KYIV. June 2 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Ukrainian Finance Ministry says progress has been made in negotiations with private creditors on restructuring the country’s foreign debt and an agreement on holding a telephone conversation with the ad hoc committee of international commercial creditors on June 5, following intensive negotiations between advisers slated for next week.
“Following today’s [Friday] call between the principals and advisors of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine and the ad hoc committee of international commercial creditors, the Ministry is pleased that engagement between both parties on restructuring Ukraine’s sovereign debt is accelerating,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement circulated on Friday evening.
The purpose of the telephone talks scheduled for June 5 is to assess progress in the negotiations, it said.
“We reiterate Ukraine’s commitment to negotiate in a collaborative and good faith manner as per international principles. The Ministry is confident that a mutually beneficial agreement will be reached in accordance with the targets agreed under Ukraine’s IMF program,” it said.
The Ministry of Finance also said it welcomes the statement from German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble, noting the G7 Finance Ministers’ support for “a successful resolution of Ukraine’s debt restructuring.”
It was reported earlier that, after the IMF had endorsed a new four-year extended fund facility for Ukraine for $17.5 billion, the Finance Ministry started consultations on debt restructuring with creditors for about $23 billion on March 13 so as to save about $15.3 billion on payments while the program remains in effect.
Ukraine has engaged Lazard Freres SAS as a financial adviser and White&Case as a law adviser. The creditors committee has been formed of five major holders of the Ukrainian debt, advised by Blackstone and Weil Gotshal.
The Ukrainian Finance Ministry has said repeatedly that, to attain the IMF program’s targets, not only should the debt clearance deadlines be extended, but also part of these debts should be written off and the interest lowered, except for the loan participation notes issued by Oschadbank, Ukreximbank, and Ukrzaliznytsia.
However, major holders of Ukrainian bonds are unwilling to agree to the cancellation of the principal debt, arguing that the size of the debt relief proposed is too big. Russia also demands the repayment of its $3 million loan to Ukraine by the end of 2015, refusing to agree to its restructuring.
The creditors committee reported on May 18 that it consisted of funds governed or represented by BTG Pactual Europe LLP, Franklin Advisers Inc., TCW Investment Management Company and T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and was maintaining regular contacts with other holders of Ukrainian bonds, which hold in aggregate over $10 billion worth of Ukrainian debt. The creditors once again objected to writing the debt off.
To intensify the negotiations, the Ukrainian government passed a bill through the Verkhovna Rada on May 19 entitling it to suspend payments on debts included in the restructuring perimeter. The president signed the bill into law on May 28, but the document has not yet taken legal effect.
April and May this year have become the period of activity related to European integration and synchronization of watches before a new step towards Ukraine’s rapprochement with Europe – the establishment of a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) as of January 1, 2016. During this period the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE) – the country’s most powerful organization of Ukrainian companies – opened its EU-based representative office in Brussels on April 21, its delegations participated in the European Business Summit, including a discussion panel entitled “Trade – Europe in the Global Economy” in Brussels on May 6, and in the 3rd Eastern Partnership Business Forum, which was held as part of the Eastern Partnership summit in Riga on May 21.
We were frank with our European partners and stated that Ukraine appreciates Europe’s assistance and, what is more, it is anticipating its expansion and development. However, Ukraine has to take the first decisive step on its own – introduce global reforms, improve the performance of all branches of the government, and strengthen the role of civil society. This is our own assignment whose completion will help us achieve our European integration goals.
We have to focus on the development of the industrial sphere as well as small- and medium-sized businesses, which are the backbone of the economy, create jobs, and generate tax revenues for the national budget. Financial, taxation, and export policies also need to be improved. It is important to note that Ukrainian enterprises face changes connected to the full implementation of the DCFTA against the backdrop of the economic crisis. Europe should not be disappointed at a lack of results of Ukrainians’ fight against corruption and bureaucratic business environment, which are blocking investments and hindering the development of domestic businesses. It is our internal task to repel the invasion of monopolies and the influence of oligarchs, and make a breakthrough in the sphere of state procurements, etc.
We have also raised several important issues before our European partners regarding the improvement of financial and economic support.
The direct route is always shorter
The EU regularly helps Ukraine to develop entrepreneurship. As part of a EUR 11 billion support package allocated by the European Commission in 2014, around EUR 370 million was designed to bail out Ukrainian small- and medium-sized businesses. Unfortunately, it is a mere 3% of the total disbursement. In 2015, the EU announced the allocation of a further EUR 110 million bailout package for small- and medium-sized businesses. Will the local companies see these funds?
Effectiveness of these programs leaves much to be desired. The first reason for this is the complicated situation in the domestic banking system (when a Ukrainian bank obtains the funds, it can lend them to businesses at local [i.e. higher] interest rates, which are seen by the borrower companies as unacceptable). Secondly, these funds are actually received by foreign financial and consulting institutions, which spend them on consulting and training programs. Without doubt, this is a very useful asset to the businesses, but the latter also need start-up capital and loan funds. We propose that the European financial aid be directly given to enterprises. We think it is not a problem to directly control the use of the funds.
Could a loan be affordable?
In the EU’s newest member states local companies can borrow funds at an interest rate of 3-7%. Meanwhile, interest rates in Ukraine top 30-36% in hryvnias and 13-16% in euros and U.S. dollars. Obviously, there is no ground for fair competition in Ukraine and for Ukraine on the EU market. As a result of the economic crisis and the collapse of the hryvnia (estimated at up to 300% in 2014), many domestic businesses are in need of extra capital investment or credits in order to stay afloat, retain jobs, and ensure loan servicing and payment of taxes.
Ukraine expected that EU programs would stabilize the economic situation. Unfortunately, the allocated funds barely help to resolve its problems. So what is the way out? Credits should become more affordable. European institutions should provide them to borrowers at the rates that are used in the EU. Intermediaries that add extra percent on funds on their way to an enterprise should be eliminated. Let us consider this mechanism as temporary and extraordinary until the Ukrainian banking sector recovers.
We are also asking for help with the creation of a National Development Bank, which could become a platform to accumulate EU assistance with donor aid and credit funds, and ensure financing of capital investment, innovation projects, the creation of high-tech and industrial parks, support for small- and medium-sized businesses, etc.
Do we expect too much?
Look at the issue from a different angle. It was announced at the Eastern Partnership summit in Riga that Ukraine would be given EUR 1.8 billion in macro-financial assistance. It is very important how these funds will be spent. The economy, which is suffering from the crisis, badly needs support, and we hope the assistance will be timely and effective. A company is a major economic agent and it is the company that has to feel it belongs to Europe and the community it is striving to integrate with takes care of it.
New challenges ahead
Our meetings with the European Union member states have confirmed the commitments to introduce the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with Ukraine as of January 1, 2016. Entrepreneurs and industrialists are well aware of how difficult this task could be for the real sector of economy and local industries. The considerable wear and tear of fixed assets, high energy consumption in Ukraine compared to Europe, low labor efficiency, unfavorable crediting, taxation and industrial policies – this is a short list of the challenges that need to be overcome through modernization, investment and creation of a better business environment. By realizing their responsibility for preparations for the DCFTA, the Ukrainian companies count that their peers and partners from the EU will give them support. The ULIE representative office in Brussels has suggested opening an accredited laboratory in the EU, giving Ukrainian companies more rights of access to bidding in EU state procurement tenders, increase quotas for duty-free farm produce shipments onto the European market, etc.
To sum up, both the Ukrainian participants in the abovementioned events and our European partners believe that the establishment of the free trade area between Ukraine and the EU, coupled with reforms, will help deepen the partners’ economic integration on the EU’s internal market and achieve a qualitative breakthrough on the path of economic development. The fact that Eastern Partnership member states took into consideration and included the recommendations put forth at the business forum in the final declaration of the Riga summit and broadly supported EU cooperation programs for entrepreneurship development in Ukraine inspires hope.
Anatoliy Kinakh,
ULIE President
KYIV. May 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Heads of industrial enterprises and companies have assessed the actions and work of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine as unacceptable and threatening to the relative stabilization of tax payments and value added tax refunds for exported products.
A well-informed source has told Interfax-Ukraine that representatives of large business made their opinions known at a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Tuesday.
The source said that at a meeting organized by the European Business Association (EBA) and the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, around 200 top managers of the leading companies in the country were present.
The source said that representatives of large business expressed their dissatisfaction with the recent actions of the State Fiscal Service and appointments in the service. Poroshenko said there should be no hurry regarding the work of the new managers of the State Fiscal Service.
He called on businessmen to work honestly and openly, and that tax agencies should have a correct attitude towards companies working honestly.
One of those in attendance at the meeting – Director General of Zaporizhstal Rostyslav Shurma – said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine that the president the issue of disconnecting some large industrial companies from the automated VAT refunding system was discussed.
“Of course, the goal is good – to fight tax gaps. Unfortunately, the goal and mechanisms of fighting do not coincide. If there are problems in the tax system, make the system transparent and predictable for all. But the killing of enterprises, illegally taking away funds earned by them, would not settle the problems of the tax system mentioned by the country’s president,” he said.
He said that there are transparent producers, fair taxpayers, and Zaporizhstal and several dozen other large industrial companies with a perfect financial and industrial history are among them, adding the state should have a correct attitude towards them.
KYIV. May 29 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Economic Development and Trade Ministry has called on businesses and all interested parties to participate in Ukraine’s switch to European and international standards, the ministry has reported on its website.
The ministry said that Ukraine’s membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the provisions of the Association Agreement with the EU foresee the adoption of international and European standards in the country as national standards with the synchronous scrapping of GOST (Soviet) standards drawn up before 1992. GOST standards which are currently in effect create extra technical barriers to trade and they will be scrapped this year under the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers.
The ministry said that GOST standards can be scrapped without being replaced to cut the risks to manufacturers, for example, due to GOST standards not being used, or only one or two companies use them, and there is no international or European equivalent (companies could design their own standard and use it).
Also, the ministry is to define GOST standards that should be replaced by relevant national standards, particularly those that are harmonized with international or regional standards. The ministry is to define national standards that are currently being designed, and international and European standards that could be passed as national ones.
The ministry said that sources of financing to create national standards (if there are no similar international or European standards) should be determined. The ministry said that the it will only order for the harmonization of national standards with European and international ones, in line with European practice.
According to the ministry, the national standards fund currently includes 29,600 documents, including 8,849 national standards harmonized with international and European ones and around 13,000 GOST standards designed before 1992.
KYIV. May 28 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plans in June 2015 to present a draft study of solid waste treatment in Ukraine to define opportunities for raising funds for the sustainable development of municipal solid waste treatment.
According to the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Services, the decision was made after a meeting of representatives of the ministry and the bank to discuss implementing the project on May 27.
“The main directions of the project, its objectives and the ways of implementation will be presented. The term of the project implementation to study the investment attractiveness of solid waste treatment will be six months,” reads the report.
According to the ministry, it is expected that the participants in the research project realized by the EBRD will be representatives of the government and local authorities, businesses, and the general public.
As reported, in mid-October 2014 the director for solid waste recycling at Ukrecoresursy, a liquidated state-owned enterprise (Kyiv), Ara Safarian, said that the total volume of solid waste accumulated in Ukraine exceeds 11-12 million tonnes per year. Of these, 40% is packaging and bottles. The annual growth of solid waste is 3-5%.
KYIV. May 28 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Ministry of Agricultural Policy and Food expects that Ukraine by the end of the current marketing year (MY, July-June) could export 33 million tonnes of grain.
“Over the marketing year we could reach a figure of 33 million tonnes,” Minister Oleksiy Pavlenko told reporters in Kyiv.
Previously, the ministry estimated exports would total 32 million tonnes.
