State-owned PrivatBank (Kyiv) plans to receive UAH 17.5 billion in net profit in 2020, which is 47.4% less than in 2019 (UAH 32.6 billion), the financial institution said in its annual statements on the website on Thursday, May 21.
“The management monitors the current situation with the spread of coronavirus [COVID-19] and lockdown and takes measures, if necessary, to minimize any negative consequences as far as possible. Further negative developments and macroeconomic conditions can affect the financial situation and performance of the bank in such a way, which cannot be determined yet,” the bank said in the document.
The bank said in the financial statements that the objectives of PrivatBank for 2021 are the following: to achieve profitability indicator in accordance with its business strategy and to maintain a leading position in the Ukrainian banking market.
However, the bank’s analysts expect that the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, which began in 2020, will lead to a recession in the global economy and a significant slowdown in economic activity in the country.
They believe that the introduction of lockdown restrictions by the government in March, combined with a significant reduction in global demand and an overestimation of the risks of developing countries by investors, may affect the performance of Ukraine’s economy and foreign trade, as well as complicate fundraising, affect the country’s banking system and lead to further devaluation of the national currency.
Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar and Turkish Ambassador to Ukraine Yagmur Guldere have agreed to start negotiations on resuming air travel and tourist trips between the two countries, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine reports.
“Following the meeting, it was agreed to begin procedures related to the restoration of air service between Ukraine and Turkey, as well as the negotiation process between the competent authorities of the two countries regarding tourist trips,” the Foreign Ministry said.
It is noted that Bodnar and Guldere paid special attention to the implementation of the agreements reached during the official visit of Turkish President Recep Erdogan to Ukraine on February 3, 2020, in particular large-scale infrastructure projects in Ukraine and housing construction in Kherson region for internally displaced persons who left the territory of the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
The diplomats also agreed to intensify the existing consultative mechanisms at the level of the Foreign Ministry and other relevant ministries and departments of Ukraine and Turkey, to ensure proper preparation and holding the next meeting of the Joint Economic Commission, and to begin planning the exchange of visits for the period after the removal of quarantine.
Construction on the N-01 Kyiv-Znamyanka highway, which in three sections is being carried out by RDS group of road construction companies within the government’s and president’s “Big Construction” program, is three months ahead of schedule, the company has said.
“We are ahead of schedule on the N-01 highway. There are only three sections. According to the contract, we must hand over the first one in September, the second one in October, the third one in November, but we will finish everything in July,” Yuriy Shumakher, the co-owner of the group, told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, almost 100 people work at the facility, employees comply with sanitary safety standards.
The company said that it had signed agreements on this site for a total of UAH 658 million with the Automobile Road Service of Cherkasy region. Repairs are underway in Horodysche and Smila districts. Some 36.8 km of old pavement have been dismantled. The new coating will be two-layer. The bottom layer of asphalt concrete pavement has been laid. In Horodysche district, some 14 km of the upper finish layer have been laid. Now traffic is in a reverse mode.
RDS Group is included in the top three road construction companies of Ukraine. It includes Kyivshliakhbud” and Rostdorstroy. The core business is construction, reconstruction and maintenance of roads and bridges, construction of airfield complexes.
The ultimate beneficial owners of RDS Group are Ukrainian citizens Yuriy Shumakher and Yevhen Konovalov.
The Ministry of Energy and Environmental Protection of Ukraine will be divided into two relevant departments, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal has said.
“The separation of the ministry and the creation of the post of the profile minister of ecology are on the agenda,” he said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine, emphasizing that the previous merger of the ministries did not produce the expected effect.
“It was strange for me when I got to the first meetings of the Cabinet of Ministers, when the minister of energy first reported on the state of affairs in the nuclear energy industry, then the coal industry, and then on the Red Book plants and catch of bloodworms. Since then, I have been a supporter of the idea that a professional ecologist should be involved in ecology, to whom it is close and who lives with it,” Shmyhal said.
As reported, in August 2019, the Verkhovna Rada supported the candidatures for the posts of members of the new Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. By this decision, the Minister of Energy and Environmental Protection of Ukraine was appointed. Prior to this, the government had two separate ministries: the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Ecology.
The Motor (Transport) Insurance Bureau of Ukraine (MTIBU) is introducing new tariffs for Green Card policies for those traveling abroad by road from May 16, 2020.
According to the report on the bureau’s website, the MTIBU recalculated the cost of Green Card insurance certificates downward by 4%.
The last change in tariffs was on April 1, 2020 upward by 4.4%, the previous on March 20 by 4.7%.
Green Card policies have been implemented since 2009 in two ways: all of Europe; Belarus, Moldova and Russia. Also, from January 1, 2016 Ukrainian Green Card policies began to operate in Azerbaijan.
According to the MTIBU, the cost of Green Card policies in Ukraine for 15 days for trips across Europe for cars is reduced to UAH 712 (previously UAH 741), for buses to UAH 2,667 (UAH 2,785), and for trucks to UAH 1,681 (UAH 1,748).
The cost of Green Card for one month for cars will be UAH 1,134 (previously UAH 1,180), buses UAH 3,719 (UAH 3,868), and for trucks some UAH 1,681 (UAH 2,321).
Ukrainian population by regions as of March 1, 2020 (graphically)
