Real GDP percentage changes over previous period in 2014-2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
US-based Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, has unveiled a new version of its flagship artificial intelligence (AI) model Gemini.
The new Gemini Pro 1.5 model is capable of processing several times more audio, video and text than the GPT-4 model, on which the popular ChatGPT chatbot is based, Wired writes.
In particular, Gemini Pro 1.5 can simultaneously process 1 hour of video, 11 hours of audio, 700 thousand words or 30 thousand lines of program code.
As part of the demonstration, it analyzed the transcript of conversations with the crew of the Apollo 11 spacecraft, presented as a 402-page PDF file, and found several funny moments in it on demand, including the words of the astronauts that the contact was delayed due to a break to eat sandwiches.
Google expects that the new features of the model will allow developers to create new kinds of applications based on it.
The new version of Gemini is already available to them on the AI Studio platform and through Vertex AI’s cloud-based application programming interface (API).
There is no word on when the model will be released to the general public.
War risk insurance in the construction industry is hampered by the lack of transparency of financial models, said Victoria Bereshchak, co-founder of the Partnership Mediation Institute, in a commentary to Interfax-Ukraine.
She noted that insuring war risks in the construction sector is much more difficult than in agribusiness, or large industry and energy. First of all, it is difficult to find financial institutions that are ready to provide guarantees and insure the property of developers.
“In residential real estate, this tool is hardly used, in particular, because of the difficult relationship between the market and potential insurers: they could not cooperate in peacetime due to legal issues and the lack of transparency of certain processes, in particular, the formation of financial capital of companies, and even more so in war,” Bereshchak emphasized.
At the same time, the expert noted that potentially, insurance of residential projects under construction will not greatly affect the cost.
“According to estimates, it is about 2-4% depending on the region (air defense protection of the city, density and number of attacks, potential and related risks with the war) and the size of the project,” Bereshchak explained.
For the commercial real estate segment, insurance is an important and necessary tool, especially for logistics centers.
The following military risks are most often considered in insurance:
explosion or direct hit of ammunition into an object containing explosives;
crash of military aircraft and/or remotely piloted objects or their parts onto the insured property;
military operations on the territory where the facility is located/construction is underway.
“Potentially (for commercial projects), we are talking primarily about cooperation with international financial organizations, the World Bank, and export credit agencies of other countries. I would also like to remind you that we have Law 3497-IX (draft law No. 9015), which significantly expanded the powers of the Expert Credit Agency to insure against military risks for investments of Ukrainian and foreign companies in Ukraine,” Bereshchak said.
The Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), five regional state administrations and 12 communities signed memorandums of cooperation on Friday, which will provide affordable housing for displaced and war-affected people.
According to the IOM press service on Friday, the project, financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development through the German Development Bank, envisages the construction of up to 2,000 apartments for about 6,000 people in the cities of Khotyn and Chernivtsi in Chernivtsi Oblast, Kolomyia in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Irpin and Gorenka in Kyiv Oblast, Agronomiche, Ladyzhyn and Khmelnyk in Vinnytsia Oblast, Stary Sambor, Drohobych and Kamenka-Bugska in Lviv Oblast.
At the same time, the latter two communities are receiving resettlers from Severodonetsk in the Luhansk region, with which a memorandum of understanding on the implementation of the housing project has also been signed.
“Housing will become affordable for internally displaced persons and vulnerable local population thanks to the rental mechanism that will be developed and implemented within the project,” the statement said.
The Ministry for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories will carry out the overall coordination of the project.
“According to the latest IOM data, one fifth of internally displaced persons plan to stay and integrate in their current place of residence. Finding durable solutions to housing problems is the key to success… Legal and technical provisions tested in the framework of the affordable housing project may become the basis for further large-scale international assistance projects in the field of housing policy in Ukraine,” said Alessia Schiavon, Head of the IOM office in Ukraine.
affordable housing for displaced persons, apartments for refugees, housing policy in Ukraine, Ministry of Reintegration
In 2023, 15.122 thousand traffic accidents involving Ukrainian drivers occurred abroad, the Motor (Transport) Insurance Bureau of Ukraine reported.
At the same time, 31%, or 15.122 thousand accidents occurred in Poland, 19%, or 2.033 thousand accidents in Germany, 7%, or 753 in the Czech Republic, and 4%, or 463 in Italy.
As reported, 1.625 million Green Card contracts were concluded in 2023, which is 0.7% less than in 2022. The amount of payments collected amounted to UAH 5.207 billion (+27.3%).
At the same time, the amount of indemnities paid on claims increased 2.4 times to EUR 46.7 million, while the number of paid claims increased by 96.6% to EUR 15.122 thousand.
Who are the top 10 Ukrainian banks by profit?
Ukrainian banks earned almost UAH 160 billion in pre-tax profit in 2023. This is almost twice as much as before the full-scale invasion. However, banks will have to pay tax, which is almost half of their total profit – over UAH 73 billion.
UAH 159.99 billion of pre-tax profit was earned by 63 Ukrainian banks in 2023. This is 1.9 times more than in 2021.
However, last year’s net profit was much lower – only UAH 86.54 billion. At the same time, this is still 12% more than before the full-scale invasion. Back then, 71 banks made a profit of UAH 77.53 billion.
Almost half of the banks’ profits must be paid as income tax under the new law – 46% or UAH 73.45 billion. For comparison, in 2021, the tax was almost 12 times less: UAH 6.37 billion or 7.6% of profit.
Overall, only 7 banks out of 63 ended 2023 with losses of UAH 245 million.
Currently, the top 10 banks have undergone little change: the ranking includes 5 banks with foreign capital, 4 state-owned banks, and 1 bank with private capital. Together, these 10 banks earned 88% of the total profit – UAH 75.94 billion. And their income tax amounted to UAH 63.18 billion.
State-owned banks
5 state-owned banks accounted for 63% of the total profit of all banks – UAH 54.71 billion. State-owned Privat is a consistent leader in terms of profit among all Ukrainian banks: UAH 37.76 billion in 2023. This is 8% more than in 2021.
Meanwhile, Oschadbank managed to increase its profit by 4 times last year and received UAH 4.75 billion in net profit. Sens Bank, nationalized in 2023, was also added to the list of state-owned banks.
Foreign banks
14 banks with foreign capital earned UAH 22.43 billion. For comparison, 20 banks in this group earned almost the same amount on the eve of the full-scale invasion.
Raiffeisen was the leader in terms of profit last year: UAH 4.78 billion. Together with Ukrsibbank, which almost tripled its earnings compared to 2021, they accounted for 40% of the group’s profit.
Most foreign banks managed to increase their profits last year compared to 2021. Deutsche Bank showed the largest increase: by 18 times.
Private capital
According to the results of the year, private banks are doing the worst. Last year, 44 banks with private capital earned UAH 9.4 billion in profit. This is 25% less than before the start of the full-scale war.
Almost 2/3 of the total profit of this group is accounted for by 2 banks: FUIB, which is the leader of the group – UAH 3.95 billion, which is 5% less than in 2021, and Universal Bank (Monobank), whose profit decreased by 1.6 times in 2021.
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/banks-2023
foreign banks, private capital, state-owned banks, top 10 Ukrainian banks, UKRAINIAN BANKS
