The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) after weakening the official hryvnia exchange rate on Thursday by 14 kopecks on Friday lowered it by another 23 kopecks. – to 39.3990 UAH/$1, which is a new historic low.
As one of the market participants told Interfax-Ukraine news agency, by the end of trading, quotations in the Bloomberg system reached 39.45 UAH/$1 to 39.465 UAH/$1, while the volume of transactions rose to almost $160 million from $123 million the day before.
The reference value of the national currency exchange rate, set by the NBU at 12:00, weakened by 25 kopecks on Friday. – to UAH 39.3489/$1.
In the cash market, the national currency exchange rate on Friday fell by only 4 kopecks. – to UAH 39.49/$1, although during the day it reached UAH 39.55/$1.
Despite the weakening of the official hryvnia exchange rate to a new historic low, the net sale of dollars by the National Bank fell this week to $377.1 million from $454 million a week ago and $652.7-680.4 million in the previous two weeks.
The NBU website indicates that the sale of foreign currency by the regulator decreased to $378.3 million from $483.6 million a week earlier, while the purchase – to $1.3 million from $29.6 million.
As reported, the NBU’s net sales rose to $1.79bn in March from $1.51bn in February, but given the jump in external revenues to a record level of almost $9bn, international reserves increased by 18% or $6.7bn in March to a record level of $43.76bn.
In January, the NBU lowered the forecast of Ukraine’s international reserves at the end of 2024 to $40.4 billion from $44.7 billion and to $42.1 billion from $45 billion at the end of 2025.
The Auction Commission has set the starting price of privatization of the state share (66.65%) in the authorized capital of LLC Investment Union Lybid, which owns Ocean Plaza shopping mall, at UAH 1.65 billion, the press service of the State Property Fund (SPF) reported.
According to the report, the starting price and terms of sale should be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, FGI will prepare a draft of the relevant decision.
After the government approves the starting price, the date of the auction will be set, the agency said. The state share in the authorized capital will be put up for electronic auction in the system “Prozorro.Sales”.
As reported, the FGI plans to hold an auction on privatization of shopping mall Ocean Plaza in the second half of the year.
Ocean Plaza shopping mall was opened in Kiev in December 2012 on Antonovycha Street, 176. Its total area is 165 thousand sq. m. Investments in the facility amounted to about $300 mln. UDP Company and K.A.N. Development LLC acted as partners in the development of the project.
The mall was sold to Arkady Rotenberg’s Russian TPS-Nedvizhimost in 2012. Later, in 2019, Ukrainian businessman Vasyl Khmelnytsky indirectly through UPD Holdings Limited acquired a 33.5% stake in Ocean Plaza mall. In 2021, he sold his stake to entrepreneur Andrey Ivanov. The deal was finalized in summer 2023.
In June 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers transferred to the FGI a 66.65% stake in the authorized capital of Investment Union Lybid LLC, which owns the shopping mall, for further privatization.
AUCTION, Ocean Plaza shopping mall, STATE PROPERTY FUND, ЛИБІДЬ, ФГИ
NAEK Energoatom and the American company Westinghouse started the project of KNPP-5 and KNPP-6 construction using AR1000 technology.
The project launch ceremony was held on April 11 at the Khmelnytsky nuclear plant site with the participation of U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink and Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko (information is delayed for security reasons).
As Energoatom Acting Chairman Petro Kotin noted at the ceremony, the AR1000 is a proven Reactor III with unique fully passive safety systems, modular standard design, industry-leading performance and maneuverability.
“It is a more advanced and safer technology than the ones we currently operate. It is a new step towards a more modern, reliable and safe energy industry. And it is in Ukraine that Europe’s first power unit based on AR1000 technology will be built. It will be KNPP-5,” Kotin said.
“We are proud that we will join the history that Ukraine is making in the energy sector. We can already say that our cooperation is the wedding of the year,” Patrick Fragman, President and CEO of Westinghouse Electric Company, pointed out.
He emphasized that it is an improved technology with increased efficiency, and the unit itself is compact and lower cost compared to others.
“Here at the KNPP site, we note that the heavy equipment, which takes the longest to manufacture, is now ready, and this will significantly accelerate the construction schedule. Thanks to the assistance of the US government and the fact that the main agreements have been signed, it will be even faster,” he emphasized.
Fragman added that the AR1000 reactor is designed to operate for 60 years, but he said it is likely to be longer.
“These units provide a balancing act. This is a special feature of the American AR1000 technology. Now Russian aggressors are destroying Ukraine’s balancing capacity, and if we already had such a nuclear power unit, we could maneuver it and accordingly perform important functions for the energy system,” Galushchenko stressed.
“This is a project for the next long years. The US is set for fruitful cooperation with Ukraine… We are trying together with the US Congress to support you not only within the framework of armed aggression, but also economically,” Brink emphasized.
As for the sources of financing the project, according to Kotin, the company could provide it on its own, as it has large profits, but the lion’s share of them goes to cover the tariff for electricity for the population (PEP).
“Energoatom spent 128 billion UAH of net profit on the PCO in the previous year. If the company is exempted from the PCO, we will have $3 bln of profit for which we can build the unit. If not, we are talking about loans,” Kotin told reporters after the ceremony.
He added that the construction period of one block is tentatively 4-5 years, and its cost is about $5 billion.
As reported, on December 17, 2023 in Kiev, the head of Energoatom Petro Kotin and Westinghouse CEO Patrick Fragman signed a contract for the purchase of a reactor unit for Ukraine’s first nuclear power unit based on AP1000 technology.
The Polish Trade Inspectorate for Quality of Agricultural and Food Products (IJHARS) in Rzeszów has issued a decision to ban the circulation on the Polish market of two batches of biscuit cakes with a total weight of 10.55 thousand tons imported from Ukraine.
As the inspectorate said in a post on social network X on Monday, the decision was made due to incorrect labeling.
The decision was immediately enforced.
As reported, the IJHARS on April 9 in Rzeszów issued a decision to ban the circulation on the Polish market of three batches of baranques with a total weight of 5.34 thousand tons imported from Ukraine.
A few days earlier in Lublin, three batches of ice cream with a total weight of 8.48 tons imported from Ukraine were withdrawn from the Polish market due to defrosting.
In early April, the Polish Trade Inspectorate announced the largest fine in its history of 1.5 million zlotys (about $380 thousand) imposed on an importing company for importing 11.5 thousand tons of technical rapeseed and fodder wheat to the Polish market from Ukraine as counterfeit due to their subsequent use as food. In addition, decisions were taken to prohibit the import of 57.66 tons of tomato paste from Ukraine due to the presence of mold.
IJHARS chief inspector Przemysław Rzodkiewicz said in March that over the past year, 1.4% of batches of products from Ukraine inspected by the commission at the border were rejected.
From April 24 to May 7, 2024, Sweden will host the European Festival: Ukrainian Spring, which this year will bring together 12 cultural events. Stockholm will host a variety of events that reflect Ukraine’s interaction with the European cultural context in different ways.
The concept of the festival is to present Ukraine as an integral part of the common European cultural heritage. This connection is emphasized by the festival’s slogan: “Reflections in each other’s eyes – Ukraine in Europe and Europe in Ukraine.”
The organizers are convinced that today the ultimate goal of all cultural events dedicated to Ukraine abroad should be to focus public attention on Ukraine’s struggle and victory in the war unleashed by Russia. And the primary task is to once again remind people of the need for increased assistance to protect us from the aggressor.
Therefore, this year, each of the 12 days of the festival will be dedicated to one of the Ukrainian artists who went to defend their country and died at the front.
Business associations under the auspices of the Ukrainian Business Council are asking to finalize the government’s updated draft law on the Economic Security Bureau (#10439), as it leaves unaccounted for important proposals that jeopardize the reboot of the BEB.
“The most critical of the unaccounted proposals is the composition of the competitive commissions for the recertification of personnel and the mechanism for conducting the recertifications,” the 17 associations said in a statement circulated Thursday.
In their opinion, the detailed mechanism of re-certification should be set out in the draft law, and the commissions themselves should have a predominant voice of international experts who have an impeccable reputation and are well versed in the problems of law enforcement agencies.
Among other ignored proposals, the business pointed out the strengthening of the analytical function of the Bureau by providing free access for the BEB to existing state information systems and establishing criteria for the effectiveness of the work of the renewed BEB and their constant monitoring.
In addition, the appeal notes, it is important to limit access to positions in the BEB to persons with a dubious reputation based on the principle of reasonable doubt, given the small number of corruption cases that have resulted in convictions.
It is also crucial to retain in the final version of the draft the right to an overwhelming vote of international experts when electing the chairperson of the OIE, the document says.
In addition, in order to establish safeguards against unlawful pressure on business by law enforcement agencies, simultaneously with the reset of the BEB, the business requires amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure regarding the introduction of standards of prosecutorial activity, limiting the powers of the National Police and the BEB in terms of assigning instructions to SBU operatives, ensuring the possibility of appealing to the investigating judge against any actions or inaction of the investigator, inquirer, prosecutor.
In addition, the business proposes to introduce a ban on reopening proceedings on the same grounds and seizure of material assets not specified in the ruling of the investigating judge, to establish responsible storage and immediate return to the owners of seized property after the decision, to select a reasonable level of bail and interim measures.
Among other requirements – to impose on investigating judges the obligation to verify compliance with the requirements of jurisdiction and to return the terms of pre-trial investigation and the procedure for their extension in actual criminal proceedings, except for serious and especially serious crimes, referred to the jurisdiction of NABU.
At the same time, the associations noted that the updated government bill on the BEB took into account a number of proposals of the business community, in particular, the election of applicants for the post of the head of the Bureau by a commission with a predominant vote of international experts, immediate recertification of all employees of the Bureau and audit one year and three years after the appointment of a new head.
According to the forecast of Yaroslav Zheleznyak, the first deputy of the Rada’s specialized committee, the bill #10439 will be put to a vote in the first reading as early as Thursday.
BILL, BUSINESS ASSOCIATION, ECONOMIC SECURITY BUREAU, UKRAINE, БЕБ
