More than UAH 97 million transferred to the account of the Ministry of Economy to finance humanitarian demining activities within the United24 platform will be used to purchase demining equipment, the press service of the Ministry of Economy reports.
“These funds will be distributed between the State Emergency Service and the State Special Transport Service for the following purposes,” the statement said.
In particular, to help the SSTS purchase a heavy-duty remote mechanized demining machine (analogous to MV-10).
Also for the purchase of 400 protective fences and 400 protective aprons for humanitarian deminers for the SES.
To purchase two truck tractors for the SES to transport remote mechanized demining vehicles.
For the purchase of three armored pyrotechnic vehicles of light type for the transportation of explosive devices for the SES.
It is reported that Deputy Minister of Economy Ihor Bezkaravaynyi also addressed the applicants with a proposal to continue to emphasize the purchase of domestically produced equipment.
The number of declarations mentioning cryptocurrencies is growing from year to year. More than 1,400 such declarations were filed in 2022. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether are the most popular among Ukrainian officials. For example, in 2022, one of the Ukrainian MPs declared 121 bitcoins worth over UAH 195 million.
Ukrainian officials filed 1428 declarations with cryptocurrency assets in 2022. This is almost twice as many as in 2021: back then, crypto appeared in 788 declarations.
In the 2021 declarations, the most popular cryptocurrencies among Ukrainian officials were Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), and others. In 2022, the top positions did not change radically: Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) were still in demand, and Tether (USDT) joined the top three.
Which Ukrainian officials declared the most cryptocurrency?
First of all, it is worth noting that the declarants submit their assets both in hryvnia equivalent and simply by indicating the number of cryptocurrency units in their possession.
Bitcoins / Bitcoin (BTC)
In 2021, the largest amount of bitcoin was declared by Anna Pozdnyakova, Director of the Odesa City Heat Supply Utility, which amounted to UAH 53 million. A year later, Deputy Head of the Dnipro Regional State Administration Sergiy Karpenko took over the top spot. He owns bitcoins equivalent to UAH 41 million.
The largest amount of bitcoins in 2022 – 121 BTC – was declared by Mykyta Kuzkevych, a deputy of the Odesa Regional Council. In hryvnia equivalent, at the time of publication, this is more than UAH 195 million.
Ethereum (ETH)
Serhii Karpenko, the official from Dnipropetrovs’k region who declared the largest amount of bitcoins, has also been the record holder for the amount of ethereum for two years in a row. In his declarations for 2021 and 2022, the official noted that he had the same amount of equivalent for this cryptocurrency – UAH 14.6 million.
Crypto dollars / Tether (USDT)
Vitaliy Brovko, Deputy Head of the Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office, declared the most crypto dollars or stablecoins in 2021 – 774,500 units. The same official holds the record for the largest amount in equivalent – UAH 20 million.
The official also held the top spot among the declarants for 2022. The number of crypto dollars in his possession did not change, but their value increased to more than UAH 29 million.
At the same time, the largest amount of crypto dollars/stablecoins was declared by Maksym Kyselyov, Director of the State Enforcement Service Department of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, who earned UAH 25 million.
The biggest losses in crypto
It is also worth noting that there are several officials who have declared their crypto assets but have indicated that they have lost access to them.
380.95 bitcoins, a record amount among Ukrainian officials, were declared and lost by Roman Saramaga, Deputy Head of the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine, in 2021. In hryvnia terms, at the time of publication, this is about UAH 615 million.
The largest amount of ethereum – 1,800 units or more than UAH 160 million – belongs to Ihor Osipov, a deputy of the Podil District Council of Odesa Oblast. In 2021 and 2022, the official stated in his declarations that he had lost access to cryptocurrency.
“Having analyzed a large number of declarations, first of all, it is worth noting their poor quality. It seems that officials spend 5 minutes on declarations on the last day of submission. Despite the fact that there is already a special section where it is necessary to indicate assets in crypto, almost all crypto holdings are filled in differently, with errors and in different parts of the declarations.
Overall, the statistics show that ownership of such an opaque asset as cryptocurrency is not something risky or suspicious for officials. After all, the number of such officials has almost doubled over the past two years,” comments Oleksiy Ivankin, founder of Opendatabot.
Context.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the mandatory verification of officials’ declarations has been temporarily canceled. Despite this, the obligation of officials to report on their property status and changes in it has not been canceled.
Last fall, the verification of declarations was resumed. Therefore, Ukrainian officials had to catch up with the previous period (2021 and 2022) by the end of January 2024.
The deadline for submitting declarations for 2023 remains the same – April 2024.
As a reminder, you can check your MP’s declaration using the Opendatabot. To do this, add the OpenDataBot to your favorite messenger and enter the name of the official.
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/crypto-officials-2022
Bitcoins, CRYPTOCURRENCY, cryptocurrency assets, CryptoDollars, Ethereum
Ukraine’s defense sector grew three times last year, and the industry is expected to grow 6-fold in 2024, Deputy Minister for Strategic Industries Hanna Hvozdyar said at the European Business Association (EBA) conference Global Outlook: A Winning Vision on Wednesday.
“The enemy is, of course, superior to us in terms of numbers and funds they attract. And the needs of the army are so great that it is very difficult for us, even together with our partners, to meet them in full. However, last year alone, we tripled our defense spending. This year we expect a 6-fold increase,” Hvozdyar said.
According to her, the ministry is creating opportunities for civilian companies to engage in military-tech work.
“We are talking about ammunition, ammunition cases. They can be produced by civilian companies that have the appropriate equipment, and we are also moving in this direction,” Hvozdyar said.
The Deputy Minister noted that another niche is in the market of components. According to her, many drone and UAV manufacturers still buy components abroad, while one of their priorities is to equip them with domestically produced parts.
“Our drones should depend on and consist of Ukrainian components as much as possible,” Hvozdyar said.
“The money is all in the defense sector. So, sooner or later, we will still come to the conclusion that it is more profitable for the economy as a whole. It is very important for us to keep our budget within the country,” she explained.
Hvozdyar also noted that the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine (MinStrategProm) is working on creating a communication platform that could serve as a library of proven components of national production.
Israel has opened its market for Ukrainian feed flour and feed fats, the press service of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection reported.
According to the report, the Ukrainian and Israeli competent authorities have agreed on a veterinary certificate for poultry/feather/fish meal and a veterinary certificate for oils and fats for animal feeding.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection continue to open doors for Ukrainian products in the world. Only last week and this week we opened new markets in three countries: China, Qatar and Israel. This is part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ systemic strategy to help Ukrainian businesses in times of war. Within the framework of our Nazovni platform, from January 2023 to February 2024, we processed 84 applications from exporters to enter the Israeli market, so it is interesting for business,” said Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
According to the head of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, Serhiy Tkachuk, the agency is currently studying 220 areas for opening markets in other countries for such commodities as meat, dairy products, fish products, bee products, and others.
The harmonized forms of veterinary certificates for feed flour and feed fats are published on the website of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection in the section “International Cooperation”, heading “Certificates for Export from Ukraine”.
The agency reminded that the first step for exporting Ukrainian products of animal origin is a request from the market operator to the territorial body of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection at the place of location.
Where do people get married and divorced the most in Ukraine?
More than 186 thousand marriages were registered in Ukraine in 2023, according to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. The number of divorces and prenuptial agreements has increased, but it is still less than before the start of the Great War.
186,051 marriages were registered through the registry office in Ukraine in 2023.
In the first year of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainians were actively marrying – 4% more than in 2021, when 214,013 couples got married. However, in 2023, the number of marriages dropped sharply – by as much as 16% over the year.
Overall, the number of new families has decreased by 1.6 times over the past 10 years.
The leader in the number of new marriages in 2023 was Kyiv – 21,802. This is 14% less than in 2021. Dnipropetrovs’k region is in second place with 18,816 marriages. Odesa region rounds out the top three with 13,740 new families.
The only region where the number of new families increased in the second year of the full-scale war was Kharkiv region: 10,977 marriages or +11%.
Compared to the period before the start of the great war, the number of new families increased in the central regions last year: Kirovohrad (+28%), Zhytomyr (+23%), and Cherkasy (+22%).
At the same time, in the west of the country, on average, 20% fewer couples got married: Ternopil (-24%), Zakarpattia (-23%), and Lviv (-20%). An anti-record was set in Chernivtsi region, where the number of new families decreased by as much as a third.
After a decline in the first year of the full-scale war, the number of divorces through registry offices increased again by 35%. 24,108 divorces were recorded last year. However, this is still 18.5% less than in 2021.
Kyiv is the leader not only in the number of marriages but also in divorces – 3,793 last year. The capital accounts for almost 16% of the total number of divorces through registry offices.
The number of divorces in 2023 increased significantly compared to 2021 in Ivano-Frankivsk region – +20%. In Odesa region, on the contrary, a quarter fewer married couples broke up last year than in 2021.
However, it should be understood that these statistics are not exhaustive. Only couples who do not have minor children or property claims against each other can dissolve their marriage at the registry office. In other cases, divorce takes place in court and can last for years.
The number of marriage agreements last year increased 1.6 times compared to the first year of the Great War. 2,586 agreements were concluded last year, a third less than in 2021.
Currently, there is 1 marriage contract for 72 marriages.
divorce, marriage through registry offices, marry, number of divorces through registry offices, number of marriage agreements, number of new marriages
After two months of stable performance, the index of business activity recovery (IER) in January decreased by 7 p.p. to 43%, according to the 21st NRES (New Monthly Enterprises Survey) conducted by the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting (IER).
“In addition to the growing uncertainty related to export prospects, the surveyed enterprises report a direct reduction in exports. Thus, in January, 34% of respondents had to reduce exports (in December, the number was 20%). The share of enterprises reporting export growth decreased from 31% in December to 19% in January,” the IER reports.
According to the published information, the share of enterprises that reduced production volumes increased from 16.8% in December to 23.2% in January, and the share of enterprises that increased production volumes decreased from 34.4% to 23.2%.
It is noted that employment rates have also slightly decreased: 2.7% of respondents plan to increase it (5.1% in December), 11.5% intend to reduce the number of employees (6.7% in December), and 85.8% do not expect changes in employment (88.3% a month earlier).
The business itself is experiencing problems with finding qualified employees – 32.4% of companies have difficulty finding such employees (29.1% in December). Although, according to Oksana Kuziakiv, Executive Director of the IER, the decline in employment may be a seasonal trend.
Among the obstacles to growth, the first place in the list of obstacles is shared by “working dangerously” and rising prices for raw materials: 46% of respondents indicated them.
Lack of labor moved from second to third place in the list of barriers with a decrease from 46% to 41%, and power outages moved from fifth to seventh place (from 30% to 26%).
Corruption and pressure from law enforcement agencies are still not significant problems: in January, they were reported as obstacles by 7% of respondents.
In addition, more than a fifth of the surveyed Ukrainian enterprises named the lifting of the blockade of the western borders as an expected change needed to improve the business climate in the country.
As for the results of 2023, 56% of the surveyed enterprises said that the previous year met their expectations, and for 8% it even exceeded their expectations. At the same time, the IER clarifies that there is a connection between the compliance of 2023 with expectations and the size of the enterprise. Thus, 77% of large enterprises called 2023 expected or exceeding their expectations. At the same time, only 54% of microbusinesses said the same.
“The result we got is quite optimistic. I did not expect to see such figures given the turbulence and events that Ukrainian business experienced in 2023. This means that most companies are realistic about planning,” Kuziakiv commented on the results.
The survey, which was conducted from January 16 to January 31, 2024, involved 552 enterprises from 21 regions of Ukraine operating in the industrial, retail and agribusiness sectors.
