There will be more warm days than cold ones in the fall, said Natalia Ptukha, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center.
“For September and October, the average monthly temperature is expected to be two to three degrees higher than the climatic norm. In November, we will be closer to the climatic norm. In September, we have a precipitation deficit. In October, we are closer to the norm and, in principle, we also expect that in November we should be leveling off,” she said at a briefing on Wednesday.
Ptukha noted that for the meteorological autumn to begin, the average daily temperature in a particular region should not rise above 15° for several days. Currently, higher temperatures and a lack of precipitation are recorded in almost all regions of the country, indicating that the meteorological summer is continuing in Ukraine.
The spokesperson for the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center emphasized that in recent years, it has become particularly noticeable that there are more “periods of heat” than “periods of cold”.
“From year to year, any season in our country becomes quite warm. There are fewer and fewer periods with cold days, and they are becoming shorter, not as long and not as intense,” she said.
According to her, it is too early to talk about the upcoming winter. Although it is already clear that there will be fewer “cold periods” and they will not be as severe, Ukrainians should still be prepared for any weather manifestations.
“Of course, we cannot say that we will no longer have cold periods and frosts in winter. No, we don’t say that, because our country is located in such a way that we have seasonality. Of course, there will be winter in some of its manifestations, but still, based on the trends that are now in place, it will be milder more often,” Ptukha said.
In January-June 2024, Universalna Insurance Company (Kyiv) collected a little more than UAH 1 billion in net insurance premiums, which is 20.6% more than in the same period in 2023, gross premiums showed an increase of 22.2% to UAH 1.2 billion, according to the website of the Standard Rating agency.
The agency has updated the credit rating/financial strength (reliability) rating of Universalna Insurance Company at uaAAA on the national scale based on the analysis of its performance for the specified period.
According to the published data, revenues from individuals increased by 23.69% to UAH 533.021 million, and from reinsurers – by 8.91 times (by UAH 6.627 million) to UAH 7.465 million.
Despite a significant increase in premiums from individuals, legal entities prevailed in the company’s client portfolio in the first half of 2024.
Insurance payments sent to reinsurers in the first half of 2024 increased by 67.43% compared to the same period in 2023 to UAH 55.1 million, the reinsurer participation ratio in insurance premiums increased by 1.24 percentage points to 4.59%.
The volume of insurance claims paid by the company increased by 46.36% to UAH 422.204 million, while the claims ratio increased by 5.82 percentage points to 35.18%.
In the first six months of 2024, compared to the same period in 2023, the insurer’s operating profit increased by 3.16 times to UAH 120.391 million, and net profit by 2.06 times to UAH 126.707 million.
As of July 1, 2024, the company’s assets increased by 14.16% to UAH 1.680 billion, equity increased by 17.11% to UAH 867.087 million, liabilities increased by 11.17% to UAH 812.56 million, cash and cash equivalents increased by 54.41% to UAH 266.432 million.
As of the said date, the insurer’s equity exceeded its liabilities by 6.71%. The current financial investment portfolio of UAH 1.121 billion consisted of bank deposits (UAH 748.698 million) and domestic government bonds (UAH 373.213 million), which covered 32.79% of the company’s liabilities.
Universalna has an international shareholder base, with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development holding 30% of the shares and Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited 70%.
Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Canada) is a holding company that, through its subsidiaries, is primarily engaged in accident insurance, property insurance and investment management.
As of September 18, farmers in all regions of Ukraine planted 1.0487 million hectares of winter crops, up from 639.9 thousand hectares last week, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reports.
According to the report, winter wheat was sown on 340.3 thousand hectares (101.1 thousand hectares a week earlier), barley – on 16.5 thousand hectares (3.7 thousand hectares), rye – on 3.4 thousand hectares (0.4 thousand hectares), and rapeseed – on 688.4 thousand hectares (534.7 thousand hectares).
According to the Ministry, winter wheat is being sown in 18 regions, barley in 12, and rye in six. Winter rape is being sown in 18 regions of Ukraine. Farmers in Volyn, Rivne, Ternopil, and Lviv regions have finished sowing it.
As of the same date a year earlier, Ukraine sowed 1.584 mln ha of winter crops, including 1 mln ha of rapeseed, 514 thou ha of wheat, 47 thou ha of barley, and 24 thou ha of rye.
Forecast of dynamics of changes in Ukrainian GDP in % for 2022-2025 in relation to previous period
Open4Business.com.ua
The Saudi Arabian Investment Company for Agriculture and Livestock (SALIC) has concentrated 12.6% of all outstanding shares of MHP, Ukraine’s largest chicken producer.
“SALIC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), has acquired 13,514,563 GDRs of MHP SE, the parent company of MHP,” the Ukrainian agricultural holding said in a stock exchange announcement.
MHP’s share price on the London Stock Exchange is about $4 per share.
Salic was founded in 2012, in Ukraine the company already controls the agricultural holding Continental Farmers Group with a land bank of about 195 thousand hectares.
MHP is one of the largest agricultural holdings in Ukraine, which has been actively developing outside the country in recent years. Its Ukrainian land bank is about 370 thousand hectares.
In the first half of 2024, the company reduced its net profit by 33% to $45 million, due to foreign exchange losses of $81 million compared to $5 million in the first half of 2023. EBITDA increased by 20% to $280 million on a 4% decrease in revenue to $1.489 billion, thanks to crop production.
MHP’s founder, majority shareholder and Chairman of the Board is Ukrainian businessman Yuriy Kosyuk.
U.S. and European officials are struggling to honor their pledge to use Russian assets to aid Ukraine.
A long-awaited plan to help Ukraine rebuild using Russian money is in limbo as the United States and Europe struggle to agree on how to construct a $50 billion loan using Russia’s frozen central bank assets while complying with their own laws.
The fraught negotiations reflect the challenges facing the Group of 7 nations as they attempt to push their sanctions powers to new limits in an attempt to punish Russia and aid Ukraine.
American and European officials have been scrambling in recent weeks to try to get the loan in place by the end of the year. There is added urgency to finalize the package ahead of any potential shifts in the political landscape in the United States, where support for Ukraine could waver if former President Donald J. Trump wins the presidential election in November.
But technical obstacles associated with standing up such a loan have complicated matters.
Group of 7 officials grappled for months over how to use $300 billion in frozen Russian central bank assets to aid Ukraine. After European countries expressed reservations about the legality of outright seizing the assets, they agreed that it would be possible to back a $50 billion loan with the stream of interest that the assets earn.
The solution was intended to provide Ukraine with a large infusion of funds without providing more direct aid from the budgets of the United States and European countries. It also allowed western allies to make use of Russia’s assets without taking the step of actually spending its money, which many top officials in Europe believed would be illegal.
But differences in the legal systems in the United States and in Europe, which both plan to provide the money up front, have made it difficult to structure the loan.
The European Union, where most of Russia’s central bank assets are held, is required to renew the sanctions that have frozen Russia’s assets every six months.
Because of this E.U. law, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget has determined that there is a certain amount of risk associated with the loan and that, unless the E.U. changes its sanctions laws, Congress must approve additional funding for Ukraine to account for that risk. But securing additional funding for Ukraine is logistically and politically unlikely, leaving the loan in limbo.
“They thought a big, nice, shiny announcement would force the bureaucrats to find a way, and here we are three months later,” said Charles Lichfield, deputy director of The Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center.
E.U. officials have been reluctant to change their sanctions laws to accommodate the United States because doing so requires the support of all 27 member nations. Europe could put forward the entire loan, and some officials there have suggested that it do so, but the United States believes that it is important for the Group of 7 to act in unison.
In recent days, European officials have been discussing the possibility of extending the sanctions review period to 12 or 36 months. While that would reduce the costs that the United States would incur in backing the loan, Congress would still most likely need to approve new money or redirect existing funds because of the risk that the sanctions might not be extended.
“Like U.S. officials, I’m disappointed that Europeans effectively took the summer off after making this commitment and only really started to address this topic this month,” said Philip Zelikow, a State Department official in both Bush administrations and a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. “And some are creating new obstacles, for reasons that will not withstand much scrutiny.”
Mr. Zelikow, who has called for the United States to use the Kremlin’s assets to rebuild Ukraine, added, “Russia is counting on winning a war of attrition, including against Ukraine’s economy.”
The United States has provided about $175 billion in aid to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began in early 2022. With the war showing no signs of abating, the International Monetary Fund expects Ukraine’s economy to slow in the second half of the year and for inflation to spike as attacks on its energy infrastructure persist.
The I.M.F. this month agreed to give Ukraine access to another $1.1 billion in financial assistance as part of a lending program that it approved last year.
A senior Biden administration official, who requested anonymity to speak about internal discussions, said that the United States needed assurances that codify the commitments of the Group of 7 leaders, who had agreed that Russia’s sovereign assets would remain immobilized until the war ends and until Russia repays Ukraine for the damage it had caused. Another senior U.S. official said that there was urgency to reach an agreement with Europe in the next few weeks and noted that the differences were more technical than ideological.
The loan has been difficult to devise because of a variety of risks associated with it. For instance, falling interest rates could diminish the value of the returns on the frozen Russian assets, most of which are held in Europe.
U.S. officials have looked into different scenarios for accounting for that risk. Although about $5 billion of Russian central bank assets are held in the United States, the Biden administration is not prepared to seize those funds to back the loan.
A spokeswoman for the Office of Management and Budget said that some of the funds that Congress had already allocated to support Ukraine could be used to cover potential costs associated with the loan. However, it is not clear if redirecting those funds for that purpose would require congressional approval.
The deliberations over the funds come as fighting between Ukraine and Russia is intensifying and as President Biden is on the verge of clearing the way for Ukraine to launch long-range Western weapons deep inside Russian territory.
The U.S. election in November is also weighing on the fate of Ukraine. At a presidential debate last week, Mr. Trump would not say if he wanted Ukraine to win the war and would only reiterate that he would work to swiftly end the fighting.
“It’s about getting it done before the election,” Mr. Lichfield said of the loan. “So the $50 billion is there to replace the U.S. if need be.”
