The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has fined iPay (UPR LLC), an online platform for money transfers and online payments, 16.51 million UAH for violating the laws governing the payment market, the regulator announced.
It is noted that the violations, identified as a result of off-site supervision, concerned, in particular, inadequate control over the quality and sufficiency of information accompanying payment transactions.
The company must pay the fine within five business days from the date it is notified of the decision by the NBU’s Committee on Supervision and Regulation of Banking Activities and Oversight of the Payment Infrastructure.
In addition, the regulator issued a written warning to iPay for violating requirements regarding the management and authorization system for financial payment service providers.
The company must rectify the identified violations and take measures to prevent their recurrence within no more than 30 calendar days from the date of receiving the decision.
The committee adopted the relevant decisions on September 2.
As previously reported, in September 2025, the NBU had already fined iPay 16.6 million UAH for violations in the area of financial monitoring, specifically deficiencies in risk assessment, internal controls, handling of customer data, and reporting. At the same time, the company received a written warning for errors in reporting and record-keeping.
According to Fixygen, Bitcoin’s rise above $80,000 in August was accompanied by behavior unusual for a classic risk asset.
The cryptocurrency rose in value alongside gold following the U.S. Treasury’s decision to increase purchases of long-term Treasury bonds and amid investor concerns about the debt burden and the long-term value of the dollar.
The market is once again discussing the “debasement trade”—the purchase of scarce assets in anticipation of a decline in the purchasing power of currencies.
However, it is still difficult to call Bitcoin a full-fledged equivalent of gold.
On August 31, amid growing expectations of a Fed rate hike, BTC remained around $78,500, while gold was trading at around $4,450 per ounce. Rising bond yields put pressure on both assets.
The difference lies in volatility. Gold remains a traditional reserve asset for central banks and institutional investors, while Bitcoin continues to experience significantly steeper declines.
Therefore, it is more accurate to say that Bitcoin is partially taking on the characteristics of an anti-dollar asset, but it does not yet replace gold.
According to Experts Club, in January–August 2026, Poland increased its diesel fuel shipments to Ukraine by 51% compared to the same period last year—to 1.8 million metric tons, according to data from the A-95 Consulting Group.
Poland remains the largest source of imported diesel fuel for the Ukrainian market.
In August, shipments from Poland reached 259,000 metric tons, a 42% increase year-over-year.
Imports from Lithuania also rose significantly over the eight-month period—by 38%, to 497,000 metric tons.
An additional factor driving the growth in Polish shipments was the opening in June of a stable import channel by the OKKO Group via the terminal in Gdynia as part of an agreement with the Polish state-owned company PERN.
The “A-95” chart for the first eight months of 2025–2026 also shows a sharp decline in shipments from southern countries—primarily Romania, Turkey, and Greece—against the backdrop of a strengthening of the Polish supply route.
Ukraine is participating for the first time in the FACIM (Feira Internacional de Maputo) international trade and industry fair in Mozambique, where it is showcasing opportunities for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
Ukraine’s participation in the fair was organized in cooperation with EUROCAM—the Association of European Entrepreneurs in Mozambique.
FACIM is Mozambique’s largest international trade and industry fair and one of the country’s key platforms for establishing contacts between local and international businesses, presenting investment opportunities, and developing foreign trade.
Rostyslav Tronenko, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the Republic of Mozambique, took part in the exhibition’s opening ceremony. The event was attended by Mozambican President D. F. Shapu, members of the government, deputies of the Assembly of the Republic, representatives of international organizations, and foreign delegations from countries participating in FACIM.
Also present at the ceremony were heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Mozambique, representatives of government agencies and local authorities, as well as Mozambican businesses and business associations.
Among the most promising areas for the development of economic cooperation between Ukraine and Mozambique are agriculture, digital technologies, the processing industry, and education.
Ukraine’s first participation in FACIM creates an additional platform for promoting Ukrainian businesses in the markets of Southern Africa and establishing direct contacts with Mozambican companies.
In August 2026, 1,050 new trucks and specialty vehicles were added to Ukraine’s fleet, which is 20% less than in July of this year, according to a report by “Ukravtoprom” on its Telegram channel.
At the same time, compared to August of last year, demand for these vehicles increased by 12%.
Renault remains the market leader with 250 units, which is 47 fewer vehicles than a month ago.
Mercedes-Benz took second place, with 121 registrations compared to 114 in July. Volkswagen came in third with 100 units (it was not among the top five in July).
Next were Citroën with 85 units (117 units in July 2026) and FIAT with 67 units (107 units).
As previously reported, last August the top five were Renault, Citroën, Peugeot, Toyota, and Hyundai, and sales fell by 14% compared to August 2024—to 937 units.
According to data from “Ukravtoprom,” overall sales growth for trucks and special-purpose vehicles from January through August 2026 slowed to 14% compared to the same period last year, reaching 8,626 new vehicles (sales growth stood at 15% for January through July).
As reported, citing data from “Ukravtoprom,” registrations of new trucks and specialty vehicles in 2025 fell by 5% compared to 2024—to nearly 12,300 vehicles.
According to the “Serbian Economist,” on September 3, Montenegro’s Skupština (parliament) unanimously supported a proposal to amend the Constitution, which would remove the immunity of the country’s president, prime minister, and members of the government in cases of crimes against official duties, including corruption offenses.
All 66 deputies present at the session voted in favor of the proposal; there were no votes against or abstentions. A two-thirds majority of parliamentarians was required to initiate the constitutional amendment process.
This specifically concerns abuse of office, accepting and offering bribes, as well as other corruption-related crimes. The government explains these changes as necessary to address situations where the immunity of a high-ranking official becomes an obstacle to criminal prosecution.
The initiative was drafted by the government back in the spring of 2026. The Cabinet of Ministers proposed amending Article 86 of the Constitution to explicitly revoke immunity for the president and members of the government in cases of crimes against official duties. The government links this reform, in particular, to the implementation of recommendations from the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption group GRECO and Montenegro’s progress under Chapter 23 of the EU accession negotiations.
However, formally, immunity has not yet been abolished. Parliament has instructed the Constitutional Committee to prepare a draft of the amendments within four days. According to Article 156 of the Constitution of Montenegro, after the draft is approved by two-thirds of all deputies, it must undergo a public consultation lasting at least one month, after which the final text must again receive the support of two-thirds of Parliament.
