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Ukraine war: Russia will capture Mariupol on Thursday, says top Putin ally

Ukrainian fighter trapped in Azovstal steel plant warns international community: 'We may only have days left'

The National

April 21, 2022

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A top ally of President Vladimir Putin said Russian forces will seize the Azovstal steel plant, the last major stronghold of resistance in Mariupol, on Thursday.

It comes after Ukraine proposed talks on freeing troops and civilians in the besieged city.

Mariupol would be the biggest city to be seized since Russia invaded Ukraine eight weeks ago as more than five million people have fled the country.

"Before lunchtime, or after lunch, Azovstal will be completely under the control of the forces of the Russian Federation," said Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Russia's republic of Chechnya, whose forces have been fighting in Ukraine.

It comes after a Ukrainian fighter who was trapped in the steel plant issued a video plea, saying: "We may only have days left".

Serhiy Volyna, commander of Ukraine's 36th marine brigade, which is still fighting in Mariupol, urged the international community to help evacuate wounded Ukrainian fighters and their families.

In a video posted online, the Ukrainian marine commander said his troops may be able to hold out for only a few hours longer as Ukraine tried to evacuate 6,000 women, children and elderly people on Wednesday.

"This is our appeal to the world. It may be our last. We may have only a few days or hours left," said the fighter, who wore a camouflage jacket. "The enemy units are dozens of times larger than ours, they have dominance in the air, in artillery, in ground troops, in equipment and in tanks."

Reuters could not independently verify the video shared on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukraine's Defence Ministry did not immediately comment on Mr Kadyrov's statement. Its general staff said early on Thursday that missile and bomb strikes continued across the country.

Mariupol hit by war's fiercest fighting

Mariupol has endured the fiercest fighting of the war as Russian forces try to take full control. Its capture would be a big strategic prize and would link territory held by pro-Russian separatists in the east with the Crimea region that Moscow annexed in 2014.

A few dozen civilians managed to leave the city on Wednesday in a small bus convoy, according to Reuters witnesses.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said an estimated 1,000 civilians are sheltering at the steel plant.

Ukraine was ready for a "special round of negotiations" with no conditions "to save our guys … military, civilians, children, the living and the wounded", Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter.

Kyiv has proposed swapping Russian prisoners of war for safe passage for trapped civilians and soldiers. It was not known if Russia had responded to the offer of special negotiations.

Fighters remain holed up in the plant and have ignored an ultimatum by Russia to surrender.

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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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Updated: April 21, 2022, 9:40 PM
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