The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) have exposed the First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine and the former Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine for misuse of UAH 62.5 million in the purchase of food to meet the needs of the state during martial law.
As reported in the SAPO telegram channel on Thursday, the food was intended as humanitarian aid for the needs of eight regions of Ukraine, as well as the city of Kyiv.
As established during the pre-trial investigation, in March 2022, the First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food implemented a scheme that provided for the purchase of products for the needs of regional military administrations at the expense of Ukrzaliznytsia JSC from a controlled company at prices 2-3 times higher than market prices. The price overstatement was due to the purchase of products from a foreign manufacturer (Poland) through a controlled intermediary company. As a result of this scheme, from March to August 2022, Ukrzaliznytsia suffered losses in the amount of UAH 28.8 million.
A similar scheme was used to purchase food products from a foreign producer in Turkey through a controlled spacer firm. To ensure the purchase of products, the scheme also involved the then acting Deputy Minister of Economy, who concealed data on the availability of more favorable offers from other market participants, including Ukrainian producers, and also induced officials of regional administrations to illegally approve applications and invoices for the purchase of products from the controlled company.
Due to the operation of the scheme from March to August 2022, Ukrzaliznytsia suffered damage of another UAH 33.7 million, according to the SAP and NABU. After receiving payment, the money was transferred to a foreign company with signs of fictitiousness for further legalization.
The above-mentioned officials have been announced on suspicion, their actions are qualified under part 2 of article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Abuse of power or official position”
The post of First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food has been held by Taras Vysotskyy since May 26, 2021.
On August 22, the shareholders’ meeting of JSC “PROSTO-Insurance” (Kyiv) decided to terminate the activities of 13 regional divisions, according to the company’s information posted in the NSSMC disclosure system.
As reported, the National Bank of Ukraine in May excluded the company from the State Register of Financial Institutions in connection with the revocation of all available licenses to carry out activities on April 27, due to the fact that the ownership structure of the insurer did not meet the requirements of the law.
JSC “PROSTO-strakhovanie” had 23 licenses. According to the company’s latest financial statements for the first quarter of 2023, the volume of insurance premiums amounted to UAH 43.488 million, the value of assets – UAH 561.494 million, insurance reserves – UAH 161.712 million. The company’s market share in terms of insurance premiums amounted to 0.5%.
Insurance Company “PROSTO-Strakhovanie” was registered in 1997. It specializes in providing services in the field of risk insurance.
According to the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, as of the fourth quarter of 2022, 99.998% of the insurer’s shares were owned by Lavidia Limited (Cyprus).
The BRICS member states have decided to invite Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to join the organization, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday.
“We have decided to invite Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to become full members of BRICS,” Ramaphosa said in a speech at the BRICS summit.
The membership of these countries will become official on January 1, 2024, the South African leader explained.
Norway has decided to transfer F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, TV2 TV channel reports citing data from several independent sources.
“Thus, Norway becomes the third NATO country after the Netherlands and Denmark to transfer F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine,” the report indicates.
It is noted that the Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre on Thursday, August 24, is on a visit to Kiev.
Finod LLC, which was engaged in currency exchange and recently lost all its licenses by the decision of the National Bank (NBU), was the largest financial company in Ukraine in terms of revenue – UAH 2 billion 115 million at the end of the first half of 2023.
According to data on the NBU website, in the first quarter the leader was payment system Novapay with UAH 1 billion 666 million in revenue, but its data is missing in the table for the half-year, while the table for the first quarter did not include Finod’s data.
The next three companies, as well as in the first quarter, were formed by microcredit providers Ukr Credit Finance LLC (CreditKasa TM), 1 Safe Agency for Necessary Loans LLC (MyCredit TM) and Investrum (ZeCredit, BananaCredit TM), whose revenue amounted from UAH 1.16 billion to UAH 0.86 billion.
At the same time, “Ukr Credit Finance” increased its revenue in the second quarter compared to the first quarter by almost 1.5 times, strengthening its position, while “1 Safe Credit Agency” by 28%, and FC “Investrum” – by 5%.
“Investrum” of the market leaders has the lowest labor costs – only UAH 10.8 mln, as well as close to zero profit.
Six more companies operating in the microcredit market, as well as the network of payment terminals of FC “Kontraktovy Dom” (TM “Easypay”) follow with rather close indicators of revenue – from UAH 651.6 mln to UAH 516.0 mln.
In particular, we are talking about LLC “Maniveo Fast Financial Assistance” (Moneyveo), which reported the highest salary expenses among competitors, FC “E Groshi Kom”, “Aventus Ukraine” (TM CreditPlus), , LLC “Miloan” – UAH 617.47 million and “Lineura Ukraine” (TM “Credit7”) and “Consumer Center” (TM “ShvidkoGroshi”).
The largest in terms of assets and profit in the first half of the year was state-owned PJSC Ukrfinzhytlo, capitalized at the end of last year at the expense of government bonds – UAH 55.5bn and UAH 3.3bn, respectively.
Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group has allocated almost UAH 4 billion to support the country and its citizens during the year and a half of full-scale war, including UAH 2 billion for the needs of the army as part of the Rinat Akhmetov Steel Front military initiative.
According to the company’s press release on Thursday, since the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion, the company has been a reliable support for the country in a very difficult time, strengthening the defense capabilities of the army, taking care of its employees and civilian Ukrainians, and supporting the economy.
Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest, noted that the Group has been investing in the development of production and the welfare of Ukraine for all 17 years of its existence.
“With the outbreak of a full-scale war, we have faced another major challenge – to help the country defeat the enemy and preserve its sovereignty and independence. That is why for the past year and a half, the company’s enterprises have been not only witnessing but also actively participating in the struggle. We are working for the needs of the frontline, delivering humanitarian aid to the victims and, despite everything, continue to produce Ukrainian steel,” the top manager said, as quoted by the press service.
It is also stated that Metinvest’s enterprises in Ukraine are under constant threat of enemy shelling. The group’s assets in Mariupol and Avdiivka have been damaged by hostilities, while Mariupol is temporarily occupied. Since the outbreak of full-scale war, Metinvest’s operations have been negatively affected by logistical constraints, power outages, rising production costs and falling prices for certain products.
Despite all this, the Group’s enterprises operate at different levels of utilization, taking into account security, logistics, energy, economic and other factors.
Since the beginning of 2023, following the stabilization of power supply, the Group has been able to gradually increase the utilization of its iron ore assets in Kryvyi Rih to at least 30% of pre-war levels and maintain its focus on the production of pellets and products with a high iron content.
The restoration of power supply also ensured more stable operations and product mix flexibility at Kametstal, which operates two blast furnaces, and the joint venture Zaporizhstal, which operates three blast furnaces. BF No. 3 at Zaporizhstal resumed operations after being shut down in late spring. The overhaul helped improve the efficiency of the furnace and the entire blast furnace process.
Pokrovskoye Coal Group’s enterprises are operating at high utilization rates. Construction of the 11th coal mining unit is underway. In July, despite the military invasion, the Group successfully completed the modernization of the flotation department at Svyato-Varvarinskaya Concentrator, which had been in progress for four years.
Metinvest’s priority remains taking care of its employees who ensure the production process. All enterprises have bomb shelters equipped for long-term stay of people. The shelters have water, food and medicine.
Starting June 1, 2023, Metinvest introduced an additional bonus for employees of production and repair facilities in Ukraine, which can reach 25% of their salary or more depending on the performance of the employees.
The most important task for business in wartime is to work together with the whole country to win by paying taxes, supporting the army, the economy and taking care of people, the press release said. In the first half of 2023, Metinvest, including its associates and joint ventures, paid more than UAH 6.3 billion in taxes and fees to the budgets of all levels in Ukraine.
“Metinvest continues to fight the theft by the Russian Federation, which illegally exported more than 234,000 tons of the company’s steel products from Mariupol. In particular, 27 enterprises of the group have filed lawsuits with the European Court of Human Rights against the Russian Federation for damage to the group’s property in Mariupol and other territories of Ukraine since February 24, 2022,” the press release states.
Since the first day of the war, Metinvest has joined the Rinat Akhmetov Steel Front military initiative to protect the lives of Ukraine’s soldiers. The company has already allocated UAH 2 billion to support the Ukrainian army by purchasing bulletproof vests, vehicles, drones, thermal imagers and other equipment. The company has also organized the production of special mobile shelters, anti-tank hedgehogs and spiked chains against wheeled vehicles.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies. The Group’s enterprises are located primarily in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions.
The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage it.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
