Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said that as part of the government reform, it is planned to reduce the number of ministries by one third.
“We are working on changing the format of the government. In particular, we are reducing the number of ministries. We want to cut the number of ministries by one third, reduce the number of civil servants,” Shmyhal said at a press conference in Kyiv on Monday.
The prime minister also noted that the government is working to create a strong government center, where auxiliary and administrative functions will be concentrated.
“The ministries should have a small number of very good specialists who will formulate public policy, and the Government Center will provide legal support in the personnel, accounting and financial spheres, and the Government Center should quickly prepare documents for a particular ministry,” he added.
As reported, Cabinet of Ministers Minister Oleh Nemchinov has suggested that the Government Center could be launched by 2025.
More than 40 applications have been submitted for the competition to select independent members of the Supervisory Board of NNEGC Energoatom, said the company’s acting Chairman of the Board Petro Kotin.
“As far as I know, there are more than 40 applications. We welcome the fact that there are so many people willing to join the Supervisory Board of Energoatom. There are many representatives of international organizations and individuals,” Kotin told reporters at an event dedicated to the second anniversary of the occupation of Zaporizhzhia NPP by the Russian military (4 March 2022).
At the same time, he noted that the process of selecting members of the supervisory board could take about a month.
“And after that, we hope to have a supervisory board. We have been working for this for a long time. We will work in a new way,” Kotin commented.
As reported, the deadline for applications for the competition to select members of the Energoatom Supervisory Board is March 4.
In 2023, the insurance company “Knyazha Vienna Insurance Group” (Kyiv) collected UAH 1.992 billion of insurance payments, which is 62.13% more than in 2022, according to the website of the rating agency “Standard Rating” in the information on the confirmation of the financial strength rating / credit rating of the insurer at the level of “uaAA+” for the specified period.
According to the RA website, during this period, the insurer’s revenues from individuals increased by 58.98% to UAH 1.427 billion, and from reinsurers – by 94.23% to UAH 3.970 million. At the end of 2023, the share of individuals in the company’s gross premiums amounted to 71.65%, and the share of reinsurers – 0.20%.
In 2023, insurance payments sent to reinsurers increased by 68.76% compared to 2022 – up to UAH 698.056 million. Thus, the ratio of participation of reinsurance companies in insurance premiums increased by 1.37 p.p. to 35.04%.
The company’s net written premiums increased by 58.77% to UAH 1.294 billion, while earned premiums increased by 40.54% to UAH 1.122 billion.
The volume of insurance payments and reimbursements made by Knyazha VIG in 2023 increased by 55.39% compared to the same period in 2022, to UAH 634.159 million. The claims ratio decreased by 1.38 p.p. to 31.83%.
RA also notes that in 2023, the insurer’s operations were profitable, and its financial results improved significantly. In particular, the financial result from operating activities amounted to UAH 29.920 million, and net profit amounted to UAH 80.540 million, while in 2022 the insurer received a net and operating loss.
As of January 1, 2024, assets increased by 33.56% to UAH 1.782 billion, equity – by 25.19% to UAH 448.703 million, liabilities showed an increase of 36.63% to UAH 1.334 billion, cash and cash equivalents increased by 0.75% to UAH 50.045 million.
The agency also notes that as of January 1, 2024, the insurer made financial investments in the amount of UAH 939.367 million, consisting of government bonds (73.78% of the investment portfolio), as well as deposits in banks with a high credit rating (26.22% of the portfolio).
PrJSC “IC “Knyazha Vienna Insurance Group” is a part of IFG Vienna Insurance Group Ukraine, the main shareholder of which is Vienna Insurance Group AG Wiener Versicherung Gruppe (Austria). The group also includes PrJSC IC Ukrainian Insurance Group – 100%, PrJSC IC Knyazha Life Vienne Insurance Group – 97.8%, LLC USG Consulting – 50.7%, LLC VIG Services Ukraine – 78.7%, LLC Assistance Company Ukrainian Assistance Service – 100%.
INSURANCE COMPANY, Knyazha, PAYMENTS, premiums collection, VIG
Key indicators of state budget (monthly), UAH billion
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
“Ukrtelecom, Ukraine’s largest fixed-line operator, laid almost 11,000 km of optical lines in 2022-2023, the company’s press service said on Friday.
“During the full-scale war, Ukrtelecom built almost 11 thousand kilometers of optical lines. During this time, the company has provided hundreds of thousands more households in all regions of the country with the opportunity to use modern services,” the statement said.
Most fiber-optic lines were laid in Odesa, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Lviv, and Dnipro regions.
The optical infrastructure is being expanded by laying new lines, replacing old copper networks with fiber optics, and restoring the network in the de-occupied territories, the company said.
“Despite the challenging operating environment, Ukrtelecom continues to provide Ukrainians with access to high-speed optical internet. The company, in line with its pre-war strategy, has decided to continue ambitious projects to build optical networks across the country and optical modernization of copper infrastructure,” the company’s press service quoted Ukrtelecom CEO Yuriy Kurmaz as saying.
He emphasized that uninterrupted high-quality Internet is critical as it allows citizens to instantly receive information about the security situation, increases the sustainability of business, and serves as the basis for the sustainability of educational processes and continuous interaction between government agencies.
“In 2024, Ukrtelecom will continue to build a modern optical network by investing in the development of GPON, a non-volatile Internet technology, Kurmaz added.
Ukrtelecom said that in 2023, more than 150 medical and 185 educational institutions connected to the company’s optical infrastructure. The company has access to high-speed optical Internet in 1.25 thousand medical and 1.7 thousand educational institutions.
The settlements where the operator is building fiber-optic networks can access the Internet at speeds of up to 1 Gbps, which in turn allows them to use the full potential of digital services in the public and private sectors, the telecom operator’s press service said.
IP-based services, including interactive TV in HD and 4K quality, video conferencing and Internet telephony, have become available to the public, the company said.
“Ukrtelecom is the largest fixed-line operator in Ukraine. A large part of its customers are government agencies, educational, administrative and medical institutions, and emergency services. The company is a provider of high-speed fixed-line Internet with the widest coverage. Ukrtelecom’s Internet access is available in almost 4,000 settlements across the country and is available in 90% of them. Ukrtelecom is also the sole shareholder and founder of TriMob LLC, a provider of UMTS/WCDMA mobile services.
In 2013, the company joined SCM’s business.
The Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs (SUP), the Polish Confederation of Leviatan (KL), and the Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce (PUIG) welcome the efforts of the Polish and Ukrainian governments to unblock the border crossings between the two countries and look forward to its real results. This should be accompanied by the development, in cooperation with the European Union, of a viable program to address the key economic causes that lead to such terrible events. Despite the differences in views and challenges in our cooperation, the current problems of any economic or social group cannot be solved by blocking borders and key transportation routes.
Therefore, it is in the best strategic and security interests of both countries and the entire European community to stop further destruction of our common political, economic and social relations, which have been elevated to a historically high level over the past two years following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago. In fact, Russia – the aggressor country – is the only party that benefits from this development.
As representatives of the business communities of both countries, we would like to emphasize the economic consequences of the border crisis, including
– direct losses in trade, which has been growing very rapidly over the past two years, with benefits for all partners and a positive balance for the Polish side;
– the rapidly growing loss of trust in mutual economic relations, which is already leading to refusal to participate in new or even open violation of long-term contracts between our companies that already exist;
– the gradual deterioration of the business climate, which raises questions about the future of a mutually beneficial partnership in the reconstruction of Ukraine, including possible Polish investments;
– undermining Ukraine’s efforts to successfully negotiate its rapid accession to the European Union.
Allowing the current events on the Polish-Ukrainian border to get out of hand risks exacerbating the problems and spreading them to other areas, then gradually eroding the trust in the mutual relations gained over the past two years, and ultimately jeopardizing the chances for a prosperous future relationship between our countries. We have no doubt that the present and future generations of Polish and Ukrainian entrepreneurs, as well as the vast majority of our societies, would never forgive us for this serious mistake!
Leviatan Confederation, Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce, UKRAINIAN ENTREPRENEURS
