Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest Internet provider by subscribers, continues to secure its Home Internet service in case of power outages. In 2023, the company invested more than UAH 200 million to provide uninterruptible power supplies for Home Internet. It will invest an additional UAH 50-70 million by the end of February 2024. The provider also continues to actively launch GPON Internet in different cities of Ukraine.
Kyivstar employees started connecting the Home Internet network to uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) in October 2022 and will continue to do so to provide 700 thousand subscribers with Internet access even in the event of a power outage. This modernization will allow the Home Internet network to operate in the absence of power for up to 5 hours.
In total, the service users will be provided with equipment for uninterrupted operation in 44 cities of Ukraine. In total, the provider plans to cover more than 22.3 thousand addresses where UPS will be installed. 180 specialists are involved in the process of installing, checking and testing equipment throughout Ukraine.
Kyivstar also started connecting the Internet using GPON technology at the end of 2023. In 2024, the company plans to partially modernize and replace existing technologies with GPON in some cities. This connection technology is more energy efficient.
“In the context of short- and medium-term outages, GPON can provide consumers with Internet access for longer, including because we build lines from base stations with mobile diesel generators. And as long as we have the human resources and the ability to supply fuel and components to keep the generator running at the base station, users connected via GPON technology will have the Internet signal,” commented Sergiy Sukhoruk, Head of Fixed Line Communications.
About Kyivstar
Kyivstar is Ukraine’s largest electronic communications operator, serving more than 24 million mobile subscribers and more than 1.1 million Home Internet subscribers as of September 2023. The company provides services using a wide range of mobile and fixed technologies, including 4G, Big Data, Cloud solutions, cybersecurity services, digital TV, etc. Kyivstar helps subscribers, society and the country to overcome the challenges of wartime. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the company has allocated more than UAH 1.4 billion in aid for the humanitarian needs of the Armed Forces, society and subscribers. Kyivstar’s sole shareholder is the international VEON Group (headquartered in the Netherlands). The Group’s shares are listed on NASDAQ (New York) and Euronext (Amsterdam). Kyivstar has been operating in Ukraine for 25 years and is recognized as the largest taxpayer in the telecom market, the best employer and a socially responsible company.
ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, GPON, Home Internet, INVESTMENTS, KYIVSTAR
Number of vacancies as of 01.12.2023 (thousand units) according to data of state employment center
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
OTP Bank intends to become a hub for the distribution of grants from international financial partners and access to preferential lending programs for business. This was stated by Volodymyr Mudryi, Chairman of the Board of OTP Bank, at the conference “Finance for Business in Time of War” organized by the European Business Association and the Independent Association of Banks of Ukraine with the support of international donors – the USAID Project “Investing for Business Resilience” and the IFC Project “Asset Based Finance”, implemented in partnership with the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO).
“OTP Bank plans to become a hub for international grants for business, remaining a reliable partner for international financial institutions that play a crucial role in the resumption of lending. USAID, IFC, and EBRD have enormous capabilities and significant capacity. And we need to tell entrepreneurs about this as much as possible,” said Mr. Mudryi.
During the conference, V. Mudry called on the banking sector, international partners and the state to engage in an active dialogue on the implementation of joint projects to revive lending.
“If you look at the statistics, since July 2023, the loan portfolio of banks has been constantly growing. But we also know that a huge part of this growth is provided by government programs of subsidized loans “5-7-9%,” the banker emphasized.
In his opinion, the macro stability ensured by the NBU, the predictability of the exchange rate, inflation, GDP growth and bank liquidity encourage us to move to a new stage of cooperation for the development of the economy. “Our goal is to work out new approaches to further development of lending, financing and co-financing of entrepreneurs. And we cannot do it without direct dialog with business,” summarized V. Mudryi.
As a reminder, OTP Bank is already implementing a number of projects with international organizations. In particular, a grant program with the U.S. Agency for International Development USAID, under which it provides targeted financing to small and medium-sized businesses to replenish working capital. It also offers investment loans to SMEs with a possibility of reimbursement of up to 20% of the funds received under the program with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). OTP Bank cooperates with the International Finance Corporation IFC under the Risk Sharing Program agreement to provide financial support to enterprises in key sectors of the Ukrainian economy, especially in the agricultural sector and women-owned businesses.
Number of unemployed people registered in public employment service as of 01.12.2023 (in thousands)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
The State Enterprise “Horse Breeding of Ukraine” will expand the sale of horses in Ukraine and abroad, as well as focus on popularization of Ukrainian horse breeding, the State Property Fund (SPF) said on Facebook.
“It is important that the SE team clearly understands: to develop, it is necessary to use new modern approaches to the technology of keeping and breeding breeding horses and building an effective business model. That is why the enterprise is being actively renewed”, – emphasized Vitaliy Koval, Chairman of FGI.
According to the Fund, currently the SE “Horse Breeding of Ukraine” includes 10 stud farms, three breeding horse breeding centers and a hippodrome. The total number of horses is 1717. Due to the armed aggression of Russia four stud farms with 561 horses are under occupation. Breeding work is carried out with five breeds – Ukrainian riding horse, thoroughbred riding horse, Novoaleksandrovsk truck, Oryol trotter and prize trotter.
“GP’s breeders are in demand both in Ukraine and abroad. We popularize and promote the Ukrainian riding breed on the sport market. In the private sector, the Novo-Olekvandrovskaya paddlewheel breed is in demand. All assets in horse breeding (riding, trotting, vesovoznoe) we must not only preserve, but also make competitive on world markets and auctions,” – said the head of the production department of SE “Horse Breeding of Ukraine” Lesya Tkachenko, quoted in the message.
As reported, the Government of Ukraine in December 2010 reorganized not subject to privatization horse-breeding state enterprises in SE “Horse Breeding of Ukraine”. Before the beginning of the war in its permanent use was 54.1 thousand hectares of agricultural land, of which – 43.5 thousand hectares of arable land.
The SE “Horse breeding of Ukraine” included “Dnepropetrovsk stud farm #65”, “Zaporozhye stud farm #86”, “Alexandria stud farm #174”, “Onufrievsk stud farm #175”, “Limarovsk stud farm #61”, “Derkulsk stud farm #63”, “Novoalexandrovsk Horse Breeding Farm No. 64”, “Dibrovsk Horse Breeding Farm No. 62”, “Lozova Horse Breeding Farm No. 124”, “Odessa State Agricultural Hippodrome” and Kyiv Regional Enterprise for Breeding in Animal Husbandry”.
In addition, the new enterprise included “Streltsy Horse Breeding Farm No. 60”, “Pivdenkonecenter”, “Western State Regional Research and Production Breeding and Technology Center for horse breeding, state breeding stud farm “Olympic”, Lviv Hippodrome, Migoshchansky State Hippodrome, “Yaholnitsky Horse Breeding Farm”.
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
