President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has excluded Dmytro Shymkiv, ex-governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Valeriya Gontareva, Borys Lozhkin, ex-Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk, Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova, MP Serhiy Rybalka and ex-head of the State Fiscal Service Roman Nasirov from the National Reforms Council. By the same decree, Poroshenko included Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Serhiy Marchenko, Acting Minister of Finance Oksana Markarova, and Head of the National Bank Yakiv Smolii in the National Reforms Council.
The National Reforms Council is a special advisory body under the president on strategic planning, coordinating positions on the reform strategy in Ukraine and monitoring their implementation.
Ukrzaliznytsia has repaired and reconstructed 351 km of track from the planned 1,935 km this year, the company’s press service has reported. In January-August 2018, the company reconstructed almost 184 km of track and overhauled more than 167 km, replaced 106 railroad switches for new sets. In September it is planned to reconstruct 36.1 km of track, overhaul 34 km of track, repair 118.6 km, and renew 55.4 km of track on various directions.
In general, it is planned in 2018 to repair 1,935 km of track and 1,317 sets of railroad switches. “Without an economically fair tariff, there will remain a maximum of 5,000 km out of 20,000 km of track in Ukrzaliznytsia in 10-15 years,” director for economics and finance at Ukrzaliznytsia Andriy Riazantsev said.
In the eight months of 2018, Ukrzaliznytsia invested almost UAH 8.5 billion in the development of its fixed assets, in particular, in modernization of infrastructure, the acquisition and repair of rolling stock.
Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) intends to enter the top three leaders of the Ukrainian insurance market, and is mulling the possibility of acquiring another risk insurance company. “We came here to stay. Our goal is to be a leader in the insurance market, to enter the top three,” member of the board of Vienna Insurance Group Franz Fuchs said at the first joint press conference of Ukrainian insurance companies that are part of VIG.
At the same time, he noted to date, according to the group, VIG ranks fourth in the insurance market of Ukraine.
He also noted that VIG adheres to a conservative mode of management, has enough funds for investment and Ukraine could become one of the countries in which the money will be invested.
He stated the insurance market of Ukraine is very complicated, with confusing legislation and unsettled communications.
“More than 100 insurance companies work in the market, but if you look at how they really work, then this figure will be reduced to 23-27. There are 45 million people in Ukraine, and if everyone pays EUR9-10 for insurance, then we have something to work on,” he stressed.
According to the expert, many investors leave the Ukrainian market, because they do not see short-term advantages. VIG has the plan of development for three, five and seven years, because there are millions of uninsured cars and houses in Ukraine.
Consumer sentiment in Ukraine has improved after falling at the beginning of the year: the consumer confidence index after a decrease of 3 points in the first quarter grew by 4 points in the second quarter, to 62 (on a scale of 0 to 200), according to a study by The Conference Board, prepared jointly with Nielsen. “The growing trend encourages, while consumers remain very cautious due to the unstable economic situation in the country,” Nielsen’s press release quotes Nielsen Managing Director for Ukraine and Belarus Vaios Dimoragas as saying.
He noted that the record low level of consumer confidence in Ukraine was recorded in 2015 at 41 points.
The company states the improvement of the index is due to the improvement by consumers of estimates of prospects in the labor market and their financial well-being. At the same time, the indicator of readiness to spend money is relatively stable for the fourth consecutive quarter.
The study says the absolute majority of Ukrainians continue to believe that the country is in a state of crisis, while the number of such declined to 92% in the second quarter of 2018 compared to 95% in the first quarter. The number of those consumers who believe that the country will not get out of the crisis in the next 12 months is stable.
The list of worries is headed by the war – 31% of Ukrainians are concerned about it. The growth of housing and utilities services tariffs ranks second – 29% of consumers are concerned about it. They are followed by such reasons for concern as the economy and rising prices for food and health.
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
