Estonian company Nortal, which is engaged in strategic consulting and technology implementation, has bought the Skelia IT company along with its offices in Eastern Europe, Dragon Capital said in a press release.
“Skelia has established itself as an international leader in building dedicated technology teams in areas where customers want to remain in control of the development process while experiencing the stability of a premium team and quality of service. Their strong presence in western Ukraine and Poland will provide Nortal with an excellent platform for growth. Together, we can further expand our business across geographies and time zones while strengthening our offering and serving customers across the full spectrum of their needs,” Nortal CEO and Founder Priit Alamäe was quoted as saying.
As noted, the companies will focus on creating new synergies and value for customers, as well as creating additional opportunities for Skelia employees in Poland and Ukraine, which will now become part of Nortal.
“By joining forces, Nortal and Skelia will leverage each other’s complementary and individual strengths, as well as provide new career opportunities for our global combined team of more than 1,700 people. Nortal brings us a wealth of experience in building end-to-end solutions and products. This greatly complements Skelia’s longstanding business of building over 200 sustainable cross-border IT and engineering organizations for leading companies in Europe, the UK, the Nordics and the US,” Skelia CEO and co-founder Patrick Vandewalle was quoted as saying.
The amount of the agreement is not reported.
Skelia was founded in 2008 and currently employs over 350 people, primarily in Ukraine and Poland. Skelia serves clients in 10 countries and operates through a network of offices in the Benelux countries, Poland, Ukraine and the USA.
Nortal was founded in 2000. The company has more than 1.4 thousand employees and has 20 offices in Europe, the USA and the Middle East.
Dragon Capital acted as an advisor to Nortal on this deal. Oaklins Sweden acted as an advisor to Skelia.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 26/05/22
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of May 26
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) will keep the current fixed exchange rate for the time being, Deputy Head of the Regulator Yuriy Heletiy said.
“For the time being, we keep everything as it is. A fixed exchange rate helps to contain the rate of price growth and meet the needs of the economy, which is slowly recovering. We will continue to monitor the situation on the market,” he said in an interview with Forbes.ua.
He added that the NBU is ready to consider refusing to fix the exchange rate if the uncertainty associated with hostilities decreases, in particular, the end of the hot phase of the war, as well as the stabilization of foreign exchange earnings and the improvement of the situation on the financial market.
In addition, although in the long term a fixed exchange rate has more disadvantages, in particular, it creates economic imbalances, reduces the competitiveness of Ukrainian producers, but it is necessary at present because it prevents panic, protects savings from hryvnia devaluation and reduces the cost of critical imports, Heletiy explained.
“At the same time, a floating exchange rate is not an end in itself, it is a means of achieving macro-financial stability,” the deputy head of the NBU specified.
As reported, on February 24, the National Bank suspended the work of the foreign exchange market of Ukraine, except for the sale of foreign currency, and fixed the exchange rate at the official level of that day – UAH 29.2549/$1, which led to the emergence of a “black” market, where in the first days the exchange rate reached 39-40 UAH/$1.
Later, the regulator allowed the sale of currency in branches under the threat of capture by the occupiers, by decision of their management, and from May 21, it canceled the upper limit of both the rate of selling cash currency by banks in Ukraine and the rate of converting the hryvnia into foreign currency on their cards outside the country. Previously, the ceiling for such an exchange rate was the official hryvnia exchange rate fixed on the first day of the war plus 10%, or UAH 32.18/$1. The ceiling for other currencies was calculated at the cross rate against the dollar.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) intends to invest $1 billion in 2022 and is ready to finance NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy, said Bank President Odile Renault-Basso.
“We intend to continue investing $1 billion this year and we are focused on supporting key infrastructure such as the power grid (Ukrenergo), we are reserving a Naftogaz credit line to support their working capital and liquidity,” she said during the discussions at the Ukrainian House in Davos as part of the World Economic Forum on Wednesday.
The EBRD intends to offer an investment plan to support these companies and the private sector in general, provide credit lines for agribusiness and pharmaceuticals and not only, she added.
“We also plan to work with municipalities to help internally displaced people,” said Renaud-Basso.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed law No. 2246-IX (previously bill No. 7264 on uninterrupted production and supply of agricultural products during martial law), adopted by the Verkhovna Rada as a whole on May 12.
The relevant information was published on the parliamentary website on Wednesday.
As reported, the Verkhovna Rada simplified the export, import and transit of agricultural products to Ukraine during martial law, which will expand farmers’ access to fertilizers and genetic material of farm animals, as well as support the Ukrainian organic industry.
“The task of the state is to simplify farming under martial law as much as possible and reduce the bureaucratic burden on business and government bodies. This applies, in particular, to the state registration of pesticides and agrochemicals, which is extremely important during the spring sowing campaign in 2022. Also it is important to support niche sectors of agriculture and organic production,” the explanatory note to the document states.
Law No. 2246-IX abolishes until the end of martial law and for 90 days after its cancellation the state registration of agrochemicals imported into Ukraine, including some types of nitrogen fertilizers, ammonium nitrates, ammonia in aqueous solution, thiosulfates, potassium, calcium and aluminum phosphates, borates, chelate zinc and a number of other mineral fertilizers.
In addition to the simplified import of such types of fertilizers, the bill cancels the state registration procedure for their production, sale, use and advertising.
The law also allows producers of organic products to use the label “organic”, “biodynamic”, “biological”, “ecological”, “organic” until July 1, 2024, even if they are not operators of organic products in accordance with law 2496-VIII on turnover organic products.
This initiative allows Ukrainian producers of organic products that were producing according to EU standards, but did not meet the status of an operator of organic products according to Ukrainian standards, to switch to Ukrainian production standards without an additional transition period. It also allows them to qualify for government support.
The document expands the list of entities that can take samples and conduct phytosanitary examination, in particular, introduces until the end of martial law and by 90 after its cancellation a simplified procedure for involving employees of private laboratories in the examination, and also authorizes agronomists-inspectors to conduct such inspections to conduct an audit on certification.
In addition, Law No. 2246-IX allows the import to Ukraine of cargoes with live animals in transit through countries where there are cases of disease from the list of the International Epizootic Bureau (OIE). This will allow the Ukrainian livestock industry to access modern breeding genetic material from the EU countries and expand the diversity of breeding material of agricultural animals in Ukraine.
ANIMALS, FERTILIZERS, IMPORT, LAW, PHYTOSANITARY CERTIFICATES
