The Business Activity Outlook Index (BAOI), calculated by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), fell to 48.6 in December from 49.8 in November, and continued to fall below the neutral level, as evidenced by the results of a survey of enterprises released on Tuesday conducted by the central bank. “For the second month in a row, business expectations for their economic results were below neutral levels amid continuing quarantine restrictions. Surging energy prices, shortages of raw materials, higher production costs, a greater probability of an escalation of the armed conflict and an increase in COVID-19 cases worldwide weakened expectations in all of the surveyed sectors,” the National Bank said, commenting on the results of the December poll.
According to the study, services companies have been expecting weaker performance for two months running, the DI being 47.8 in December, down from 48.8 in November. Respondents expected a decrease in the number of new orders, while also expecting no change in the amount of services provided. At the same time, they expected an increase in the amount of services that are being provided.
The expectations of trading companies also worsened, moving below their neutral level, as the sector’s DI dropped to 49.6 in December, down from 50.0 in November. Respondents expected an increase in the stocks of goods for sale, while also expecting the amount of goods purchased for sale to be unchanged on the previous month. Trading companies said they intended to decrease their trade margins further. With a seasonal rise in demand, respondents remained upbeat about their trade turnover.
Construction companies reported the most pessimistic expectations of their performance, as the sector’s index dropped to 47.2 in December, down from 50.4 in November, dragged down by a seasonal decline in economic activity and narrowing investment demand. Respondents expected a drop in the number of new orders and, consequently, a drop in their purchases of raw materials and supplies.
Industrial companies were pessimistic about their performance and economic outlook for the first time in the last seven months, as the sector’s DI dropped to 49.0, down from 50.7 in November. Respondents expected a decrease in the number of new export orders.
According to the NBU, employment expectations worsened: only trading companies said they intended to hire more staff, while industrial, construction and services companies reported intentions to cut their workforces.
The monthly survey was conducted from December 6 to December 23, 2021. A total of 405 companies were polled. Of the companies polled, 44.7% are industrial companies, 28.6% services companies, 20.7% trading companies, and 5.9% construction companies; 33.3% of the respondents are large companies, 28.9% medium companies, and 37.8% small companies.
Employees of the Cyberpolice Department of the National Police of Ukraine prevented the theft of more than $720,000 from the account of a medical company, the press service of the cyberpolice said on Thursday.
“The defendants forged payment orders and tried to take possession of the money intended for the purchase of medical equipment for examining patients with COVID-19. Criminal proceedings were initiated on the fact of fraud,” the statement said.
It notes that a medical company contacted the Cyber Police Department and reported a fraudulent seizure of money intended for the purchase of medical equipment for examining patients with COVID-19.
“Law enforcers found that the attackers sent the phishing link to the partners of the victim company. Using phishing, offenders obtained login information to their email account. Then they forged a payment order, which was sent from a broken email box of partners from the People’s Republic of China. Therefore, the Ukrainian medical company transferred the money to the scammers’ account opened in the UK. Thus, the defendants tried to embezzle more than $723,000,” the law enforcement officers said.
They clarify that the cyber police officers, together with Kyiv police investigators and British colleagues, managed to block the money stolen from the company’s account.
“On this fact, criminal proceedings have been initiated under Part 3 of Article 190 (Fraud) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Attackers can face up to eight years in prison. Investigative actions continue,” the police said.
Ihor Holovan, an attorney for leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko, released an extract from a court ruling on the seizure of the assets of TV channels Pryamiy and Channel 5, as well as a corresponding extract from a prosecutor’s petition.
“Here is a screenshot of the seizure warrant, and below is a screenshot of the prosecutor’s petition, which her honor Bortnytska rewrote in her ruling, along with mistakes and typos. And everything is listed there in the light of day: subsidiary company NBM-Zaporizhia Television and Radio Broadcasting Company and Author TV Television Company LLC. Companies directly involved in broadcasting programs of opposition TV channels,” Holovan said on Facebook.
At the same time, the attorney said, there is no Poroshenko’s share in the capital of these legal entities.
“Petro Poroshenko has long ago and publicly transferred these assets to Free Media LLC, whose founders are a dozen well-known journalists and MPs. That is, prosecutors and the judge deliberately seized media assets that do not belong to Petro Poroshenko,” he said.
Holovan also said that instead of the code of Author TV Television Company LLC, the documents indicate the code of another asset of Free Media LLC – Express-Inform Television and Radio Broadcasting Company LLC.
“However, we do not think that this is due to stupidity and unprofessionalism typical of the Prosecutor General’s Office and the SBI. We are convinced that Belkin, Potapenko, Safaryan and her honor Bortnytska acted deliberately, since the main customer, in our opinion, Zelensky is interested precisely in the destruction of opposition television channels. Anyway, the media assets of Free Media LLC were illegally seized. And I am convinced that the owners of Free Media LLC will not only file an appeal, but also demand an investigation into the actions of Belkin, Potapenko, Safaryan and Bortnytska for corpus delicti, provided for in Article 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine [obstruction of the legitimate professional activities of journalists],” Holovan said.
Antonov State Enterprise, which is part of Ukroboronprom state concern, at the end of last year demonstrated the first military transport aircraft An-178-100R No. 001 designed for flight certification tests. “Ukraine demonstrates its defense capability thanks to synergy, united efforts… The synergy of [the relevant parliamentary committee who fully support the Armed Forces, representatives of the command of the Armed Forces, the leadership of Ukroboronprom, the leadership of the plant and the Ministry of Defense] guarantees our exact victory with you, and it will not only be three such planes, but more,” Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov said at the plane’s roll-out ceremony in Kyiv on December 28.
Director of General Antonov State Enterprise Serhiy Bychkov said that the aircraft was transferred to a flight test base for ground and flight tests.
According to him, the state, through Ukreximbank, allocated an almost interest-free loan to the Antonov to manufacture the aircraft for the Ministry of Defense, and the company has already received about UAH 1 billion from the Ministry of Defense.
Bychkov said that this is the first aircraft of this generation in design, ergonomics and management, which was created in the post-Soviet space. “Such an aircraft in this class has not yet been on our territory, so it will require very careful, reliable testing in all parameters to make the first flight. I will not sign the acceptance act if I am not convinced that the first flight will be completely safe and reliable. Such a control system has not yet existed and does not exist. You are present at the opening of a new era. In the Soviet Union, there was no such aircraft, and now Russia certainly doesn’t have,” Bychkov said.
At the same time, the director general of the Antonov State Enterprise said that the auxiliary power unit for the aircraft was manufactured in Italy.
“There is not a single product, the equipment of which is Russian-made, I declare with all my authority… I have nothing to hide, nothing to deceive, especially from the Ministry of Defense,” he said.
An-178-100R is a next generation aircraft that can be used for the transportation of personnel, the delivery of weapons and light military equipment by landing and parachute methods, as well as for the transportation of goods. The aircraft is designed to transport up to 100 people in total, people in need of medical evacuation (40 people on standard sanitary stretchers, 38 people on the side seats, accompanied by 4 paratroopers), and paratroopers up to 86 people.
More than 30 Ukrainian enterprises take part in the An-178-100R program, which produced 177 types of components for this aircraft. In particular, for the first time in Ukraine Antonov, scientific and technical complex Ekran, PJSC FED, SOE Kharkiv Aggregate Design Bureau have developed and implemented a modern electronic control system for aircraft and a control system for wing mechanization. SOE Pivdenny (Yuzhny) Machine-Building Plant has launched the production of main landing gear. Foreign suppliers from Europe, the United States and Canada are also involved in the equipment of the aircraft.
Antonov received a state procurement order for the construction of three aircraft with the support of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the end of December 2020.
The airframe of the first of the three ordered aircraft was fully completed. The fuselage, wing, and tail unit of the second An-178-100R were assembled ahead of schedule.
International freight traffic with Kazakhstan is operating as normal, head of Ukrzaliznytsia Oleksandr Kamyshin has said.
“Now there are 219 Ukrainian freight cars in Kazakhstan. This is not a lot, about 0.1% of the total fleet of Ukrainian freight cars. Of these, 90 cars are owned by Ukrzaliznytsia and another 139 are private freight cars. All of them normally move through the KTZ (Kazakhstan Railways, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy) network and, I hope, will soon return to Ukraine in the same way, in a normal mode,” he wrote on Telegram.
He noted that the railways of Kazakhstan are an important partner for Ukrzaliznytsia.
“This is about 2 million tonnes of freight traffic per year, which is transported by rail between Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Almost half of the total freight traffic is Kazakh coal, which is now so necessary for Ukraine,” Kamyshin wrote.
According to him, the employees of KTZ ensure the stable operation of the railway in the current difficult circumstances.
“Freight traffic is working as usual. Confirmation of this is a freight train that left China on December 31 and arrived at TIS today. Interstate joints are operating normally. The dispatching office providing transportation activities operates around the clock. Passenger traffic is temporarily restricted in three western regions,” the head of Ukrzaliznytsia said.
Liz Truss, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development of the United Kingdom, plans to pay a working visit to Kyiv in January 2022. She stated this speaking in the UK Parliament on Thursday.
The British government’s press office said that she is looking forward to visiting Kyiv later this month.
