A CAD 450 million (equivalent to $350 million) concessional loan from Canada has been transferred to the state budget of Ukraine.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Finance on Thursday, the funds were provided through the mechanism of the Administrated Account of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The amount of the loan from Canada is CAD 1.45 billion (equivalent – $1.2 billion). The repayment period is 10 years, the interest rate is 1.69% per annum.
Minister of Finance of Ukraine Serhiy Marchenko thanked the Government of Canada and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance of Canada Chrystia Freeland for their uncompromising support of Ukraine.
Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada Yulia Kovaliv said that the allocated funds will be used to purchase natural gas to support the heating season.
According to her, the total amount of financial assistance to Ukraine from Canada since the beginning of the war has reached CAD 1.95 billion.
Alfa-Bank Ukraine, at the request of Interfax-Ukraine, confirmed that the remote meeting of the bank’s shareholders scheduled for August 12 had taken place and its decision to change the name of the bank to a new one – JSC Sense Bank will be made public next week.
“When the board decided on a new brand, the decision became obvious. For the last two years, our priority has been the development of the Sense SuperApp digital bank. Our bank has always been technological. This feature is now reflected in the name,” Chair of the bank’s Board Alla Komisarenko is quoted in the response.
The financial institution said that the meeting was one of the key stages in the legal procedures for changing the name, and the next step would be the registration of a new charter.
As previously noted in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine, ex-Minister of Finance of Bulgaria Simeon Djankov, who in the middle of April, in agreement with the National Bank, was given the right to vote in the majority stake in Alfa-Bank, the board of the financial institution decided to abandon the Alfa brand and continue working under a new brand.
“A few days after the start of the war, the board decided to abandon the Alfa-Bank brand. The bank does not want to have anything to do with the aggressor country, even at the level of associations and the brand that operates in Russia,” Djankov said, explaining the reasons for the renaming.
According to the bank, its largest shareholders at the moment indirectly are Andrei Kosogov (40.9614%, after the war he received packages of German Khan and Alexei Kuzmichev, who fell under the sanctions in the amount of 20.9659% and 16.3239%, respectively), Mykhailo Fridman (32.8632%), Petr Aven (12.4018%), UniCredit S.p.A. (Italy, 9.9%), Mark Foundation for Cancer Research (3.8736%). Djankov is a trustee of the NBU on the packages of Kosogov and Fridman and Aven, who fell under the sanctions.
Alfa-Bank Ukraine, according to the NBU, as of July 1, 2022, ranked seventh in terms of total assets (UAH 104.03 billion) among 68 banks operating in the country. The bank’s net loss, according to the National Bank, amounted to UAH 2.35 billion.
The Mindy Charitable Foundation, together with the Kantar Ukraine research center, intends to conduct a study of mental health of the population in war conditions.
The foundation told Interfax-Ukraine that the study will be carried out with the financial support of the charitable foundation and the volunteer cryptocoin UAFcoin, created by the Ukrainian crypto social network Sl8 (sl8.online) to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The first stage of the study started early August 2022. The respondents of the online survey will be citizens of Ukraine.
“The consequences of war include, in particular, long-term metal damage that in the future may negatively affect society, destroy families and communities, disrupt the development of the social and economic structure of nations. The study will help identify problem areas and improve mental health of the population, which plays a critical role on the way to victory in the war,” the foundation said.
The study will be conducted in Ukrainian cities with a population of more than 50,000 people. The age of the respondents is from 18 to 55 years. Study participants will be randomly selected from a representative sample. A team of Ukrainian psychologists and leading research institutes worked on the study program.
The purpose of this survey is to collect information that will provide answers to the level of formation of a culture of psychological assistance and the needs for its formation and development, to determine the state of mental and social health of Ukrainians. This study will help in the work of volunteer and government organizations that provide support to Ukrainians during the war.
Mindy Charitable Foundation is a charitable foundation that implements a nationwide social and humanitarian program for the reintegration of war victims into active life. The Foundation specializes in psychological aid, physical rehabilitation on the basis of the partner international network of REGUS business centers, support in prosthetics, vocational guidance and training in various industries, employment by quotas and social adaptation.
CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, MENTAL HEALTH, Mindy, POPULATION, war conditions
JSC Ukrposhta will put into circulation the postal block “Free. Indestructible. Invincible” by the Independence Day of Ukraine, the company’s press service reported on Thursday.
“The block will consist of a stamp with a Ukrainian soldier and six illustrations reflecting the realities of the war,” the company said.
According to the message, the circulation of the postal block is 1 million copies. The nominal value of the block is 60 UAH. The block also includes “First Day” envelopes and unmarked art envelopes.
It will be possible to purchase a postal block at city post offices.
NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy failed to obtain consent to a two-year deferral of interest payments and redemption on any of its three eurobond issues, the company said on the Irish Stock Exchange.
According to the report, the required quorum (over 2/3) was reached only at a meeting as for eurobonds worth $335 million maturing in July 2022, however, only about 22% of the votes were provided, with the required minimum being 75%.
There was no quorum for the other two issues for EUR600 million maturing in 2024 and for $500 million maturing in 2026, so repeat meetings will be called.
Naftogaz specified that the owners of approximately 49% of the bonds registered for the 2024 eurobond meeting and approximately 74% of the votes were in favor of the Naftogaz proposal.
As for the 2026 eurobonds, which are due in November, about 54% registered for the meeting, and about 43% of the votes were in favor of deferment.
Repeat meetings for 2024 eurobonds and 2026 eurobonds are scheduled for August 31 at 11:00 and 11:15 London time, respectively.
Based on the quorum presented at the initial meetings, it is expected that the adjourned meetings that will be held in respect of the 2024 and 2026 bonds will have a quorum, Naftogaz notes.
The consumer sentiment index (CSI) of Ukrainians improved by 1.1 points in July to 73.2 points on a 200-point scale, according to a study by the Info Sapiens agency.
“The main indices stabilized in July and statistically changed little compared to June 2022. The current position index has significantly slowed down the rate of decline, and the economic expectations index even showed an upward trend. At the same time, unemployment, inflation and devaluation expectations are worsening,” commented agency situation.
According to the study, the current position index fell by 1.1 points to 37.2 points. In particular, the current personal financial situation index dipped by 2.9 points last month to increased by 0.8 p. – up to 43.8 p.
In addition, the index of economic expectations (EI) in July increased by 2.5 points – up to 97.2 points. In particular, the index of the expected development of the country’s economy in the coming year increased by 2.2 points – up to as for the next five years decreased by 2.5 percentage points – to 133.9 percentage points.
Reportedly, the index of expected changes in personal financial situation increased by 7.7 points to 78.8 points.
The Info Sapiens report also indicates that the July index of the expected unemployment dynamics in Ukraine increased (worse – IF-U) by 3.7 points, to 146.4 points, and the inflation expectations index – by 0.6 points. , up to 183 p.
At the same time, Ukrainians’ expectations regarding the hryvnia exchange rate worsened in the next three months: the index of devaluation expectations rose by 5.4 percentage points to 157.5 percentage points.
The study of consumer sentiment is carried out by interviewing 1,000 people aged 16 and over on a representative sample of gender, age, and size of the settlement. The statistical deviation does not exceed 3.1%. The study has been conducted since June 2000: earlier it was conducted by GfK Ukraine, and since 2019 by Info Sapiens.
