The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide a EUR 20 million senior secured loan to Winner Imports Ukraine LLC, Ukrainian importer and retailer of several well-known international vehicle brands. The money will be invested in sustainable dealerships for Renault and Volvo.
As reported on the bank’s website on Tuesday, the loan was approved by the EBRD’s board of directors on May 18. Financing will focus on green economy transition and circular economy through investments in dealerships, expansion of client’s logistic capacities, distribution and service infrastructure for vehicles, including electric.
“All building financed by the Bank will obtain BREEAM or EDGE sustainable certification. Project contributes to the adoption of advanced green practices in a country where such standards and practices are still uncommon, for instance, according to the latest data, only 12 BREEAM certificates have been issued in Ukraine to date with only one certificate issued in the retail category,” the EBRD said.
The total cost of the project is EUR 43 million, but the sources of co-financing are not given.
Winner Imports Ukraine LLC, part of Winner Group, is the official importer of Ford, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover, Porsche and Bentley, SAIC Motor vehicles in Ukraine.
In addition, in 2020, the company became an official dealer of the Renault auto brand, since the spring of the same year it began to provide services for cars of this brand in its multi-brand center Winner Automotive, and has planned to open a Renault concept dealership this year.
Winner Group Ukraine has been operating in the Ukrainian market for over 28 years, during this time more than 140,000 cars have been sold and more than 50 dealer centers have been opened in Ukraine.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food will perform a coordinating function in the anti-corruption audit of the State Land Cadastre, and the obtained data on land fraud will be transferred to law enforcement agencies, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Roman Leshchenko told Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.
According to him, relevant agreements have already been signed on conducting an independent anti-corruption audit with the involvement of international organizations, which will include data from the Ukrainian side and independent expertise. This information will be published on the open data portal, and information about land scammers will be provided for consideration by law enforcement agencies and the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC).
“The relevant data will be formed for all land scammers and a collegial decision of the National Security and Defense Council will be made in accordance with the current legislation,” the minister said.
Leshchenko said that the tracking of all schemes for the consolidation of assets and their beneficiaries will not end quickly, since all processes will be worked out systematically, without the use of selective measures. As an example, the minister cited a “network” formed on the basis of powers of attorney signed by 5,000 citizens, who authorized one person to execute registration and transfer of land plots.
“We are talking about land plots with the legal title of private farms, consolidated on the balance sheet of legal entities, including those with the beneficiaries, close to one or another vertical of power over the past 30 years of our statehood,” Leshchenko said.
Exemption of bioenergy projects on solid fuels from the payment of tax on carbon dioxide emissions will increase the interest of investors in these projects and the volume of investments in them, the deputy chairman of the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine, Yuriy Shafarenko, has said.
“This will open up new opportunities for investment. Solar and wind plants are, of course, good, but Ukraine is an agricultural country, and bioenergy projects are very important. Development of bioenergy should be perceived as one of the most promising areas of renewable energy,” he said in an interview with the online portal Energy Reform.
He clarified that the relevant bill has already been agreed with the ministries of energy, digitalization, economy, as well as with the Ministry of Finance.
“The most important thing was to agree on the bill with the Ministry of Finance, because this Ministry is the least interested in it. But realizing the importance and correctness of this document, the Ministry of Finance agreed on it,” Shafarenko said, adding that exemption of bioenergy from the carbon tax is an international practice.
The agency plans to send the bill to the Ministry of Justice in the near future and after the conclusion is made by the agency – for consideration by the Cabinet of Ministers, the expert said.
At the same time, Shafarenko highly appreciates the chances of this bill being approved by the Verkhovna Rada.
“I think the prospect of its adoption is very high. It does not have such opponents to be very against it,” he predicts.
At the same time, according to him, the exemption of bioenergy from paying the CO2 tax is extremely important, given the prospects for its significant increase.
“When this tax was 41 kopecks per tonne of CO2, it was an insignificant burden. Then the tax was raised to UAH 10 – already more, but it was still possible to put up, and this did not really restrain investors in the industry. But they want to increase it to UAH 30-60, and this will have a tangible effect on the development of bioenergy,” Shafarenko said.
OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid will visit Ukraine this week for meeting with high-level Ukrainian officials and travel to Donbas, the OSCE press service said.
“Schmid plans to hold talks with senior-level officials, including Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, and Dmytro Razumkov, Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament. The talks will focus on the crisis in and around Ukraine and on ways to strengthen co-operation between the OSCE and Ukraine,” the OSCE press service said in a statement released by on Tuesday.
During his visit, the Secretary General will also meet with the staff of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) and the OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine.
She will also meet with representatives of international humanitarian organizations, as well as civil society representatives and youth activists. Schmid also plans to visit eastern Ukraine to see first-hand the situation in conflict-affected areas and the work being carried out by SMM and Project Coordinator in Ukraine on the ground.
Vienna Insurance Group (VIG, Austria) in January-March 2021 increased collection of premiums by 1.6%, to EUR3.11 billion, according to the information of the group, posted on the website of Ukrainian Insurance Group, whose main shareholder is VIG.
According to the results of the first quarter, the group’s pretax profit amounted to EUR128 million, which is 5% lower than in the previous year. Net profit increased by 15%, to EUR99 million.
The combined ratio of the group was 95.2%, which is almost in line with the indicator for the same period a year earlier. The financial result amounted to EUR175.8 million, which is 29% more than in the first quarter of 2020. As of March 31, 2021, the group’s investments, including cash and cash equivalents, amounted to EUR37.1 billion.
Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) is a leading insurer in Austria, Central and Eastern Europe. The group includes about 50 companies in 25 countries of the world.
In Ukraine, VIG is represented by the following insurance companies: Ukrainian Insurance Group, Kniazha VIG, Kniazha Life VIG.
As of the end of May 2021, direct flights to and from Belarus to Ukraine are operated by Motor Sich (Ukraine) and Belavia (Belarus) airlines.
According to the data of the State Air Traffic Services Enterprise (UkSATSE), Belavia in 2020 was the third in terms of the number of flights operated in Ukraine’s airspace (10,644 flights) after the Turkish Türk Hava Yolları (14,623 flights) and Ukraine International Airlines (14,406 flights).
Belavia flies from Minsk to Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Odesa and Kherson.
Motor Sich operates flights on the Minsk-Zaporizhia route twice a week.
