The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has provided for the possibility to pay pensions to Ukrainians temporarily living abroad by international transfers through Ukrposhta, the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories said.
“The resolution adopted by the government was developed by the Ministry of Social Policy on the results of meetings to discuss the problematic issues of Ukrainian citizens who have found temporary asylum in Poland. Thus, the specified category of pensioners will be able to resume receiving pensions by sending an application by mail in the order determined by the Pension Fund of Ukraine”, – is indicated in the message in the telegram channel.
To receive pensions, the decree provides for the possibility of entering into bank account contracts with Ukrainian banks. We are talking about banks that have no branches, offices, representative offices in the country of residence of the pensioner, including banks (unbanked), which do not have their own network.
Thus, if a person wishes to receive a pension through a bank, an application for payment can be submitted electronically using the means of a qualified electronic signature. This can be done together with the opening of a bank account without the need to visit the bank in person.
Also, at the request of a pensioner, payments can be received in the post office (if Ukrposhta JSC has the technical ability to transfer funds to the country of residence).
LUN, through its international brand Korter, has sold more than 200 apartments abroad, LUN development director Andriy Mima told Interfax-Ukraine.
“During the nine months of this year, we sold more than 200 apartments abroad, most of them in Georgia. In September, we unexpectedly received our first income in the UAE: a buyer bought an apartment from a developer through our website https://Korter.ae, and we received this is a commission,” Mima said.
He recalled that Korter is an international brand of LUN, with a similar product, a catalog of new buildings. The service launched a few years ago in several countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. At the same time, Korter’s business processes are slightly different from the parent company.
“In some countries, developers are not used to paying for marketing, so our business model “like in Ukraine” did not work. But they are happy to pay success-fee in the form of a commission. We had to restructure business processes to bring buyers from the site directly to sales departments,” Mima explained.
According to Mima, the user contacts the support service, Korter agents help him complete the transaction. For example, if necessary, the client is met at the airport and brought to the sales department.
He added that at present, the company’s international revenue exceeded its domestic one.
Minister of Social Policy Oksana Zholnovich hopes that it will be possible to avoid dual residency for Ukrainian citizens abroad.
“There are risks, but I think that it will be possible to avoid dual residency. During the last conversation, when we had the Minister of Social Policy and Labor of Germany, I asked him this question. In particular, that we have problems, since Germany is very many of our people who continue to work in Ukraine remotely or as FOPs and pay taxes here, and is there a need for them to register? He could not answer, because this is also a challenge for them. This is a new tool that has yet to be developed in Europe” , – Zholnovich said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine, commenting on the situation with negotiations with international partners regarding tax residency for Ukrainian citizens abroad.
As for the prospect of introducing general pension payments for displaced Ukrainians who received the status of temporary protection and worked in the countries of the European Union, the minister said that this can only be under bilateral agreements that Ukraine has already signed on the mutual recognition of insurance experience.
Answering a clarifying question whether any new global projects on this topic are being considered in connection with the current circumstances, Zholnovich noted that Ukraine is in the process of European integration, and there are relevant EU directives that allow something like this.
“But this will be a movement in both directions. That is, if we conclude an agreement that our citizens working in Poland are counted for insurance experience, then we must also credit and pay pensions to Poles working in Ukraine. This is painstaking work, which involves the synchronization of two pension systems of each individual country. Obviously, it will continue, but we must also take into account our economic situation. If the Ukrainian pension in the UK is very easy to pay, then the UK pension in Ukraine is not quite,” she stated.
ABROAD, dual residence, Minister Social Policy, UKRAINIAN CITIZENS
As of Wednesday, 26 MPs are abroad, about ten of them are members of the Ukrainian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), and the rest are members of the Opposition Platform – For Life faction, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk has said.
“As of this morning, according to the information I have, 26 MPs are abroad. But I must emphasize that about ten of them are the women deputies who were sent by me to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in order for them to defend the decision that PACE made yesterday regarding the exclusion of Russia from the Assembly,” the speaker said on the air of the 1+1 TV channel.
At the same time, he stressed that members of the Opposition Platform – For Life faction are now mostly not on working trips abroad.
“The reasons for their departure are not known. I didn’t send them on a working trip. But they are there. As for the future, they should be given political responsibility by the Ukrainian people in the next elections. But I think that it will not be limited to this either, because those who committed crimes against the Ukrainian people, who were collaborators, committed high treason, in addition to political responsibility, they will definitely incur criminal liability,” Stefanchuk specified.
Exports of unprocessed timber puts the country at the bottom of the production chain and brings minimal profit to companies, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevicius said. “When it comes to timber trade, each country chooses its place in the production chain. If logging companies want to sell raw timber abroad, then this, in my opinion, is not very reasonable. The country then finds itself at the very bottom of the chain and receives minimal profit. Therefore, naturally, selling wood products is a much more profitable business. This is the creation of jobs, and taxes to the treasury [..,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency and the Green Deal portal.
At the same time, according to him, “we live in a free market economy” and, if the law allows it, companies must decide for themselves what to do with the product.
Answering the question about the possible pressure of the European Commission on Ukraine in the issue of lifting the moratorium on the export of unprocessed timber, Sinkevicius said that he was not aware of any pressure.
“I have not heard of any pressure. I have not talked about this with the minister [Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of Ukraine Roman Abramovsky] and there is no pressure on my part. As I said, timber export brings the least profit, so it’s up to companies to decide. The main thing is that the process is sustainable from the point of view of the environment, the protected areas remain intact, and the forest areas after felling do not turn into agricultural areas,” he said.
As reported, on April 9, 2015, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law banning the export of timber and lumber in unprocessed form (round timber) for ten years. At the same time, a ban on the export of timber species (except pine) was introduced from November 1, 2015, and timber species – from January 1, 2017.
In 2018, parliament limited domestic consumption of unprocessed timber to 25 billion cubic meters per year for the duration of the export of round timber outside the customs territory of the country.
In January 2020, Ukraine and the EU created an arbitration group to consider a dispute over Ukraine’s ban on the export of raw timber. At the end of 2020, it issued a decision recognizing Ukraine’s right to restrict timber exports under certain circumstances, while at the same time recognizing the need to adjust the 2015 moratorium in cooperation with the EU.
Head of the State Agency for Forest Resources Yuriy Bolokhovets, in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency said that the adoption of the law on the timber market, allowing the export of unprocessed timber and sawn timber from Ukraine, is forecasted until the end of 2021.
The program “Treatment of Ukrainian citizens abroad” in the long term should be reduced to isolated cases, economist at the CASE Ukraine analytical center, author of a study on the implementation of the program and identification of more effective ways of state financing Natalia Leschenko has said.
“The program needs to be abandoned in the short term, but it requires tight budget constraints and prioritization of referrals for treatment (for example, referral to treatment of children, patients who have a high chance of returning to normal life). In the long term, the program needs to be reduced to isolated cases,” she said during a presentation of the study results on Tuesday.
Leschenko also said that it is necessary to introduce an assessment of the quality of such treatment.
“What would ideally like to see is an assessment of the patient’s health outcomes after treatment. The comparison of these results with the reference ones established on the basis of scientific research and clinical evaluations. This requirement is in the legislation of other countries that treatment abroad should be paid for at the state expense, only if this treatment is proven to be effective. Examples include readmission rates, mortality, complications,” she said.
“Our proposal is, in principle, not to increase funding for the program. The governments of most countries adhere to the principle of limited funding, that is, payment of a percentage of treatment or full payment to a limited number of people,” the expert said.
As reported, under the budget program “Treatment of Ukrainian citizens abroad” in 2020, UAH 1.089 billion is provided.
