Ukraine’s largest mobile operator Kyivstar has partially restored fixed-line services after a large-scale failure at 20:00 on Tuesday, the company promised to complete the restoration of other services during the day on December 13.
“As of 20:00 on December 12, the work of fixed-line services has been partially restored. Now the company’s specialists are working on the restoration of other services and are doing their best to finally complete this work during December 13, 2023. Restoration of services may occur gradually, about which we will inform additionally”, – stated in the message of the press service of “Kyivstar”.
The attack on the company on Tuesday in Kyivstar called “the largest hacker attack in the history of the global telecom market”. They also assured that the company’s specialists started resuming services without delay.
“Kyivstar” expressed gratitude to law enforcement agencies, state services, Security Service of Ukraine for the immediate response and professional assistance in solving the unprecedented situation.
Also, on behalf of the entire Kyivstar team thanked for the understanding and support of subscribers, colleagues in the telecom market, and corporate customers.
The company assured that after the stabilization of the network operation all subscribers and corporate clients, for whom Kyivstar services were unavailable as a result of the hacker attack, will receive compensation.
A government bill on lobbyism will be registered in the Verkhovna Rada in the near future, the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, has said.
“The recommendation of the European Commission was that we need to adopt a law on lobbyism in accordance with European standards… Already now the government has developed the necessary bill. I think it will be registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in the coming week,” Stefanchuk said in an interview with the We-Ukraine TV channel, which broadcast a national telethon on Tuesday.
According to the speaker, there will be no problems with the adoption of the bill and it will take into account all the recommendations of the European Commission.
He recalled that four draft laws on lobbyism had already been registered in parliament.
The National Bank of Ukraine has excluded one pawnshop, three financial companies and one credit union from the State Register of Financial Institutions due to the cancellation of all available licenses. The following companies were excluded from the state register: Novy Lombard LLC @VERS and Company, Suplayerplus Ukraine LLC, Valta Group FC LLC, Fastlane FC LLC.
In addition, the NBU revoked the licenses for financial services activities and excluded CS Alternative from the State Register of Financial Institutions on the basis of its own application.
KC “Alternativa” had two licenses to provide financial services: to lend funds, including on the terms of a financial loan, and to attract financial assets with an obligation for their subsequent repayment.
The volume of CC assets as of October 1, 2023 amounted to UAH 2,112 million (0,15% of the total volume of the credit union market).
Such decisions were made by the Committee for Supervision and Regulation of Non-Banking Financial Services Markets at its meeting on December 8, 2023.
Fastlane FC LLC, LLC @VERS and Company, Novy Lombard, Suplayerplus Ukraine LLC, The National Bank of Ukraine, Valta Group
Kyivstar specialists and our partners have done everything possible to restore the network from the consequences of an unprecedented cyberattack for the global telecom.
As of 18.00 on 13.12.2023, our specialists have started to restore voice communication throughout Ukraine. The restoration of services will be gradual, so short-term difficulties are still possible until the end of the day. In this case, we recommend that subscribers restart their phones and disable the VoLTE service in the phone settings.
Currently, the company’s specialists are working to restore data and SMS services and we hope that they will also be restored within a day.
After the network is fully restored and stabilized, Kyivstar will start preparing and providing compensation to all subscribers and corporate clients who could not use the company’s services due to the hacker attack.
Dear friends, we are incredibly grateful for your support! We continue to work 24/7 to keep Ukraine connected
The cargo turnover of the Danube Region seaports in January-November 2023 reached 29.4 million tons, which is more than double the figure for the same period in 2022 (14.5 million tons), said Yuriy Lytvyn, Chairman of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, at the final meeting of the team of the Ministry of Community, Territorial and Infrastructure Development on Tuesday.
According to Lytvyn, the number of vessels handled in the Danube ports in 11 months of this year increased by 68.6% – from 8,944 thousand to 13,045 thousand, while in 11 months of 2021 there were 3,252 thousand.
The Head of USPA clarified that almost half of the cargo turnover – 14.1 million tons – was grain, another 2.6 million tons – vegetable oil, 1.9 million tons – oil products, 1.7 million tons – ore, and another 9 million tons – other cargo.
He also noted that in 11 months of 2013, 23 new terminals and 20 new transshipment points were opened in the Danube ports, and the number of pilots increased from 14 to 78.
The conference noted that the Ukrainian corridor under the control of the Ukrainian Navy in the Black Sea ports of Greater Odesa (Odesa, Chornomorsk, Pivdennyi), which became fully operational in August-September, handled 6.4 million tons of cargo as of November, including 4 million tons in November.
Lytvyn added that in the first 11 months of 2023, all Ukrainian ports handled 52.8 million tons of cargo, up from 45.6 million tons in 2022, including 47.9 million tons of exports and 4.6 million tons of imports.
NovaPay payment system is launching a beta version of a mobile application that will allow customers to open a payment account, issue a virtual card, and conduct financial transactions with it.
“Customers will receive a 20% discount, which can be used to pay for shipments, parcel receipt, and cash on delivery. At the same time, all the usual money transactions and quick registration are available in the app,” the company explained in a press release on Wednesday.
According to NovaPay, account opening, maintenance, payments, transfers, and cash withdrawals up to UAH 100 thousand are now free of charge, while only domestic payments and transfers are available.
“…it is not yet possible to pay abroad with a NovaPay card, pay for goods on foreign websites, or pay for services of companies not registered in Ukraine,” the release says.
It is noted that the application allows you to make transfers to cards and accounts using the details, issue parcels on credit (through the subsidiary NovaPay Credit LLC – IF-U), pay for utilities, replenish your mobile account, receive cash on delivery for parcels on the card, and send a transfer from the card to a Nova Poshta branch.
According to the release, in order to use the NovaPay app, customers need to register with Diia, and soon it will be possible to do so at Nova Poshta (NP) outlets.
In addition, through the app, you can order a plastic payment card from MasterCard and receive it at the nearest branch or post office with free delivery.
“This became possible thanks to an extended license from the NBU; currently, NovaPay is the only Ukrainian fintech company to have received it. The limited beta version is already available for download on Google Play,” the press service summarized.
Founded in 2001, NovaPay is an international financial service that is part of the Nova Poshta group of companies and provides online and offline financial services in more than 3,500 NP branches. According to its website, the company employs about 13 thousand people in 24 branches across Ukraine.
According to the NBU, the company accounts for 35% of total domestic money transfers and is the leader in domestic money transfers, but the share of transfers made through it has decreased from 45% in May-December 2022.
