The Convention on the Joint Transit Procedure (CCTP) or the so-called “customs visa-free” for Ukraine came into force on Saturday: goods are already flowing into and out of the country under such a procedure, the Ministry of Finance reported.
“Today, October 1, Ukraine entered into force and business opened up the possibility of international movement of goods with 35 other participating countries under one transit document,” the press release says.
The Ministry of Finance clarified that the first country from which the cargo was sent for delivery to Ukraine under the joint transit procedure was Germany: Ukrainian customs officers already see the T1 transit declaration in the NCTS electronic transit system and are waiting for the truck to arrive.
In Ukraine, the first transit declaration for leaving the country was also issued: according to it, the cargo now follows through Poland to Germany.
Currently, the system is also awaiting the arrival of goods at the customs office of departure and other declarations, according to which the goods will be placed under the joint transit procedure and delivered to the customs offices of destination on the territory of the countries participating in the Convention, the report says.
The Ministry of Finance recalled that in accordance with the “customs visa-free” for the delivery of goods from one country to another, a single transit document is submitted: from the customs office of departure to the customs office of destination. This speeds up the passage of customs formalities at the border and reduces the associated costs for businesses. According to the forecast of the Directorate General for Taxation and Customs Union of the European Commission (DG TAXUD), Ukraine can enter the top ten countries in terms of the number of transit declarations.
“Customs is responsible for controlling the goods. We in the EU are striving to spend less time for control at the border, and more inside the country. In Ukraine, so far, most goods travel without checking inside the country – all control work takes place directly at the border. Therefore, queues form at the border. NCTS solves most of this problem: it is possible to submit a declaration to the system in advance, after checking inside the country, to put the necessary seals that are recognized in the EU. Then at the border, you only need time to read the barcode number, as it is done in a supermarket,” summed up the international expert of the Program for Public Financial Management in Ukraine (EU4PFM) Vytenis Alishauskas.
Ališauskas, CUSTOMS, customs visa-free, MINISTRY OF FINANCE, TRANSIT
On Friday, the UK announced its decision to expand sanctions against Russia in the field of IT technologies, audit services, and engineering.
The government’s message notes that, in particular, in the IT sector, consulting services for the Russian Federation will now be prohibited. It is also prohibited “to provide legal services for transactions in a number of commercial areas.” Restrictive measures apply to the advertising sector, auditing.
“The UK also bans the export to Russia of approximately 700 items of goods that are important for Russian industry and technology development,” the statement said.
It also notes that the British authorities have decided to summon Russian Ambassador to London Andrey Kelin to the British Foreign Office.
The revenue of Arricano Real Estate Plc (Cyprus), a management company and developer of a number of shopping and entertainment centers (SECs) in Ukraine, for January-June 2022 amounted to $13.2 million, which is 22% less than the results of the first half of 2021.
According to unaudited interim results for the six months of 2022, published on the London Stock Exchange on Friday, the group’s operating profit from core activities before revaluation of investment property decreased by 27% compared to the first half of 2021 to $8.7 million.
As of June 30, 2022, the average occupancy rate was 98.4% (2021: 99.5%).
“Our operations have been drastically affected by Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. During four of the six months reviewed, the team and tenants operate under extremely stressful conditions, in which dedication, self-sacrifice and unconditional faith in our people and country are required to continue effective operations. Thanks to their often heroic efforts, we were able to continue our business during the first months of the crisis and are now well positioned to resume growth after the end of the war and to focus on our long-term goals,” Arricano CEO Anna Chubotina was quoted in the report as saying.
The revaluation of the investment property portfolio resulted in a loss of $91.1 million due to the multiple negative financial impact of the Russian invasion (for the first half of 2021 – $9 million).
The total value of the investment property portfolio decreased to $231.1 million, down 28.7% from the December 31, 2021 value of $323.9 million.
As of June 30, 2022, operating cash flow was $8.0 million, with the group’s cash balance of $12.6 million (December 31, 2021: $8.5 million).
Net asset value almost halved to $83.2 million as of June 30 from $163.8 million as of December 31, reflecting a portfolio revaluation.
According to the report, the number of visitors to the mall after the Russian invasion of Ukraine initially fell sharply. However, as the threat to Kyiv has receded, traffic has begun to recover, reflecting the return of people who migrated to safer parts of the country at the start of the war to their homes.
“We continue to see a positive trend of increasing monthly visitor numbers, which in turn has contributed to a partial resumption of sales and cash flow. The war has a significant impact on consumer behavior, resulting in a combination of reduced purchasing power and reduced consumer confidence, and this, in turn, turn, contributes to a reduction in sales. Compared to the same period last year, there was a decrease in revenue by 22%, but a positive trend has been observed since the end of the first half of the year,” Chubotin is quoted in the report.
Despite the events of the first half of the year, Arricano opened 19 new stores and establishments across the portfolio of shopping centers, including a mix of local and international brands: Ukrzoloto, Anabel Arto, Brand Shop, BraBraBra, Zolota Krajina, Provocator, Diverse, Yabloki, ODH , Sushi take out, Doner Market and Greek House. The total area of the opened stores is 988 sq. m. m.
As noted in the message, Arricano’s business is stable and trading activity has improved since the second half of the year.
“Given the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is difficult to predict the future; however, the company is well positioned to recover to previous levels after the end of the war. Until that time, Arricano will continue to support all of its tenants, teams and the mall community,” Chubotina assured.
Arricano Real Estate Plc specializes in the construction of shopping and entertainment centers and is one of the leading developers in the Ukrainian real estate market. Owns and manages five shopping centers in the country with a total area of 147.6 thousand square meters. m: “RayON” and “Prospect” in Kyiv, “Solar Gallery” in Krivoy Rog, City Mall in Zaporozhye. The company also owns 49.9% in the Sky Mall (Kyiv) and land plots for the further construction of three facilities that are at the design stage. The company is also building the Kyiv SEC Lukianivka.
As of September-2022, the shareholders of Arricano Real Estate Plc are Retail Real Estate O.U. together with Dragon Capital Investments Limited, Deltamax Group O.U., Yuri Pold and Rauno Teder. The total stake in Teder is 70.86%.
NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine is implementing in Lviv, together with the city council, a project for the construction of a CHP plant on wood chips, which is planned to be put into operation by February 2023.
“I am sure that by February the CHPP will be operational. It will take a few months instead of a year and a half. NAC helps with the implementation of this project both in financing and in development. several months,” Naftogaz head Yuriy Vitrenko said at a briefing during a visit to the Lviv region on Friday.
As the correspondent of “Energoreforma” reports, according to Vitrenko, the NAC, which is implementing a number of similar projects in Ukraine, is ready to support other cities in this direction. ‘We have an interest in investing in such projects in order to import less gas at enormous prices. The implementation of such projects is beneficial both economically and in terms of ecology,” Vitrenko explained.
At the same time, he noted that both the Lviv authorities and the NAC itself also have a number of agreements in order “to then attract funds from IFIs for such projects.”
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovoy noted that this would be the city’s first powerful thermal power plant running on alternative fuels, which would cover about a quarter of its heat needs. “We planned such a project with the EBRD for a long time, but according to their classical procedures, we could only start it next year. But the Russian aggression intensified the thought process so much that we came to an agreement with Naftogaz,” Sadovoy explained.
According to him, the participation of the national company, which is the market leader, gives more opportunities and priorities, including in obtaining equipment.
Based on the results of the competition, the Cabinet of Ministers selected Ward Howel Ukraine, Executive Search Ukraine and Pedersen & Partners to select applicants for the positions of members of the supervisory boards of the state-owned Oschadbank, PrivatBank and Ukreximbank (all from Kyiv), respectively.
According to a posting on the Cabinet’s website, the government also determined the terms of payment for the services of companies and the contract for the provision of these services.
It is indicated that the competitive selection was carried out by a commission created by the Ministry of Finance from among its employees, as well as representatives of international organizations involved with an advisory vote.
According to the law “on banks”, the Supervisory Board of the State Bank should consist of nine members, six of whom should be independent, and three – one representative of the president, the Cabinet of Ministers and the Verkhovna Rada.
On October 3, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) will conduct another exchange of non-cash currency for cash to reinforce banks’ cash desks, the regulator’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.
“On Monday, October 3, the NBU will once again carry out operations to exchange cash for non-cash currency. $100 million and EUR100 million will be offered for the exchange of a systemically important bank. The results of the operations will be made public on the day they are carried out,” the report says.
The press service noted that the previous activities of the bank had already had a positive effect, in particular, the number of banks participating in the relevant operations decreased, and the balances of foreign currency in cash in the system increased.
As reported, on September 7, the National Bank exchanged $100 million in cash for non-cash to banks, on September 12 – $100 million and EUR72 million, on September 19 and 27 – $100 million and EUR20 million each.
The regulator clarified that the operations of exchanging non-cash currency for cash will be carried out as long as it is necessary. The results of the relevant transactions will be published on the day of the transaction on Facebook and Telegram.
The NBU noted that such operations will not affect international reserves.
