The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has for the first time defined the list of critical infrastructure facilities in the banking system, which includes 13 banks, the press service of the regulator said on Friday.
The list includes PrivatBank, Oschadbank, Ukrgasbank, Ukreximbank, Raiffeisen Bank Aval, FUIB, Alfa Bank, OTP Bank, TAScombank, Universal Bank, UkrSibbank (all are based in Kyiv), Pivdenny Bank (Odesa) and A-Bank (Dnipro).
The list was approved by NBU Board decision No. 148 dated April 20, 2021 on critical infrastructure facilities in the banking system of Ukraine.
The facilities of critical infrastructure include banks, the stable operation of which ensures the stability of the banking system, it is essential for the economy and security of the state, the functioning of society, and which are of significant public interest. In particular, these are banks that are included in the list of systemically important banks, and banks in which the state directly or indirectly owns more than 75% of their charter capital.
The Nova Poshta group of companies paid UAH 5 billion in taxes and fees to state and local budgets in 2020, which is 20% more than in 2019, the company’s press service said on Friday.
According to the press service, over the past year Nova Poshta rose from 27th to 19th place in the rating of the largest taxpayers in Ukraine.
Over the past three years, Nova Poshta has paid more than UAH 12 billion in taxes to the budgets of all levels and funds.
The press service said that the company operates within the framework of Ukrainian legislation, pays officially declared salaries to employees and provides them with medical insurance. In addition, Nova Poshta helps hospitals and socially vulnerable groups of the population.
“We do not stay away from life in Ukraine and actively help those who are in need: hospitals and universities, volunteers and socially vulnerable groups of the population. We care of what country we live and work in,” Chief Financial Officer of the group Petro Fokov said.
The Nova Poshta group of companies includes, in particular, the companies Nova Poshta, NP Logistic, NovaPay and Nova Poshta Global.
In 2019, the group transferred more than UAH 4 billion of taxes and fees to the Ukrainian budget.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) in the first quarter has improved its forecast for growth in the unemployment rate this year to 9.1% compared to 10% in the January forecast, according to the central bank’s inflation report posted on its website on Thursday evening.
“This year, unemployment will decrease and on average per year it will be 9.1%. On the one hand, the recovery in economic activity will help normalize the indicator, on the other hand, the decline will be hampered by a significant increase in business costs for wages,” the NBU said in the report.
According to the National Bank, in 2022 the unemployment rate will drop to 8.5% and will remain at this level until the end of 2023.
The regulator expects that in 2021, nominal wages will grow by 17.8%, in 2022 – by 9.7%, and real wages next year will rise by 8.6%, in 2022 – by 3.9%.
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Kernel, one of the largest Ukrainian agrarian groups, in the third quarter of fiscal year 2021 (FY, began in July 2020), reduced sales of sunflower oil by 2% compared to the same period in the previous FY, to 371,920 tonnes.
According to a report posted on the company’s website on Friday, the share of bottled oil of total sales was 10% (37,000 tonnes).
Kernel processed 902,000 tonnes of oilseeds in Q3 FY2021, down 4% y-o-y due to the low harvest of sunflower seeds in Ukraine this season.
According to the report, grain export volume from Ukraine in January-March 2021 dropped 15% y-o-y, to 1.8 million tonnes, of which 1.3 million tonnes had been originated from external suppliers and the remaining had been produced by company’s farming division. Slowdown in the grain export volume was caused mostly by a substantial grain harvest reduction this season in Ukraine (including company’s farming operations) and the respective decline of the exportable grain surplus for the country.
The company’s export terminal throughput volume in Ukraine increased to 2.1 million tonnes in Q3 FY2021, up 6% y-o-y. Transshipment volume exceeded the grain export volume from Ukraine, as the company substantially increased the scale of sunflower meal transshipment operations on its terminals in Chornomorsk, with such goods being exported through third-party terminals before.
The holding cut grain and oilseeds received in inland silos by 12% in Q3 FY2021, to 109,021 tonnes.
Kernel in 9M FY2021 increased sales of sunflower oil by 6% compared to the same period in the previous FY, to 1.09 million tonnes, sunflower processing increased by 2%, to 2.57 million tonnes.
In 9M FY2021, grain exports from Ukraine grew by 5%, to 6.35 million tonnes.
According to the document, Export terminal’s throughput of the holding in Ukraine for 9M FY2021 grew by a third, to 6.31 million tonnes. During this period, the agricultural holding reduced grain and oilseeds received in inland silos by 9%, to 3.7 million tonnes.
Kernel is a large producer and exporter of sunflower oil. The largest co-owner of Kernel through Namsen Ltd. is Andriy Verevsky with a 39.16% share. Cascade Investment Fund (Cayman Islands), the beneficiary of which is the ex-deputy of the Ukrainian parliament Vitaliy Khomutynnik, owns 6.59% of Kernel’s shares.
The Ukrainian authorities have offered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to become a mediator during the negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow, Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevhen Korniychuk said on the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS.
The diplomat explained that this decision is due to the fact that Netanyahu has good relations with both President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
“I am glad to report that the prime minister did not say no. He said that he would try to do everything in his power. We are glad that Mr. Netanyahu did not reject this mission, but on the contrary, he showed his interest and willingness to help,” noted Korniychuk.
As reported earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the expansion of friendship and cooperation with Ukraine.
The Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade (ICMT) of Ukraine established the facts of discriminatory and unfriendly actions on the part of Belarus against Ukrainian automotive enterprises and applied adequate measures, deciding to introduce a special duty on the import of buses, trucks and special vehicles from Belarus in the amount of 35% of customs value.
“The special duty is applied… until the fact of the cessation of discriminatory and unfriendly actions against Ukraine by the Republic of Belarus is established,” the Commission said in a statement in the Uriadovy Kurier newspaper on Thursday.
According to it, the decision of the ICMT on the introduction of the special duty comes into force 10 days from the date of publication.
According to the report, based on the results of consideration of materials submitted by the Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine, it was established that the government of Belarus has created artificial barriers in relation to wheeled vehicles imported from Ukraine in the form of a recycling fee and unequal conditions for participation in public procurement, as a result of which it becomes more complicated to enter the Belarusian market for Ukrainian enterprises.
“Such actions of the Republic of Belarus contradict the Articles of the Agreement on the Free Trade Area (CIS) dated October 18, 2011, the Articles of the Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of Belarus on Free Trade dated December 17, 1992 and are considered discriminatory and unfriendly,” the ICMT said in the statement.
The special duty is imposed on the import of new buses to Ukraine classified according to codes of the Ukrainian Classifier of Goods for Foreign Economic Activity 8702 10 11 10, 8702 10 11 30, 8702 10 91 00, 8702 20 10 10, 8702 20 10 90, 8702 20 90 00, 8702 30 10 00, 8702 30 90 00, 8702 40 00 10, 8702 40 00 90, 8702 90 11 00, 8702 90 31 00, 8702 90 90 00.
With regard to trucks, the duty is introduced on new diesel and semi-diesel vehicles with a gross weight of more than 5 tonnes, but no more than 20 tonnes, and a total weight of more than 20 tonnes (except for chassis with a cab), classified according to codes 8704 22 91 00 and 8704 23 91.
Also, the 35% special duty will be imposed on the import of some special vehicles: trucks for emergency repairs, truck cranes, road sweepers, watering machines, workshop vehicles, hydraulic lifts classified according to codes 8705 10 00 00 and 8705 90 80 90.
According to the State Customs Service, in 2020, under general code 8702 (motor vehicles for transporting more than 10 people, including a driver), buses worth $38 million (60% of total imports) were imported to Ukraine from Belarus, with no exports at all.
Trucks with a gross weight of 5-20 tonnes from Belarus were imported for $10.4 million, over 20 tonnes – for $34.13 million (there was no export), special vehicles under classifier code 8705 10 00 00 – for $4 million (there was no export from Ukraine), under code 8705 90 80 90 – for $5.76 million (exported for $0.05 million).
As reported, the Ministry of Economy launched an investigation into the facts of discriminatory actions on the part of the Republic of Belarus regarding the legal rights and interests of Ukrainian automotive enterprises at the request of the Ukrautoprom association.
