The second-largest Ukrainian mobile operator, VF Ukraine (Vodafone Ukraine, VFU), which redeemed its own Eurobonds worth almost $7 million at the end of May in connection with the payment of dividends, has announced for the sixth time an increase in the redemption price at the fourth such tender – to 98% of par value from 96% two weeks earlier, 95% four weeks earlier, and 85% in the initial offer on August 13.
As stated in the company’s announcement on the Irish Stock Exchange, the maximum redemption amount has been increased by $2.9 million to $9.691 million.
The deadline for accepting applications has been extended from October 23 to November 6, and settlements are now planned for approximately November 13.
In the first two tenders, Vodafone Ukraine repurchased bonds worth EUR1 million. The debut repurchase was announced at 99% of par value, and the second at 90% of par value. The company did not announce the results of the second buyback on the stock exchange, while the scaling factor for the first buyback was 0.0040355668.
According to the results of the third tender, where the redemption price was reduced to 85% of the nominal value and the offer was limited to $4.67 million, Vodafone Ukraine received bids for $53.395 million and satisfied them in the amount of $5.208 million. The scaling factor was 0.1315451889487317.
Bonds maturing in February 2027 with a nominal interest rate of 9.625% per annum were issued for $300 million. After the cancellation of the redeemed bonds, the total nominal value of the bonds remaining in circulation is $292.532 million.
The redemption of Eurobonds is related to the fact that on April 24, 2025, VFU announced the payment of dividends to its shareholder in the amount of UAH 660.245 million ($15.9 million at the exchange rate specified in the announcement) for 2024. According to the restrictions of the National Bank, they will be paid in separate monthly dividend payments. Each such monthly dividend is expected to amount to UAH 1 million. The company emphasized that under the terms of the bond issue, in this case, it must offer all bondholders to submit an application for their sale for an amount equal to the amount of dividends paid outside Ukraine. Since then, six monthly dividend payments have been made, each equivalent to approximately EUR 1 million.
As reported, VFU reduced its net profit by 13% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year, to UAH 1.705 billion, while its revenue grew by 15%, to UAH 13.518 billion.
Deputies of the Kyiv City Council have approved the allocation of UAH 548 million for the uninterrupted operation and energy independence of water supply and sewage systems in the capital, as well as for increasing the energy independence of these infrastructure facilities.
As reported on the website of the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) on Friday, the relevant changes have been made to the economic and social development program of Kyiv for 2024-26.
The Department of Economy and Investments of the KMDA notes that due to constant hostile shelling, the power grids on which the supply and disposal of water in residential buildings, hospitals, schools, kindergartens, and other infrastructure facilities depend are being damaged. Therefore, the funds will be allocated to prevent emergencies, restore and maintain the stable operation of urban water networks.
The European Union is facing a serious crisis in the supply of critical materials after the decision of the Chinese government to impose new export restrictions on rare-earth magnets and raw materials for their production, reports Politico.
As noted, Beijing’s decision in early October has escalated the trade standoff with the United States and created risks for European industry, which is almost entirely dependent on imports of such elements from China.
“A crisis in the supply of critical raw materials is no longer a remote risk. It is already on our doorstep,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told MEPs on the eve of the EU summit.
She emphasized the need for “decisive and urgent action” to ensure faster and more reliable supplies of critical materials “both within Europe itself and from trusted partners.”
European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said the EU was not interested in escalating tensions, but emphasized the need to resolve the situation quickly. “However, this situation casts a shadow on our relations. Therefore, a quick solution is essential,” he said.
Šefčovič said China and the EU will “strengthen contacts at all levels” to discuss the restrictions. Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao is due to arrive in Brussels for consultations in the coming days.
“The European Union is also holding talks with the G7 countries on an agreed response to the crisis ahead of a ministerial meeting to be held October 30-31 in Canada,” the report said.
Earlier, the information and analytical center Experts Club analyzed the global market of rare earth metals of the world and Ukraine, the video is available here -.
https://youtu.be/UHeBfpywpQc?si=0L-2nSUrLlIbqVZ5?si=Fk6Oi_13NKpEW81K
CHINA, EUROPEAN UNION, EXPERTS CLUB, EXPORT, rare earth elements
On Friday, October 31, from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., AmCham Ukraine, together with our member company Sayenko Kharenko, invites you to join us for Halloween Blood Donor Day. Details of the location will be sent to registered participants the day before the event. The venue has shelter.
Join us (costumes are welcome but not required) and be part of a life-saving mission. Every drop of blood can help save up to three lives—after all, real heroes don’t need capes, just courage and compassion.
The event is open to everyone, so invite your friends, colleagues, and loved ones. Choose a convenient time and register in advance via DonorUA.
Let’s make this Halloween terrifyingly good and life-giving!
Follow all rules and recommendations to prepare for blood donation.
Don’t forget to bring your passport and Ukrainian citizen identification code. Citizens of other countries can also be donors if they have a residence permit in Ukraine and an identity document.
The law allows women with medical and pharmaceutical education to be registered for military service without their personal presence, but there are no mechanisms for the forced conscription of such women from abroad, lawyers interviewed by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency explained.
“The obligation to register for military service does indeed exist. If a person is physically outside Ukraine, they must notify the territorial recruitment center at their place of registration, in particular by email, that they are temporarily abroad. However, there is no mechanism that would allow the state to forcibly return a citizen to fulfill this obligation. This also applies to those who are abroad under the temporary protection mechanism,” said Zoryana Skaletska, partner at Ario Law Firm and Minister of Health in 2019-2020.
She noted that in the context of military registration of women with medical or pharmaceutical education, “it is important to distinguish between the concepts of ‘compulsory’ and ‘automatic’ registration.”
“Compulsory always means restriction of freedom, and we do not have such mechanisms. However, automatic registration is indeed provided for. The Cabinet of Ministers’ resolution of July 30, 2025, allows such women to be registered for military service without their personal presence,” she said.
Skaletskaya explained that there are currently three mechanisms through which women with medical or pharmaceutical education can be entered into the Unified State Register of Conscripts, Military Service Obligators, and Reservists: through an educational institution, through a personal message, and through an employer.
“Thus, ‘automatic registration’ actually takes place through official notification of the educational institution or employer, but does not imply coercion or physical control by the state,” Skaletskaya noted.
She also emphasized that the law does not provide for separate liability specifically for women with medical or pharmaceutical education who have not registered for military service, since there are now general rules on violations of the law on military duty and military service, which provide for a fine of 850 to 1,700 hryvnia.
“Theoretically, this article can also be applied to women who have the relevant education but have not applied to the TCC and SP, especially if they are not employed and received their diploma many years ago. However, in practice, the application of this norm is still limited,” she noted.
Skaletskaya pointed out that the TCC and SP will only be able to automatically identify such persons when the Unified State Register of Conscripts, Military Service Obligators, and Reservists has technical access to the Ministry of Education’s diploma database.
“Currently, such interaction between the registers has not been introduced, so we do not see active prosecution of female medical professionals who have not registered,” she said.
Skaletskaya pointed out that “the practice of submitting information about female graduates of medical institutions to military registration and enlistment offices existed even before the current changes, but now we have another problem: the data in the registers is often not updated.”
“If we talk about the practical meaning of this control, its purpose is not punishment, but the ability to quickly recruit medical specialists if necessary for the defense sector. But it is important to understand that even in this case, a woman can only be recruited after passing a military medical commission (VVC), and not all of them are recognized as fit for service based on its results,” the lawyer emphasized.
She also noted that military registration control applies to all enterprises regardless of ownership, including private clinics.
For her part, Galina Chernyakina, a lawyer at Barristers, noted that the registration of women with medical or pharmaceutical education is exclusively a registration measure and is not equivalent to mobilization, i.e., it does not in itself mean compulsory conscription or military service without a corresponding decision by the state.
At the same time, she noted that “restrictions on traveling abroad during martial law apply exclusively to male citizens of Ukraine between the ages of 18 and 60 who are subject to military registration and mobilization, while women who have medical or pharmaceutical education and are subject to military service are not restricted in their right to travel abroad, even during a period of general mobilization.”
“Accordingly, women who are abroad under a temporary protection program or on other grounds cannot be forcibly returned to Ukraine for military registration, mobilization, or military service,” she said.
Chernyakina noted that the main type of liability for violating military registration rules is administrative, which provides for fines, and criminal liability can only arise in the case of actual evasion of mobilization after receiving a summons.
“However, so far, the practice of bringing women who are subject to military registration in accordance with the law to administrative or criminal responsibility is rare,” she said.
Source: https://ru.interfax.com.ua/news/general/1114670.html
Barristers, LAWYER, LEGISLATION, military registration, pharmaceutical education, WOMEN, Чернякіна
Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Katerina Reiche has promised Ukraine additional aid in the amount of €30 million for the energy sector, and this amount may still be increased, Tagesspiegel reported on Friday.
During her visit to Kyiv, Reiche told reporters that in early October, about 60% of Ukraine’s gas supply had been destroyed by Russian attacks.
“Russia’s goal is obviously to exhaust Ukraine. We will help restore the energy infrastructure,” she said.
Germany has already allocated a third of the total amount of EUR 390 million to the Energy Assistance Fund for Ukraine, and has promised to invest another EUR 30 million in Ukraine, with the possibility of further increases.
As reported, Reiche arrived in Kyiv on Friday to assess Ukraine’s needs for rebuilding its energy infrastructure after large-scale Russian attacks that severely damaged the power grid, Reuters reports. In addition to rebuilding the energy infrastructure, Reiche intends to focus on expanding German-Ukrainian defense cooperation.
