The status of a candidate member of the European Union will give impetus to a new trajectory of Ukraine’s GDP growth and a positive signal to investors, Andriy Hunder, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine (ACC), believes.
“The EU candidate status will kick-start a new GDP growth trajectory, while at the same time providing huge morale for post-war economic transformation and reform implementation. Such a move sends a positive signal to investors that Ukraine is moving in the right direction,” he said in a comment to the agency. Interfax-Ukraine.
“There is no future for transparent business in Russia. At the same time, companies will see Ukraine as a priority for post-war investment,” Gunder said.
He also expressed confidence that with a positive decision on such a status by the EU members, Ukraine will make every effort to implement all the necessary reforms as soon as possible. In particular, to introduce real and effective judicial reform, the rule of law, fair justice and the establishment of a level playing field for business.
“We will see a comprehensive approach to creating a strong state and a competitive economy,” Andrei Gunder stressed.
“The message on the status of Ukraine’s candidate for membership in the European Union is clear – Ukraine is returning home. Ukraine is returning to the European family of peoples, the values it shares, and, once and for all, is moving away from the yoke of Russia’s cruel suffocation,” he said.
Acceleration of Ukraine’s membership in the European Union by approximating national legislation in the field of competition, customs, healthcare, protection of intellectual property rights, media, etc. to EU legislation is one of the key priorities for member companies of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine for the post-war economic recovery of Ukraine, added the ACC President.
The total amount of indirect (indirect) losses inflicted on the agricultural industry of Ukraine as a result of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation amounted to $ 23.3 billion for the period from February 24 to June 9, while the country suffered the largest losses (51%) due to the blockade of its seaports to reduce the cost of agricultural products – $ 11.9 billion.
The relevant data was published on Wednesday in the analytical study “Overview of indirect losses from the war in agriculture in Ukraine”, prepared by the Center for Food and Land Use Studies of the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE Institute) in cooperation with the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.
The organization recalled that the day before it presented a study estimating the direct losses of the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine due to Russian aggression at $4.3 billion. According to the document, direct losses reflect the complete or partial destruction of tangible assets, while costs that producers are forced to bear because of the war.
It is noted that half of the indirect losses of the Ukrainian agro-industrial complex fell on the reduction in the cost of agricultural products due to its accumulation in the country caused by the blockade of Ukrainian seaports by the Russian fleet – $ 11.9 billion. Other factors were the reduction in crop production – $ 9.6 billion (43% of total losses) , an increase in the cost of production factors – $ 0.86 billion (4%), a reduction in the livestock sector – $ 0.68 billion (3%) and a reduction in the yield of perennial crops – $ 0.09 billion (> 1%).
“Due to the blockade of ports by the Russian Navy, Ukraine faced an oversaturation of the domestic market of export-oriented products and an almost fourfold increase in the cost of export logistics. This led to a decrease in prices within the country for the main export-oriented crops by more than 30%,” the statement says. in the KSE study.
As an example, the organization cites food wheat, the price of which in Ukraine on the terms of EXW (self-delivery) during the war with the Russian Federation decreased by 35% – from $297/ton to $192/ton, while over the same price period the world price for it increased post twice.
According to the study, the reduction in the wheat crop in 2022 is expected to be 33% compared to the baseline scenario, which corresponds to $2.03 billion of indirect losses, the reduction in the sunflower crop – 32% ($2.43 billion of indirect losses), barley – 31% ($0 .56 billion), corn – 18% ($1.29 billion). Lost income due to a reduction in the harvest of other crops is estimated at about $3.3 billion.
“With the start of the Russian invasion, Ukrainian agricultural producers also faced higher cost of production factors, including higher prices for fertilizers and fuel. The cost of fertilizers has increased by 37% since the beginning of the Russian invasion, while the price of diesel fuel has increased by about $0.39/liter. Total losses due to increased production costs are estimated at $859 million,” KSE stressed in the study.
According to her, the losses due to the reduction in the yield of perennial crops in 2022 are estimated at $89 million. Considering that it takes an average of five years before the fruiting period of new perennial plantations, indirect losses from the destruction of perennial plantations will amount to $222.4 million over five years.
“Calculation of indirect losses helps to understand not only the scale of the industry’s decline, but also the need for a full resumption of production. A significant part of the lost income was used to cover the costs of the subsequent sowing campaign and the purchase of feed for livestock. Without partial compensation for losses, farmers in the regions most affected by war, will not be able to resume production,” KSE quotes its expert Roman Neiter.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 22/06/22
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of June 22
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
PZU Ukraine Insurance Company (Kyiv) collected UAH 300.729 million in gross premiums in January-March 2022, which is 12.71% less than in the same period of 2021, Standard-Rating RA reports. , updating the company’s credit/financial stability (reliability) rating on the national scale at the level of “uaААА” based on the results of the specified period.
According to him, income from individuals of the insurer remained almost at the same level (increased by only UAH 12 thousand to UAH 208.440 million), and from reinsurers decreased by 26.55%, to UAH 6.405 million. Thus, the share of individuals in the gross premiums of the insurer increased by 8.81 percentage points to 69.31%, while the share of reinsurers decreased to 2.13%.
Insurance payments sent to reinsurers for the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021 decreased by 50.26%, to UAH 71.651 million. Thus, the coefficient of participation of reinsurance companies in insurance premiums decreased by 17.98 percentage points, to 23.83%.
The insurer’s net premiums increased by 14.28% to UAH 229.078 million, while earned insurance premiums increased by 34.89% to UAH 272.931 million.
During the reporting period, the company paid out UAH 183.737 million to its customers, which is 32.95% higher than the volume of insurance payments and indemnities made in the same period a year earlier. Thus, the level of payments increased from 40.12% to 61.1%, or by 20.98 percentage points.
According to the results of January-March of this year, IC “PZU Ukraine” received a net profit of UAH 25.352 million, which is 3.42 times higher than in the first quarter of last year.
As of March 31, 2022, the company’s assets decreased by 6.32%, to UAH 2.670 billion, equity increased by 0.49%, to UAH 829.536 million, liabilities decreased by 9.10%, to UAH 1.841 billion, cash and their equivalents increased by 154.96% to UAH 278.220 million.
Thus, as of the beginning of the second quarter of 2022, the company had a sufficient level of capitalization (45.06%), and 15.11% of its liabilities were covered by cash. At the same time, as of the reporting date, the company made financial investments in the amount of UAH 383.148 million, consisting of government bonds (73.01% of the investment portfolio) and deposits in banks with an investment grade credit rating (26.99% of the portfolio), which had a positive effect on its provision with liquid assets, the agency notes.
According to the report, IC PZU Ukraine has the support of one of the largest insurance groups in Central and Eastern Europe – PZU Group (which includes the parent company PZU PZU Ukraine – PZU S.A.).
Lawyers are looking for mechanisms to guarantee compensation for the losses inflicted by the aggressor on Ukrainian business, according to the results of a poll conducted by Interfax-Ukraine.
“The topic of losses and compensation is one of the most relevant among business and the legal community. Now, there is not a single guaranteed algorithm or tool for obtaining such compensation. Actually, not only Ukraine, but the whole world, for the first time in the last few decades, met with such a large-scale military conflict,” partner at Sayenko Kharenko law firm Olena Sukmanova said.
In her opinion, there may be two sources of such compensation in the future. In particular, these are compensations that can be paid to citizens and businesses by the Ukrainian state on the basis of specially adopted regulations, and compensations based on decisions of international or Ukrainian courts.
“In both cases, especially for businesses, it is very important to have enough evidence of damage and its causes,” the lawyer said.
In turn, Hleb Bialy, partner at Asters law firm, said that there is still no clear sequence of actions to record losses.
In particular, the procedure for determining the damage and damage caused to Ukraine due to the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, approved on March 22 by the Cabinet of Ministers, contains a definition of the concept of losses for individuals and legal entities, the state, as well as a list of types of damage in 18 areas, but does not regulate the issue of sequence actions to record them.
“Each case of damage can be unique depending on the nature and extent of the damage, the activities of the enterprise, etc. That is why it is very difficult to talk about a single clear algorithm of actions for recording them,” Bialy said.
He conditionally divided the sequence of recording the damage into three separate blocks: the state before the injury, the circumstances of the injury and the state after the injury.
Bialy advises, in case of damage, to record it as early as possible and as detailed as possible, indicating the source of evidence and information about the person who recorded it, to carry out the proper identification of witnesses, and also to trace the chain of evidence owners from the moment they are received to the moment they are submitted to the competent authority.
In addition, the lawyer recommends ensuring the authenticity of the evidence, not changing the evidence after it has been recorded, and taking care of the security of the evidence, providing for the creation of backup copies of it.
Bialy said that Ukrainian legislation lacks a clearly defined methodology for recording losses for intangible assets, as well as intellectual property.
“In our opinion, the best option for recording such losses may be to carry out actions that are usually performed when considering litigation – this may be an examination in the relevant areas or an independent assessment, etc.,” he said.
For their part, the experts of the law company Ri Group also said that a detailed and complete list and description of the damaged destroyed property will significantly speed up and facilitate the procedure for compensating for damages. In addition, they recommend collecting title documents for the property and making copies of them.
“You should not count on a projectile, bomb or rocket to bypass you. The enemy is acting insidiously and directs his aggression precisely at the civilian population. First of all, we advise you to collect title documents for property right now, as well as find checks, receipts, warranty certificates for household appliances, equipment, furniture, etc., make copies of them. It is better to keep all documents in one place with you,” Ri Group said.
The company believes that a detailed description with video and photography of real estate, vehicles, etc., to record the current state of the property, can be useful in establishing the market value of the property in the event of its destruction and will facilitate its assessment by an expert appraiser.
Lawyers of Ri Group advise in case of damage to property from enemy shelling, call the employees of the State Emergency Service to eliminate the consequences and draw up an appropriate act, get a copy of it, file a complaint about the crime with law enforcement agencies, providing evidence of property destruction, and get an extract from the unified register of pretrial investigations.
If the local administration is working, file an application for drawing up an act of inspection of housing and / or draw up an act of destruction on your own with neighbors and make photo and video recording of the destruction.
As reported, Gennady Borisichev, the founder of the Konkor law firm, believes that business should not only talk about compensation for the damage caused to it as a result of the Russian aggression, but also about compensation for all the damage caused. The lawyer drew attention to the fact that when assessing damage, it is necessary to follow government decree No. 326 of March 20, which establishes the procedure for determining the damage and damage caused to Ukraine as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation.
The lawyer emphasized that in the near future it is expected to adopt an appropriate methodology for assessing harm and approving acts to fix it.
In addition, he noted the need for a correct legal characterization of the actions resulting in damage, as this would affect the prospects for redress.
“War is not an ‘event’ such as a natural disaster or accident, nor is it a private conflict that results in harm. Business harm is just one of those severe consequences of war. Which, in turn, entitles a business to receive the status of the victim. That is, the use of such a legal approach allows us to involve the law enforcement agencies of the state in fixing the damage. This method of fixing the damage when assessing evidence both in Ukraine and in foreign jurisdictions will have certain advantages and allows you to attract the state to the side of the victim, “the lawyer explained .
Borisichev also stressed that the problem of compensation for damages caused by Russian aggression is not a common well-established practice for law firms, and there is no mechanism for enforcing decisions on claims for damages against the Russian Federation.
ASTERS, BIALY, COMPENSATION, DAMAGES CAUSED, SAYENKO KHARENKO, БОРИСИЧЕВ, КОНКОР, СУКМАНОВА
