Recorded Future, the world’s largest private intelligence and analytical company, will continue to support Ukraine in 2024 by allocating more than $23 million for Ukraine’s cybersecurity, Deputy Prime Minister for Innovation, Education, Science and Technology Development and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov said on Monday.
“Recorded Future tools help detect and eliminate cyberattacks at an early stage. These tools are used by the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the State Special Communications Service, the GUR, the SBU, the Ministry of Defense, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Cyber Police,” Fedorov wrote on his Telegram channel.
According to him, the company also works with key enterprises in the energy and telecom sectors.
As reported, Recorded Future provided intelligence to protect Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, assisted in the investigation of Russian war crimes, and opened access to the Intelligence Cloud software platform.
In total, in 2023, the company invested more than $20 million in assistance to Ukraine.
Starting December 20, Ukrzaliznytsia JSC (UZ) will launch an analog of Kyiv City Express in Dnipro. Dnipro City Express will connect the city with the suburbs and satellite cities, the company’s press service reports.
“Ukrzaliznytsia is launching a new urban mobility project in another region. The Dnipro City Express system will be launched in Dnipro on December 20 this year,” the statement said.
It is noted that at the first stage, Dnipro City Express will run on the Dnipro-Kamianske route and will stop at Horyainove, Diivka, Sukhachivka, and Zaporizhzhia-Kamianske stations.
Trains will depart from Dnipro at 5:14 (except weekends), 6:20, 10:00, 11:30 (except weekends), 15:40, 17:10 (except weekends), 19:10. Trains will depart back from Kamianske at 6:14 (except weekends), 9:00, 11:26, 12:42 (except weekends), 16:41, 19:12 (except weekends), 20:14.
The travel time in both directions from the initial to the final station will be approximately 40 minutes, and the cost will be from 12 to 18 UAH.
UZ reported that the updated and modern rolling stock will be used for trips on the route: electric trains of the EPL2T series, restored at the facilities of Ukrzaliznytsia, will run on the route.
The trains will be equipped with ramps, seats for people with disabilities and inclusive restrooms, Braille navigation, bicycle racks, and Type-C and USB ports for charging gadgets.
Dynamics of reserves of Ukraine from 2012 to 2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
The State Tax Service has fined the adult website PornHub $5.54 thousand for non-payment of the so-called “Google tax,” according to Danylo Hetmantsev, chairman of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax and customs policy.
“Unfortunately, not all taxpayers operating adult services are equally responsible for taxation. For example, the well-known Onlyfans service has already paid $944.1 thousand to the state budget of Ukraine since the beginning of 2023. At the same time, the company that operates the PornHub website evades registration, which resulted in a fine of $5543 and a corresponding tax notice (tax decision notice) sent to the company and the Canada Revenue Agency,” Hetmantsev wrote on Telegram.
He reminded that Ukraine is ranked 14th among other countries according to PornHub’s rating of electronic services viewed by consumers of the site.
A week earlier, the head of the committee said that in the third quarter of 2023, 96 declarations for EUR26.6 million and $29.9 million, or UAH 2.092 billion, were filed as part of the “Google tax”, while in the second quarter of 2023, EUR25.7 million and $27.7 million, or UAH 2.054 billion, were declared for payment.
Hetmantsev clarified that the largest amounts to the budget of Ukraine are paid by Google, Apple, Sony, Ebay, Amazon, Meta platforms and Netflix.
As reported, in 2021, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law on the “Google tax”, which proposes to equalize the taxation rules for international technology companies with those of Ukraine. In particular, it stipulates that international companies operating in the information space of Ukraine and earning money from online advertising will pay taxes in Ukraine, including VAT.
Oil prices are moving weakly and in different directions on Tuesday morning after strong growth in the previous session.
The price of February futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange at 7:11 a.m. was $78.09 per barrel, which is $0.14 (0.18%) higher than at the close of the previous session. On Monday, these contracts rose in price by $1.4 (1.8%) to $77.95 per barrel.
Quotations for January futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by this time decreased by $0.12 (0.17%) to $72.35 per barrel. At the end of the previous session, they rose by $1.04 (1.5%) to $72.47 per barrel.
The rise in oil prices was triggered by attacks by Yemeni Houthis on ships traveling through the Red Sea. As a result, the largest maritime carriers began to redirect their tankers and container ships to other routes, and BP plc suspended all oil transportation through the region.
“These attacks are nothing new, but their intensity has increased in recent weeks,” wrote Robert Fraser of Schneider Electric. – “The Houthis do not have the strength to blockade the region, but they can disrupt shipping and change risk assessments.
In addition, the oil market was supported by the results of the Federal Reserve meeting held last week. Fed officials signaled that the cycle of interest rate hikes is over and predicted a 75 basis point cut in the key rate over the next year.
“The Fed’s decision bolstered hopes for a soft landing, and the macroeconomic data was not bad enough to increase fears of a hard landing,” Sevens Report Research analysts wrote.
In November 2023, TAS Insurance Group (Kyiv) increased the volume of premiums collected by 40.1% to UAH 299.31 million compared to the same period in 2022, according to the group’s website.
The collected premiums under hull insurance contracts for the period amounted to UAH 71.66 million, which is 23.94% of the company’s total premiums and 16.5% higher than the corresponding figure for November 2022.
MTPL accounted for 35.81% of the premiums collected, or UAH 107.18 million of premiums, which is 31.8% more than last year, while Green Card accounted for 27.14% or UAH 81.23 million of payments (+88.3%).
In turn, under voluntary health insurance contracts, TAS IG attracted UAH 6.89 million of insurance premiums, which is 63.2% more, under property insurance contracts – UAH 6.09 million of insurance payments, under other insurance contracts – UAH 26.26 million, which is 52.4% more than last year.
TAS Insurance Group was registered in 1998. It is a universal company offering more than 80 types of insurance products in various types of voluntary and compulsory insurance. It has an extensive regional network of 28 regional directorates and branches.
In November 2023, the company increased payments by 96.1% to UAH 145 million.
