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Beyond the bank services, such as Ponova by OTP Bank, are a response to the need of customers to receive the maximum number of related services on one platform. Oleg Klymenko, Member of the Management Board of OTP Bank responsible for retail business development, spoke about this at the Digital Lending 2024 conference.
“We offer our customers Ponova by OTP Bank, a marketplace where they can buy a used car. A huge number of partners have been brought together – about 60% of the offers of all used car sellers, which means 20 thousand cars ready for purchase. All cars can be purchased on credit, and each client has a personal manager, while the Bank provides transaction support. Thus, we have “closed the pains” of the client who wants to buy a used car,” the banker emphasized.
According to Mr. Klymenko, another trend in retail banking is that banks are massively developing term loans. “The essence and form of loans applied for by individual clients has changed. Today, installment and cash loans account for 60-70% of all requests. Until 2022, the situation was completely different: installment and cash loans accounted for 30-40%. That is, customers are now taking out mostly term loans, and banks are massively developing this area,” he emphasized.
According to him, almost 90% of installment loans are related to the digital sector. “This customer experience develops when the client knows that he can use it whenever the need arises. The main magic is related to the digital products and services of banks that help to gain this experience,” the banker said.
O. Klymenko said that OTP BANK offers several types of installments available in the OTP Bank UA app. “The client has a choice. For example, you can choose a product in a store or on the website of a partner network, and then buy it in installments – this is “Slice from partners”. Or you can do the opposite – first buy something, and then get the money back to your card at the expense of the credit limit. This is an installment plan that we are actively developing,” he said.
Tyson Fury is undefeated in his 35-fight career
Tyson Fury says Oleksandr Usyk is too small to compete with him in their undisputed heavyweight world title fight.
Briton Fury, 35, is the WBC champion, while Ukraine’s Usyk, 36, holds the WBA, WBO and IBF belts.
Fury said former cruiserweight champion Usyk will be “found wanting” on 18 May in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“You can beat the average big ones but you can’t beat the elite big ones,” he said.
“Size is what really matters and we have weight divisions for a reason.”
A former undisputed champion at cruiserweight, Usyk beat Briton Anthony Joshua to become unified heavyweight champion in 2021.
The most recent undisputed heavyweight champion was Britain’s Lennox Lewis in 1999. Fury-Usyk will be the first time in the four-belt era that every title is on the line.
February’s bout was rescheduled after Fury suffered a cut in a freak sparring accident two weeks before the fight.
Fury described himself as an “encyclopaedia in boxing” and listed several cruiserweight greats, including Evander Holyfield and David Haye, who were beaten after stepping up to heavyweight.
He said Usyk’s previous opponents, such as Britain’s Daniel Dubois, had “limited ability”.
“If Tyson Fury can’t beat Usyk, Tyson’s no good. End of,” he said.
“This is my time, my destiny, my era and my generation. Facts.”
After his manager, trainer and promoter predicted a knockout win for Fury, he ended the news conference by joking that Usyk would knock him out in the first round.
Fury’s co-promoter Frank Warren said the fight is the “biggest of the 21st Century”.
On June 15-16, the Swiss government will hold a two-day high-level conference aimed at achieving peace in Ukraine, Reuters reports, citing a government statement.
Earlier in January, Switzerland announced that it would host the peace summit at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and has since held talks with the EU, G7 member states, and countries such as China and India to secure their support.
“There is now sufficient international support for a high-level conference to launch the peace process,” the Federal Council said in a statement.
The conference will be held at the Burgenstock resort in the canton of Nidwalden near the city of Lucerne. Its goal is to create a framework conducive to a comprehensive and lasting peace in Ukraine, as well as “a concrete roadmap for Russia’s participation in the peace process.”
The Swiss authorities have not yet disclosed the full list of participants.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/switzerland-host-ukraine-peace-summit-june-15-16-2024-04-10/
The share of Ukrainian citizens who believe that events in the country are developing in the wrong direction amounted to 38.7% and exceeded the share of those who believe that events are developing correctly (37.7%), according to a sociological survey conducted by the Razumkov Center’s sociological service on March 21-27 and presented at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.
With reference to similar surveys conducted earlier, it is noted that despite the fact that the percentage of citizens who believe that events in Ukraine are developing correctly has been declining throughout 2023, up to and including the previous survey in January 2024, there were more of them than Ukrainians with the opposite view.
30.5% of respondents believe that Ukraine is able to overcome the existing problems and difficulties in the next few years, with a gradual downward trend. At the same time, only 10.5% of respondents are convinced of Ukraine’s inability to overcome all difficulties, but their percentage is gradually increasing. The percentage of those who believe that Ukraine is able to overcome the existing challenges in the longer term is also growing; in March 2024, the relative majority of respondents were 45.9%.
The Ukrainians’ assessment of their life satisfaction on a 10-point scale was 4.9 points (4.7 in January).
The survey was conducted face-to-face among 2020 respondents aged 18 and older in all government-controlled areas of Ukraine that are not undergoing hostilities, using a stratified multi-stage sampling method with random selection at the first sampling stage and a quota method of selecting respondents at the final stage. The structure of the sample population reflects the demographic structure of the adult population of the surveyed areas as of the beginning of 2022 (by age, gender, type of settlement). The theoretical sampling error does not exceed 2.3%; additional systematic sampling deviations may be due to the effects of Russian aggression.
Law enforcement officers exposed and served suspicion notices to seven members of a criminal group who organized four drug laboratories for the production of amphetamine and the precursor phenylnitropropene and sold banned substances in Ukraine and neighboring countries, the Prosecutor General’s Office reports.
“According to the investigation, the suspects have set up a supply channel for precursors and potent drugs, as well as processes for the manufacture and sale of amphetamine and precursors of phenylnitropropene and nitroethane throughout the country. The members of the drug group set up four drug laboratories in apartments in Kyiv region, with a capacity to produce over 50 kg of precursors per month. Of these, 40 kg of amphetamine was subsequently produced. This provided the defendants with a stable income of more than UAH 16 million per month,” the statement said.
The criminals set up a warehouse for precursors at the workplace of one of the group members, who worked in the capital’s market. The suspects sold the “products” through logistics companies using fictitious personal data, as well as to trusted persons from hand to hand. The money was received on bank cards issued to other accomplices.
Law enforcement officers conducted 23 simultaneous searches in drug labs, warehouses, residences and cars of the suspects.
Almost 400 liters of nitroethane, which could be used to synthesize about 300 kg of amphetamine, 25 kg of various precursors, more than 3 thousand MDMA pills, 430 g of amphetamine, 205 g of cannabis, laboratory equipment, weapons and ammunition, and two cars used in their criminal activity were seized.
The estimated value of the seized prohibited substances may amount to UAH 122 million.
The members of the drug group were detained in accordance with Art. 208 of the CPC of Ukraine. The issue of choosing a measure of restraint is being decided.
German industry may not fully recover to levels seen before the energy crisis due to high prices for imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), according to Markus Krebber, chief executive of German energy company RWE.
“Gas prices in continental Europe, and especially in Germany, are structurally higher now because we are ultimately dependent on LNG imports,” he told the Financial Times. – German industry is at a disadvantage.”
Gas prices in Europe have fallen about 90 percent from peak levels seen in 2022, but remain about two-thirds higher than in 2019, the FT wrote, citing data from Argus.
Krebber criticized Angela Merkel’s government’s decision in 2011 to abandon nuclear power without finding an alternative to Russian gas.
“When you know exactly what you want to give up, you should immediately start thinking about introducing new technologies,” he said.
Analysts are pessimistic about the prospects for Germany’s economy, Europe’s largest. According to the assessment of the five leading research institutes of Germany, the country’s GDP in 2024 will grow by only 0.1% due to the decline in exports and weak domestic demand. In 2023, the German economy contracted by 0.3%.
According to S&P Global Commodity Insights, demand for natural gas in the industrial sector in Europe fell by 24% in 2023 compared to 2019. The company’s experts believe that about 6-10% of European demand will be lost irretrievably due to demand destruction.
At the same time, the U.S. has a consistent and comprehensive policy to encourage the return of production capacity to the country, Krebber said. “Europe has the same intentions, but so far there are no proper measures in place,” he added.
A survey by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry last September showed that 43% of large industrial companies plan to move their business outside Germany, with the US a priority. Last year, German companies announced investments of $15.7 billion in projects in the U.S., compared with $8.2 billion a year earlier, according to fDi Markets.
