The European Business Association (EBA) has appealed to the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk not to vote for the draft laws No. 10439-10440 on the reform of the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) and amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code and other legislative acts to improve the work of the BES and to finalize the draft laws No. 10088 and No. 10088-1 on the reboot of the BES, which were previously registered in the Rada.
As noted in the EBA statement on Wednesday, the government’s draft law, in particular, does not specify the timeframe for the formation of a renewed BES team after the election of the head, and the re-certification of employees is postponed until after the war.
“For several years, the European Business Association has been emphasizing the need to reboot the BES in order to improve its efficiency and mitigate corruption risks that may arise in the work of this state body, which is responsible for combating economic crime and smuggling,” the EBA emphasizes.
The Association insists that the selection of key positions at the BES should be carried out on a competitive basis, and that it is extremely important and of top priority to appoint an effective leader who will continue to form the team. Therefore, the competition commission should propose to the Prime Minister one, not three, candidates for the position of director in order to avoid possible political influence on such an appointment.
According to business representatives, re-certification of all BES employees is necessary after the election of a new head, and all economic crimes (after the reform) should be within the BES’s competence.
Regarding the criticism of Draft Law No. 10440, the EBA pointed out the difficulty of implementing some of its provisions, in particular, the involvement of the Business Ombudsman Council in searches and seizures in BES proceedings. In addition, according to the association, some provisions duplicate or contradict others, for example, the failure to involve representatives of other law enforcement agencies in investigative actions.
As reported, on October 13, 2023, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy recommended that the Parliament adopt as a basis the draft law No. 10088 “On Priority Measures for Reforming the BES” and its alternative No. 10088-1. This draft law was also supported by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy, and the Ministry of Justice made comments.
Later, on December 29, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers approved its draft law on reforming the BES, which declares a reboot of the Bureau a year after the war. It was sharply criticized by Vitaliy Shabunin, head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, and Yaroslav Zheleznyak, first deputy head of the parliamentary committee in charge. According to them, in this form, the control over the BES will be retained by the President’s Office, and the IMF will not count this structural beacon.
As a result, the government postponed submitting the draft law to the Rada for a month, but even after it was finalized, it was criticized.
PJSC SIC Borshchahivskiy Chemical Pharmaceutical Plant (BCPP, Kyiv) increased production by 17.6% in 2023 compared to 2022, to almost UAH 1.866 billion, but reduced it by 3.3% in physical terms, to 34.8 million packs.
According to the plant’s information disclosure system, the company sold 40.3 million packs last year, which is 7.8% less than a year earlier, while total sales increased by 16.5% to UAH 1.806 billion.
At the same time, 29.4 million packs were sold in the domestic market (9.9% less than a year earlier) for UAH 1.537 billion (an increase of 16.2%).
At the same time, exports of products in 2023 increased by 18.5% in monetary terms to UAH 269 million, while decreasing by 1.7% in physical terms to 10.9 million packs.
BCPP notes that about 52% of the total product range last year was sold outside the country. In particular, 52% of export deliveries were made to neighboring countries, 48% – to Australia, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, North America and the Caribbean.
In 2023, the production nomenclature amounted to about 130 items of medicinal products in nine therapeutic areas, veterinary products, dietary supplements and extracts. In particular, the Company launched seven new products, including respiratory, digestive and metabolic, nervous system, musculoskeletal, antibiotic and dietary supplements.
Capital investments in the company’s own development in 2023 amounted to UAH 64.9 million.
In 2022, BCPP reduced its net profit by 24.8% to UAH 254.275 million. Net profit for 2020 increased by 1.7 times compared to 2019 to UAH 332.847 million.
As of the first quarter of 2023, 31.8% of BCPP shares were owned by the pharmaceutical company PrJSC “Pharmaceutical Firm “Darnitsa” (Kyiv).
According to the Opendatabot system, the ultimate beneficiaries of BCPP are also the beneficiary of the pharmaceutical company “Darnitsa” Hlib Zagoriy, Yevhen Sova and Tetiana Artemenko.
Ukraine’s state budget has received about $390 million from Japan as part of World Bank projects aimed at social protection and agricultural recovery, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
According to the report, Japan’s financial assistance in January consists of a $89.8 million grant under the Emergency Project for Inclusive Support for Ukraine’s Agricultural Recovery (ARISE) and a $300 million loan under the Investing in Social Protection to Improve Coverage, Resilience, and Efficiency (INSPIRE) project.
“I am grateful to the World Bank and the Government of Japan for their strong financial support for Ukraine. The funds raised will be used to reimburse the expenditures of the state budget of Ukraine for priority needs, in particular in the field of recovery and social assistance,” Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko said in a release.
The Ministry of Finance reminded that the INSPIRE project is funded by a $1.2 billion loan from the World Bank from the Trust Fund for the Provision of Necessary Credit Support to Ukraine (ADVANCE Ukraine) with the support of the Government of Japan and aims to ensure social protection of vulnerable populations during and after the war, as well as to strengthen the adaptability of the social support system to effectively respond to current and future challenges.
The ARISE project aims to support agricultural producers’ access to finance through concessional lending and grants.
Oil prices are rising on Thursday after falling the day before due to data on the growth of US stockpiles.
The cost of April futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 7:20 a.m. is $80.84 per barrel, which is $0.29 (0.36%) higher than at the close of the previous trading. On Wednesday, these contracts fell by $1.95 (2.4%) to $80.55 per barrel.
March futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) have risen in price by this time by $0.3 (0.4%) to $76.15 per barrel. As a result of the previous trading, the value of these contracts fell by $1.97 (2.5%) to $75.85 per barrel.
In January, oil prices rose for the first time in 4 months amid Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea and retaliatory measures by the United States and its allies. Brent went up by 6.1% over the month, while WTI rose by 5.9%.
Last weekend it became known about the death of three US military personnel as a result of a drone attack on a US base in Jordan. Traders are waiting for the US to retaliate, fearing further escalation of the conflict in the region.
“In general, the market remains cautious, waiting for Washington’s response to the attack on the base in Jordan, as well as how Iran will react further,” ING analysts said in a review, as quoted by Market Watch.
The report of the US Department of Energy, published the day before, showed an unexpected increase in oil reserves in the country and an increase in production.
Commercial oil reserves in the United States last week increased by 1.23 million barrels to 421.91 million barrels, the Energy Department said. Experts surveyed by Bloomberg had on average predicted a decrease in reserves by 1.1 million barrels.
Oil production in the United States increased last week, exceeding 13 million barrels per day.
In December 2023, KSG Agro agricultural holding exported 4600 tons of wheat to Spain, the company’s press service reports.
According to the report, the wheat was purchased by grain trading companies.
“In wartime, any export delivery is always a task with many unknowns. However, despite numerous difficulties, we continue to export grain to international markets. In the current most difficult period of Ukraine’s history, the food security of many countries depends on us, agricultural producers and exporters,” said Sergiy Kasyanov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of KSG Agro, as quoted in the report.
As reported, in the first quarter of 2023, KSG Agro exported 4,200 tons of grain crops mainly to Asia and Africa. Deliveries were made as part of the “grain corridor” through the ports of Odesa and Odesa region.
KSG Agro, a vertically integrated holding company, is engaged in pig breeding, as well as the production, storage, processing and sale of grains and oilseeds. Its land bank is about 21 thousand hectares in Dnipropetrovska and Kherson regions.
According to the agricultural holding, it is one of the top 5 pork producers in Ukraine.
In January-September 2023, KSG Agro received $1,336 million in net profit, which is almost 14 times more than in the same period in 2022. Its EBITDA for the three quarters of this year increased by 67% to $4.5 million, and sales revenue increased by 16% to $11.9 million.
Key indicators of state budget (monthly), UAH billion
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
