The Supervisory Board of the insurance group “TAS” (Kiev) has decided to terminate the activities of the Volyn regional directorate, as well as Rivne and Kherson branches, the company reported in the information disclosure system of the National Commission for Securities and Stock Market. As it is specified, the decision was made in connection with the reorganization of the network of separate subdivisions.
Earlier SG “TAS” reported that it refuses the traditional system of separate subdivisions, because in the new conditions, this model does not fully meet the current requirements and is essentially outdated.
“2025 will be without exaggeration the year of cardinal changes in the insurance industry of Ukraine, which is associated primarily with the updated legislative framework, fundamentally changing the rules of the game for all participants and aimed at bringing the work of the domestic market to European standards. TAS Insurance Group has decided to transform its sales network into a partner network”, – noted in the group.
SG “TAS” was registered in 1998. It is a universal company offering its clients more than 80 types of insurance products for various types of voluntary and compulsory insurance. It has an extensive regional network: 28 regional directorates and branches and 450 sales offices throughout Ukraine.
Most companies expect the United States’ support for Ukraine to continue or increase (77%), while the rest predict its decrease (23%).
This is evidenced by the results of the survey “Doing Business in Military Ukraine. January 2025” by the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine (AmCham).
According to information on the website of the organization, when asked about the likelihood of a ceasefire in 2025, 61% of respondents said they believe it is possible, 31% – doubtful, and 8% – expect escalation on the front.
“85% of companies are fully operational and will continue to invest in Ukraine in 2025. This is a strong signal for those considering Ukraine as an investment destination. While 77% of businesses expect continued or increased US support, the momentum of Ukraine’s recovery is creating opportunities for forward-thinking investors,” AmCham President Andrei Gunder was quoted as saying by the organization.
It is emphasized that, compared to 2024, 53% of respondents forecast sales growth in 2025, with the majority expecting moderate growth of up to 15%. At the same time, 37% believe sales will remain at last year’s level, with 10% predicting a decline. Compared to the pre-war time, 39% of respondents expect growth, 34% – decline, and 27% – stability.
It is noted that investment in Ukraine remains a key priority for many companies. Despite difficult times, 35% of respondents plan to increase investments in 2025, while 48% plan to maintain them at the level of 2024. The European Union is expected to be the main source of investment (88%). This is followed by the United States (71%) and Asia (18%).
Regarding the location of employees and management, the survey showed that 45% of companies have employees in Ukraine, while 43% operate a hybrid model with employees in and outside Ukraine. In addition, 59% of management teams are based entirely in Ukraine, while 37% operate under a hybrid model.
According to the survey data regarding the economic forecast for 2025, it is cautiously optimistic. More than 40% of respondents expect growth in economic and business activity compared to 2024, almost 50% foresee stability, and 12% predict a decline.
The survey, conducted from January 8-16, 2025, surveyed 145 CEOs and senior executives of Chamber member companies across a variety of industries. Two-thirds of the respondents were CEOs.
As reported, in the previous survey conducted on December 5 among the participants of the annual meeting of members (AmCham) (230 respondents), more than three-quarters (77.8%) expected a ceasefire in 2025.
Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported that almost 68% of respondents expected newly elected US President Donald Trump to come to Kiev in 2025, almost two-thirds – 62.7% – expected the resumption of international flights to Ukraine in 2025.
TikTok is no longer available to users in the U.S., the result of a controversial law that forces the popular platform to go offline unless it separates from its Chinese owner, ByteDance, npr.org reported.
“When users tried to open the app around 10:35 p.m. ET, a message appeared saying, ‘Sorry, TikTok is currently unavailable. A law banning TikTok has gone into effect in the United States. Unfortunately, this means you cannot use TikTok right now.”
The post goes on to say that newly elected President Donald Trump has promised to “work with us on a solution to restore TikTok as soon as he takes office. Please stay tuned! ”
Around the same time, TikTok also stopped appearing in the Apple and Google Play app stores. A law recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Apple and Google to remove the service from their app stores. It also ordered web hosting companies, including TikTok’s internal cloud provider, Oracle, to stop supporting the app. Otherwise, they will face penalties that could reach billions of dollars.
Jarek Neverovic, former Lithuanian energy minister and chief advisor to the Lithuanian president on environment and infrastructure issues, has become chairman of the supervisory board of Energoatom, a source in the government told the Energoreforma Internet portal. Neverovic is an independent member of Energoatom’s National Assembly, which was formed back in June 2024, but has not been fully operational until now.
He has held various positions in his country’s government related to the operation of the electricity transmission system, management of investment funds and cooperation with national and multinational corporations.
According to Forbes.ua, citing its sources in Enerhoatom, another independent member of the National Assembly, Timothy Stone, refused to sign a contract, but is considering being an advisor.
As reported, Stone has experience as an independent director of the British Horizon Nuclear Power, a non-executive director of the European Investment Bank and heads the UK Nuclear Industry Association (NIA).
Prior to that, the fact that the supervisory board of Energoatom on Friday, January 17, elects its chairman and will begin full work, Energy Minister German Galushchenko said.
“The issue of corruption, I think, will be solved….. Today the chairman of the supervisory board (“Energoatom” – ER) is already being fully elected. Accordingly, there will be a functioning supervisory board that will monitor all decisions that will be made. From the point of view of corporate governance, I think this is the best way out,” he said during the ‘Hour of questions to the government’, which is broadcast by MP Oleksiy Honcharenko (European Solidarity faction).
The Cabinet of Ministers approved Timothy Stone (Timothy John Stone), Michael E. Kirst and Jarek Neverovic as independent members of the supervisory board of Energoatom by order No. 566 of June 21, 2024, and Timofey Milovanov and Vitaliy Petruk as representatives of the state.
Since then, the Supervisory Board has not fully started its work. Interfax-Ukraine sources specified that the independent members were not satisfied with the amount of remuneration.
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the terms of contracts with members of the NAEK’s supervisory board by Order No. 1224 of November 26, 2024, without disclosing details.
In December of the same year, First Deputy Economy Minister Oleksiy Sobolev said that the government was waiting for a position on the contracts and readiness to continue work from the independent members of Energoatom’s supervisory board, whose first meeting has been open since July 17. According to him, the proposed conditions are in line with salaries in other major Ukrainian energy companies.
In early January 2025, Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak (Golos faction) suggested that international partners should be involved in the discussion of the disruption of the NAEK Energoatom supervisory board.
The EU ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Maternova, said in a reply to a letter of inquiry from the Interfax-Ukraine news agency on 14 January that the G7 ambassadors had urged Prime Minister Denys Shmygal to ensure the work of the supervisory board of the NAEK Enerhoatom as soon as possible. According to her, having a full-fledged council will be important for discussing significant new investments.
A small wet snow is expected on Sunday, January 19, in the east, at night and in the south-east of Ukraine, in the rest of the territory without precipitation.
According to Ukrhydrometcenter, at night and in the morning in the western regions in some places fog, on the roads icy. The wind is north-western, 7-12 m/s.
The temperature at night from 2° warm to 3° frost, in the Carpathians 2-7° frost; in the afternoon 1-6° warm, in the eastern and Sumy regions about 0°.
In Kiev on January 19 without precipitation. The wind is north-westerly, 7-12 m/s. The temperature at night is about 0°, during the day 3-5° warm.
According to the Central Geophysical Observatory named after Boris Sreznevsky, in Kiev for all the time of meteorological observations, the highest temperature on January 19 was 9.8 ° in 2007, the lowest -23.0 ° in 1942.
On Monday, January 20, in Ukraine without precipitation. At night in the western regions on the roads in places icy. The wind is north-western with a transition to southeastern, 5-10 m/s.
The temperature at night from 2° warm to 3° frost, on the Left Bank up to 5° frost; during the day 1-6° warm, in Transcarpathia, Prykarpattya and the south of the country up to 10°.
In Kiev on January 20, the wind is northwest with a transition to southeast, 5-10 m/s. The temperature at night is about 0° warm, during the day 3-5° warm.
The National Bank of Ukraine has strengthened the official hryvnia-dollar exchange rate by 1 kopeck after the official hryvnia-dollar exchange rate was raised by 9 kopecks on Wednesday, according to the regulator’s website. – to 42.1729 UAH/$1, according to data on the regulator’s website.
The NBU set the reference rate at 12:00 Thursday at 42.1971 UAH/$1 against 42.2650 UAH/$1 a day earlier.
On the cash market, the dollar exchange rate fell by 21 copecks when buying – to UAH 42.61/$1, and when selling – by 17 copecks. – to UAH 42.70/$1.
In turn, analysts of the currency exchange market operator “KIT Group” for the near future predict the hryvnia exchange rate to remain in the corridor of 42-43 UAH/$1, looking at the stabilization process after a seasonal surge in demand for currency at the end of 2024.
“Low economic and business activity in January will contribute to the stability of the exchange rate on a short horizon. Evidence of this is the spread between the rates of buying and selling of the dollar: it remains relatively stable, which indicates the balance of supply and demand in the foreign exchange market of Ukraine”, – analysts note in the January review-forecast of the situation in the foreign exchange market.
According to their expectations, during the first half of the current 2025 hryvnia is very likely to weaken to 44 UAH/1$, which is fully consistent with the government’s budget forecast for this year.
“Avoidance of exchange rate extremes during the first half of the year will allow the National Bank and the economic block of the government to keep the exchange rate reserve to keep within the projected parameters of the average annual rate of UAH 45/$ according to the results of the current year”, – emphasize the experts of ‘KIT Group’.
At the same time, in their opinion, controlled devaluation may become one of the tools to fill the budget at the expense of duties and other fixed charges in foreign currency, including some excises.
