Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of January 25
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
Ukraine received 32 points out of 100 possible in the Corruption Perceptions Index in 2021 and ranked 122nd out of 180 countries, Transparency International Ukraine says. “Ukraine scored 32 points out of 100 possible in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2021. Our indicator has decreased by one point, and now Ukraine ranks 122nd out of 180 countries in the CPI,” Transparency International Ukraine said on its website.
“The African state of Eswatini (Swaziland) is next to Ukraine. Zambia, Nepal, Egypt, the Philippines, and Algeria are one point ahead – with 33 points each,” the report says.
Comparing to its neighbors, Ukraine continues to be only ahead of Russia — the aggressor neighbor also lost 1 point and now ranks 136th in the list with 29 points. In addition, Hungary’s scores have decreased to 43 points (down 1 points, ranking 73rd). Belarus has lost as many as 6 points this year and ranks 82nd with 41 points,” it says.
“This year, Finland has joined the permanent leaders of the CPI Denmark and New Zealand; these three countries are now heading the Corruption Perceptions Index with 88 points. Somalia, Syria, and South Sudan remain at the bottom of the list,” according to the document.
“This decrease within the margin of error indicates a period of stagnation. The authorities are delaying the fulfillment of many important anti-corruption promises. On the one hand, a significant part of the anti-corruption reform was restored after the decision of the Constitutional Court in 2020, and basic laws were adopted to restart the HQCJ and the HCJ. On the other hand, there are still negative practices that invalidate the achievements – such as interference in the Tatarov’s case, delaying the election of the SAPO leadership, excluding certain public procurement tenders for the Constitution Day and the Independence Day from the scope of the specialized law. We must remember that deviation from the anti-corruption agenda plays into the hands of both internal and external enemies of Ukraine,” Andriy Borovyk, the executive director of Transparency International Ukraine, said.
“At the beginning of 2021, TI Ukraine provided three systematic recommendations to reduce the level of corruption in Ukraine, but none of them was fully implemented, and two were partially fulfilled. This year, we have identified 5 specific steps that will help in the fight against corruption in Ukraine: to complete competitions and select professional, independent and high integrity heads of the anti-corruption bodies: the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, the Asset Recovery and Management Agency, and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau; to adopt the national Anti-Corruption Strategy and the program for its implementation; to reform constitutional justice, considering the conclusions provided by the Venice Commission; to ensure transparent accounting of public property and continue the course of privatization; to minimize the risks of adopting draft laws which exclude procurement from the scope of the law of Ukraine on public procurement,” he said.
“If these steps are not fulfilled, Ukraine risks losing not only its position in the ranking, but also the trust of its citizens and international partners, Ukrainian and foreign investors. This, in turn, will worsen the economic situation and weaken Ukraine in the confrontation with the external enemy – the Russian aggressor,” the expert noted.
The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a ranking calculated by the global organization Transparency International since 1995. The organization itself does not conduct its own surveys. The index is calculated based on 13 studies of reputable international institutions and think tanks. Nine sources are used to calculate Ukraine’s score.
Gazelle Finance is pleased to welcome Svyatoslav Samko to the Gazelle Finance team.
Svyatoslav will lead Gazelle Finance’s investment strategy in Ukraine. An economist by education, as well as a graduate of Harvard Business School, Svyatoslav brings deep private equity investment experience developed over a long career working for some of the leading regional private equity firms in Central Europe, Russia, and Ukraine including Abris Capital Partners, Icon Private Equity and advising to investment funds with Bain & Company.
In June 2021, Gazelle Finance, as part of its expansion strategy targeting Eastern Partnership countries along the eastern border of the European Union, launched its operations in Ukraine.
Gazelle Finance is an investment company that finances high-growth small and medium size enterprises in the Eurasia Region. The company seeks to identify gaps and barriers in frontier capital markets and provide a combined financing and business advisory solution to ambitious entrepreneurs. By investing and partnering with these entrepreneurs, Gazelle Finance helps local markets and economies to expand, while generating commercial returns for its investors. For additional information, please contact Natia Mariamidze at: +995 32 2 243 432 or via e-mail: nmariamidze@gazellefinance.com.
Washington is ready to welcome any option to de-escalate tensions on the border between Russia and Ukraine, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price has said at a briefing.
“De-escalation can take many forms. We would welcome any of it,” Price said, answering a question in what form Washington imagines the de-escalation of tensions.
In particular, according to him, the start of de-escalation could be considered both the withdrawal of troops from the border with Ukraine and the change in Russian rhetoric on the Ukrainian topic.
Citizens of Ukraine who received a booster dose of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine will get an additional UAH 500, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video statement on Monday evening.
“There is a clear understanding that immunity grows after each subsequent dose of the vaccine, and the ‘boosterization’ strategy has become the unified standard for all developed countries. Boosterization is the third dose of the vaccine, therefore, under the e-Aid program, another UAH 500 will be allocated for those citizens who receive the third dose,” he said.
