The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is exploring the possibility of creating by the end of 2024 – early 2025 a system of war risk insurance for domestic transportation and goods transported in Ukraine, said Francis Malizh, EBRD managing director in the financial institutions sector.
“We are considering the possibility of war risk insurance for transport, domestic transport, which should come to the market at some point, probably by the end of the year or early next year,” Malizh said at the second annual forum ‘Ukrainian exports: the window opens’ organized by the Economic Pravda publication.
He specified that the new model of insurance against military risks may apply to trucks and railroad cars. Also, it will serve to insure goods in transit in the country.
Saab is looking to set up production in Ukraine to support the country’s development of independent defence capabilities, the Swedish defence equipment maker’s CEO told Reuters.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has prompted a surge in demand for military equipment, with several Western manufacturers looking to set up production in Ukraine.
“We have to help Ukraine build sovereign capacity and capabilities, so we need to have partnership with Ukrainian industry in Ukraine and also Ukrainian industry that has moved outside of Ukraine,” Saab CEO Micael Johansson said.
He added Saab was in talks with two or three companies on “how to establish local production”, but an agreement was yet to be finalised.
Saab, which competes with the likes of U.S. giant Lockheed Martin, France’s Dassault Aviation and Britain’s BAE Systems, is seeing a boom in demand spurred by global tensions, the war in Ukraine, and Sweden’s recent NATO accession.
Johansson said he saw potential for working with Ukrainian companies on drone capabilities. Ukraine could also be supplier of munitions parts and contribute to the development of sensor technology, he added.
Johansson said the arms industry was pivoting from donation-based aid to direct partnerships with Kyiv.
“I think we are sort of in a movement of going from having countries donating things to Ukraine, which will continue, of course, to having us as an industry delivering directly to the MoD (Ministry of Defence) and the defence forces in Ukraine, which has not happened completely yet, but it’s starting to happen,” he said.
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In September 2024, Ukraine started importing potatoes from Poland and Lithuania, EastFruit reports. According to official statistics, from September 1 to 23, 2024, the country has already received three trucks of potatoes: 22 tons from Lithuania, worth $10.56 thousand, and 42 tons from Poland, worth $20.164 thousand.
According to the State Customs Service (SCS), Ukraine imported 15 thousand tons of potatoes between January and August 2024. During this period, potato exports amounted to only 760 tons worth $215 thousand, while imports amounted to 15.356 thousand tons worth $9.324 million.
Read also: Trends among the top 10 largest seed potato exporting countries in the world
According to the analysts of the EastFruit project, the import of potatoes started due to the increased demand for food potatoes among local wholesalers and retailers, as well as speculations about the potential shortage of quality potatoes in the current season. Potato prices have been rising strongly due to high demand for food potatoes, which is further fueled by rumors of a shortage of quality potatoes this season.
The poor harvest in 2024 also contributed to higher prices and increased demand for potato imports. EastFruit experts note that the main reasons for potato imports were the growth in demand due to the needs of the army, population migration, and the reduction of local production in Ukraine.
The deficit of domestic production and high demand for potatoes contributed to a significant increase in imports.
https://east-fruit.com/uk/novyny/ukrayina-pochala-import-kartopli-v-rozpal-zboru-vrozhayu/
Geographical structure of Ukraine’s foreign trade (imports) in Jan-June 2024, thousand USD
Open4Business.com.ua
New York retained its leadership in the list of the world’s largest financial centers, according to a review by financial consulting company Z/Yen Group Ltd. that calculates the Global Financial Centers Index (GFCI) indicator.
New York has held the first line in the ranking since the fall of 2018. Compared to the previous version of the rating, released in March this year, New York lost one point and received a score of 763 points, while London, occupying the second position, added three points, its score amounted to 750 points.
Hong Kong rounded out the top three, overtaking Singapore with 749 points against 747. San Francisco retained fifth place, Chicago moved up to sixth place from ninth, Los Angeles moved up to seventh from eighth, while Shanghai dropped two positions to eighth place.
Compared to the previous ranking, there were two changes in the top 10: Seoul and Geneva left the top 10, giving way to Shenzhen and Frankfurt.
At the top of the ranking, Dublin showed good dynamics, moving up to 14th place from 25th, and Lugano added 9 positions to 26th place. Meanwhile, Sydney fell 10 places to 28th place.
The most significant rise in the whole list was demonstrated by Bermuda (plus 27 places at once), as well as Doha and Riyadh (24 and 21 places respectively). Meanwhile, Rome fell back 22 places, Stockholm – 16 places.
The index of world financial centers was first published in 2007 and is updated every six months (the current issue is the 35th). The latest ranking was based on a survey of almost 8.5 thousand respondents.
Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) have sent to court an indictment against seven managers and officials of the Poltava Mining and Processing Combine (PGOC) owned by Ferrexpo, which is owned by former MP Konstantin Zhevago, who temporarily resides in France and is wanted internationally on the basis of the decision on his arrest in absentia.
According to the press release of the GBR, the management of PGOK, owned by the fugitive oligarch, will be put on trial, as the management embezzled tens of millions of hryvnias.
It is specified that the management of PGOK during 2019-2021 unlawfully disposed of minerals of national importance. Without having a special permit for the use of subsoil, it illegally sold tons of minerals for almost 80 million UAH.
“Then through the enterprises involved in the scheme resold the same raw materials, but much more expensive. In particular, the top management sold without the appropriate permits crushed stone raw material, which was produced from waste extracted in the quarry of minerals. The amount of the transaction amounted to more than 370 million UAH”, – stated in the message of the GBR.
The defendants are charged under part 3, 5 of Art. 27 part. 5 Art. 191, part 3, 5 Art. 27 part. 3 Art. 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The sanction of the articles provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to 12 years with confiscation of property.
Procedural management is carried out by the Office of the Prosecutor General.
In turn, PGOK-Ferrexpo traditionally stated its disagreement with the actions of law enforcement agencies, in particular, with the statement of the Office of the Prosecutor General of September 24, 2024 on the completion of the pre-trial investigation into the case of allegedly illegal mining and sale of minerals in the amount of 380 million UAH.
“PGOK categorically disagrees with the charges outlined,” the company’s statement emphasizes, considering that the company was not engaged in the extraction or sale of crushed stone, and the plant has permits for the extraction of iron ore, which it extracts, processes and enriches.
And it is added that the investigation has no facts of personal enrichment of the suspected representatives of top management, and the enterprise paid taxes and fees from the funds received for the sale of screening.
The statement also assures that PGOK is allegedly not under the control of “fugitive sub-sanctioned billionaire”, as the company belongs to the Ferrexpo group.
Earlier it was reported that other investigative actions are being conducted against the management of PGOK. In particular, in September 2023, investigators of the National Police informed Viktor Lotus, PGOK’s pre-manager, of suspicion for illegal mining of subsoil for UAH 157 billion, which also resulted in environmental damage (part 2 of article 28, part 4 of article 240, part 2 of article 364-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
Ferrrexpo AG also claimed that according to the published financial statements of Ferrexpo Plc as of April 18, 2024, Fevalotinico SaRL owns 49.3% of PGOK. However, the court pointed out in one of its decisions that the 50.3% stake in PGOC had previously been seized, and subsequently there was a dilution (reduction) of the shares of Ferrexpo owned by Fevamotinico SaRL, which in turn is wholly owned by Minco Trust, whose ultimate beneficial owner is the defendant (Zhevago, the defendant in one of the cases – IF-U).
At the same time, the court noted that “the actions to reduce the defendant’s controlled share in the authorized capital of third parties during the validity of the court’s ruling on such an injunction directly contradicts the requirements of the current legislation and indicates bad faith behavior of the participants in the litigation”.
Ferrexpo is an iron ore company with assets in Ukraine. Ferrexpo owns 100% of Poltava GOK PJSC, 100% of Yeristovskiy GOK LLC and 99.9% of Belanovskiy GOK LLC.
