Russia has been left increasingly isolated at the UN’s nuclear watchdog as Ukraine's allies dominate its ruling board.
A Czech diplomat was on Monday elected chairman of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors, putting an Eastern European in charge at a time of fear in the region over the possibility of a nuclear disaster in Ukraine.
Concern about the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in south-eastern Ukraine grew stronger after its manager Ihor Murashov was apparently detained, although the IAEA said on Monday that he had been released.
When the IAEA last month condemned Russia’s seizure of nuclear plants and backed Ukraine’s call for a safety zone at Zaporizhzhia, Russia could find only one ally, China, willing to vote with it on the 35-member board.
Poland is pushing to kick Russia off the board altogether, but the IAEA’s statutes mean it is virtually guaranteed a spot, in what US ambassador Laura Holgate described as a “real challenge” to the agency’s governance.
“We saw when they tried to do votes during various issues last week, during the general conference, that they had a very small number of supporters in voting,” Ms Holgate told The National.
“They were often the only country expressing a concern in the context of consensus activity. So, they remain isolated.
“At the same time, they remain on the board as more or less permanent members of the board.”
The IAEA faces the twin challenges of the war in Ukraine and Iran’s nuclear programme. The agency says it cannot be sure Iran’s activities are peaceful until it receives answers about unexplained uranium traces.
Russia’s involvement in the talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal adds another complication to nuclear diplomacy. Moscow has taken Tehran’s side in recent discussions.
Monday’s board meeting in Vienna was mainly devoted to internal affairs, but some diplomats used an “any other business” section to raise fresh concerns about the situation in Ukraine.
Moscow and Kyiv blame each other for shelling near Zaporizhzhia.
Russian troops also caused alarm by occupying the site of the Chernobyl disaster, north of Kyiv, in the invasion’s early stages.
“The IAEA is operating under unprecedented and most demanding circumstances caused by the Russian Federation’s war of aggression,” one EU diplomat said.
“We cannot emphasise strongly enough that this is unacceptable behaviour from a member state which continues to hold a privileged role at the IAEA and its bodies.”
Ms Holgate said it was too early to say whether Russia’s supposed annexation of Zaporizhzhia region would make any difference on the ground, but said there were few signs of the situation improving.
The apparent detention of Mr Murashov violated at least two of the IAEA’s seven pillars of nuclear safety, the board was told.
“Having a clear chain of command and having personnel operate without fear or duress — those are very essential attributes of nuclear security and nuclear safety,” Ms Holgate said.
IAEA director general Rafael Grossi plans to travel to Moscow and Kyiv this week, as he lobbies for a safe zone at Zaporizhzhia.
The Czech Republic, which strongly condemned Russia’s behaviour at Zaporizhzhia and currently represents the EU on the board, had its ambassador Ivo Sramek elected as board chairman on Monday.
The chair was expected to fall to Eastern Europe under a system of regional rotation.
Although the chair is formally neutral, they have some leeway to interpret IAEA rules and are unlikely to take Russia’s side on any points of dispute.
Dana Drabova, the chair of the Czech office for nuclear safety, told IAEA delegates last week that Russia’s actions in Ukraine “pose serious and direct threats to nuclear safety”.
“A nuclear accident must not be added to the tragedy of this war,” she said.
Members who joined the board on Monday included EU members Denmark and Bulgaria. The Danish embassy in Vienna told The National that global nuclear non-proliferation architecture was “deeply challenged”.
Russia’s outspoken ambassador to the IAEA, Mikhail Ulyanov, said there had been “heated debates” in recent board meetings on Ukraine, Iran and a UK-US-Australia pact on nuclear submarines.
The board’s resolution last month condemning Russia’s behaviour in Ukraine won support from 26 out of 35 members. Only Russia and China voted against, with seven countries abstaining.
On Iran, western powers rallied 56 countries behind a non-binding statement criticising Tehran’s “insufficient co-operation” with IAEA inquiries. Russia did not sign on to that motion either.
It follows a pattern of Russian isolation in various international bodies. On Monday, Russia and its ally Belarus were voted off the council of the International Telecommunications Union, which oversees the internet.
Russia last week lost a power struggle with the US for control of the ITU. It has similarly been outvoted in UN General Assembly resolutions and was removed from the Council of Europe, a human rights body, in March.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company profile
Company name: Nestrom
Started: 2017
Co-founders: Yousef Wadi, Kanaan Manasrah and Shadi Shalabi
Based: Jordan
Sector: Technology
Initial investment: Close to $100,000
Investors: Propeller, 500 Startups, Wamda Capital, Agrimatico, Techstars and some angel investors
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Results:
Men's 100m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 15 sec; 2. Rheed McCracken (AUS) 15.40; 3. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 15.75. Men's 400m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 50.56; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 50.94; 3. Henry Manni (FIN) 52.24.
<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html" charset="UTF-8" /></head><body><!--PSTYLE=* Labels%3aFH Label 18 Sport--><p>Beach soccer</p><!--PSTYLE=BY Byline--><p>Amith Passela</p><p /></body></html>
RESULT
Aston Villa 1
Samatta (41')
Manchester City 2
Aguero (20')
Rodri (30')
