The Netherlands is handing over 28 Bandvagn BvS 10 (Viking) two-link tracked all-terrain vehicles to Ukraine, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said on Saturday.
“Ukraine desperately needs our help in the fight against the Russian aggressor. The Netherlands is donating 28 Viking tracked vehicles. The Marine Corps has trained Ukrainian soldiers to work with them,” the minister wrote in a post on the social network X.
“Our support for Ukraine continues to deter Russia,” Brekelmans emphasized.
The Bandvagn BvS 10 (Viking) is an articulated armored tracked Swedish-British amphibious armored personnel carrier manufactured by BAE Systems Hägglunds and in service with the marines of the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Austria, and France. Earlier, in 2023, Ukraine received 36 Dutch BvS 10s and 20 British Vikings as part of logistical assistance to repel Russian aggression.
A meeting of the supervisory board of NEC Ukrenergo, at which a vote is scheduled for the removal of the head of the company’s management board, Volodymyr Kudrytskyy, is scheduled for Monday, a source familiar with the situation said.
‘The meeting of the National Council is scheduled for Monday. Most likely, the withdrawal will take place. Given that the nabsoviet has six members instead of seven: three independents and three representatives of the state, and Roman Pionkowski rather supports the initiator of the withdrawal – the main shareholder represented by the Ministry of Energy’, – said the interlocutor of the agency “Interfax-Ukraine” on Saturday morning.
At the same time, he expressed hope that the public outcry, particularly in the energy community, which the possibility of Kudrytsky’s dismissal has caused, as well as the great support of his Western partners will help stop the process.
‘If it fails, I hope that it will at least be possible to put a professional acting and announce a full-fledged competition for the head of the board,’ the source added.
The company itself has not commented on the issue.
According to TG-channel Monopolist, for the position of the head of Ukrenergo are considered Dmytro Olefir, the head of the Board of Market Operator, who worked in Ukrenergo and was also a member of its Board from the state, Oleg Kozachuk, recently dismissed from the position of Khmelnytskyoblenergo, Oleksandr Gavva, the head of the Board of Market Operator, Artem Nekrasov, the head of the SE ‘Guaranteed Buyer’.
Kudrytskyy has already been publicly supported in his social networks by, among others, MP Andriy Zhupanin (Servant of the People), energy expert of the Ukrainian Institute of the Future Andrian Prokip, managing partner of the consulting company Imepower, which works, among other things, in the market of ‘green’ energy, and a member of the board of the European-Ukrainian Energy Agency Yuriy Kubrushko, head of the Bioenergy Association Georgiy Geletukha, as well as a number of other representatives of the energy industry.
As reported, Forbes Ukraine, citing its own sources, reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief’s Headquarters on Friday, 30 August, voiced a demand to Kudrytskyy to write a letter of resignation at his own request in the near future, but he refused. Now the decision on his resignation should be made by the company’s nabsoviet board. The reason for the resignation request is called incomplete protective structures around the system operator’s substations, which allegedly led to disruptions in electricity supplies after the combined massive shelling on 26 August.
The director of the Energy Research Centre, Oleksandr Kharchenko, said in a commentary to the publication that the accusations against Kudrytskyy were groundless, adding that Enerhoatom and Ukrhydroenerho were experiencing similar problems. He also pointed out that if the company’s naibsoviet board decides to dismiss the head of Ukrenerho, ‘the independence of supervisory boards in Ukrainian state-owned companies can be forgotten’.
‘Ukrenergo is a private joint-stock company, 100 per cent of whose shares are managed by the Ukrainian Energy Ministry.
‘Ukrenergo’ recognised the Russian attack on energy facilities on 26 August as the most large-scale attack since the beginning of the war. The Russian occupiers fired 127 missiles and 109 attack drones at Ukrainian territory, of which 102 missiles and 99 UAVs were shot down. As Oleksiy Kucherenko, the first deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada committee on energy and housing and utilities, commented on the consequences of the attack, Ukraine’s unified energy system has maintained its integrity despite tangible defeats of some energy facilities.
On 23 April 2024, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine announced a competitive selection for the position of an independent member of the Ukrenergo SB, but it is still operating with one vacancy, although according to Ukrenergo’s charter, it should consist of seven members, including four independent members.
Almost a year ago, Ukrayinska Pravda published the text of a US letter to the Ukrainian authorities with a list of reforms that Kiev should undertake to continue receiving military support, in particular, to introduce additional members to the nabs of Ukrenergo and Naftogaz in the next three months (which was done for NAK).
Currently, Ukrenergo’s SB consists of Peder Andreasen, Daniel Dobbeny, Roman Pionkowski – independent members, Yuriy Tokarsky, Oleksandr Baranyuk, and Yuriy Boyko – representatives of the state. The decision to dismiss the head of the board is made by a majority vote. The market noted that despite the desire of the main shareholder to get Kudrytskyy’s resignation, he managed to avoid it several times, thanks to the support of Ukraine’s international partners, as well as half of the nabsovet (of the state representatives, he is supported by Yuriy Boyko).
In September 2022, the G7 ambassadors to Ukraine had already expressed concern about the government’s interference in the management of the state-owned Gas Transit System Operator of Ukraine LLC and NEC Ukrenergo.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the total amount of international assistance (loans and grants) attracted by Ukrenergo totalled EUR1.5bn.
Public procurement of Chinese and Turkish goods is in violation of the law on localization to the detriment of Ukrainian producers, said Dmytro Kysylevsky, Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Development.
“While Ukrainian producers are working under fire and paying salaries to Ukrainian citizens, public customers are spending money on Chinese and Turkish goods, violating the law on localization,” the MP wrote on Facebook on Saturday.
He also noted that the number of tenders with gross violations increased to 15 in July. In these cases, Chinese and Turkish trams, buses, bulldozers, etc. were purchased at the expense of state-owned companies and company taxpayers. As a result, Ukrainian citizens lose their jobs, Ukrainian enterprises lose their orders, and state and community budgets lose taxes. Ultimately, this is a direct damage to the Armed Forces in the context of war, Kysylevsky emphasized.
According to him, the top 5 of this “rating of shame” include: Kryvyi Rih City Council’s Skhidnyi Tram, which purchased a Turkish-made Bobcat excavator worth UAH 7.56 million, the supplier being Alfatech Trading House LLC. Also, Mykolaiv Parks Municipal Enterprise of Mykolaiv City Council purchased a Chinese road machine MDK-5/28 worth UAH 7.5 million, the supplier being Production and Commercial Enterprise Alfatex.
In addition, the Central Enterprise for Radioactive Waste Management purchased a Turkish bus AR-TEMSA PRESTIJ SX for UAH 5.49 million, the supplier being SpetsTechnika+ LLC. Also, Municipal Motor Transport Enterprise 072801 of the Uzhhorod City Council purchased a Chinese bulldozer SINOMACH GTY 160 for UAH 4.65 million, the supplier being Spetszapchastyna Trading Company LLC. And the executive committee of the Kurylivka village council of Kupianske village council in Kharkiv region purchased a Turkish dump truck on a Ford Trucks chassis for UAH 4.65 million, the supplier being TEK-TRANS LLC.
“For each of the 15 gross violations identified, I will send deputy appeals to the Ministry of Economy and the State Audit Service of Ukraine (SASU – IF-U) for response. On my initiative, the CMD Ukraine think tank will continue to investigate each tender with localization of procedural violations and outright fraud. No one expected the changes to be easy. But in the end, common sense must prevail. Ukrainian taxpayers’ money should be spent where jobs are created for Ukrainian citizens, not Chinese or Turkish ones,” the MP stated.
According to him, the Ukrainian industry is capable of meeting all the needs of the state and communities with high quality goods and services.
“We will continue to fight until every official realizes this,” summarized the Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Development.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) this week again increased net sales of foreign currency on the interbank market to $646.30 million from $624.49 million a week earlier, according to the regulator’s data. According to them, the central bank refrained from buying foreign currency for the third week in a row, while sales jumped from $624.49m to $646.30m.
The official hryvnia exchange rate rose by 17 kopecks over the week. – UAH/$1 to 41.0592 UAH/$1, while on the cash market the hryvnia strengthened by about 11 kopecks when buying – to 41.30 UAH/$1 and by 10 kopecks when selling – to 41.40 UAH/$1
Since the beginning of 2024, the dollar at the official rate has appreciated by 8%, or by UAH 3.05, and since the transition of the National Bank on October 3, 2023 to the regime of managed flexibility – by 12.3%, or by UAH 4.49.
Thus, this month the hryvnia managed to fall by 0.1%, or by 5 kopecks, while in July the official hryvnia exchange rate fell by 1.4%, or by 55 kopecks – to 41.0063 UAH/$1. In June, its decline slowed to 3 kopecks after weakening by 90 kopecks in May.
As evidenced by the data that the NBU managed to publish for this period, from Monday to Thursday the negative balance between the volume of currency purchases and sales by the population gradually widened from $5.96 mln to $36.63 mln.
Ukraine’s international reserves in July, according to preliminary estimates of the National Bank, decreased by 1.8%, or $572.3 million – to $37 billion 231.9 million, while net international reserves (NIR) fell by $3 billion – to $23.30 billion. According to the quantitative performance criterion (QPC) in the updated program of expanded financing of the EFF, Ukraine’s NIR at the end of September this year should be at least $28.8 billion, and at the end of the year – at least $26.3 billion.
At the same time, according to the Ministry of Finance, Ukraine received about $8.4bn of external financing in August. In particular, $4.5bn from the EU under the Ukraine Facility, of which $1.6bn is a grant, as well as $3.9bn grant from the US through the World Bank’s PEACE in Ukraine project.
The World Bank Board of Directors has approved a new $415 million systemic project in Ukraine, “Making Education Accessible and Resilient in Ukraine’s Crisis (LEARN),” aimed at improving primary and secondary education in Ukraine, reaching one million students, teachers, and school staff.
“It is critical to mitigate the impact of war on children, especially those from the most vulnerable families, by minimizing disruption to the learning process,” World Bank Regional Director for Eastern Europe Bob Soma was quoted as saying in a World Bank release on Saturday night.
It is specified that the LEARN programs include measures aimed at improving overall school safety conditions, providing free transportation for vulnerable students, conducting teacher training, purchasing textbooks and improving governance in the education sector. The project also aims to help implement a comprehensive education reform in grades 1-12, known as the New Ukrainian School (NUS), which is aligned with EU standards, the WB pointed out.
“The LEARN project will help thousands of Ukrainian students return to a protected learning environment,” Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko was quoted as saying in the release.
It is specified that the project is implemented using the financial instrument “Program-for-results, Program-for-results” (PforR).
The Ministry of Finance notes that LEARN is aimed at improving conditions for teaching and learning, implemented at the expense of subventions from the state budget to local budgets.
The WB notes that initial funding for the LEARN program includes $235 million from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (IBRD) ADVANCE Ukraine Trust Fund, $150 million from the International Development Association’s (IDA) Special Program for the Reconstruction of Ukraine and Moldova, and $30 million from the Ukraine Support, Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reform Trust Fund (URTF). The program provides results-based financing that can be scaled up if additional funds are available.
On Thursday, the international chain JYSK opened a new store in Kryvyi Rih in the Terra shopping center at 1B Charivna Street, the retailer’s press service reported.
“The new JYSK store in Kryvyi Rih is located in the renovated Terra shopping center in the 5th Zarechnyi district. This store is the third in the city, the 99th in Ukraine and one of 29 JYSK stores planned to be opened by the company in August 2024 in Europe,” said JYSK Country Director in Ukraine Yevhen Ivanitsa, as quoted in the press release.
The new store will have a selling area of 1034 square meters, a warehouse of 307 square meters, and office space of 41.05 square meters. In addition, there are additional exhibition areas for furniture in front of the store and on the outer territory of the shopping center.
It is noted that in connection with the opening of the new store in the city, eight new employees joined the JYSK team, and four more were promoted. JYSK has more than 800 employees in the country.
Currently, there are 99 stores and the online store jysk.ua in Ukraine.
JYSK is part of the family-owned Lars Larsen Group with more than 3.4 thousand stores in 48 countries.
JYSK’s revenue in the financial year 2022/23 amounted to EUR 5.2 billion.
