Almost 30% of companies plan to sell their business or their assets in the next six months to a year, while only one in five will do this because of the crisis, according to a survey of 56 companies conducted by Avellum law firm.
“This shows that most large Ukrainian companies have relatively successfully withstood the economic crisis associated with COVID-19,” the study says.
Moreover, more than 60% of companies plan the sale and are ready to lower prices.
“However, in the future, sellers may increase prices for objects of sale, because today the number of potential buyers significantly exceeds the offer,” the authors of the study note.
Some 50% of the representatives of large business polled are ready to buy companies or assets. All of them noted that they expect a discount in price, since weak businesses are usually put up for sale. At the same time, more than 40% of likely buyers are interested in acquiring due to a coronavirus crisis.
“This suggests that a significant part of the companies has opportunistic sentiments and believes in the rise of the Ukrainian economy,” the authors of the study believe.
As the results of the survey showed, more than 60% of potential buyers have not changed their plans to acquire assets in Ukraine, that is, they continue to believe in the attractiveness of the market in this country and see profit in expanding their share in it. The remaining almost 40% refused to buy assets precisely because of the crisis.
The survey also showed that over 60% of companies do not see the need for advisers, since the asset is sold at a discount. This is contrary to the buyers’ expectations regarding guarantees that require the involvement of lawyers.
The survey was conducted online in June 2020 among the owners, top managers and heads of legal departments of Ukrainian and international companies.
Executive Director of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics Mykola Spiridonov has said, while commenting on the results of a sociology survey conducted by Active Group, that making peace in eastern Ukraine could be the only chance for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to complete his presidential tenure successfully.
“Everything has failed. The economy failed, the social policy failed, the foreign policy failed. If Zelensky managed to put an end to the war on the least acceptable terms, he could become a part of history as a successful president. Then everything I have just said about the economy and social policy would be forgotten in 50 years, while the end of the war would be written down in history with capital letters,” Spyrydonov said on the Expert Club YouTube channel.
The political expert said that the government tries to reach a compromise in the settlement of the military conflict in Donbas.
“Zelensky wishes to put an end to the war, but he is not familiar with the instruments. The president doubts. We can set as an example Sivokho, who was appointed and then dismissed under pressure of the nationalist forces,” the expert said.
According to the sociology poll, which was presented by Active Group and Expert Club at the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency on June 22, 2020, some 80% of Ukrainians said that the incumbent government is delaying the end of the war and doing nothing or doing not enough to finish it. Only 6% of respondents said that Zelensky’s team does the utmost under current conditions for this purpose.
The full video is available on the Expert Club YouTube channel:
DONBAS, EXPERT, EXPERT CLUB, EXPERT KITCHEN, PEACE IN DONBAS, POLITICS, SPYRYDONOV
Executive Director of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics Mykola Spyrydonov has said that healthcare reform creates numerous problems with medical assistance for the population. He expressed such opinion during a discussion of a sociology survey conducted by Active Group, which was presented jointly with the Expert Club on June 22, 2020 at the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency.
“Even now, when ambulance arrives on call to take care of a child, the doctors in fact cannot do anything if the contract with a family doctor is not signed. If the contract is signed, the person is in fact a bondman,” the political expert said in a recent video on the Expert Club YouTube channel.
Therefore, according to Spyrydonov, the bureaucratic system does not allow people to receive medical services in the needed amount and in fact force them to go to private clinics.
“In fact, we are witnessing the process of destroying medicine, hindering the population from receiving medical services. Moreover, the number of hospitals and medical personnel is being reduced, thus creating additional hardships for receiving medical assistance,” the expert said.
According to the opinion poll, some 50% of Ukrainians said that the country’s healthcare system has become worse in general since the introduction of lockdown restrictions, while 22% respondents said that medical services have slightly improved, and only 3% said that they have significantly worsened.
The full video is available on the Expert Club YouTube channel:
EXPERT, EXPERT CLUB, EXPERT KITCHEN, HEALTHCARE REFORM, MEDICINE, SPYRYDONOV
Ukraine and Turkey intend to prepare a Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement for the meeting of the High Level Strategic Council of Ukraine and Turkey in 2020, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba has said. “We are really determined to hold the next meeting of the Strategic Council of our presidents this year and want to fill it with maximum content. And, of course, the FTA agreement is one of those tasks that should already be consecrated by our leaders,” Kuleba said after a joint meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister at a press conference in Antalya on Friday.
The foreign minister said that at the moment Ukraine is waiting for a certain positional document from the Turkish side in order to continue consultations on this issue.
“Of course, the potential of our trade is phenomenal. I can sincerely tell you that Turkish goods can be found in any store of any region of Ukraine… Unfortunately, Ukrainian goods are not yet represented on the Turkish market, but we also have a lot of things, what Turkish consumers and buyers will benefit from. And we can open this potential, achieve a fair and mutually beneficial balance in trade, and bring our trade to a new horizon by signing the FTA agreement. And today, my colleague and I agreed that we will apply maximum efforts in order to positively resolve this issue,” the Ukrainian minister said.
According to him, Ukrainian and Turkish experts involved in trade will continue negotiations on this issue, but political leaders, ministers of foreign affairs and trade of both countries will be ready to take part in them to settle the issues that will seem insoluble at the expert level.
“There is political will of both sides now to resolve all issues and reach a result, I emphasize, in the interests of business and economies, both Ukrainian and Turkish,” Kuleba added.
Foreigners and stateless persons who have exceeded their terms of stay in Ukraine during the quarantine period will not be held liable for this violation, Yuriy Lysiuk, the head of the border control for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, has said on July 4.
“If a foreigner or stateless person has exceeded the period of stay in Ukraine before the introduction of quarantine measures aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 on the territory of Ukraine, then such persons will be held liable for violating the terms of their stay when crossing the state border,” Lysiuk was quoted by the service as saying.
It is noted that, according to the current legislation, foreigners and stateless persons who could not leave Ukraine or were unable to contact the territorial bodies of the State Migration Service of Ukraine with an application to extend their stay in Ukraine or to exchange a residence permit in connection with the introduction of the quarantine, administrative liability does not apply if such violations occurred during or as a result of the quarantine.
These rules apply exclusively to foreigners and stateless persons who were legally in Ukraine at the beginning of quarantine.
