Business can cope with the problem of staff shortage in Ukraine by investing in technological products and process automation, says Ruslan Shostak, owner of Eva and Varus chains and president of TERWIN Corporation.
“I don’t see a big problem (with staff shortage). Yes, it exists, you can’t turn a blind eye to it, but according to statistics, not so many people left Ukraine. Our whole business was inefficient in terms of human resource utilization, which made us uncompetitive with similar businesses in Europe and the world. But there is one solution for this: money. We don’t have money to reconstruct our production facilities and enterprises. If we have money, software products, new robotic equipment, we will be able to solve this issue,” Shostak told Business Wisdom Summit in Kyiv on Wednesday.
According to Shostak, despite a slight outflow of customers, his business is showing growth: last year’s growth was almost 100% in online and 30% in retail. In addition, new logistics hubs are being built in Kyiv, Lviv, and Dnipro.
Shostak noted, while in Ukraine business development is slowed down due to the war and difficult economic situation, global business is undergoing changes and using new opportunities, including artificial intelligence.
“Now we are focusing on geopolitics, but in the next 20 years we will face global economic problems, change of specialties, professions. It is artificial intelligence that is driving the most powerful changes right now,” Shostak believes.
As reported, in October 2023, 17 companies managed by Shostak, which collectively employ 30 thousand people, merged into TERWIN (TERWIN). We are talking about Omega LLC, Rush, Tervin Group, Tixid, Tavria Hub, Instant, Formsite, Digamma, Milton Group, Saltora Plus, Firma Ariant, New Construction 2017, Altair D, Apex N, Aspect D, Lattero, Charitable Foundation Ruslan Shostak BU. The total assets of the corporation are estimated at $1.6 billion. The combined revenue of the companies reached $2 billion in the pre-war period and was expected to reach $1.7 billion in 2023.
In November 2023, Shostak and UkraineInvest CEO Serhiy Tsivkach signed a memorandum on further support of the project for the construction of logistics hubs in four regions of Ukraine (Odessa, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv) with a total investment of more than $500 million.
BUSINESS, INVESTMENTS, staff shortage, TECHNOLOGIES, TERWIN Corporation, UKRAINE
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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.
