The Embassy of Cyprus has said it is gradually resuming its activity in Kyiv.
“The Embassy of Cyprus is gradually resuming its activity in Kyiv, in line with Cyprus consistent support to Ukraine in matters of principle. The flag of Cyprus is flying again in Kyiv as of May 3,” the embassy said on its Facebook page on Tuesday.
As noted, Head of the mission Lina Themistokleous has never left the territory of Ukraine and stayed in the war-ravaged Ukraine since February 24, and is now happy to welcome and assemble her team back, where it belongs.
The mobile network operator Vodafone Ukraine (PrJSC VF Ukraine) increased its net profit by 3.2 times in 2021 compared to 2020, to UAH 3.832 billion.
According to the consolidated annual report published on the company’s website, Vodafone Ukraine’s revenue grew by 11.04% last year and amounted to UAH 20.145 billion, while OIBDA (Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization) rose by 11% year on year, to UAH 10.95 billion.
“The rapid dynamics of the indicator is due to an increase in revenues from the provision of data services, as well as the strengthening of the hryvnia exchange rate in 2021, which led to exchange rate gain on the revaluation of eurobond debt,” the company said.
The number of Vodafone Ukraine customers in the country at the end of the year amounted to about 19 million – at the level of 2020.
The operator also maintained the volume of investments in network development at the level of 2020 – the company invested UAH 3.5 billion in 2021, increasing the national 4G coverage to 84% over the year, primarily in rural areas.
As of the beginning of the year, Vodafone Ukraine also provided 4G coverage for 98% of the length of four major international roads and 80% of all international roads.
Vodafone Ukraine is the second largest mobile network operator in Ukraine.
At present, 88% of insurance market participants continue to fulfill their obligations under insurance contracts in full and in due term, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Kyrylo Shevchenko has said.
“After the victory, we plan that they will join the restoration of the economy and social protection of the population. The main requirement of the NBU for insurers will remain their compliance with solvency and liquidity standards,” he wrote in a column for NV.Business publication.
According to Shevchenko, the credit cooperation market continues to operate, despite the decrease in the number of credit unions. The next stage in the development of this market segment will be associated with the launch of a system for guaranteeing deposit fees for members of credit unions and building a two-tier system of credit unions in Ukraine.
He also said that as a result of the deterioration of the property position of borrowers, the task of financial companies engaged in lending is the qualitative restructuring of overdue debts and the introduction of credit holidays on consumer loans.
“We continue focusing on market behavior, a transparent ownership structure and consumer protection in their regulation. At the same time, due to the war, we almost do not introduce prudential requirements,” the governor of the National Bank said.
The nonbank financial sector continues to operate. To support it, the NBU softened a number of regulations and postponed the introduction of new requirements for the activities of financial companies, Shevchenko said.
Inflation in Ukraine in annual terms in April may increase to 15.9% from 13.7% in March, this forecast was given by the head of the National Bank of Ukraine Kirill Shevchenko, referring to the NBU estimates based on web-scraping (method collecting prices from online supermarkets).
“In a war, it is impossible to avoid price increases … at the end of the year it (inflation) may exceed 20%. This is a significant level of price growth, but controlled. And such indicators are not comparable with 2015, when inflation reached 60% in some months,” wrote he is in the column for NV.Business.
Shevchenko stressed that the NBU has significant experience in fighting inflation.
“In general, in world history there were no cases when a country entered into a state of martial law, having such a highly developed financial system and monetary policy,” he added.
The head of the National Bank noted that while market mechanisms will have a limited impact on the market, the regulator will keep price growth by fixing the exchange rate and maintaining part of the restrictions.
“But as soon as monetary transmission channels start working and uncertainty decreases, we will return to the inflation targeting regime, which at one time helped to overcome the same 60% inflation,” Shevchenko said.
According to him, the National Bank will gradually restore the forecast cycle and again begin to apply the discount rate to reduce inflation to the target of 5% and keep inflation expectations under control.
As the State Statistics Service reported, consumer price growth in Ukraine in March 2022 accelerated to 4.5% from 1.6% in February, 1.3% in January and 0.6% in December. In March last year, inflation was 1.7%, so in annual terms, in March this year, it rose to 13.7% from 10.7% in February and 10% in January.
The UK will provide Ukraine with another £300m ($375m) in military aid to support Ukraine’s ongoing defense against Russia’s illegal incursion.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will present this new aid package during his speech to the Verkhovna Rada by video link, the office of the head of the British government announced.
The new batch of aid will include electronic warfare equipment, a counter-battery radar system, night vision devices and satellite navigation jamming equipment. London will also supply heavy drones to support isolated forces and more than a dozen new specialized Toyota Land Cruisers to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine and evacuate civilians from frontline areas.
The prime minister is expected to say that this is Ukraine’s “finest hour” and the UK is “proud to be among its friends.”
“This is Ukraine’s finest hour, an epic chapter in your national history that future generations will remember and tell. Your children and grandchildren will say that Ukrainians have taught the world that the brute force of an aggressor means nothing against the moral strength of a people who have decided to be free,” quotes the premier’s office as saying his planned speech.
Johnson is expected to note that when the UK faced the threat of invasion during the Second World War, its Parliament, like the Verkhovna Rada, continued to meet throughout the conflict, and the British people showed such unity and determination that the country is remembering the time of the greatest danger as her finest hour.
It is indicated that this will be the first speech of a world leader in the Supreme Rage since the beginning of the war.
Britain has previously delivered more than 5,000 anti-tank missiles and five air defense systems to Ukraine worth £200m.
Starlink’s satellite Internet in Ukraine has about 150,000 active users every day, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov said, citing data from Apptopia.
“Now Starlink terminals work for social infrastructure facilities – these are schools, hospitals, village councils, fire stations. After the liberation of the cities of Kyiv and Chernihiv regions, operators began to restore communication using Starlink,” he wrote.
According to Fedorov, there are villages in these regions where 10 km of cable were killed by shelling.
“Thanks to one Starlink station, the provider was able to quickly restore access to the Internet. This is a unique experience of using Starlink, which has never happened before in the world,” the minister stated.
As reported, in addition to Starlink satellite Internet stations, the head of Tesla Inc. Elon Musk also donated Tesla Powerwall solar panels to Ukraine.
Earlier, a representative office of Elon Musk’s SpaceX company, Starlink Ukraine, was registered in Ukraine.
Starlink became active in the country on February 27, 2022.
The National Commission, which carries out state regulation in the areas of electronic communications, radio frequency spectrum and postal services, at the initiative of the State Special Communications Service, on April 20, allowed everyone to use Starlink satellite terminals for the period of martial law.
Starlink is a global satellite system for accessing the Internet in remote corners of the Earth.
