The result of a more coordinated work on the return of funds from failed banks may be an increase in the partial voluntary repayment of debts by former owners, First Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Kateryna Rozhkova has said.
“What can happen and what we would like – perhaps the owners to some extent will be ready to voluntarily close debts,” she told Interfax-Ukraine, answering the question about the implementation of the paragraph of the Memorandum with the IMF on strengthening work on the return of assets of failed banks.
Rozhkova recalled that a working group was created at the government level, headed by the Prime Minister, which includes the governor of the National Bank and the head of the Deposit Guarantee Fund, which is engaged in boosting work on the return of assets.
“In fact, you don’t need to invent anything new, because PrivatBank has already passed a certain path: there are courts in Western jurisdictions, tools for how to do this – through courts in Ukraine or abroad,” the representative of the National Bank said.
Rozhkova said that all the documents that the NBU had, confirming certain abuses, were transferred to law enforcement agencies. According to her, the Deposit Guarantee Fund conducts due diligence with the involvement of audit companies to determine where and how assets were withdrawn for each of the banks, according to the schedule. Further, claims are being prepared, which should be transferred either to courts, or to law enforcement agencies here, or to other jurisdictions.
“I will also say an unpopular thing, but it is true: those banks that left the market have assets that they lost in Donetsk and Crimea [in the occupied territories]. And this was not a withdrawal of funds. There are assets that have ceased to be serviced when the hryvnia sharply devalued. Collaterals depreciated, loans increased. It cannot be said that the entire volume is the fault of shareholders. It is necessary to calculate, prove, divide, and where it is provable, move the traditional way,” Rozhkova said.
As reported, according to a memorandum with the IMF, by the end of December this year, the Prosecutor General’s Office is to publish a semi-annual report on the outcomes of criminal proceedings against former bank owners, managers and other related parties in each resolved bank since the beginning of 2014, with aggregate data on the number of persons investigated, tried, and convicted as well as the amount of fines and damage recovered.
The next benchmark in this area is the publication of a asset recovery strategy paper and an action plan for the return of assets of failed banks by the end of February 2022.
The owners of hotels in ski resorts will be fined for the tourists not having documents confirming their COVID status (vaccination certificate, negative PCR tests or a certificate of recovery), Health Minister Viktor Liashko said.
“If visitors or employees do not have the necessary documents, the owner of the establishment may be held liable under the article ‘Violation of the rules of quarantine of people’ of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Ukraine. It regards a fine from UAH 34,000 to 170,000,” he said at a briefing on Thursday.
Liashko said that at ski resorts “only those people who have been checked for the presence of COVID documents are allowed to provide services.”
“Adult visitors and clients on winter vacations must have proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or testing negative or recovery,” he said.
The Minister noted that after consulting with specialized associations, the Ministry of Health recommends checking COVID documents during check-in at a hotel or when buying a ski pass.
Visitors to the resort are advised to assign a unique mark, such as a sticker, to identify that a person’s documents have already been verified. Also, the mark should indicate who exactly issued it.
“This is necessary to avoid repeated checks of documents and to enable the use of related services: cable cars, street fairs and other services,” he said.
Central Mining and Processing Plant (Kryvy Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region), part of Metinvest Group, in January-October this year, reduced production of commercial pellets, according to recent data, by 0.5% y-o-y, to 1.850 million tonnes.
As the enterprise told Interfax-Ukraine, in October production of pellets amounted to 110,210 tonnes.
Over ten months, Central Mining reduced production of iron ore concentrate by 2.9%, to 3.959 million tonnes, including 433,163 tonnes produced in October.
At the same time, the agency source noted that in recent months, the lag in production this year has been decreasing in comparison with the previous year. So, in particular, the relative level of backlog of production of commercial pellets in nine months of this year was 2.5% y-o-y, and concentrate – 3%.
As Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest, recently announced, in 2020 the company received the first high-quality pellets at Central Mining – DRI-class pellets. The next step is Pivnichny (Northern) Mining and Processing Plant.
Public placement of issues of domestic bonds of the Kyiv City Council Series O and N, UAH 400 million each, will be held on the PFTS stock exchange from December 6 to December 8, according to a Friday posting on the official website of the exchange.
According to the report, the organizer of the placement of both series is state-owned Ukreximbank (Kyiv).
Settlements under the concluded agreements will be carried out without observing the delivery versus payment (DVP) principle.
As reported, by Kyiv City Council decision No. 1529/1570 dated June 24 this year, Kyiv plans to attract UAH 1.1 billion by issuing domestic bonds in three issues: UAH 300 million for Series M, UAH 400 million each for series N and O.
According to the document, the interest rate will be determined at the level of the NBU key policy rate as of the start date of the quarterly interest period plus a margin of 1% to 5% per annum based on the results of the competition for the selection of an underwriter. Proceeds from the placement of bonds will go to finance investments in the city’s infrastructure.
The Association of Taxpayers of Ukraine has announced the results of the rating “Honest Taxpayers – 2020”. For the second year in a row, the Avtostrada Group of Companies won in the Road Construction category.
The High Rating Commission assessed, in particular, the completeness and timeliness of taxes and fees payment, compliance with tax discipline, the number of officially employed persons, participation in social programs and charity events, and more.
Avtostrada Group of Companies is one of the largest taxpayers in the road construction sector of Ukraine. The company undergoes an annual audit of financial statements in accordance with international standards, having transparent business conduct and social responsibility as key priorities.
“Transparent business management, audit of financial statements according to international standards, high level of tax burden, full and timely payment of all taxes and fees – these are main company’s principles from the first days of its establishment. And it’s such a pleasure that our approach is praised by independent experts. Paid taxes are an investment in the country’s welfare and a contribution to our future. I’m grateful to the Taxpayers’ Association for the important initiative and organization of the rating!” – Maksym Shkil, the founder of the Avtostrada Group of Companies, commented on the award.
The Association has been determining the nominations for 10 years, and it’s an anniversary rating. The main purpose of the rating is to strengthen the role and authority of the taxpayer and increase the overall culture of tax payment in Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Icelandic Foreign Minister Þórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir signed an agreement on air services at the meeting of the OSCE Foreign Ministers Council in Stockholm.
“The agreement creates the possibility of regular direct flights between Ukraine and Iceland,” the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
The document defines the procedure for regulating international flights between the two countries and the procedure for the designation of airlines, establishes the conditions for granting permits for regular flights, provides for the mutual recognition of crew member certificates, and contains provisions for aviation security.
In addition, the agreement establishes a mechanism for the inspection of airlines to assess their compliance with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
