The seventh package of EU sanctions will include Russian gas and an expanded list of banks, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said.
“The seventh package of sanctions against Russia is our priority. The EU has already begun work on it. New restrictions should apply to Russian gas and expand the list of banks that will be disconnected from SWIFT, in particular, Gazprombank,” he wrote on his Telegram channel. on Saturday evening with reference to the Deputy Foreign Minister of Poland, Pavel Yablonsky.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has completed its second mission to Chornobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) and the exclusion zone after completing planned nuclear safety activities, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
“This week’s combined IAEA safety, security and safeguards mission succeeded in achieving all its objectives, despite the significant logistical challenges in travelling and working in Ukraine. It was the third such mission to Ukraine since the conflict began and it will be followed by others in the coming weeks and month,” Grossi said.
“The Director General is now also continuing his efforts to organize an IAEA mission to Ukraine’s largest NPP, Russian-controlled Zaporizhia, to carry out important nuclear safety, security and safeguards activities at this site in the country’s south,” the IAEA said on its website.
“With respect to safeguards, the transmission of remote safeguards data to IAEA headquarters from the Zaporizhia NPP stopped on May 30. With the assistance of the operator (Energoatom), the IAEA is continuing technical attempts to re-establish the data transmission. The IAEA continues to receive safeguards data from its systems installed at the other three operational NPPs in Ukraine,” the report says.
At the same time, Adviser to the Prime Minister of Ukraine Yuriy Boiko noted that the IAEA’s efforts could be more active, in particular in the issues of liberation of Zaporizhia NPP from Russian occupation, and expressed opinion that it is impossible for its head to visit this station in such conditions.
The leader of the European Solidarity party, the fifth President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, will take part in the European Financial Congress in Sopot (Poland) on June 5-7.
“Petro Poroshenko is invited to speak to the participants of the event on the subject of the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine and to take part in a public discussion on the global consequences of the Russian war,” the European Solidarity press service said.
Within the framework of the Congress, a number of bilateral meetings between Poroshenko and representatives of European financial and business circles are planned, the press service noted.
The Cabinet of Ministers has published a resolution on the suspension of competitions for the heads and members of the supervisory boards of state-owned companies during martial law, except for Ukrenergo, NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy, Ukrhydroenergo, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, Boryspil International Airport and Energoatom, as well as members of the supervisory boards of state-owned banks.
As evidenced by government resolution No. 643 of May 31 on the governmental portal, the Cabinet of Ministers allowed the use of “technical means of communication,” including telephone and video conferences, to hold competitions for the heads of supervisory boards in state-owned companies that are especially important for the economy during martial law.
At the same time, the government suspended competitions for managers, heads of executive bodies and members of state-owned companies, which were announced before martial law, the document says.
The resolution also allows to appoint without competition, in agreement with the Cabinet of Ministers, heads and members of supervisory boards in state-owned companies of strategic importance for the economy and security of the state, whose asset value according to the latest financial statements or whose annual net income exceeds UAH 200 million, as well as enterprises important for the economy with assets over UAH 2 billion or an annual net income over UAH 1.5 billion.
At the same time, the Cabinet of Ministers obliged the relevant subjects of government to hold competitions for the heads and members of the supervisory boards, who were appointed outside the competitive selection, within three months after the abolition or termination of martial law, the document says.
The volume of foreign currency sales by the population of Ukraine in May exceeded the volume of its purchase by $262.2 million, which is higher than the April figure of $237.8 million, the National Bank of Ukraine reported.
According to the data on its website, “net” sales are still formed due to non-cash currency in the conditions of the almost complete ban on its purchase by the population introduced by the National Bank since the beginning of the war: in May, the volume of currency sales decreased to $244.1 million from $252.6 million in April and $375.3 million in March, while purchase volumes were $10.2 million compared to $8.6 million and $18.6 million, respectively.
In the cash market, the volume of transactions increased significantly due to the removal of the ceiling on the sale price of the currency by the National Bank. If in March-April banks sold to the population $72 million and $62.7 million, respectively, then in May – $216.9 million.
The volume of purchases of foreign currency from the population on the official market in May also increased – to $188.6 million from $68.8 million in April and $71.3 million in March.
At the same time, in general, in May, bank customers began to buy significantly more non-cash currency than to sell: “net” purchase amounted to $1,184 million compared to $421.2 million in April and $165 million in March.
In general, since the beginning of this year, the population has sold foreign currencies by $290.4 million more than they bought, while bank customers, on the contrary, bought it by $4.02 billion more than they sold.
According to the NBU data, the turnover on the official cash foreign exchange market tripled in May compared to March-April, but it is still 7 times lower than February, and 10 times lower than December.
The volume of sales of non-cash currency decreased by an average of half compared to pre-war levels, while the volume of purchases fell by almost two orders of magnitude.
NBU interventions in May rose to $3.4 billion from $2.2 billion in April, $1.78 billion in March, $0.31 billion in February and $1.31 billion in January.
The Credit Institution for Recovery (KfW) transferred EUR 150 million to the state budget of Ukraine on Friday for a 15-year loan with a five-year grace period, the Finance Ministry said.
“Today, another loan from the Credit Institution for Recovery (KfW) in the amount of EUR 150 million was transferred to the state budget of Ukraine. These loan funds were provided as co-financing of the Additional Financing of the Development Policy Loan in the Conditions of Emergency Economic Situation of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development,” — The Finance Ministry announced on its website on Friday.
The funds raised will be directed to social spending and spending in education and health, the ministry said.
