The All-Ukrainian Association of Bakers, the Union “Mukomols of Ukraine” and the Association of bakery enterprises “Ukrkhlebprom” appealed to law enforcement authorities and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) with a request to stop the prosecution of the First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky and to drop charges against him for using his official position during the state procurement of products in March-April-2022.
“We convincingly ask the leadership of law enforcement agencies, primarily the NABU, to objectively consider all the circumstances and facts, make the right conclusions and stop the prosecution of one of the most decent and professional officials”, – stated in the available “Interfax-Ukraine” appeal of three business associations, uniting the majority of producers of bakery products, flour, cereals and pasta.
The business associations expressed surprise at Vysotskyy’s notification of suspicion of committing a criminal offense under part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (use of official position to obtain an unlawful benefit for a legal entity contrary to the interests of the service) and assured law enforcement agencies that in this case there was an unfortunate mistake.
“We, as producers of essential products, remember well those extra difficult times of the beginning of the full-scale war with the Russian invaders, which stood on the outskirts of the capital, when it was a question of survival and ensuring food security of the state. A huge role in this process was played by the leadership of the relevant ministry, and first of all by T.M. Vysotsky, because it was thanks to his honest and highly professional actions to manage and coordinate the activities of the industry that it was possible to avoid interruptions and abuses in the supply of food to the population and the AFU”, – said public organizations.
They called the accusations against Vysotskyy groundless and asked law enforcement agencies to carefully familiarize themselves with the position of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, which they fully share.
As reported, on 24 August, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) accused the first deputy minister of agrarian policy of Ukraine, Vysotskyy, of abusing 62.5m hryvnyas in the purchase of food products to meet the needs of the state during martial law.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy published a statement specifying the accusation received by Vysotskyy. In March-April 2022, he allegedly coordinated invoices for regional military administrations (RMAs) for the purchase of imported durum wheat pasta from Olimp LLC and WinsideLight LLC at inflated prices, which caused damage to the state in the amount of UAH 63 million. The investigation indicates that the cost of pasta products as of March-May 2022 ranged from 33.65-36.89 UAH/kg.
“The investigation does not take into account that the State Statistics Service of Ukraine for the period of March-May 2022 provides prices for pasta from durum wheat varieties for 500 g, and the purchase of 1 kg was carried out, so the price exceeded 72 UAH/kg, which excludes damage”, – emphasized in the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and added that the said arithmetical error should be taken into account and corrected by the investigation.
In addition, the investigation was advised to take into account the existence of a public contract for the supply of food products and its terms and conditions, which were not determined by Vysotsky. The Ministry of Agrarian Policy was not a party to the contract, all contracts were agreed upon by the regional military administrations. Vysotsky, in turn, drew the attention of the OVA representatives to the need to conclude deals at the lowest possible prices.
PJSC Interpipe Novomoskovsk Pipe Plant (Interpipe NMPP, Dnipropetrovsk region) has reduced its net loss by 8.8 times in January-March of this year compared to the same period last year – to UAH 13.248 mln.
According to the interim report of the company, the company reduced net income by 37.3% to UAH 251.985 mln during this period.
Retained earnings by the end of March 2023 amounted to UAH 200.795 million.
As reported, “Interpipe NMTZ” ended 2022 with a net loss of UAH 382.038 million, while in the previous year received a net profit of UAH 175.722 million.
“Interpipe is a Ukrainian industrial company, a manufacturer of seamless pipes and railroad wheels. The company’s products are supplied to more than 80 countries through a network of sales offices located in the key markets of the CIS, Middle East, North America and Europe.
The company has five industrial assets: “Interpipe Nizhnedneprovsky Pipe Rolling Plant (NTZ)”, “Interpipe Novomoskovsk Pipe Plant (NMTZ)”, “Interpipe Niko Tube”, “Dnepropetrovsk Vtormet” and Dneprostal electric steelmaking complex under the brand name “Interpipe Steel”.
The ultimate owner of Interpipe Limited is Ukrainian businessman Victor Pinchuk and his family members.
“Interpipe NMTZ” specializes in the production of welded pipes for the oil and gas industry, machine building, construction and other industries.
According to NDU data for the fourth quarter of 2022, Interpipe Limited (Cyprus) owns 90.3897% of the plant’s shares, while Lindsell Enterprises Limited (Cyprus) has 6.2918%.
The authorized capital of PJSC Interpipe NFTZ is UAH 50 mln, the nominal value of a share is UAH 0.25.
State-owned Oschadbank has provided a UAH 297 million revolving credit line to Omega LLC, the owner of the Varus supermarket chain, under the state program “Affordable Loans 5-7-9%,” the bank said in a statement on Friday.
“This is the fourth retail chain to receive financing from Oschad in the period from February 2022 to May 2023,” the release said.
According to the release, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the state bank has entered into loan agreements for grocery retail in the corporate business segment for UAH 1.6 billion, thus increasing the volume of financing for this sector by almost 3.5 times.
It is noted that Oschadbank has been cooperating with the VARUS network since 2014. The credit line was opened to replenish working capital for a period of 12 months.
As the state bank recalled, in 2022, Oschad entered into loan agreements with large corporate clients worth almost UAH 14 billion, while the corresponding loan portfolio increased by 24% and amounted to UAH 56.6 billion at the beginning of 2023. It is noted that since the beginning of this year, the volume of loan agreements has reached UAH 14.7 billion.
Omega LLC was established in 2000, the beneficiaries are Valeriy Kiptyk and Ruslan Shostak. The first Varus supermarket was opened in 2003 in Dnipro. According to the website, the chain currently has 103 supermarkets in five regions of Ukraine and the capital, with a retail area of 89.4 thousand square meters. Varus employs seven thousand people.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of July 1, 2023, Oschadbank ranked 2nd in terms of assets (UAH 324.74 billion) among 65 banks operating in the country, and first in terms of the number of branches in the country (1183).
On August 24, Ukrposhta, the Ukrainian state postal service enterprise, announced its intention to conclude a contract with Guardian Insurance Company for the provision of compulsory motor third party liability insurance (MTPL).
According to the Prozorro electronic public procurement system, the company’s price offer amounted to UAH 681,743 thousand, with the expected value of the tender at UAH 2.166 million.
The tender was also attended by European Insurance Alliance (UAH 1.003 million) and Krayina (UAH 1.077 million).
Guardian Insurance Company has been operating in the insurance market since 2007.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who arrived in Kyiv, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Our Minister Hakan Fidan was received in Kyiv by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Twitter.
To finalize draft laws No. 9596 and No. 9597 in terms of establishing a zero rate of environmental tax for CO2 emissions from biomass combustion for plants using, including mixed fuel, for the implementation of the European regulatory framework is proposed by the association of cement manufacturers “Ukrcement”.
According to the message on its website, registered in the Parliament on August 9, 2023, draft laws No. 9596 “On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine on the establishment of the rate of zero hryvnia of the environmental tax for carbon dioxide emissions for installations, which carry out such emissions as a result of combustion of biofuels” and No. 9597 “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Alternative Fuels” to create a register of installations using biofuels as a single type of fuel” do not fully take into account the mechanisms enshrined in the European directives.
“Making changes to the legislation today, we already need to be guided by the EU regulatory framework. The main goal there is to reduce CO2 emissions. Not the production of any specific products, but the solution of the global problem,” the report emphasizes.
According to “Ukrcement”, the above bills also do not fully take into account the existing government resolution on monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions, adopted in 2020 as a prerequisite for the introduction of an emissions trading system.
“Ukraine has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65% of 1990 levels by 2030 through decarbonization and development of alternative energy sources. But the current system of taxation of CO2 emissions in Ukraine does not incentivize the introduction of energy efficiency measures and transition to alternative energy sources. In addition, from October 2023 Ukraine will face another challenge due to the introduction of the European Green Agreement in the EU, which provides for an additional tax for goods from countries with low carbon tax burden – Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM),” the report says.
As noted, without tax exemption for emissions from biomass, regardless of its content, Ukrainian products will become uncompetitive on the European and global markets.
