The volume of money transfers to Ukraine using international money transfer systems in January-June 2019 exceeded the amount of funds sent abroad by 6.5 times. According to the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), the share of transfers to Ukraine from the United States was 15%, from Israel 8%, from Russia 9%, from Italy 14%, from Poland 11%, from other countries (202 countries) some 43%.
In the first half of 2019, the volume of remittances using money transfer systems created by both residents and non-residents was as follows: to Ukraine some $1.099 billion in equivalent (23.23% of the total amount of transfers), outside Ukraine some $168 million in equivalent (3.54% of the total amount of transfers), within Ukraine some UAH 93.28 billion, or equivalent of $3.465 billion (73.23% of the total amount of transfers).
This data does not include information on transfers made through banks, card payment systems and post offices.
The volume of domestic transfers through money transfer systems in the first half of 2019 increased by 33.5% compared to the same period of 2018.
The predominant amount of domestic transfers (90%) is implemented by systems created by non-banking institutions.
Almost 68.2% of domestic transfers accounted for two systems of money transfers: Forpost (Post Finance LLC) and Mail Transfer (Poshtovy Perevod, Ukrposhta).
The amount of money transfers to Ukraine using international payment systems in 2018 was eight times more than the sum of money sent from Ukraine.
According to a posting on the website of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), the share of transfers in money transfer systems to Ukraine was 17% from the United States, 13% from Israel, 9% from Russia, 8% from Italy, 7% from Poland, and 46% from other countries (221 countries).
In 2018, both residents and nonresidents used money transfer systems to transact the following transfers: $2.301 billion in equivalent to Ukraine (28.28% of total transfers); $294 million in equivalent abroad (3.61% of total transfers) and UAH 150.53 billion or $5.541 billion in equivalent within Ukraine (68.11% of the total value of transfers).
These data do not include information on transfers transacted by banks, card payment schemes and post offices.
Domestic transfers in money transfer systems over 2018 has increased by 24.3% year-over-year (in 2017 domestic transfers accounted for over UAH 120.5 billion or $4.456 billion in equivalent). Most of domestic transfers (92%) are transacted in systems established by nonbank institutions.
New Ukrainian visa centers, which will provide services to foreigners in receiving visa applications to enter Ukraine, will start working in different countries of the world from June 15 to August 1 of this year, the Consular Service Department of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said. “Information on the opening dates of each of the centers will be posted on the web pages of the relevant Ukrainian embassies and consular offices,” reads a statement posted on the Facebook page of the Foreign Ministry on Thursday.
As a result, the number of Ukrainian visa centers abroad should be 56: in the cities of Algiers (Algeria), Luanda (Angola), Dhaka (Bangladesh), Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Accra (Ghana), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Cairo (Egypt), Harare (Zimbabwe), Bengaluru, Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai, Chennai (India), Jakarta (Indonesia), Baghdad, Irbil (Iraq), Tehran (Iran), Amman (Jordan), Yaounde (Cameroon), Nairobi Kenya), Peking, Guangzhou, Shanghai (China), Kuwait (Kuwait), Kinshasa (DR Congo), Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire), Beirut (Lebanon), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Rabat (Morocco), Abuja (Niger Abu Dhabi, Dubai (UAE), Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore (Pakistan), Cape Town, Pretoria (South Africa), Ekaterinburg, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, St. Petersburg (Russia), Riyadh, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Dakar (Senegal), Tunis (Tunisia), Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir (Turkey), Kampala (Uganda), Manila (Philippines) and Colombo (Sri Lanka).
“Foreigners residing in the countries where the centers are located will be able to submit documents for the processing of Ukrainian visas in a convenient format and, if desired, receive a number of additional services (photocopying, translating and copying documents, medical insurance policies, courier services, SMS information, services in the halls of increased comfort, etc.). The centers are responsible for the technical support of the visa dossiers and the provision of assistance to the applicants,” the ministry said.
The Foreign Ministry’s Consular Service Department said implementation of this project was made possible through cooperation between the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and VF Worldwide Holdings Ltd.
