The volume of non-performing loans (NPL) in state-owned banks fell by UAH 22 billion in January-June 2019, and their share of the loan portfolio decreased to 65%, according to a second report of the Finance Ministry on the state of work with NPL published within a regular and detailed report on operations of state-owned banks.
“Compared to January 1, 2019, the volume of NPLs in state-owned banks decreased by UAH 22 billion, to UAH 415 billion, and their share of the loan portfolio decreased by 2.5 percentage points, to 65%,” the ministry said in the report.
According to the results of the first half of the year, public sector banks reduced overdue debts by UAH 3.5 billion and carried out restructuring for UAH 10.6 billion.
Banks of the public sector restructured a total of about UAH 11 billion, of which 47% (UAH 5 billion) under the law on financial restructuring. In the first half of the year, Oschadbank successfully completed the financial restructuring procedures with TMM Firm LLC, Imperovo Foods LLC, PJSC Avangard agroholding, and PJSC Rise-Maksymko. Two cases of financial restructuring for companies of the WOG group have been opened. In addition, Ukreximbank opened its first financial restructuring case with Office Construction Agency LLC, which has become one of the largest in terms of debt to be restructured.
The share of the NPL of the banking system as of July 1, 2019 was 51%, or UAH 581 billion.
Government’s bill No. 2178 about the turnover of farmland has been submitted to Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada and sent to the profile committee.
According to information on the parliament’s website, the bill was registered on September 25. It provides for the abolition of the ban on sale of farmland of all forms of ownership from October 1, 2020.
According to the document, citizens and legal entities of Ukraine, territorial communities, and the state can buy farmland.
At the same time, the bill proposes to deprive individuals and legal entities, foreign states that are subject to the sanctions law, of the right to purchase land.
“Foreigners and stateless persons may obtain ownership rights to farmland by succession prescribed in the law, but are required to sell them within one year from the date of obtaining ownership rights,” the government said in the document.
The bill sets the minimum starting price for the sale of land plots in public and communal property at land tenders at a level not lower than the standard monetary value, ensures the right of citizens to buy back land for farming, owned by them on a permanent use right basis and inherited tenure rights in installments paid during up to five years at a price equal to the standard monetary value of such land plots.
The document provides the tenant’s pre-emptive right to purchase a land plot, provides for the obligation of the state registrar to place information on the price (value) of property rights, including use rights, in the register of ownership rights.
The total area of farmland owned by a citizen or a legal entity of Ukraine, taking into account affiliated persons: within one region should not exceed 15% of farmland of such an area and 0.5% of farmland of Ukraine, according to the bill.
In addition, in order to obtain data on the total area of farmland owned by one person and affiliated persons, the software of the State Land Cadastre must provide information interaction with the public register of ownership rights to real estate and the unified public register of legal entities, individual entrepreneurs and public organizations.
T.B.Fruit group of companies, one of the largest fruit and berry processors in Ukraine, has launched a pectin plant in Horodok (Lviv region) with investments of EUR25 million, founder of T.B.Fruit Group Taras Barschovsky has said.
“We’ve started production of pectin. The new plant that we had been building two years has been launched. The production capacity is 3,000 tonnes of apple pectin per year,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
According to him, 40,000-45,000 tonnes of citrus and apple pectin are produced in the world today.
“This ‘club’ of manufacturers consists of only seven companies. Among them are CP Kelco, Cargill, DuPont, H&Fox … And only two of them produce apple pectin. T.B.Fruit became the third producer of apple pectin in the world,” Barschovsky said.
According to him, investments in the plant are estimated at EUR25 million.
T.B.Fruit is a vertically integrated international group of companies with a closed production cycle (growing raw materials-processing-transportation).
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited Norwegian investors to produce gas in Ukraine.
Zelensky’s office said the president met with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and discussed with her the importance of maintaining a high level of cooperation between the two countries.
Zelensky “thanked Norway for its staunch support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” The sides agreed to work on “bringing Norwegian investors into infrastructure and humanitarian projects to restore Donbas,” his office said.
Norwegian business are expressing a significant interest in Ukraine in light of reports about improved transparency and anti-corruption initiatives, Solberg said.
“We are reforming our law enforcement bodies, we will have privatization, we will conduct reforms that help overcome corruption,” Zelensky said.
He noted the importance of support in the energy sphere.
“We would be pleased to invite you there to produce gas. We have gas fields but we do not have enough technology. This is not simply a business interest but as geopolitical issue,” he said.
The two also discussed alternative energy.
Zelensky briefed Solberg on the situation in Donbas. At the end of the meeting, Solberg presented Zelensky with a football, on which sustainable development targets were depicted.
Resort hotels in the south of Ukraine early finished the summer tourist season in 2019 at once after holidays on the Independence Day, which is several weeks earlier than in 2018, Director General of Ribas Hotels Group Managing Company Artur Lupashko has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“This year, resort hotels closed the season early. It ended after the weekend, when was the Independence Day, since the hotels in the south were almost completely empty as early as August 26. Nobody believes in September. Many teams are simply tired and decided not to take risks, although last year we “held on” until September 14-16. We counted on the weekends and gained. Odesa residents finally decided to relax by the sea for the weekends. Therefore, we had full occupancy in the first two weeks of September at the weekends,” he said.
According to preliminary data, this year, the occupancy rate in the hotels of the Ribas Hotels Group increased by an average of 5%. The highest occupancy was observed in August (91%), followed by July (81%), and the lowest rate was seen in June (46%).
“The results of the summer tourist season of 2019 were influenced by many factors. This is cool weather in the beginning of summer, then fluctuations in high temperatures, algae blooms in the sea, elections and much more. We would say that before the election, guests carefully planned their holidays,” Lupashko said.
According to him, about 60% of guests booked rooms a week before arrival, about 15% – two weeks, and only 5% – a month before the planned date of rest.
“People began to save on everything during their holidays. According to the tourist portal Booking.com, 60% of users use the room price slider as the first filter. The most popular price range for guests on the Ukrainian coast is from UAH 500 to UAH 1,500 per night for a room,” Lupashko said, adding that while doing this, guests take into account what is included in this price: breakfast, lunch, spa treatments, and other things.
In this regard, the Ribas Hotels Group is considering a proposal to remove services such as breakfast, extra cleaning, SPA treatments for guests of resort hotels. Thus, the average guest check will be significantly reduced and will correspond to the budget of the guest for the trip.
Ribas Hotels Group provides integrated management services, exclusive booking, franchising and design.
The total number of rooms in the network as of July 2019 was 1,424 rooms.
Ribas Hotels Group LLC (Odesa) was established in 2017.
According to the unified public register, Lupashko is the head and owner of a 100% stake in the charter capital of the company.
The White House on Wednesday, September 25, posted the transcript of a conversation between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that took place on July 25, 2019.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s name appears several times in the text of the document. At the same time, the document indicates that the document was compiled based on notes taken by White House employees who were present in Trump’s office during the conversation.
The Trump-Zelensky conversation has received a much attention in American media.
