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Family Flees to Poland After Sweden Gives Kids to Muslim Foster Parents

The Swedish social services’ decision to place three Christian girls in a Muslim Lebanese family has resulted in an international scandal, involving Poland.

After the Swedish social services attempted to place Denis Lisov’s three children in a Muslim foster family, the Russian father took his daughters and fled Sweden, unleashing a thriller-like sequence of events.

Denis Lisov came to Sweden seven years ago. In 2017, his wife fell ill, whereupon social services decided to take away his children on the grounds that he had no full employment and was therefore unable to take care of them. Instead, they were placed in a Muslim Lebanese family. Lisov’s family formally retained the custody of the children, but only had the right to see them six hours a week, the Swedish news outlet Samhällsnytt reported.

According to Babken Khanzadyan, who represents the Lisovs, they weren’t given any opportunity to defend their rights, and the girls didn’t want to stay there.


Groundbreaking report revealing disturbing intel from Europe.

After his daughters had spent over a year in the Muslim family, about 300 kilometers from their real father, Denis had had enough. He took his daughters and decided to return to Russia. However, he was stopped at Warsaw airport, as the Swedish authorities reported his daughters missing. Therefore, he has applied for asylum in Poland instead.

A Polish court ruled that the Swedish social service had violated an EU convention that forbids the placement of children in foreign cultural environments. The court also noted that Lisov’s paternity rights had not been revoked, which is why the children could stay with their father.

“The children have a very strong bond with the father, and when I talked to them they told me that they want to stay with their father and love him and do not want to be separated from him” judge Janeta Seliga-Kaczmarek said, as quoted by Samhällsnytt.

According to Lisov, the youngest girls didn’t understand anything, but the eldest one had problems adapting to the harsh environment of the Muslim family.

Their lawyer Bartosz Lewandowski tweeted that the family was happy and rested after the first night spent on their own.

​According to Lewandowski, the Muslim foster father also appeared in court. There, he admitted that his visit to Poland had been paid for by the Swedish social services, Samhällsnytt reported.

Lewandowski also tweeted that a representative of the Swedish social services arrived to pick up the three girls, but was stopped by the police. He told them something in Swedish, which nobody understood.

“3 Russian girls were to be illegally taken away from their father by Swedish officials on Polish soil”, lawyer Jerzy Kwaśniewski tweeted.

​”Poland is a beautiful country. It is blossoming in my eyes, because here can finally be with Dad”, Sofia Lisova, Denis’s eldest daughter said after the court’s verdict, as quoted by Artur Stelmasiak, the editor of the Catholic weekly Niedziela.

The court’s actions were also praised by Poland’s authorities.

“The court has decided that the children stay with their father. Well done the police and the border police”, Polish Interior Minister Joachim Brudziński tweeted.

In Sweden, the social services have the possibility of immediately taking children and young people up to the age of 19 by force owing to legislation in place to intervene in order to protect children or youths in an emergency situation. Why exactly the social services decided to take away Lisov’s daughters remains unknown.


Alex Jones breaks down how the globalists are attempting to collapse civilization within the next six months by intensifying their migrant fueled destabilization of the west.

Source: InfoWars

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Olympics: Japan’s superfan looks to complete Olympic circle in 2020

Naotoshi Yamada poses for a photo at his office in Tokyo
Naotoshi Yamada poses for a photo at his office in Tokyo, Japan, October 3, 2018. Picture taken October 3, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

March 11, 2019

TOKYO (Reuters) – For most people, going to watch the Olympics is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity but for 92-year-old superfan Naotoshi Yamada it has become a quadrennial ritual over the last five and a half decades.

Yamada, known to his Japanese compatriots as “Olympic Ojisan”, or “Olympics Grandad”, first experienced the Summer Games when Tokyo last hosted the gathering in 1964 and he has been there for every minute of every one since.

“Mexico, Munich, Montreal, Los Angeles, Moscow. Japan did not even participate at the Moscow Olympics but I went to see that Games,” Yamada told Reuters in Tokyo.

“Moscow, Seoul, Barcelona, Sydney, Athens, Beijing, London. I went to all Games from the opening to the closing ceremony … There is not such a person like me. I am the only one on the earth.”

Yamada, in his distinctive gold top hat, red jacket and beaming smile, has become one of the most familiar and colorful figures at the Games, regularly followed by television cameras and cheered by other fans.

Now, he has one final wish — to live long enough to witness the sporting spectacle when it returns to Japan next year.

“It will be the culmination of all my years cheering the Olympics,” said Yamada.

Yamada was a relative stripling of 38 when he attended his first Olympics, not just to witness the sporting spectacle but from an earlier desire to experience the world that was inspired by a speech given at his university by Emperor Hirohito.

“The Emperor said he wanted the young generation to rebuild our country,” Yamada said.

“I felt that I wanted to do something for my country. I think that it is one of the reasons why I started to visit the Olympics.”

Yamada’s first Games outside Japan was Mexico City 1968, where he paired his classic Haori Hakama kimono with a Mexican sombrero.

Yamada said it was impossible for him to choose a favorite from the 14 Olympics.

“If you have … different colors of crayons and someone asks which color is the favorite one? Black? Red? Blue? Green? … each color has its own character,” said Yamada, a wide grin etched across his face.

“So I cannot tell which is my favorite one. Each of the Olympics were fascinating.”

Yamada loves the international nature of the Olympic Games and has a vast collection of souvenirs he has collected over the years, some of them acquired through swaps with other fans.

His haul of flags, stamps, photographs and other items are on display at a gallery in his hometown of Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture.

“The Olympics is only the international festival for all humankind,” said Yamada.

“Athletes and tourists from more than 200 countries will gather at one place.

“For the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, so many people want to come to Japan.

“I think that 2020 will be amazing event.”

(Reporting by Masashi Kato; additional reporting by Jack Tarrant; writing by Jack Tarrant; editing by Nick Mulvenney/Greg Stutchbury)

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Don’t take this North Korea guidebook with you, warns publisher

Dominique Auzias, co-founder of the Petit Fute French touristic guide book, poses during an interview with Reuters for the launching of their North Korea guide book in Paris
Dominique Auzias, co-founder of the Petit Fute French touristic guide book, poses during an interview with Reuters for the launching of their North Korea guide book in Paris, France, March 19, 2019. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

March 19, 2019

By John Irish and Noémie Olive

PARIS (Reuters) – A French publisher has produced a rare guide to North Korea, highlighting its history, cultural wealth and beautiful landscapes but advising tourists not to take the politically sensitive book with them.

Tourism is one of the few remaining reliable sources of foreign income for North Korea, after the U.N. imposed sanctions targeting 90 percent of its $3 billion annual exports including commodities, textiles and seafood.

Tensions over North Korea’s tests of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles spiked on the Korean peninsular last year and there were fears of a U.S. military response to North Korea’s threat to develop a weapon capable of hitting the United States.

“There are a lot of people that are interested in this country be it for nuclear and military reasons, but also economically so … it’s important to provide information,” said Dominique Auzias, president of the Petit Fute, which publishes some 800 guides.

“As it’s a country that’s closed and forbidden everybody dreams of going there,” he said.

Some 400 French tourists visit the country each year with trips costing about 2,000 euros ($2,267).

The reclusive communist state has no official diplomatic relations with France.

Talks in June last year between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un provided a detente even if in recent weeks tensions have once again flared.

North Korean authorities would probably confiscate the printed edition given some of the material, Auzias said.

“You don’t go for adventure, but to discover,” he said.

The guide, which took three years to put together, touches little on where to stay or eat because accessing the country as a tourist can only be done through specific travel agents who determine what visitors see.

In some cases however they respond to requests and Auzias said the guide helps people decide what they would like to see.

It makes clear it is imperative to stick to the country’s strict rules or face dire consequences as American student Otto Warmbier did in 2016 when he was sentenced to 15 years of forced labor for trying to steal a propaganda poster in his hotel.

He was returned to the United States in a coma 17 months later, and died shortly after. A coroner said he died from lack of oxygen and blood to the brain.

“The first time I went 10-12 years ago I was proud because I was one of the rare French citizens to get in … but my second moment of happiness was about three weeks later when I left because it was suffocating and mind-boggling,” Auzias said.

(Reporting by John Irish and Noemeie Olive; Editing by Bate Felix and Alexandra Hudson)

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EXCLUSIVE: Former Trump Adviser Michael Caputo Hits Back Against Witch Hunt

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Former Trump campaign adviser Michael Caputo slammed House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) on Wednesday, after he sent document requests to 81 individuals and organizations on Monday, in what Democratic constitutional scholar Alan Dershowitz called an abuse of power.

“In summary, Mr. Caputo is not in possession of any documentation responsive to your request,” Dennis Vacco, an attorney for Caputo, said in a letter to Nadler.

In a letter sent to Caputo on Tuesday, Nadler requested any information about the infamous 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Donald Trump Jr.

“Mr. Caputo is not in possession of any documents relating to the June 9, 2016 Trump Tower meeting,” Vacco added in his letter.

Caputo slammed the new Democratic probe, in a statement to The Washington Pundit.

“I’m prepared to stand up against this witch hunt if I’m not alone,” Caputo told The Pundit. “I am willing to stand up first – somebody has to.”

“I asked the House and Senate intelligence committees to allow me to testify in public, and they forced private sessions,” he continued. “I’ve asked for [sic] public release of my testimony, and yet today I can’t even read my own words without traveling to Washington and sitting in a SCIF.”

He added: “If this secrecy isn’t designed to bankrupt witnesses then these Congressional committees should release my testimony or at least share it with each other.”

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Indian voter chops off finger after accidentally voting for wrong party

An Indian voter said he chopped off his index finger after realizing he accidentally voted for the wrong political party Thursday in the second phase of the country’s ongoing election.

In a video, Pawan Kumar said he intended to cast a vote for the governing Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), but selected the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) instead, the BBC reported.

"I wanted to vote for the elephant, but I voted for the flower by mistake," Kumar said, referring to symbols displayed next to each party and candidate. He is seen in the video sporting a bandage on his left index finger, which would have been marked with ink.

Kumar voted in Bulandshahr in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, according to the news site.

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India’s election is taking place over several phases and is the biggest Democratic exercise to ever take place. The country has over 900 million registered voters to fill 543 seats in India's lower house of parliament. Voting concludes on May 19 and counting is scheduled for May 23.

Source: Fox News World

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Greece: Acropolis closed for the day after lightning strike

Authorities in Greece have closed the Acropolis in Athens to visitors for the day due to a severe weather warning, a day after a lightning strike at the ancient site left four people injured.

The Culture Ministry said it ordered the closure Thursday after the country's civil protection agency said a thunderstorm with heavy rainfall was expected in the capital.

On Wednesday, two visitors and two guards were slightly injured in the lightning strike at the the country's most famous ancient site. A culture ministry statement said the citadel's lightning conductor, which is set apart from the 2,500-year-old marble buildings, was hit. The impact shattered glass windows nearby, and the guards inside as well as two female visitors were taken to hospital with light cuts.

The monuments suffered no damage.

Source: Fox News World

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V.P. Mike Pence Calls for Europe to Leave Iran Nuclear Deal, Support Guaido

V.P. Mike Pence Calls for Europe to Leave Iran Nuclear Deal, Support Guaido

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UPDATED 8:24 AM PT — Sat. Feb. 16, 2019

Vice President Mike Pence urges the European Union to withdraw from the Iran Nuclear Deal.

On Saturday, Pence delivered a speech to world leaders at the Munich Security Conference, calling for European countries to join the U.S. in pressuring the Iranian regime to give the people the peace and freedom they deserve.

United States Vice President Mike Pence delivers his speech during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson)

He also warned of the threat posed by telecoms equipment supplied by Chinese provider Huawei.

Pence also addressed a terrorism issue and said the U.S. will continue fighting the Islamic State.

Additionally, Pence asked the leaders in the room to support Venezuela in its struggle for democracy and recognize Juan Guaido as the only legitimate President of Venezuela.

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Members of The Cranberries, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler and guitarist Noel Hogan speak to Reuters during an interview in London
Members of The Cranberries, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler and guitarist Noel Hogan speak to Reuters during an interview in London, Britain, April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Gerhard Mey

April 26, 2019

By Hanna Rantala

LONDON (Reuters) – Irish rockers The Cranberries are saying goodbye with their final album released on Friday, a poignant tribute to lead singer Dolores O’Riordan who died last year.

“In the End” is the eighth studio album from the band that rose to fame in the early 1990s with hits likes “Zombie” and “Linger”, and includes the final recordings by O’Riordan, who drowned in a London hotel bath in January 2018 due to alcohol intoxication.

Work on the album began during a 2017 tour and by that winter, O’Riordan and guitarist Neil Hogan had penned and demoed 11 tracks.

With O’Riordan’s vocals recorded, Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler completed the album in tribute to her.

“When we realized how strong the songs were, that was the deciding factor really… There was no point… trying to ruin the legacy of the band,” Noel Hogan said in an interview.

“It was obvious that Dolores wanted this album done because when you hear the album, you hear the songs and how strong they are, and she was very, very excited to get in and record this.”

The Cranberries formed in Limerick in 1989 with another singer. O’Riordan replaced him a year later and the group went on to become Ireland’s best-selling rock band after U2, selling more than 40 million records.

O’Riordan, known for her strong distinctive voice singing about relationships or political violence, was 46 when she died.

“She was actually in quite a good place mentally. She was feeling quite content and strong and looking forward to a new phase of her life,” Lawler said.

“A lot of the lyrics in this album are about things ending… people might read into it differently but it was a phase of her personal life that she was talking about.”

The group previously announced their intention to split after the release of “In The End”.

“We are absolutely gutted we can’t play (the songs) live because that’s something that’s been a massive part of this band from day one,” Noel Hogan said.

“A few people have said to us about maybe even doing a one off where you have different vocalists… as kind of guests of ours. A year ago that’s definitely something we weren’t going to entertain but I don’t know, I think it’s something we need to go away and take time off for the summer and have a think about.”

Critics have generally given positive reviews of the album; NME described it as “(seeing) the band’s career go full-circle” while the Irish Times called it “an unexpected late career high and a remarkable swan song for O’Riordan”.

Their early songs still play on the radio. This week, “Dreams” was performed at the funeral of journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot dead in Londonderry last week as she watched Irish nationalist youths attack police following a raid.

“We wrote them as kids, as a hobby and 30 years later they are on radio and on TV, like all the time… That’s far more than any of us ever thought we would have,” Noel Hogan said.

“That would make Dolores really happy because she was very precious about those songs. Her babies, she called them and to have that hopefully long after we’re gone… that’s all any band can wish for.”

(Reporting by Hanna Rantala; additoinal reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Susan Fenton)

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2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston, Texas, U.S. April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

April 26, 2019

By Joshua Schneyer and M.B. Pell

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Senator Elizabeth Warren will introduce a bill Friday that offers new protections for U.S. military families facing unsafe housing, following a series of Reuters reports revealing squalid conditions in privately managed base homes.

The Reuters reports and later Congressional hearings detailed widespread hazards including lead paint exposure, vermin infestations, collapsing ceilings, mold and maintenance lapses in privatized base housing communities that serve some 700,000 U.S. military family members.

(View Warren’s military housing bill here. https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dy5aht)

(Read Reuters’ Ambushed at Home series on military housing here. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/section/usa-military)

The Massachusetts Democrat’s bill would mandate both regular and unannounced spot inspections of base homes by certified, independent inspectors, holding landlords accountable for quickly fixing hazards. The military’s privatization program for years allowed real estate firms to operate base housing with scant oversight, Reuters found, leaving some tenants in unsafe homes with little recourse against landlords.

The bill would also require the Department of Defense and its private housing operators to publish reports annually detailing housing conditions, tenant complaints, maintenance response times and the financial incentives companies receive at each base. The provisions aim to enhance transparency of housing deals whose finances and operations the military had allowed to remain largely confidential under a privatization program since the late 1990s.

The measure would also require private landlords to cover moving costs for at-risk families, and healthcare costs for people with medical conditions resulting from unsafe base housing, ensuring they receive continuing coverage even after they leave the homes or the military.

“This bill will eliminate the kind of corner-cutting and neglect the Defense Department should never have let these private housing partners get away with in the first place,” Warren said in a statement Friday.

The proposed legislation comes after February Senate hearings where Warren, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2020 U.S. presidential election, slammed private real estate firms for endangering service families, and sought answers about why military branches weren’t providing more oversight.

Her legislation would direct the Defense Department to allow local housing code enforcers onto federal bases, following concerns they were sometimes denied access. Warren’s office said a companion bill in the House of Representatives would be introduced by Rep. Deb Haaland, Democrat of New Mexico.

In response to the housing crisis, military branches are developing a tenant bill of rights and hiring hundreds of new housing staff. The branches recently dispatched commanders to survey base housing worldwide for safety hazards, resulting in thousands of work orders and hundreds of tenants being moved. The Defense Department has pledged to renegotiate its 50-year contracts with private real estate firms.

Congress has been quick to take its own measures. Earlier legislation proposed by senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris of California, along with Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, would compel base commanders to withhold rent payments and incentive fees from the private ventures if they allow home hazards to persist.

(Editing by Ronnie Greene)

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FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London
FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London, Britain, September 25, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Noor Zainab Hussain and Tanishaa Nadkar

(Reuters) – Deloitte quit as Ferrexpo’s auditor on Friday, knocking its shares by more than 20 percent, days after saying it was unable to conclude whether the iron ore miner’s CEO controlled a charity being investigated over its use of company donations.

Blooming Land, which coordinates Ferrexpo’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, came under scrutiny after auditors found holes in the charity’s statements.

Ferrexpo on Tuesday said findings of an ongoing independent investigation launched in February indicated some Blooming Land funds could have been “misappropriated”. It did not provide any details or publish its findings.

Shares in Ferrexpo, the third largest exporter of pellets to the global steel industry, were 23.4 percent lower at 206.1 pence at 1022 GMT following news of Deloitte’s resignation.

“Ferrexpo’s shares are deeply discounted vs peers … following the resignation of Deloitte, we expect downside risks to dominate Ferrexpo’s shares near term.” JP Morgan analyst Dominic O’Kane said in a note on Friday.

Swiss-headquartered Ferrexpo did not provide a reason for the resignation of Deloitte, which declined to comment, while Blooming Land did not respond to a request for comment.

Funding for Blooming Land’s CSR activities is provided by one of Ferrexpo’s units in Ukraine and Khimreaktiv LLC, an entity ultimately controlled by Ferrexpo’s CEO and majority owner Kostyantin Zhevago, Ferrexpo said on Tuesday.

Ferrexpo’s board has found that Zhevago did not have significant influence or control over the charity, but Deloitte said it was unable reach a conclusion on this.

Reuters was not immediately able to contact Zhevago.

In a qualified opinion, a statement addressing an incomplete audit, Deloitte said it had been unable to conclude whether $33.5 million of CSR donations to Blooming Land between 2017 and 2018 was used for “legitimate business payments for charitable purposes”.

Deloitte said on Tuesday that total CSR payments made to Blooming Land by Ferrexpo since 2013 total about $110 million.

Ferrexpo, whose major mines are in Ukraine, has said that the investigation was ongoing and new evidence pointed to potential discrepancies.

Zhevago, 45, who ranked 1,511 on Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires for 2019 with a net worth of $1.4 billion, owns the FC Vorskla soccer club and has been a member of Ukraine’s parliament since 1998.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru and additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kiev; editing by Gopakumar Warrier, Bernard Orr)

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Children walk past a damaged building in the aftermath of the Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba
Children walk past a damaged building in the aftermath of the Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba, Mozambique April 26, 2019 in this still image obtained from social media. SolidarMed via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

April 26, 2019

By Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer

JOHANNESBURG/LUANDA (Reuters) – Cyclone Kenneth killed at least one person and left a trail of destruction in northern Mozambique, destroying houses, ripping up trees and knocking out power, authorities said on Friday.

The cyclone brought storm surges and wind gusts of up to 280 km per hour (174 mph) when it made landfall on Thursday evening, after killing three people in the island nation of Comoros.

It was the most powerful storm on record to hit Mozambique’s northern coast and came just six weeks after Cyclone Idai battered the impoverished nation, causing devastating floods and killing more than 1,000 people across a swathe of southern Africa.

The World Food Programme warned that Kenneth could dump as much as 600 millimeters of rain on the region over the next 10 days – twice that brought by Cyclone Idai.

One woman in the port town of Pemba died after being hit by a falling tree, the Emergency Operations Committee for Cabo Delgado (COE) said in a statement, while another person was injured.

In rural areas outside Pemba, many homes are made of mud. In the main town on the island of Ibo, 90 percent of the houses were destroyed, officials said. Around 15,000 people were out in the open or in “overcrowded” shelters and there was a need for tents, food and water, they said.

There were also reports of a large number of homes and some infrastructure destroyed in Macomia district, a mainland district adjacent to Ibo.

A local group, the Friends of Pemba Association, had earlier reported that they could not reach people in Muidumbe, a district further inland.

Mark Lowcock, United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, warned the storm could require another major humanitarian operation in Mozambique.

“Cyclone Kenneth marks the first time two cyclones have made landfall in Mozambique during the same season, further stressing the government’s limited resources,” he said in a statement.

FLOOD WARNINGS

Shaquila Alberto, owner of the beach-front Messano Flower Lodge in Macomia, said there were many fallen trees there, and in rural areas people’s homes had been damaged. Some areas of nearby Pemba had no power.

“Even my workers, they said the roof and all the things fell down,” she said by phone.

Further south, in Pemba, Elton Ernesto, a receptionist at Raphael’s Hotel, said there were fallen trees but not too much damage. The hotel had power and water, he said, while phones rang in the background. “The rain has stopped,” he added.

However Michael Charles, an official for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said heavy rains over the next few days were likely to bring a “second wave of destruction” in the form of flooding.

“The houses are not all solid, and the topography is very sandy,” Charles said.

In the days after Cyclone Idai, heavy inland rains prompted rivers to burst their banks, submerging entire villages, cutting areas off from aid and ruining crops. There were concerns the same could happen again in northern Mozambique.

Before Kenneth hit, the government and aid workers moved around 30,000 people to safer buildings such as schools, however authorities said that around 680,000 people were in the path of the storm.

(Reporting by Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer; Writing by Emma Rumney; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Alexandra Zavis)

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A worker holds a nozzle to pump petrol into a vehicle at a fuel station in Mumbai
FILE PHOTO: A worker holds a nozzle to pump petrol into a vehicle at a fuel station in Mumbai, India, May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

April 26, 2019

By Manoj Kumar and Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Surging global oil prices will pose a first big challenge to India’s new government, whoever wins an election now under way, especially as domestic prices have been allowed to lag, meaning consumers are in for a painful surge as they catch up.

For oil-import dependent India, higher global prices could lead to a weaker rupee, higher inflation, the ruling out of interest rate cuts and could further weigh on twin current account and budget deficits, economists warned.

But compounding the future pain, state-run fuel suppliers and retailers have held off passing on to consumers the higher prices during a staggered general election, which began on April 11 and ends on May 23, according to sources familiar with the situation.

That delay is expected to be unwound once the election is over. And there could be additional price increases to make up for losses or profits missed during the period of delayed increases, the sources said.

In some major Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea, pump prices are adjusted periodically so they move largely in tandem with international crude prices.

That was what was supposed to happen in India but the election means there have been many days when pump prices have been unchanged.

In New Delhi, for example, while crude oil prices have gone up by nearly $9 a barrel, or about 12 percent, in the past six weeks, gasoline prices have only risen by 0.47 rupees a liter, or 0.6 percent.

State-controlled fuel suppliers and retailers declined to say why they had delayed price increases, or discuss whether there has been any pressure from the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A government spokesman declined to comment.

The opposition Congress party said Modi’s government was violating its own policy of daily price revision by advising the state oil companies to hold prices steady.

“The government should cut fuel taxes otherwise consumers will have to pay much higher oil prices once the elections are over,” said Akhilesh Pratap Singh, a senior leader of the Congress party.

(GRAPHIC: India Polls: Fuel price hike lags crude surge – https://tmsnrt.rs/2XLlxik)

Nitin Goyal, treasurer at the All India Petroleum Dealers Association, representing fuel stations in 25 states, said prices were similarly held down for 19 days in the southern state of Karnataka last year, when it held state assembly elections.

Only for them to surge after the vote.

“Consumers should be ready for a rude shock of a massive jump in retail prices, similar to the level we have seen in the Karnataka state election,” Goyal said.

‘CREDIT NEGATIVE’

Sri Paravaikkarasu, director for Asia oil at Singapore-based consultancy FGE, said retail prices of gasoline and gasoil prices would have been up to 6 percent, or about 4 rupee, higher if they had been allowed to rise in line with global prices.

“Indian pump prices have failed to keep up with the recent uptrend in crude prices,” Paravaikkarasu said.

“With the country’s general elections underway, the incumbent government has been keeping pump prices relatively unchanged.”

India had switched to a daily price revision in June 2017 from a revision every two weeks, as the government allowed retailers to set prices.

But the government faced protests last October when retailers raised prices by up to 10 rupees a liter after the crude oil price went above $80 a barrel, forcing it to cut fuel taxes.

Global prices rose to their highest level in 2019 on Thursday, days after the United States announced all Iran sanction waivers would end by May, pressuring importers including India to stop buying Tehran’s oil. [O/R]

Higher oil prices will mean Asia’s third largest economy is likely to see growth of less than 7 percent rate this fiscal year, economists said. Growth slowed to 6.6 percent in the October-December quarter, the slowest in five quarters.

Rating agency CARE has warned that a 10 percent rise in global oil prices could increase demand for dollars, putting pressure on the rupee and widening the current account deficit.

India’s oil import bill rose by nearly one-third in the fiscal year ending March 31 to $140.5 billion, against $108 billion the previous year.

“The increase in international oil prices is a credit negative for the Indian economy,” ICRA, the Indian arm of the Fitch rating agency, said in a note.

“Every $10/ bbl increase in crude oil prices increases the fiscal deficit by about 0.1 percent of GDP.”

Any big price rise would also build a case for the central bank to keep rates steady, or even raise them.

The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee, which cut the benchmark policy repo rate by 25 basis points this month, warned that rising oil and food prices could push up inflation.

Policymakers are worried that a sustained increase in the oil price in the range of $70-75/barrel or higher can move the rupee down by 3-4 percent on an annual basis.

The rupee has depreciated by 1.24 percent against the dollar since a year high in mid-March.

($1 = 70.1800 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar and Nidhi Verma; Editing by Martin Howell and Rob Birsel)

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