GGBET LLC acquired the rights to use the GG.BET brand in Ukraine and received a decision to issue licenses from the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries for its activities (decisions No. 128, No. 129 of 08.08.2023). The date of the start of GGBET UA operations will be announced shortly.
GG.BET is an international esports bookmaker with Ukrainian roots, known for its partnerships with the world’s largest CS:GO and Dota 2 tournaments. The brand actively supports the development of global esports and acts as an official partner of major esports tournaments. In addition, the brand is a sponsor of the legendary NAVI and Team Vitality clubs.
GGBET UA will develop the esports community and promote the principles of responsible betting and online casinos. It also plans to support Ukrainian sports through investments, implementation of thematic social projects, and collaborations with sports leaders.
“Ukraine has a great potential for the development of the betting market, so obtaining licenses for the GG.BET brand is an expected and balanced decision. Ukrainian esports is characterized by a developed fan base and its own history of tournaments and high-profile victories. In addition, we are confident that fans of classic sports will also find attractive conditions and gain new interesting experience. We will offer Ukrainian bettors an excellent betting product and high-level service that the GG.BET brand provides to users in the global market,” the company’s press service commented.
As a reminder, the GG.BET brand has recently started operating in the UK under the license of the UK Gambling Commission, which is considered one of the most standardized and prestigious in the world.
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About GG.BET
GG.BET is an international eSports betting brand with operations in the UK, Europe, South America and Asia, operating under the licenses of the UK Gambling Commission, Antillephone (Curacao) and Malta Gaming Authority. GG.BET is a member of the ESIC public organization and stands for fair play in esports.
Ukraine has already harvested 12.5 million tons of wheat with record yields, but due to weather conditions 60% of the crop will be sold as fodder, which is twice as much as last year’s figure, according to the analytical cooperative “Pusk”, established within the framework of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Rada (VAR).
“The key problem of the new harvest was its low quality: due to weather conditions, the grain has a low protein content. Most exporting countries also have problems with the quality of grain,” analysts said.
According to their information, the volume of feed grain in the season-2023 may amount to 60% of the new harvest. In previous years, this figure was at the level of 30%, and the remaining 70% was food grain.
Ukraine will get no more than 40% of high-protein wheat in 2023, which will affect prices.
“The spread between fodder and high-protein wheat is already $15-18/ton, in the future it may exceed $20/ton,” experts noted.
The current season will be problematic with the supply of food grain worldwide, stated the WAR and added that a lot of feed grain will be produced by France, Germany and the Russian Federation, which are experiencing problems with grain quality.
“Those who have high-protein wheat are selling to Lithuania, to Germany, and at small ports the supply is low. If last season the markets were surplus, traders dictated prices, now we are moving to a deficit model. Farmers are not taking wheat to the ports, and prices will rise,” the analysts explained.
They reported that prices in Danube ports on the basis of CPT are $170-175/tonne, by the end of the week they are expected at $180/tonne, and by the end of August may exceed $200/tonne.
“World demand is just starting to grow, there will be news of quality problems in other regions as well,” predicted the CAP.
The National Agency of Ukraine for the Detection, Search and Management of Assets Derived from Corruption and Other Crimes (ARMA) has proposed that the assets of the Glusco gas station chain be transferred to the management of PJSC Ukrnafta under a special procedure.
According to ARMA’s Facebook post, the proposal was supported by the Ukrainian Energy Ministry at a meeting attended by representatives of relevant ministries and state-owned companies on Monday.
ARMA head Olena Duma said that the future contract should specify the minimum amount of monthly revenues to the budget for the management of the network’s assets at the level of UAH 5 million, coordination with the agency of changes in the management of companies whose corporate rights will be transferred to the manager, as well as the submission of specific reporting information on all accounts.
“I firmly believe that the growth of the guaranteed income of the state at least 13 times is the best evidence of the effectiveness of new approaches in the work of ARMA. In addition, we are only talking about a minimum amount, which will increase as fuel sales increase. Now the government has the final word – and dozens of gas stations across the country will start to really work for the state budget”, – the report quotes the words of the head of ARMA Elena Duma.
At the same time, Naftogaz Oil Trading LLC (NOT), which manages Glusco’s assets, reiterated that they effectively and transparently manage the network, and ARMA’s actions to terminate management contracts are unlawful.
“Naftogaz notes that the termination of the contracts occurred with numerous legal violations, the inspection was conducted improperly, and ARMA’s actions jeopardize the preservation of physical evidence in the criminal proceedings against the former owner of these assets, Viktor Medvedchuk.”
In addition, ARMA and NOT are currently parties to the ongoing economic concentration harmonization procedure.
“By the time further actions to comply with the provisions of the antimonopoly legislation of Ukraine are agreed upon, any actions to change the manager are unlawful and may result in significant penalties for the participants of such concentration,” Naftogaz clarified.
“NOT” continues to consider the concluded contracts of property management Glusco valid, and will fulfill them until the moment of the resolution of disputes”, – summarized in the company.
As reported, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in May 2022 agreed the ARMA proposal to transfer to the management of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine arrested assets of Glusco (until 2018 – the network of Rosneft), which were associated with Viktor Medvedchuk,
NOT was identified as the asset manager, with whom ARMA subsequently entered into a fixed-term management agreement.
At the end of July 2023, the recently appointed head of ARMA, Olena Duma, announced that the National Agency would conduct audits of the efficiency of management of the largest assets, and an audit of the efficiency of management of the Glusco network of gas stations by Naftogaz Ukrainy has already begun.
According to her, ARMA has received information about improper fulfillment of the contract terms by the manager, in particular, the submission of unreliable data regarding expenses and income from management activities.
“The manager has been using Glusco’s assets for more than a year, which are actually 89 gasoline filling stations, eight land plots, two oil depots and corporate rights of 35 companies. At the same time, only UAH 1.151 million has been transferred to the state budget for the whole time, which raises well-founded questions about the efficiency of management,” she said.
On August 3, ARMA announced the termination of contracts with NOT to manage the assets of the Glusco gas station network.
At the same time, Naftogaz said that under the management of “NOT” resumed the work of 81 filling stations and one oil depot, which did not work for a year and a half, timely payment of wages to employees. From August 2022 to July 2023, 289 million UAH of mandatory payments to the state and local budgets were paid.
The head of Naftogaz Ukrainy, Oleksiy Chernyshov, said that during the period of managing the assets of Glusco, the group invested significant funds in the restoration of the network, repaid its debts, and at the request of ARMA paid them “for some part of future profits, as they are not yet in question.”
Naftogaz’s 100% subsidiary Ukrgasvydobuvannya has a network of 21 U.GO gas stations in Kharkiv and Kharkiv region. Starting from 2022, Naftohaz Oil Trading also has the right to use the brand and plans to expand its network in other regions.
An electronic cabinet for manufacturers of construction products has appeared in the Unified State Electronic System of Construction (USECS), the press service of the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure has reported.
As noted in the release, now manufacturers can independently declare the type of building products (windows, doors, fittings, etc.) and its characteristics (size, shape, configuration, etc.).
With this declaration, manufacturers confirm the compliance of products with legal requirements. Verification of declared indicators and characteristics of construction products is carried out by the state supervision body – the State Inspectorate of Architecture and Urban Planning of Ukraine.
Performance characteristics of construction products and requirements for their confirmation are defined in national standards, which are identical to harmonized European standards.
All information about working with the functional cabinet can be found in a special chat room: https://t.me/budprod or by e-mail to support the work of the functional cabinet: support@e-construction.gov.ua.
Recall that at the end of December 2021, the Government adopted Resolution No. 1458 “Certain Issues of Provision of Construction Products on the Market”, regulating a number of issues on the provision of construction products on the market. This was the final step of the implementation of the European Regulation 305/2011 into the national legislation.
The launch of the e-cabinet functionality of the construction products manufacturer was carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine, the Reform Support Office of the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure and the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine with the support of USAID/UK aid of the TAPAS Project/Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services.
Private JSC “Insurance Guarantees of Ukraine” (SGU) has collected UAH 350 th. of gross premiums in January-June 2023, that is by 23,4% more than in the same period a year earlier, follows from the information of rating agency “Expert Rating” on confirmation of insurer’s financial strength rating/credit rating on national scale at the level “uaAA” following the results of its work for the specified period.
It is noted that insignificant volumes of gross premiums of the insurer in the analyzed period, among other things, are connected with specialization of “SGU” in cargo insurance and with essential reduction of transportation of those in need of insurance due to attack of Russia and introduction of martial law in Ukraine.
The company did not make any payments during this period.
As of June 30, 2023 shareholders’ equity of the company has grown by 6,03% – up to UAH 38,75 mln, gross liabilities – by 17,74%, up to UAH 18,75 mln, that has led to decrease of equity/liabilities ratio by 22,82 p.p. to 206,63%. – to 206,63%. The volume of cash and cash equivalents has grown by 3,46% and has amounted to UAH 47,01 mln, and the level of cash coverage of the insurer’s liabilities has decreased by 34,62 p.p. to 250,68%. – To 250,68%.
“Consequently, as of the beginning of the second half of 2023 Private JSC “SGU” had a very high level of provision with highly liquid assets, the volume of which in 2,51 times exceeded gross liabilities of the insurer”, – stated in the message.
Following the results of the first half of 2023 the activity of Private JSC “SGU” was unprofitable: the insurer received net loss in the amount of UAH 1,399 mln (for 6 months of 2022 – UAH 665 thousand) and operating loss – UAH 2,165 mln (UAH 1,320 mln).
Private JSC “SGU” was registered in November, 2005. It has licenses for 15 types of insurance activities, including four licenses for compulsory insurance and 11 licenses for voluntary insurance.
The State Property Fund (SPF) of Ukraine has scheduled a second auction for the sale of Belgorod-Dnistrovsky Commercial Sea Port (BSP) for August 15 with a starting price of UAH 92.45 million.
According to the FGI website, the auction previously scheduled for June 14, before which the starting price of the object was halved to 92.46 million (excluding VAT), was not held due to the lack of bidders.
The winner of the previous auction for the sale of Belgorod-Dnestrovskyi ICC, which took place on March 13, Ukrdoninvest LLC of businessman Vitaliy Kropachev refused to buy the port at the stage of agreeing the terms of the sale and purchase agreement with the regional department of the Federal State Property Management Agency for Odessa and Mykolayiv regions. The company specified that the sale price of the port at the auction, which it won was UAH 264.12 mln (including VAT). It was also reported that Ukrdoninvest did not demand the return of the guarantee fee in the amount of UAH 18.76 million.
The FGI reported that it will re-run the privatization auction for the sale of “Belgorod-Dnistrovskyi ICC” in connection with the recognition of the auction at which it was sold to “Ukrdoninvest” failed: the winner of the auction did not contribute funds for the object, the press service of the Fund reported.
The first auction for the sale of the port with a starting price of UAH 187.57 million, scheduled for March 3, was not held.
Earlier, the FGI noted that the port of Belgorod-Dnistrovsky founded in 1971 is unprofitable, but since 2022 the enterprise “plays an important role in ensuring world food security as a logistics center for ports on the Danube”. In the first quarter of 2023, the port’s total revenue amounted to UAH 7.391 million. At the same time, the loss for this period amounted to – UAH 4.45 million. The amount of overdue accounts payable as of March 31, 2023 – UAH 118.7 million, including wage arrears – UAH 11.5 million. The total debt on wages and payments to the budget amounts to UAH 96.37 mln, including penalty of UAH 1.7 mln.
In 2022, Belgorod-Dnistrovsky ICC received 63 thousand UAH of profit against losses of 28.5 million UAH in 2021 and 25.2 million UAH in 2020.
The port provides loading and unloading services for the main cargo nomenclature: timber cargo, mineral fertilizers, iron ore pellets, metal products. It works with timber and grain cargoes destined for export.
