The Board of the National Bank of Ukraine has decided to revoke the banking license from JSC JSCB Concord (Kiev) and liquidate it from August 1, 2023 due to the bank’s systematic violation of legal requirements in the field of preventing and combating money laundering, financing of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (PIK/FT).
“The share of the financial institution was 0.17% of the assets of solvent banks, so its withdrawal from the market will not affect the stability of the banking sector of Ukraine”, – noted in a statement on the NBU website.
Speaking about the violations, the National Bank specified that it is a failure to ensure the functioning of an appropriate risk management system, failure to provide at the request of the inspection team reliable information, failure to take into account in the analysis of risks features and opportunities for the use of bank products.
“In addition, over the past two years, the National Bank, based on the results of supervision in the field of PIK / CFT for violations committed by the bank applied to the bank such measures of influence, such as imposing a fine totaling 60.4 million UAH and a written warning,” – added the regulator.
The NBU reminded that each depositor of the bank will receive from the Deposit Guarantee Fund reimbursement in the full amount of the deposit, including interest, and the total possible amount of payments of the guaranteed amount to depositors on July 1, 2023 is UAH 1 billion 116.25 million.
It is specified that the decision on revocation of the banking license and liquidation of Concord Bank was made by the decision of the NBU Board of Directors No. 265-rsh dated August 1. In addition, the National Bank imposed another fine on the bank in the amount of UAH 400 th. for violations in making transfers.
Concord Bank, according to information on its website, was founded in August 2006, and in 2012 its main beneficiaries were Olena and Yulia Sosiedka.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of June 1, 2023, Concord ranked 35th (UAH 4.83 billion) among 65 banks operating in the country in terms of assets. In the first three months of 2023, the network of the bank’s subdivisions decreased by two branches – to 12.
At the end of last week, the bank denied the information allegedly about the deprivation of its license as a result of an inspection by the National Bank, spread by “trash websites and telegram channels created by Russian special services”. Concord emphasized that they support the actions of the NBU in terms of regulation of “so-called gambling” and the formation of an efficient and transparent banking system.
As reported, in early February, the Deputy Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Yaroslav Zheleznyak accused nine banks, including Ukrgasbank and Ayboks Bank, of helping the gambling business in hiding up to 10 billion UAH of turnover per month. He claimed that these banks were providing a service of miscoding (substituting the purpose of payment – IF-U) and withdrawing this money: wiring money from the player to the casino account under the guise of payment “for advertising services” or similar services.
Then the National Bank fined state-owned Ukrgasbank 64.6 million UAH for improper organization of the intrabank system of prevention and counteraction and primary financial monitoring when working with gambling business participants, and on March 7 revoked the banking license of Ibox Bank, 37th in terms of assets out of 66 Ukrainian banks, in connection with a number of violations, including the facilitation of a sports poker tournament and insufficient financial monitoring of clients even after the regulator’s warning.
The index of business activity expectations (IODA), calculated by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), after three months of being on the positive half of the scale (from 50.5 to 51.5 points) in July fell by 2 points – to a mark of 48.8 on a scale of zero to 100.
“Revision of pricing for enterprises in the electricity market, return to pre-war taxation of fuel prices, stopping the “grain corridor”, increased shelling of infrastructure facilities, as well as a significant shortage of qualified personnel adversely affected the expectations of respondents,” the central bank said.
It is indicated that industrial enterprises, after four months of optimistic assessments, expect deterioration of their economic results: the sectoral index in July amounted to 48.2 against 51.0 in June.
Respondents forecast lower volumes of new export orders, as well as worsened estimates of the volume of unfinished production (unfulfilled orders), stocks of raw materials and supplies. At the same time, a slight increase in the volume of manufactured products is expected, while the volume of new orders is forecasted at the level of the previous month.
As noted by the National Bank, the service sector enterprises retained the most restrained assessment of their economic prospects among other sectors of the economy, given the blocking of the “grain corridor,” rising fuel prices and reduced demand due to weak solvency of the population: the sector index amounted to 47.3 compared to 48.9 in June.
For the first time since April this year, respondents were negative about the volume of services provided. They also predicted a decline in the volume of new orders for services, but expected a slight increase in the volume of services in progress. The majority of the surveyed respondents are in a mood to increase prices for their own products and services due to the growth of purchase prices.
Construction companies maintained positive performance for the third month in a row, thanks to a rebound in the construction of roads, bridges, tunnels and pipelines, as well as seasonal factors: the sector index in July was 51.3, although in June it reached 58.6 points.
Builders continue to expect growth in construction output, new orders, and purchases of raw materials, albeit at a slower pace. Estimates for contractor services remained high, and their availability remained at the same level as the previous month.
Trade companies were positively assessed for the fifth month in a row due to market saturation of goods and slowing inflation, but in this sector too, expectations deteriorated to 51.6 points from 52.5 in June.
It is said that respondents continued to expect growth in the volume of goods purchased for sale, rapid growth in the cost of goods purchased for sale on the back of higher prices of suppliers, as well as lower trade margins.
As for employment, expectations improved only for trade, from 47.6 to 50.9 points. Whereas in industry they decreased from 49.3 to 48.0 points, in services – from 50.4 to 48.6 and in construction – from 54.2 to 50.0 points.
The NBU specified that the monthly survey of enterprises was conducted from July 5 to July 24. It was attended by 490 enterprises. Among the respondents, 44.9% were industrial companies, 28.2% – service companies, 22.2% – trade, 4.7% – construction; 33.7% of respondents were large enterprises, 29.0% – medium-sized enterprises, 37.3% – small enterprises.
In addition, 31.8% of surveyed enterprises carry out export and import operations, 9.0% – only export operations, 16.7% – only import operations, 42.4% – do not carry out external economic operations.
Net unconsolidated profit of Raiffeisen Bank (Kiev) for January-June this year amounted to UAH 3 billion 118.67 million, which is five times higher than in the same period of 2022, according to the unaudited report of the bank on its website.
According to it, in the second quarter of this year, the bank increased the financial result to the second quarter of last year by 39.6% – up to UAH 1 billion 57.54 million.
It is indicated that Raiffeisen Bank’s net interest income for January-June 2023 increased by 53.0% to UAH 7 billion 907.76 million, including in the second quarter – by 43.8% to UAH 3 billion 955.68 million.
As follows from the report, net commission income for the first six months of this year increased by 82.6% to UAH 1 billion 267.64 million, including in the second quarter – twice, to UAH 639.79 million.
At the same time, net profit from foreign currency transactions decreased by 12.8% to UAH 903.49 million in the first half of the year, while the loss from decreased utility increased by 7.9% to UAH 3 billion 127.34 million.
According to the report, in January-June this year, the bank’s assets grew by UAH 5.84 billion, or 3.5% – to UAH 172.10 billion.
Such growth is explained by a significant increase in investments in securities – from UAH 25.41 billion to UAH 34.17 billion, cash and funds with the NBU – from UAH 32.04 billion to UAH 38.15 billion and loans and advances to banks – from UAH 39.08 billion to UAH 42.26 billion.
At the same time, loans and advances to customers decreased from UAH 61.69 billion to UAH 50.25 billion.
Raiffeisen Bank’s customer funds for the first half of 2023 increased from UAH 143.61 billion to UAH 146.50 billion, while the bank’s capital increased from UAH 17.06 billion to UAH 20.17 billion, including retained earnings – from UAH 1.58 billion to UAH 3.14 billion.
In a press release on Tuesday, the bank added that its gross revenues for the first six months of 2023 grew by 48% to UAH 10.4 billion, the amount of taxes paid amounted to UAH 1.1 billion, and its portfolio of government bonds grew by almost UAH 10 billion.
“Raif’s lending dynamics reflect the existing demand for loans and the creditworthiness of customers. Since the beginning of 2023, the bank issued UAH 48.2 billion of new loans, of which UAH 32.6 billion – to industries that are critical for the country (agribusiness, retail, pharmaceuticals, fuel supplies)”, – indicated the financial institution, specifying that UAH 13.5 billion of loans were directed to agrarians.
It is noted that as of June 30, 2023, the bank formed UAH 14.6 billion of reserves, and the share of non-performing loans (NPL) amounted to 16.3% at the end of June.
It is also specified that the funds of corporate customers at the end of June 2023 amounted to 63.1 billion UAH and increased year-on-year by 14 billion UAH, or 29%, while the funds of retail customers increased by 11.2 billion UAH, or 16% – to 81.6 billion UAH.
As of the end of June 2023, the capital adequacy level of Raiffeisen Bank amounted to 25.38% with the minimum value of 10%, and the tier 1 capital adequacy level amounted to 19.03% with the minimum value of 7%.
Raiffeisen Bank JSC was registered in Ukraine in 1992 and is the largest bank with foreign capital in Ukraine, ranking 4th among 65 Ukrainian banks in terms of total assets at the beginning of June. Since October 2005, the bank became part of the Austrian banking group Raiffeisen Bank International AG. As of March 31, 2023, Raiffeisen Group owned 68.21% of the bank’s shares, while the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development owned 30%.
Extreme heat can reduce the range of an electric car by 31%, according to a report by Recurrent Auto, a company specializing in testing batteries for electric cars.
Recurrent experts have analyzed the battery readings of 7.5 thousand cars and found that at an air temperature of 27 degrees Celsius, the range is reduced relative to the maximum by almost 2.8%, at 32 degrees – by 5%, and at 38 degrees the drop can reach 31%.
At the same time, the data on the dynamics of charge consumption in conditions of 38-degree heat are extremely limited and need to be clarified, the company said, adding that if necessary, they will adjust the indicator on the basis of subsequent measurements.
The use of air conditioning, in turn, reduces the range only to a small extent. At the same time, reducing the temperature in the cabin by 7 degrees will require less energy than increasing it by 10 degrees.
Agroholding “Continental Farmers Group” began sowing winter crops for the harvest of 2024, for which it plans to allocate 97.8 thousand hectares, reported the press service of the agricultural holding.
According to the report, Continental is traditionally the first to sow winter rape, for which 34.8 thousand hectares will be allocated. Weather conditions favor sowing work: thanks to precipitation in the soil is enough moisture.
“We apply different production technologies according to the type of seeders we have. These include direct seeding immediately after harvesting wheat and barley with Horsch Focus seeders, and traditional continuous seeding. We also plan to use precision seeders with a row spacing of 35 cm,” said Konstantin Shityuk, Operations Director of Continental Farmers Group.
According to him, sowing of winter rape began in accordance with the planned dates. The company is fully provided with seeds, mineral fertilizers, protection products and fuel and lubricants.
Agroholding intends to complete sowing of rape by August 20, after which it will start sowing of winter wheat and barley, for which 49.7 thousand hectares and 13.1 thousand hectares will be allocated respectively.
The pace of sowing winter wheat and barley will depend on the speed of harvesting the precursor crops. In the regions where Continental operates, the vegetation of spring crops (soybeans, sunflowers, corn) will be prolonged due to delays in development. The reason for this is weather conditions and rather late sowing dates, explained the agroholding.
In addition, the early grain harvest continues on Continental’s fields, which has been harvested from 65% of the planned areas.
“Winter barley threshing is fully completed, with a net yield of 6.39 tons per hectare, which is higher than planned. Winter rape harvest is nearing completion. The net yield of the crop is also higher than planned and is 3.74 tons per hectare”, – stated in the agroholding.
Mriya Agroholding and CFG, united under the name Continental Farmers Group, have been operating as a single business since November 2018, when Mriya made a deal with international investor Salic UK on the sale of assets.
Salic was founded in 2012. Its sole shareholder is the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, which invests in agricultural and livestock products.
The reception of applications for compensation for housing destroyed because of the war started in “Diya” on August 1, the press service of the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure (Ministries of Recovery) reported.
“From today, homeowners whose housing was destroyed will be able to apply for compensation to purchase a new apartment or house. This can be done through the Diya application,” the press release said.
Compensations will be paid to sole owners of housing that was destroyed due to hostilities after February 24, 2022, is not subject to reconstruction and is located in the non-occupied territory and not in the zone of active hostilities. In addition, an information report on the destroyed property filed by its owner must be registered in the registry.
Applications will be considered by commissions previously established at local governments to process eRecovery applications, the report said.
At this stage, compensation will be paid in the form of electronic housing certificates for the purchase of housing. The Ministry of Restoration is also developing a mechanism for the payment of funds for the construction of new private houses on the land plot of the compensation recipient.
Earlier in May, the state aid program “eRestoration” was launched, which provides assistance for the ongoing repair of housing damaged as a result of the war.
Since the start of the program on May 10, Ukrainians have already submitted more than 31 thousand applications for cash assistance for minor repairs of damaged housing. Local governments have set up 520 commissions, which consider applications, inspect damaged housing and decide on the assignment of assistance that can be directed to repairs.
As it was reported with reference to the KSE Institute data, during the year of war in Ukraine about 153.8 thousand dwellings were damaged or destroyed, including 136 thousand private houses and 17.5 thousand apartment houses.
