Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal met with Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu in Bucharest.
“In terms of bilateral trade, Romania ranks third among European countries for Ukraine. In Bucharest, we discussed with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu how we can develop trade potential that is beneficial for both our countries. Particular attention was paid to the development of the Danube ports and Black Sea trade routes. We hope that expert consultations and joint work will make it possible to abandon restrictive measures on the export of Ukrainian grain after September 15. This is important for our economy and global food security,” Shmyhal wrote on his Telegram channel.
Also, according to the prime minister, Ukraine offered Romania to implement a pilot project of joint border and customs control at one of the border crossing points.
“We also invite Romanian companies to use Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities, the largest on the continent. We discussed the potential for cooperation in the commercial supply of electricity between our state-owned companies,” Shmyhal wrote.
ABH Holdings SA (ABHH, Luxembourg), the former owner of the nationalized Sens Bank (Kyiv, formerly Alfa-Bank), rejects as deliberately false the accusations of the National Police of Ukraine against the holding’s minority shareholder Mikhail Fridman of allegedly organizing a criminal tax evasion scheme through Sens Bank.
“Friedman has never been involved in the management or governance of Sens Bank and has never participated in the structuring and implementation of any transactions or operations of the bank, including those related to taxation,” ABHH claims.
The holding believes that such allegations, in particular those concerning ABHH itself, are false and were made with the sole purpose of preventing the holding from achieving a fair and honest resolution of the situation that arose after the illegal, in its opinion, expropriation of Sens Bank.
ABHH reminded that in June of this year it informed the Ukrainian government of its intention to initiate international proceedings and proposed negotiations to resolve the dispute peacefully, but the reaction was to impose sanctions against the holding.
“In July of this year, the holding made another attempt to approach the Ukrainian government with a request for negotiations. The Ukrainian authorities responded by nationalizing Sens Bank and introducing a number of illegal measures against the holding’s minority shareholders, which have now been supplemented by information about a possible criminal case against Mikhail Fridman,” the statement said.
The statement emphasizes that the holding confirms its intention to continue efforts to protect its rights and considers the current actions of the Ukrainian authorities to be an attempt to obstruct the process of international justice.
Several schemes were used to withdraw the funds: payment of royalties for the use of trademarks and payment of funds under fictitious agreements concluded with offshore companies. As part of this criminal proceeding, a total of nine people were notified of suspicion, and assets worth over UAH 14.4 billion were seized. Alfa-Bank is currently nationalized and owned by the state.
Earlier on Friday, the National Police issued a statement that its Strategic Investigations Department, the Bureau of Economic Security and the Prosecutor General’s Office had established criminal schemes by Friedman and other beneficial owners from the international sanctions list to withdraw more than UAH 700 million through controlled Ukrainian and Cypriot companies and Alfa-Bank.
It was indicated that one of these schemes was the withdrawal of funds under the guise of paying royalties for the use of trademarks previously owned by the parent bank in the Russian Federation. Over three years, the Ukrainian bank paid UAH 1.4 million, but in 2021, the trademarks were re-registered to a Cypriot non-resident controlled by a Russian oligarch, after which the fee increased to $16.4 million, and in less than a year of using these marks, the bank transferred more than UAH 261 million to the Cypriot company.
The offenders also allegedly used a scheme to pay out funds under fictitious agreements concluded with offshore companies. The essence of such transactions was that the offshore company, the parent company of Alfa-Bank, bought corporate rights and transferred more than UAH 460 million to the phantom company. However, as law enforcement officers found out, this company had no property and conducted no business activities.
The National Police stated that more than 300 investigative actions were carried out to establish the connections, affiliation and control of the companies, both offshore and Ukrainian, used in the schemes, to the Russian oligarch: searches, interrogations of dozens of witnesses, various studies and examinations, analysis of a large amount of information, etc.
“Based on the evidence collected, the Russian oligarch, the beneficial owner of Alfa-Bank and the organizer of the criminal scheme, was served a notice of suspicion. He is charged with committing criminal offenses committed as part of an organized group by prior conspiracy under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine,” the National Police said.
It was clarified that a total of eight other people were served suspicion notices in the criminal proceedings: the former chairman and acting chairman of the bank’s board, three owners of offshore companies, and the case against three directors of fictitious companies is already being considered in court.
In addition, more than UAH 14.4 billion worth of assets were seized: securities held on the bank’s accounts, trademarks, and about 900 real estate properties.
Alfa-Bank has been nationalized and is now owned by the state, and the seized assets have been transferred to the commercial management of the ARMA, the release said.
Ukraine is finalizing a scheme with global insurers for insurance coverage of grain ships, Ukraine’s deputy economy minister Oleksandr Hryban has told the Financial Times
Ukraine is finalizing the development of a scheme with global insurers for insurance coverage of grain ships traveling to/from Black Sea ports, Ukrainian Deputy Economy Minister Oleksandr Griban told the Financial Times.
According to him, the agreement “is being developed and actively discussed” between the relevant ministries, as well as domestic banks and international insurance groups, including Lloyd’s of London.
The scheme could be in place as early as next month, with five of the 30 ships passing through “dangerous locations” in Ukrainian waters.
Russia reportedly pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July and said it would treat any civilian vessel leaving Ukrainian ports as a military target.
However, under the cover of Ukrainian coastal defense systems, the Joseph Schulte dry cargo ship left the port of Odessa on August 16 and used a temporary corridor in the Black Sea. On August 18, it arrived at the coast of Turkey and anchored in the port of “Ambarly” near Istanbul. The container ship Joseph Schulte was in the port of Odessa since February 23, 2022. On its board there were 2000 containers and 30 thousand tons of cargo, in particular food.
Earlier, Ukraine announced the creation of a “humanitarian corridor” in the Black Sea to free cargo ships trapped in its ports after Russia’s withdrawal from the “grain agreement”.
Spouse of the President Olena Zelenska said that Ukraine proposes the creation of a program of international medical partnership, thanks to which any country will be able to establish interaction with a particular Ukrainian hospital, the press service of the head of state.
“Ukraine proposes the creation of an international medical partnership program. This is a program that we initiate within the framework of the Third Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen and implement in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine,” she said during a visit to the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology (Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology) in Utrecht (Netherlands).
According to her, each interested country will be able to establish direct interaction with a specific hospital in Ukraine by selecting the appropriate institution from its side. And the governments of the countries will accompany and guide this cooperation.
During the visit, a Memorandum of Cooperation was also signed between the management of the Princess Maxima Children’s Oncology Center, Dr. Gita Galle, and Acting Chief Physician of the West Ukrainian Specialized Children’s Medical Center, Roman Kizima, with the support of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
Zelenska noted that this cooperation will be the first practical example of interaction within the framework of international medical partnership, which Ukraine is starting.
According to the press service of the President, the first meeting of the heads of health ministries of the countries of the world under the patronage of the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen will be held in September.
In addition, Zelenska met with the management of Royal Philips, a company specializing in the production of medical equipment (patient monitors, ultrasound, X-ray, CT, MRI, etc.), healthcare solutions, equipment for personal care.
The First Lady noted that the Center actively attracts doctors from Ukraine for internships, so that doctors have the opportunity to work with colleagues from the Netherlands and share experience.
South Korea and the United States began major joint military drills on Monday to bolster military readiness amid heightened tensions over North Korea’s missile tests and tougher rhetoric toward allies, Renhap news agency reported.
The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise, “based on a total war scenario,” will include “contingency” drills, computer simulation-based command post drills, parallel field exercises and civil defense drills. They will continue until August 31.
According to a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the South Korean Armed Forces, about 30 joint allied field training exercises are planned during the exercise period.
He stressed that the exercise is “designed as a tough and realistic training to strengthen the alliance’s joint defense posture and response capabilities based on scenarios reflecting various security threats.”
In addition to South Korean and U.S. participants, personnel from nine member countries of the United Nations Command (UNC), (a joint multinational military command established in 1950 to support South Korea): Australia, Canada, France, Britain, Greece, Italy, New Zealand, the Philippines and Thailand, will join the exercise, Renhap reported.
The agency noted that the South Korean military is stepping up its preparedness for possible military action by Pyongyang during the drills, as the DPRK has consistently called the U.S.-South Korean exercises a rehearsal for an invasion of North Korea.
South Korean intelligence agencies told parliamentarians last week that “the North is preparing various provocations during the joint drills, such as launching an intercontinental ballistic missile,” according to the report.
The agency said the CTAC report that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected the 2nd Guards Division of surface ships of the Korean People’s Army Navy’s Eastern Fleet Eastern Fleet and observed missile launches was “a clear expression of protest against the drills.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called on people to check facts before sharing content on the Internet, thus preventing the spread of fakes.
“We all have a role to play in stopping the spread of harmful falsehoods and misinformation. Stop and check facts before sharing content online,” he wrote on microblogging Twitter.
He also added a number of questions to think about before sharing content online, namely “Who is the author of the content?”, “What is the source of the information?”, “Where did the information come from?”, “Why are you sharing it?” and “Where was it published?”.
