The number of declarations mentioning cryptocurrencies is growing from year to year. More than 1,400 such declarations were filed in 2022. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether are the most popular among Ukrainian officials. For example, in 2022, one of the Ukrainian MPs declared 121 bitcoins worth over UAH 195 million.
Ukrainian officials filed 1428 declarations with cryptocurrency assets in 2022. This is almost twice as many as in 2021: back then, crypto appeared in 788 declarations.
In the 2021 declarations, the most popular cryptocurrencies among Ukrainian officials were Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), and others. In 2022, the top positions did not change radically: Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) were still in demand, and Tether (USDT) joined the top three.
Which Ukrainian officials declared the most cryptocurrency?
First of all, it is worth noting that the declarants submit their assets both in hryvnia equivalent and simply by indicating the number of cryptocurrency units in their possession.
Bitcoins / Bitcoin (BTC)
In 2021, the largest amount of bitcoin was declared by Anna Pozdnyakova, Director of the Odesa City Heat Supply Utility, which amounted to UAH 53 million. A year later, Deputy Head of the Dnipro Regional State Administration Sergiy Karpenko took over the top spot. He owns bitcoins equivalent to UAH 41 million.
The largest amount of bitcoins in 2022 – 121 BTC – was declared by Mykyta Kuzkevych, a deputy of the Odesa Regional Council. In hryvnia equivalent, at the time of publication, this is more than UAH 195 million.
Ethereum (ETH)
Serhii Karpenko, the official from Dnipropetrovs’k region who declared the largest amount of bitcoins, has also been the record holder for the amount of ethereum for two years in a row. In his declarations for 2021 and 2022, the official noted that he had the same amount of equivalent for this cryptocurrency – UAH 14.6 million.
Crypto dollars / Tether (USDT)
Vitaliy Brovko, Deputy Head of the Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office, declared the most crypto dollars or stablecoins in 2021 – 774,500 units. The same official holds the record for the largest amount in equivalent – UAH 20 million.
The official also held the top spot among the declarants for 2022. The number of crypto dollars in his possession did not change, but their value increased to more than UAH 29 million.
At the same time, the largest amount of crypto dollars/stablecoins was declared by Maksym Kyselyov, Director of the State Enforcement Service Department of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, who earned UAH 25 million.
The biggest losses in crypto
It is also worth noting that there are several officials who have declared their crypto assets but have indicated that they have lost access to them.
380.95 bitcoins, a record amount among Ukrainian officials, were declared and lost by Roman Saramaga, Deputy Head of the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine, in 2021. In hryvnia terms, at the time of publication, this is about UAH 615 million.
The largest amount of ethereum – 1,800 units or more than UAH 160 million – belongs to Ihor Osipov, a deputy of the Podil District Council of Odesa Oblast. In 2021 and 2022, the official stated in his declarations that he had lost access to cryptocurrency.
“Having analyzed a large number of declarations, first of all, it is worth noting their poor quality. It seems that officials spend 5 minutes on declarations on the last day of submission. Despite the fact that there is already a special section where it is necessary to indicate assets in crypto, almost all crypto holdings are filled in differently, with errors and in different parts of the declarations.
Overall, the statistics show that ownership of such an opaque asset as cryptocurrency is not something risky or suspicious for officials. After all, the number of such officials has almost doubled over the past two years,” comments Oleksiy Ivankin, founder of Opendatabot.
Context.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the mandatory verification of officials’ declarations has been temporarily canceled. Despite this, the obligation of officials to report on their property status and changes in it has not been canceled.
Last fall, the verification of declarations was resumed. Therefore, Ukrainian officials had to catch up with the previous period (2021 and 2022) by the end of January 2024.
The deadline for submitting declarations for 2023 remains the same – April 2024.
As a reminder, you can check your MP’s declaration using the Opendatabot. To do this, add the OpenDataBot to your favorite messenger and enter the name of the official.
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/crypto-officials-2022
Bitcoins, CRYPTOCURRENCY, cryptocurrency assets, CryptoDollars, Ethereum
Where do people get married and divorced the most in Ukraine?
More than 186 thousand marriages were registered in Ukraine in 2023, according to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. The number of divorces and prenuptial agreements has increased, but it is still less than before the start of the Great War.
186,051 marriages were registered through the registry office in Ukraine in 2023.
In the first year of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainians were actively marrying – 4% more than in 2021, when 214,013 couples got married. However, in 2023, the number of marriages dropped sharply – by as much as 16% over the year.
Overall, the number of new families has decreased by 1.6 times over the past 10 years.
The leader in the number of new marriages in 2023 was Kyiv – 21,802. This is 14% less than in 2021. Dnipropetrovs’k region is in second place with 18,816 marriages. Odesa region rounds out the top three with 13,740 new families.
The only region where the number of new families increased in the second year of the full-scale war was Kharkiv region: 10,977 marriages or +11%.
Compared to the period before the start of the great war, the number of new families increased in the central regions last year: Kirovohrad (+28%), Zhytomyr (+23%), and Cherkasy (+22%).
At the same time, in the west of the country, on average, 20% fewer couples got married: Ternopil (-24%), Zakarpattia (-23%), and Lviv (-20%). An anti-record was set in Chernivtsi region, where the number of new families decreased by as much as a third.
After a decline in the first year of the full-scale war, the number of divorces through registry offices increased again by 35%. 24,108 divorces were recorded last year. However, this is still 18.5% less than in 2021.
Kyiv is the leader not only in the number of marriages but also in divorces – 3,793 last year. The capital accounts for almost 16% of the total number of divorces through registry offices.
The number of divorces in 2023 increased significantly compared to 2021 in Ivano-Frankivsk region – +20%. In Odesa region, on the contrary, a quarter fewer married couples broke up last year than in 2021.
However, it should be understood that these statistics are not exhaustive. Only couples who do not have minor children or property claims against each other can dissolve their marriage at the registry office. In other cases, divorce takes place in court and can last for years.
The number of marriage agreements last year increased 1.6 times compared to the first year of the Great War. 2,586 agreements were concluded last year, a third less than in 2021.
Currently, there is 1 marriage contract for 72 marriages.
divorce, marriage through registry offices, marry, number of divorces through registry offices, number of marriage agreements, number of new marriages
Estimated number of population in regions of Ukraine based on number of active mobile sim cards (mln)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
Ukrainian companies in 2023 increased imports of copper and copper products in value terms by 2.2 times compared to 2022 – up to $140.795 million.
According to customs statistics released by the State Customs Service of Ukraine, exports of copper and copper products for this period decreased by 20.1% to $72.078 million.
In December, $20.856m worth of copper was imported and $6.906m was exported.
As reported, Ukrainian companies in 2022 reduced imports of copper and copper products in value terms by 64.3% year-on-year to $65.370 million, while their exports decreased by 56.3% to $90.245 million.
Polish farmers will block all border crossings as well as transport hubs between Poland and Ukraine from February 20, RMF FM writes.
“Not only border crossings will be blocked, but also transport hubs, access roads to railway transshipment stations and seaports,” a communiqué from the Solidarity farmers’ union said, as quoted by Poland’s RMF FM.
Earlier, on February 9, Solidarity announced a 30-day general strike by farmers.
Polish agrarians say they are protesting against the uncontrolled influx of goods from Ukraine into Poland due to the opening of borders by the European Union. It is pointed out that “the lack of regulation calls into question the profitability of agricultural production, processing and other agriculture-related industries.”
“Therefore, for February 20, as part of the 30-day general strike of farmers, we announce that all protests will be aimed at a complete blockade of all Polish border crossings with Ukraine and protests on the ground,” the farmers told Solidarity.
blockade of border crossings, Polish farmers, Polish farmers' strike
Number of refugees from Ukraine in selected countries as of 15.12.2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
