Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

Apple has presented a new iPhone

Apple on Tuesday unveiled the iPhone 15 line and an updated smartwatch, the Apple Watch Series 9. The event was broadcast on the company’s YouTube channel.
One of the main distinguishing features of the new series of smartphones (iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max) is the transition from the Lightning charging port to the USB Type-C connector. Also, all devices will have Dynamic Island, a notch on the screen for the front camera that works as a separate mini-screen. Previously, it was only available in the iPhone 14 Pro.
The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will be equipped with A16 Bionics processors, which were introduced last year with the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. The new Pro versions come with the A17 Pro processor.
The budget versions of the iPhone 15 will come in five new colors: black, blue, green, yellow, and pink. The Pro versions will have a titanium body in four shades to choose from. The diagonal of the screens of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro is 6.1 inches, and the iPhone 15 Plus and iPhone 15 Pro Max are 6.7 inches.
According to the presentation, prices for the iPhone 15 will start at $799 (128 GB), and for the iPhone 15 Plus – at $899. The minimum price of iPhone 15 Pro is $999, iPhone 15 Pro Max – $1199. All smartphones of the series will be available for pre-order on September 15.
A new S9 processor has been announced for the Apple Watch Series 9 smartwatch. The maximum screen brightness has been increased to 2000 nits – Apple reports that the display is twice as bright as the previous version. In addition, the Double Tap function will appear. It allows the user to control the watch without touching the screen – by moving his fingers on the hand on which he wears the watch. Prices for the new watch will start at $399.
Apple Watch Ultra 2 is equipped with an even brighter screen – up to 3000 nits. The corporation promises 36 hours of battery life in normal mode and 72 hours in power saving mode. The minimum price of this version is $799.
In addition, during the presentation, Apple announced its intention to reach carbon neutrality by 2030.

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Forecast of dynamics of changes in ukrainian GDP in % for 2022-2025 in relation to previous period

Forecast of dynamics of changes in ukrainian GDP in % for 2022-2025 in relation to previous period

Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news

Glusco gas station network transferred to Ukrnafta’s management

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has appointed Ukrnafta PJSC as the asset manager of the Glusco gas station network, Naftohaz Ukrayiny’s board head Oleksiy Chernyshov has said.

“Also the Cabinet set the task to settle the issue of reimbursement of expenses incurred by Naftogaz Oil Trading LLC (“NOT”, a network of gas stations U.GO), which was engaged in restarting the arrested commercial assets of Medvedchuk”, – he specified on his page in Facebook.

As reported, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in May 2022 agreed the proposal of ARMA to transfer to the management of NJSC “Naftogaz of Ukraine” arrested assets of the company Glusco (until 2018 – the network of NK “Rosneft”), which were associated with Viktor Medvedchuk,
NOT was identified as the asset manager, with which ARMA subsequently entered into a fixed-term management agreement.

At the end of July 2023, ARMA head Olena Duma said that the National Agency would conduct audits of the efficiency of management of the largest assets, and the audit of the efficiency of Naftogaz’s management of the Glusco network of gas stations has already begun.
In early August, 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 81 filling stations and one oil depot, which had been out of operation for a year and a half, were resumed under the management of NOT, and that employees’ salaries were paid in a timely manner. From August 2022 to July 2023, 289 million UAH of mandatory payments to the state and local budgets were paid.

The head of Naftohaz Ukrayiny, Oleksiy Chernyshov, said that during the period of managing the Glusco assets, the group had invested significant funds in restoring the network’s operation, repaid its debts, and, at ARMA’s request, paid them “for some part of future profits, as they are not yet in question”.

On November 5, 2022, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief decided to seize the shares of Ukrnafta and Ukrtatnafta (except for the controlling and blocking stakes in Naftogaz Ukrainy, respectively) from the state as military property for the duration of martial law. Prior to the seizure, the structures of Ihor Kolomoyskyy and Hennadiy Boholyubov owned about 42% of Ukrnafta shares and, together with other partners, a controlling stake in Ukrtatnafta.

More than 5,000 people killed in Libya after flooding

More than 5,000 people are believed to be dead and 10,000 missing after storm rains in northeastern Libya caused two dams to collapse, CNN reported Tuesday, citing Tamer Ramadan, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ delegation to Libya.

“The death toll is enormous,” she said.

At least 5,300 people are believed dead, Libya’s interior ministry in the eastern administration said Tuesday, state media LANA reported. CNN was unable to independently verify the number of dead or missing.

Some 6,000 people remain missing in the eastern city of Derna, which suffered the worst destruction, Osman Abduljalil, the health minister of Libya’s eastern administration, told Almasar TV. He called the situation “catastrophic” after touring the city on Monday. According to authorities, entire neighborhoods in the city have been washed away.

Hospitals in Derna are no longer operating and morgues are overcrowded, emergency services spokesman Osama Ali said. Corpses were being left outside morgues on sidewalks, he said.
“There are no emergency services. People are currently working to collect rotting bodies,” said Anas Barghati, a doctor who is currently volunteering in Derna.

Storm Danielle, which hit several towns in northeastern Libya, was the result of a cyclone that caused catastrophic flooding in Greece last week and then spread to the Mediterranean Sea. The storm caused two dams to collapse, causing water to rush toward Derna, causing catastrophic damage, authorities said Tuesday.

“Three bridges were destroyed. The flow of water carried away entire neighborhoods, eventually dumping them into the sea,” said Ahmed Mismari, a spokesman for the Libyan National Army (LNA).

Libya’s vulnerability to extreme weather has been exacerbated by a protracted political conflict and power struggle between two rival administrations.

The UN-backed Government of National Unity (GNU) led by Abdulhamid Dbeibe sits in Tripoli in northwestern Libya, while its eastern rival is controlled by Commander Khalifa Haftar and his LNA, who support the east-based parliament. led by Osama Hamad.

Derna, about 300 kilometers east of Benghazi, falls under the control of Haftar and his eastern administration.

Poland informs the European Commission of unilateral measures to extend the embargo on grain supplies from Ukraine

On Tuesday, Warsaw informed the European Commission (EC) of its decision to unilaterally extend the embargo on grain imports from Ukraine to Poland if such measures are not adopted in Brussels, Polish radio reports.

“At the end of the government meeting, the Prime Minister’s Office informed that the Cabinet of Ministers called on the EC to extend the ban on grain imports from Ukraine, which expires on September 15,” the radio reports.

“Otherwise, Poland will impose such a ban on its own at the state level,” the report says.

“The government has decided to extend the ban on the supply of Ukrainian grain to Poland,” Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said on Polish television earlier on Tuesday. – “This will benefit farmers, the Polish economy and European solidarity.

Polish television reminds that the ban on grain imports from Ukraine to the five frontline EU countries that are neighbors of Ukraine – Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia – is in effect until Friday. All of these countries have sent a request to the EU leadership to extend the embargo until the end of the year. No decision on this issue has been made yet.

The European Commission has banned imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds originating in Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia since May 2. On June 5, it was decided to extend these measures until September 15.

Brussels then stated that these “exceptional and temporary preventive measures” are necessary due to overcrowding in warehouses and difficulties due to the existing serious bottlenecks in logistics faced by these countries.

The European Commission also reported that the transit of these goods through these five frontline countries to the EU or other countries outside the EU remains possible.

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National Bank suspended license of “European Insurance Group”

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has applied a measure of influence in the form of temporary suspension of licenses to non-life insurer “European Insurance Group” (EIG, Kharkiv) in connection with non-submission of reports since the end of last year.

As reported by the central bank on Tuesday, the Committee for Supervision and Regulation of Non-banking Financial Services Markets has set a deadline for the insurer to eliminate violations until September 26, 2023.

According to the National Bank, for the first nine months of 2022, the insurer received 2542.2 thousand UAH of insurance premiums and made 39.4 thousand UAH of insurance payments, while the company’s market share for the period amounted to 0.01%.

As reported, on October 8, 2021 the NBU has agreed to Ivan Volkov indirect ownership of 99,998% of shares of ALC “European Insurance Group”. Earlier, on July 6, 2021, a trustee was appointed to this company to manage 99.998% of the insurer’s shares, the ownership of which was indirectly through LLC “Victori-21”.

UGG was registered by the National Commission for Financial Services in August 2016. The authorized capital of the company amounts to UAH 30 mln.

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