In January-June this year, payment systems transferred $1.306 billion to Ukraine, with Western Union (USA) receiving the largest amount of funds – 48.6% of all transfers, the National Bank of Ukraine reported on Friday.
According to the report, MoneyGram (USA) took the second place in the market, increasing its share by 4.3 percentage points to 21.6% compared to May-December last year and overtaking PrivatMoney, whose share dropped from 20% to 13.5%.
In addition, the share of RIAs increased from 9.7% to 12.35%, and the share of Intelexpress increased from 2.7% to 3.04%.
According to the National Bank, a total of 5.72 million cross-border transfers were made, with the largest amount of funds coming to Ukraine from Italy (20.85%), the United States (17.74%), Israel (15.59%), Germany (8.61%) and Ireland (5.2%). The average amount of one such transfer to Ukraine was $228.
In May-December last year, 10.4 million transfers were made for $2.149 billion, with Western Union’s share at that time amounting to 49.5%, the NBU reminded.
The NovaPay payment system remained the leader in domestic money transfers in terms of systems, but the share of transfers made through it decreased from 45% in May-December 2022 to 35% in the first half of this year.
The Financial World system of Ukrainian Payment System LLC came in second place with a share of 15.6% (12.72% in 2022), while the LEO payment system, which held the top spot last year, had its registration revoked by the National Bank in March of this year.
The Moneycom payment system of Swift Guarantor LLC rose from 7th place in the ranking in May-December 2022 (2.51%) to the top three in the first half of 2023 with a share of 12.4%.
The positions in the ranking of the next three market participants have not changed: Ukrposhta is in fourth place in terms of the amount of transfers – 10.3% (12.22%), City 24 FC Phoenix – 7.93% (3.39%) and PrivatMoney PrivatBank – 5.65% (2.61%), followed by Platiservice – 5.15% (1.74%).
In terms of participants in the first half of the year, the share of NovaPay decreased to 35.58% (45.46%), Ukrposhta – to 10.29% (12.22%), while FC “Kontraktovyi Dom” increased to 13.26% (9.92%), and “Swift Guarantor” – to 18.71% (3.79%). The National Bank reminded that in early March it withdrew from the market Aibox Bank, which held 11.57% of the market in May-December last year.
According to the NBU, 390.2 million domestic transfers amounting to UAH 300.6 billion (or $8.221 billion in equivalent) were made in the first half of the year, with the average amount of one transfer within Ukraine amounting to UAH 770.
In May-December last year, transfers amounted to 446.35 million for UAH 292.6 billion.
It is noted that as of July 1 of this year, 35 money transfer systems were operating in the country, including 26 resident and 9 non-resident ones.
Zaporozhogneupor, Ukraine’s largest refractory products manufacturer and part of Metinvest Group, has put a modern overhead crane into operation.
According to the company’s press release, the modern lifting unit manufactured in Zaporizhzhia was put into operation at the finished goods warehouse of Zaporozhogneupor’s aluminosilicate shop. After static and dynamic tests, which confirmed the full compliance of the overhead crane with all requirements, it was put into operation.
Zaporozhogneupor spent approximately UAH 3 million to purchase the new crane. It is specified that the modern crane will significantly reduce the risk of damage to finished products.
“Zaporozhogneupor is Ukraine’s largest enterprise producing high-quality refractory products and materials. The company produces chamotte, mullite, mullite-silica, mullite-corundum, periclase, periclase-chromite products, silicon carbide electric heaters, and unmolded refractory materials. The company’s products are widely used in Ukraine, as well as in the CIS, Europe, Asia and Africa.
Import of goods in Jan-June 2023 in most important positions to previous 2022
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
The global grain harvest in 2023 could be at the level of the record-breaking 2021, FAO (the UN Food and Agriculture Organization) predicts.
According to its review, the estimate of the global harvest for this year in September compared to July (the review was not released in August) was reduced by 4 million tons. Despite this, the global harvest may be 0.9% higher than last year’s and amount to 2 billion 815 million tons, which corresponds to the record figure for 2021.
Thus, the forecast of wheat harvest was reduced by 2.2 million tons to 781.1 million tons. “It is expected that global wheat production will decrease by 2.6% compared to last year, but, nevertheless, it will be the second highest figure in the history of observations,” the review says. The largest decline was in production in Canada and the EU due to dry weather. The wheat harvest forecast in China has been lowered due to heavy rains in a number of key grain-producing regions. This decrease was partially offset by an increase in the forecast in the United States, India and Ukraine, “as indicated by the latest data provided by the governments of these countries on a more abundant harvest than previously expected.”
The forecast of feed grain harvest was lowered by 1.3 million tons to 1 billion 511 million tons, which is mainly due to a decrease in barley and oat harvests. However, this figure is 2.7% higher than last year. Thus, the estimate of barley harvest has been reduced by 2.9 million tons to 143.8 million tons (5.6% lower than last year). The oat harvest will be the lowest in 11 years – 23.1 million tons.
At the same time, corn production may reach a record high of 1 billion 215 million tons. The forecast has been raised by 3.6 million tons, mainly due to “richer than expected harvests in Brazil and Ukraine.” This will more than compensate for the lower forecast for corn harvest in the US and EU.
The FAO estimates this year’s rice harvest at 523.2 million tons. This is 500 thousand tons lower than the July forecast, but 1.1% higher than the harvest last season.
The draft state budget for 2024 provides UAH 12.5 billion for the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development (MinRestore) and UAH 26.3 billion for the State Agency for Reconstruction and Infrastructure Development.
The relevant document was published by MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak on his Telegram channel on Friday.
According to the draft law, the Ministry of Reconstruction is proposed to receive UAH 2.4 billion. The State Inspectorate of Architecture and Construction is proposed to receive UAH 147.8 million in 2024. The state budget provides UAH 47 million for the creation of the Urban Planning Cadastre.
The draft law provides for an increase in the authorized capital of the State Fund for Youth Housing Construction (Derzhmolodzhytlo) by UAH 23.9 million, as well as financial support in the amount of UAH 6.1 million. UAH 5.8 million was allocated to partially compensate for the interest rate on mortgage loans for young families.
UAH 82.8 million is proposed to be allocated in the state budget for the implementation of the Housing Opportunities for People’s Empowerment (HOPE) project, as well as UAH 248.4 million in the form of a subvention to local budgets.
UAH 9 billion is planned to be allocated for subventions to local budgets, of which UAH 4.5 billion is for the implementation of projects under the Ukraine Recovery Program; UAH 2.3 billion is for the implementation of projects under the Emergency Credit Program for the Recovery of Ukraine; UAH 519.5 million is for the restoration of critical infrastructure facilities under the Urban Infrastructure Development Project – 2 jointly with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
In addition, the draft state budget proposes to allocate a subvention of UAH 722 million for the extension of the third metro line in Kharkiv and UAH 549 million for the completion of the Dnipro metro.
At the same time, the draft does not include funding for the State Fund for Regional Development.
The draft state budget for 2024 also provides for funding for the State Fund for Decarbonization and Energy Efficient Transformation in the amount of UAH 759.2 million from the special fund. UAH 90.2 million is allocated for energy efficiency of public buildings.
In addition, UAH 155.4 million is earmarked for the development of the water supply and sewage system in Mykolaiv.
It is proposed to allocate UAH 23.1 million to the State Agency for Tourism Development.
Of the funds provided for in the draft state budget to finance the Recovery Agency, UAH 23 billion is intended to fulfill debt obligations on loans for the development of the public road network; UAH 3.1 billion is intended for the implementation of infrastructure recovery projects under the Support for the Rapid Recovery of Ukraine program.
As reported, earlier on Friday, the government approved the draft law “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2024”.
Multidisciplinary medical center “Leleka” plans to extend the international certificate of JCI (Joint Commission International), confirming quality standards in healthcare, said the operating director of the medical center Vadim Zukin.
“In December 2022, Leleka Multidisciplinary Medical Center provided the JCI accreditation union with confirmation of its activities and the certificate was extended for one year. In December 2023, we plan to undergo a full online verification by international auditors,” he told Interfax-Ukraine on the eve of World Patient Safety Day, which is celebrated on September 17.
According to Zukin, a big advantage of JCI is that its implementation “requires constant life according to certain standards, so directly preparing for inspections does not take much time, because we fulfill all the requirements on a daily basis.”
Commenting on the possibility of complying with JCI standards during martial law, Zukin emphasized that “JCI standards when implemented are deeply rooted in the corporate culture of the hospital, and medics even in times of war can’t imagine their activities in a different way than with compliance with JCI standards.”
“When the Obstetrics Department of Leleka Medical Center operated for several months at a public maternity hospital in 2022 for objective reasons, our management did not aim to operate there according to JCI standards. However, due to the fact that all employees of our team can no longer work in any other way, we did our best to comply with JCI standards even during the period of temporary relocation,” he said.
At the same time, Zukin does not expect the intensification of obtaining international certificates by Ukrainian clinics in the near future. At the same time, he believes that a number of large private Ukrainian clinics are ready to implement such standards.
“Such a number of hospitals with JCI accreditation, as, for example, in Israel or the UAE, in the near future in Ukraine should not be expected. But there are indeed several large private hospitals, which, I am convinced, are able to raise their level to JCI standards and get accreditation. Obviously, if there had not been a full-scale war, there would be more medical centers accredited by this prestigious system,” he said.
Zukin noted that “due to Russia’s military aggression, most private medical centers have faced significant financial problems, the solution of which requires a lot of time, resources and efforts. Nevertheless, all of them definitely continue to comply with the standards of quality and safety of hospital operations, without weakening the control of this area.”
“Obviously, we are not talking about JCI accreditation for public institutions right now. At least not in the near future. Among the reasons are economic factors, in particular, insufficient differentiation of NHIS tariffs for medical care, depending on the level of quality and safety,” he said.
Zukin noted that “the quality of medicine is not measured only by JCI standards, there are other, less popular, but serious quality control systems.”
“There is an example of other countries, such as the Czech Republic, where they took JCI standards as a basis for reforming their own national accreditation system,” he said.
Joint Commission International (USA) certification is considered the most prestigious international accreditation system for medical institutions, which aims to stimulate continuous improvement of the world’s medical organizations and their compliance with high internationally agreed requirements. The use of JCI standards implies the highest level of medical organization.
JCI accreditation is regarded as the gold standard of quality in healthcare in the world.
Currently, JCI accredited healthcare organizations in the United States and more than 85 other countries around the world. JCI standards are recognized as the highest level of medical quality and safety by the World Health Organization.
