how to use the frozen Russian assets to finance aid for Ukraine.

“For Belgium, it’s important that all options are considered. Every possible approach must be carefully and transparently examined to ensure the best possible solution,” one of the sources said, adding that no such options have been presented yet.

Sources also noted that Belgium is “not disappointed yet” by the lack of new proposals from the European Commission, “but time is running out, and we remain constructive.”

Another European source said that the EU still hopes to reach an agreement with Belgium but admitted that time is running short.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is set to release on Thursday, November 6, a list of the nation’s busiest airports where flight volumes will be reduced by 10% due to the ongoing federal government shutdown.

FAA Administrator Brian Bedford said that “in 35 years in the aviation industry, I can’t recall a situation where we had to take such measures.”

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that the reduction in air traffic would affect 40 major airports across the country.

As a result, on Friday, November 7, up to 1,800 flights — representing 268,000 passenger seats — could be canceled, according to estimates by the analytics firm Cirium.

At the nation’s busiest airport — Chicago O’Hare — a 10% traffic reduction would result in the cancellation of 120 flights, or 14,500 passenger seats.

Air traffic controllers in the U.S. have not been paid since October 1 due to the shutdown. Federal agencies suspended operations after Congress failed to pass a spending bill to continue funding government activities.

According to Reuters, about 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees are currently working without pay.

Google plans to build a large artificial intelligence data processing center on the remote Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, Reuters reports, citing reviewed documents and conversations with officials.

According to military experts, such a facility would become a strategic asset on the island, which is increasingly being viewed by defense officials as a critical location for monitoring Chinese submarine activity and other naval operations in the Indian Ocean.

Google is reportedly negotiating a land lease near the island’s airport for the construction of the data center, including an agreement with a local mining company to meet its energy needs.

Steve Pereira, the Administrator of Christmas Island, stated that his administration is assessing the potential impact of the proposed data center on the local community before granting final approval for construction.

Toyota has announced a massive recall of more than one million vehicles due to a malfunction in the rearview camera system, which may prevent the display from showing the rear view while reversing, Carscoops reports. The recall affects Toyota, Lexus, and Subaru models, including the Camry, Crown, Land Cruiser, RX, TX, LC, and the Solterra electric crossover.

This is the second major recall in less than a month — just four weeks ago, Toyota recalled 394,000 vehicles for a similar issue. The earlier campaign involved Tundra, Tacoma, and Sequoia models equipped with Panasonic components. This time, the issue concerns a different supplier, Denso, and a wider range of models and systems.

According to Toyota, in some vehicles the rear camera image may fail to appear if the driver shifts into reverse shortly after starting the engine, or the image may freeze on the screen, giving the false impression that the area behind the vehicle is clear. This situation is not only dangerous but also violates U.S. federal safety regulations, which have required functional rearview cameras since 2018.

The issue does not require hardware replacement. Dealers will update the software of the Parking Assist ECU, which controls the Panoramic View Monitor system. However, the fix cannot be applied remotely — all 1,024,407 affected vehicles must be brought to service centers.

Subaru Solterra owners will receive the update at Subaru service centers, while Toyota and Lexus owners will be contacted by their respective brand dealerships.

Microsoft Corporation has signed a $9.7 billion deal with data centre operator IREN, which provides access to advanced Nvidia chips. This was reported by Reuters.

This caused IREN’s shares to rise more than 20% on Monday, 3 November, during pre-market trading.

It is noted that shares in artificial intelligence server manufacturer Dell rose 5% as the company will supply IREN with Nvidia GB300 chips and other equipment that Microsoft will use, worth approximately $5.8 billion.

The partnership with IREN is expected to allow Microsoft to expand its computing power without building new data centres or provide additional capacity, the two biggest obstacles slowing its ability to meet growing demand for artificial intelligence.

The five-year deal reportedly demonstrates the artificial intelligence industry’s growing demand for computing power to run applications such as the ChatGPT chatbot.

IREN, which has a market value of $16.52 billion after its shares rose more than sixfold this year, has several data centres across North America with a total capacity of 2,910 megawatts. Its facilities are powered entirely by renewable energy.

Romania has signed an agreement with German defence company Rheinmetall to build a powder factory.

According to Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, construction of the €535 million plant in Victoria is expected to begin in 2026, take three years to complete and create around 700 jobs. He noted that Romania will seek to finance part of its contributions through the European SAFE mechanism to encourage defence readiness.

‘After many years when our defence industry was in low demand, Romania is entering a new phase due to the security situation in Eastern Europe. I am glad that Rheinmetall sees us as an important and serious partner and is strengthening its presence in Romania,’ he said.

As Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger noted, the ammunition powder that will be produced at the plant ‘is needed all over the world, especially in Europe,’ and will make Romania a key player in the continent’s defence ecosystem.

‘The strategy is to make Romania an integral part of the European ecosystem. Romania will also be an integral part of the NATO ecosystem,’ he said.

The second VAT rate increase in seven years, scheduled for 2026, will place Russia among the top 20 countries in the world in terms of this tax. This was announced by analysts at the Gaidar Institute.

Only a few EU countries or countries belonging to the EU single market will have higher VAT rates than Russia: 27% in Hungary, 25% in Denmark, Croatia and Sweden, 24% in Finland, Estonia and Greece, and 23% in Slovakia and Ireland.

In the largest EU economies, VAT will be lower than in Russia: 20% in France and 19% in Germany. Among countries outside Europe, Russia will rank first in terms of VAT and will share this position with Uruguay (where the rate is also 22%).

In China, VAT is only 13%, in Japan – 10%, and in the UAE – 5%, experts add for comparison.

The Ministry of Finance plans to collect 1.4 trillion roubles in additional taxes for the budget thanks to the new VAT, which spends every third rouble on the war – a record share since the days of the Soviet Union.

However, the plans of the ruling regime in the Russian Federation may not come to fruition, warn experts at the Gaidar Institute: the increase in VAT will result in a short-term increase in consumer prices, a decrease in consumer demand and a decline in the purchasing power of both businesses and the population. The budget may lose 600 billion roubles in VAT alone.

Russia is facing a ‘tax spiral,’ according to Russian economists, who predict that the government will have to raise taxes again next year.

The Council of the European Union has approved the fifth payment to Ukraine totaling over €1.8 billion under the Ukraine Facility mechanism, according to a statement published on the EU Council’s website.

This amount reflects Ukraine’s successful implementation of nine steps required for the fifth tranche, as well as one outstanding step from the fourth tranche. The funding is primarily aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s macro-financial stability and supporting the continued functioning of its public administration, the statement says.

The EU Council also recalled that disbursements under the Ukraine Facility are closely linked to the Ukraine Plan, which outlines the country’s strategy for recovery, reconstruction, and modernization, as well as a timeline for implementing reforms necessary for EU accession in the coming years.