About half of Ukrainians believe that the unified telethon is currently irrelevant. About 16% of citizens have a neutral attitude to it, another 15% have no answer. At the same time, only 17% of Ukrainians believe that the telethon has not lost its relevance.
This is evidenced by the data of the survey conducted by the sociological service of the Razumkov Center together with the Foundation “Democratic Initiatives” named after Ilk Kucheriv on behalf of the Movement “Honestly” from 9 to 15 August 2024.
“The level of support for the telethon by citizens has significantly decreased compared to the last wave of sociological research conducted in December 2023. At that time, 5% more respondents considered the telethon relevant. Neutral attitude to the relevance of the telethon also had 5% more citizens”, – stated in the message of the Movement ‘Honestly’ on the official website on Monday.
In addition, Ukrainians have a request for the resumption of openness in the work of the parliament. About 57% of citizens are in favor of online broadcasts of meetings on the Rada TV channel – this figure has not changed.
As the results of the survey show, the number of viewers of the telethon is becoming less and less, and therefore the expediency of its existence is in question. 35% of Ukrainians completely agree with the thesis about the loss of relevance of the telethon format. Another 16% of citizens rather support this position. At the same time, as noted in the report, the newly appointed Minister of Culture Mykola Tochytskyy in his first speeches in office notes that the telethon will continue to exist.
He says that constructive changes in the format of the telethon will be positively received. It is noted that the need to change the format was also mentioned in an interview with “Honestly” by the chairman of the Committee on Freedom of Speech, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, but there have been no significant changes during the existence of the telethon.
It is reported that the survey recorded certain differences in the regional context. The southern regions of Ukraine are more negatively disposed to the telethon, while the indicators of other regions are almost the same.
It is also noted that Ukrainians who call Russian their native language are 10% more likely to call the telethon irrelevant. At the same time, the percentage of those who consider the format of the telethon relevant is the same among Ukrainian and Russian speakers.
Regarding the online broadcasting of parliamentary sessions on the TV channel “Rada” the position of all regions is very similar. Residents of different regions do not show any significant differences in this issue.
The head of NPC Ukrenergo, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, has been dismissed from his post, MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak (Voice faction) has said.
According to his message on Telegram on Monday evening, the decision was made by the Supervisory Board of Ukrenergo by a majority vote of 4:2 after the demand for dismissal was voiced at the Commander-in-Chief’s meeting on August 30.
At the same time, the MP noted that there will be a reaction from international partners and the consequences of this decision.
“I think the payoff will also be quick and quite painful,” Zheleznyak said.
As reported, on September 1, EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova, regional heads of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in a letter to Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal stated the need to stop making any management decisions regarding NPC Ukrenergo until the final formation of the company’s supervisory board, which includes six members instead of seven.
The authors of the letter emphasized that the immediate dismissal is not an option: “Such an event could jeopardize our collective ability to support Ukrenergo and other priorities for Ukraine’s vital energy security.”
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the total amount of international assistance (loans and grants) attracted by Ukrenergo amounted to EUR 1.5 billion.
On April 23, 2024, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine announced a competitive selection for the position of an independent member of the Supervisory Board of Ukrenergo, but it still operates with one vacant position, although, according to Ukrenergo’s charter, it should consist of seven members, including four independent members.
Currently, Ukrenergo’s Supervisory Board consists of Peder Andreasen, Daniel Dobbeny, Roman Pionkovsky – independent members, Yuriy Tokarsky, Oleksandr Baraniuk, Yuriy Boyko – state representatives. The decision to resign the chairman of the board is made by a majority vote. The market noted that, despite the major shareholder’s desire to force Kudrytskyi’s resignation, he managed to avoid it several times thanks to the support of Ukraine’s international partners, as well as half of the supervisory board (according to the market, the head of the supervisory board, Daniel Dobbeny, as well as Peter Andersen and Yuriy Boyko).
“Ukrenergo is a private joint-stock company with 100% of its shares managed by the Ministry of Energy.
Earlier, a number of media outlets cited sources as saying that at a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief’s Staff on August 30, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy demanded that Ukrenergo CEO Volodymyr Kudrytskyi write a letter of resignation in the near future, but he refused.
The international golf tournament “Diplomatic Golf for Good” was held at the Lisnyky Golf Club as part of the celebration of Ukraine’s Independence Day.
The sporting top event of the year – the annual international golf tournament “Diplomatic Golf for Good” was held at the new Lisnyky Golf Club, which was built during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The tournament was supported by Ukrainian Junior Golf Champion Ulyana Novozhilova and Lisnyky Golf Club.
This is the sixth traditional Independence Day tournament among foreign and Ukrainian diplomats, world-class athletes, and representatives of international and Ukrainian business.
Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, as well as government officials, business elite, world-class athletes and veterans joined the game.
The main goal of the event is to create a platform for informal communication between representatives of different countries, to promote friendship and sports partnership among the nations of the world.
“’Diplomatic Golf for Good’ is an event that goes beyond the field and helps promote a positive image of the country, expand business ties, and most importantly, implement joint ideas and projects. This is true cultural diplomacy in action,” emphasized Inna Kostyria, the founder of the golf tournament.
The event was also attended by Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and representatives of diplomatic missions: Italy, France, Vietnam, Brazil, Argentina, Sri Lanka, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, Indonesia, Egypt, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, and Tajikistan.
The National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) has added CopyFX and MyFundedFX trading platforms and six other investment projects to the list of unreliable ones.
According to the information published on the commission’s website on Friday, the list also includes trading platform RoboForex, trading platforms CloseOption and Abra Traders, brokerage platform AZAFOREX, investment platform Assetwise-invest.com and mining platform HashAxe.
Thus, the total number of items on the list is 302.
The NCSSM once again reminded potential investors of the significant risks associated with investing through persons whose activities in Ukraine are not regulated in any way, as well as through persons indicating false information about licensed and allegedly official activities in countries with developed financial markets.
The full list of projects is available on the NCSSM webpage in the section “Protection of Investors’ Rights”.
A meeting of the supervisory board of NEC Ukrenergo, at which a vote is scheduled for the removal of the head of the company’s management board, Volodymyr Kudrytskyy, is scheduled for Monday, a source familiar with the situation said.
‘The meeting of the National Council is scheduled for Monday. Most likely, the withdrawal will take place. Given that the nabsoviet has six members instead of seven: three independents and three representatives of the state, and Roman Pionkowski rather supports the initiator of the withdrawal – the main shareholder represented by the Ministry of Energy’, – said the interlocutor of the agency “Interfax-Ukraine” on Saturday morning.
At the same time, he expressed hope that the public outcry, particularly in the energy community, which the possibility of Kudrytsky’s dismissal has caused, as well as the great support of his Western partners will help stop the process.
‘If it fails, I hope that it will at least be possible to put a professional acting and announce a full-fledged competition for the head of the board,’ the source added.
The company itself has not commented on the issue.
According to TG-channel Monopolist, for the position of the head of Ukrenergo are considered Dmytro Olefir, the head of the Board of Market Operator, who worked in Ukrenergo and was also a member of its Board from the state, Oleg Kozachuk, recently dismissed from the position of Khmelnytskyoblenergo, Oleksandr Gavva, the head of the Board of Market Operator, Artem Nekrasov, the head of the SE ‘Guaranteed Buyer’.
Kudrytskyy has already been publicly supported in his social networks by, among others, MP Andriy Zhupanin (Servant of the People), energy expert of the Ukrainian Institute of the Future Andrian Prokip, managing partner of the consulting company Imepower, which works, among other things, in the market of ‘green’ energy, and a member of the board of the European-Ukrainian Energy Agency Yuriy Kubrushko, head of the Bioenergy Association Georgiy Geletukha, as well as a number of other representatives of the energy industry.
As reported, Forbes Ukraine, citing its own sources, reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief’s Headquarters on Friday, 30 August, voiced a demand to Kudrytskyy to write a letter of resignation at his own request in the near future, but he refused. Now the decision on his resignation should be made by the company’s nabsoviet board. The reason for the resignation request is called incomplete protective structures around the system operator’s substations, which allegedly led to disruptions in electricity supplies after the combined massive shelling on 26 August.
The director of the Energy Research Centre, Oleksandr Kharchenko, said in a commentary to the publication that the accusations against Kudrytskyy were groundless, adding that Enerhoatom and Ukrhydroenerho were experiencing similar problems. He also pointed out that if the company’s naibsoviet board decides to dismiss the head of Ukrenerho, ‘the independence of supervisory boards in Ukrainian state-owned companies can be forgotten’.
‘Ukrenergo is a private joint-stock company, 100 per cent of whose shares are managed by the Ukrainian Energy Ministry.
‘Ukrenergo’ recognised the Russian attack on energy facilities on 26 August as the most large-scale attack since the beginning of the war. The Russian occupiers fired 127 missiles and 109 attack drones at Ukrainian territory, of which 102 missiles and 99 UAVs were shot down. As Oleksiy Kucherenko, the first deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada committee on energy and housing and utilities, commented on the consequences of the attack, Ukraine’s unified energy system has maintained its integrity despite tangible defeats of some energy facilities.
On 23 April 2024, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine announced a competitive selection for the position of an independent member of the Ukrenergo SB, but it is still operating with one vacancy, although according to Ukrenergo’s charter, it should consist of seven members, including four independent members.
Almost a year ago, Ukrayinska Pravda published the text of a US letter to the Ukrainian authorities with a list of reforms that Kiev should undertake to continue receiving military support, in particular, to introduce additional members to the nabs of Ukrenergo and Naftogaz in the next three months (which was done for NAK).
Currently, Ukrenergo’s SB consists of Peder Andreasen, Daniel Dobbeny, Roman Pionkowski – independent members, Yuriy Tokarsky, Oleksandr Baranyuk, and Yuriy Boyko – representatives of the state. The decision to dismiss the head of the board is made by a majority vote. The market noted that despite the desire of the main shareholder to get Kudrytskyy’s resignation, he managed to avoid it several times, thanks to the support of Ukraine’s international partners, as well as half of the nabsovet (of the state representatives, he is supported by Yuriy Boyko).
In September 2022, the G7 ambassadors to Ukraine had already expressed concern about the government’s interference in the management of the state-owned Gas Transit System Operator of Ukraine LLC and NEC Ukrenergo.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the total amount of international assistance (loans and grants) attracted by Ukrenergo totalled EUR1.5bn.
In its new video on the YouTube platform, the Kiev-based information and analytical center Experts Club has published a rating of countries with the highest probability of sovereign default. The ranking considered both economic and political factors that could lead states to default.
As Maxim Urakin, the founder of Experts Club, PhD in Economics, noted, the current economic situation in the world is alarming.
“The world economy is facing unprecedented challenges and many countries are on the verge of financial collapse. Under such conditions, it is crucial to understand which states are at the greatest risk of default in order to take appropriate measures,” he emphasized.
State default is a situation when a country cannot fulfill its debt obligations to creditors. According to Maxim Urakin, default can have catastrophic consequences for the country’s economy and its citizens.
“Default is not just a technical event. It is a tragedy for millions of people who may lose their jobs, their savings and even access to basic social benefits. That is why we monitor the economic situation in various countries so closely,” Urakin added.
The Experts Club 2024 ranking of countries with the highest probability of default includes Argentina, Lebanon, Sri Lanka and several other countries already facing serious economic problems. These countries are characterized by high levels of external debt, economic instability and political crises.
Experts Club also identified several countries that are at risk in the medium term. Among them are Argentina and Venezuela, which are already facing economic instability and high levels of debt, as well as Greece and Italy, which are dependent on external creditors.
|
Experts Club Rating |
Country |
Current international rating |
| 1. | Argentina | CCC- |
| 2. | Ghana | in default |
| 3. | Sri Lanka | in default |
| 4. | Lebanon | in default |
| 5. | Zambia | in default |
| 6. | Pakistan | CCC |
| 7. | Mozambique | CCC |
| 8. | Ukraine | CCC |
| 9. | Ethiopia | CCC |
| 10. | Cameroon | CCC+ |
| 11. | Bolivia | CCC+ |
| 12. | Burkina Faso | CCC+ |
| 13. | Suriname | in default |
| 14. | Tunisia | CCC |
| 15. | Egypt | B- |
| 16. | Nigeria | B- |
| 17. | El Salvador | B- |
| 18. | Honduras | B- |
| 19. | Laos | B- |
| 20. | Venezuela | in default |
“We see that countries like Argentina and Venezuela continue to be on the verge of default due to internal economic instability and external pressures. Also of concern is the situation in Greece and Italy, which are highly dependent on international loans. The risk of default remains high in these countries,” commented Urakin.
Special attention this year is paid to Lebanon, which, according to the economist, is “in a state of political and economic crisis, with extremely high debt to GDP.” This makes the country particularly vulnerable to a possible default.
Maxim Urakin also elaborated on the factors that could lead to default. Among them, he emphasized the high level of external debt relative to GDP, economic instability and dependence on external financing.
“Countries with debt-to-GDP ratios above 100% are particularly vulnerable. Lebanon, Cyprus and Greece are examples. Economic instability and political crises in countries such as Argentina, Venezuela and Pakistan also increase the risk of default,” he explained.
Dependence on external financing is another significant factor.
“Countries that depend on external loans to cover budget deficits, such as Spain and Italy, could face difficulties if conditions in international financial markets deteriorate,” Urakin added.
In a commentary on the rating, Maxim Urakin noted that the consequences of a default for a country and its citizens can often be devastating.
“For government agencies, default means restricted access to international financial markets, lower credit rating and the need for painful economic reforms. For citizens, it turns into inflation, devaluation of the national currency, rising unemployment and lower living standards,” the expert explained.
Urakin also emphasized that default may lead to the growth of social discontent and political instability, which may aggravate the situation in the country. He also assured that Experts Club will continue to closely monitor the economic situation in the world and provide timely relevant data to help countries and investors to minimize risks and avoid defaults.
You can learn more about defaults and the presented rating from the video on the YouTube channel of Experts Club:
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