The loan portfolio of banks in July-August 2020 increased by 3%, while in the first half of the year it decreased by 5%, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Kyrylo Shevchenko has said.
“In July and August, the banks really lent to the population much more actively than in the first half of the year. Indeed, in the first half of the year we saw a reduction in the loan portfolio by 5%. In the two months, the portfolio grew by about 3%,” he said during a press briefing by the National Bank.
According to him, over the past three months, the banks have lowered lending rates, in particular, rates on loans for businesses are below 10%, while in the first half of the year the average rate on such loans was 11%.
“Regarding the rates for the population, unfortunately, there is no such a trend, with the exception of rates on mortgage loans. Rates on mortgage loans are average, if we started the year at a level of almost 20%, then in July they were about 13% and in August we expect average rates on mortgage loans to be even lower,” Shevchenko added.
In addition, he noted a decrease in the volume of non-performing loans (NPL), in particular, over the past two months, their share decreased by 1.5%, excluding the revised statistics for August.
Kernel-Trade in August 2020 regained leadership in the list of the largest recipients of budgetary value added tax (VAT) refunds with UAH 1.26 billion, while in April, May and June the company topped the list, and in July it was not included in the list.
According to the State Treasury, Zaporizhstal affiliated with Metinvest Group followed Kernel-Trade with UAH 428 million in August compared to UAH 482 million in July, and Mariupol-based Illich Iron and Steel Works with UAH 385 million (UAH 515 million in July).
The top five companies from the list include also ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, which in August received UAH 355 million of VAT refunds (in July it topped the list with UAH 573.7 million) and Dniprovsky Steel Plant with UAH 296 million (UAH 312 million).
The second five largest recipients of budgetary VAT refunds include Glencore Agriculture Ukraine with UAH 253 million (UAH 150 million) and Azovstal with UAH 189 million (UAH 482.8 million).
The top ten recipients also included Nibulon with UAH 182 million, Vilna Ukraina with UAH 180 million (there were no data on reimbursement from both companies in July), as well as Interpipe Nyzhniodniprovsky Pipe Rolling Plant with UAH 161 million (UAH 57 million).
In general, budgetary VAT refunds in August 2020 fell to UAH 8.57 billion compared to UAH 9.13 billion in July this year.
The State Agency for Roads of Ukraine (Ukravtodor), within the framework of the National Program for the Renewal of Bridges, announces the completion of restoration work at 11 out of 103 objects planned for 2020.
Agreements on repairs on 60 bridges have also been drawn up to date: 39 of them are already in operation, and repairs of 21 bridges will begin in the near future, Ukravtodor reported on its Facebook page on Wednesday.
Another 30 bridges are in the procurement phase, and two are awaiting tender announcements.
Earlier, Ukravtodor reported that as of September 1, contractors completed work on the arrangement of the upper layer of 1,700 km of roads. Today, in general, work is being carried out on 4,000 km of roads of national importance.
Kyivstar mobile operator has switched on 266 new 4G base stations, improving communications in 1,260 settlements in 18 regions of Ukraine, where 632,000 people live.
According to the press service of the operator, in particular, 4G coverage in Zhytomyr region extended by 382 settlements, in Khmelnytsky region by 245, in Vinnytsia region by 236, Lviv region by 170, and in Chernihiv region by 51.
Kyivstar notes that the increase in the 4G coverage area has become possible as a result of the use of frequencies in the 900 MHz range, which allows mobile operators to quickly reach sparsely populated areas with communications. To this end, in June 2020, mobile operators began to exchange radio frequencies in the 900 MHz range.
The company plans to provide access to 4G for 90% of the Ukrainian population in two years.
Ukraine in January-August 2020 increased imports of natural gas by 30% (by 2.9 billion cubic meters) compared to the same period in 2019, to 12.5 billion cubic meters.
According to Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU), some 8 billion cubic meters were received from Slovakia for the eight months (more by 35% compared to January-August 2019), Hungary delivered 3.2 billion cubic meters (20% more), Poland some 1.3 billion cubic meters (34% more). At the same time, 2.3 billion cubic meters, 1.6 billion cubic meters and 800 million cubic meters of gas were imported from Hungary, Slovakia and Poland respectively through backhaul, which became available from the beginning of 2020.
According to GTSOU, 8.2 billion cubic meters of imported volumes since the beginning of the year were sent to UGS facilities for storage in the “customs warehouse” mode, of which 4.9 billion cubic meters came in the shorthaul mode (preferential tariff for certain points) and 3.3 billion cubic meters in the “border-customs warehouse” mode.
In August 2020, imports amounted to 3.4 billion cubic meters of gas, which is 1.7 times (1.4 billion cubic meters) more than in August 2019.
In general, 72 traders ordered gas transportation from the EU to Ukraine in January-August, of which 45 were Ukrainian and 27 foreign companies, and more than 50 customers took advantage of the services of shorthaul and “customs warehouse.”
PrJSC Euroins Ukraine Insurance Company for the seven months of 2020 attracted UAH 197.9 million of insurance premiums, which is 32% more than in the same period of 2019, according to a press release from the insurer.
The most popular types of insurance are KASKO with UAH 37.1 million, OSAGO with UAH 91.7 million, voluntary medical insurance with UAH 14.7 million.
In addition, it increased the volume of premiums for insurance against fire risks, accidents, property insurance and insurance of liability to third parties.
The volume of insurance payments by Euroins Ukraine from January to July 2020 amounted to UAH 62.6 million, in particular, UAH 20.5 million were paid under KASKO agreements, UAH 35 million for OSAGO, and UAH 5.4 million for voluntary medical insurance.
As of June 30, 2020, the company’s insurance reserves amounted to UAH 175.003 million, assets UAH 380.359 million.
According to data from chairman of the board Yanko Nikolov, which are given in a press release, in 2020 the company, following legal requirements, plans to increase insurance premiums to UAH 320 million.
