Entrepreneur Vasyl Khmelnytsky, as a loan guarantee, indirectly owns 20% of shares in the European company TKB Pacific Worldwide, which in turn owns 25% in Russia’s INK-NefteGasGeologiya, but plans to withdraw from shareholders by the end of 2022 after full repayment of the loan.
“I’m not doing business in Russia and have not invested in the acquisition of shares of Irkutsk Oil Company (INK),” Khmelnytsky commented to Interfax-Ukraine on the publication of the Russian edition of Forbes that he could be a co-owner of several INK assets.
The Ukrainian businessman explained that he has known the owner of TKB Pacific Worldwide for 35 years (according to Forbes, 80% of the company belongs to Russian woman Arina Nikolaeva).
“The securities are registered for me with the right to buy back. At the moment, most of the loan has already been repaid. I do not take part in operating activities and management. I do not receive dividends from activities,” Khmelnytsky stressed.
He clarified that in 2017, TKB Pacific Worldwide exercised an option to purchase a 25% stake in subsidiary INK-NefteGasGeologiya, whose oil production does not exceed 2% of INK’s total oil production.
“I have nothing to do with this transaction and do not receive income from the securities of the Russian company,” the Ukrainian businessman said.
The Russian edition indicated that INK-NefteGasGeologiya holds licenses for the Ayan block and the Ayan gas field.
Khmelnytsky in October 2017 united his business projects and social initiatives under the brand UFuture Investment Group (Brussels). UFuture is a holding company with a diversified portfolio of assets in real estate, infrastructure, industry, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals and IT. UFuture’s assets are estimated at $ 550 million. The total capitalization of the businesses in which it has invested exceeds $ 1 billion.
As many as 153 members of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada have endorsed the initiative of Vladlen Nekliudov of the parliamentary faction of the Servant of the People party requesting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky impose sanctions on the enterprises of the Roshen confectionery corporation for “financing the budget of the aggressor state Russian Federation.”
The relevant decision was made at a parliamentary session on Friday.
Roshen, a leading confectionary producer in Ukraine, operates confectionery factories in Kyiv, Mariupol, Kremenchuk, Boryspil, Vinnytsia, Klaipeda (Lithuania), and Bonbonetti Choco in Hungary. The operations of the factory in Lipetsk, Russia, were halted on April 1, 2017.
According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs, Roshen’s end beneficiary is Poroshenko’s son Oleksiy.
In December 2016, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow froze the assets of Roshen’s Lipetsk factory as part of a criminal case of embezzlement from the Russian budget.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine has launched the operation of the Business Protection Office (BPO) under the ministry, the head of which was appointed adviser to Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, ex-Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Anton Gerashchenko.
“Today we are launching an additional operational protection mechanism – we are opening an advisory body – the Business Protection Office under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, where every entrepreneur and investor will be able to receive the necessary assistance and effectively protect their rights. Our global goal is to make the business environment in Ukraine as much as possible protected and attractive for investors both Ukrainian and foreign,” the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported on Thursday evening.
The specific areas of work of the Business Protection Office will be combating raiding, combating corruption and abuse of business in the structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, unshadowing the tobacco, alcohol and fuel market, helping the State Customs Service and other law enforcement agencies in the fight against smuggling, the issue of combating counterfeit products, violation of copyright and trademark counterfeiting.
Other issues of violation of the rights of entrepreneurs by law enforcement officers in the structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs – the National Police, the State Emergency Service, and the State Migration Service – will also be in the field of vision and response of the Business Protection Office.
The vast majority, namely 83% of members of the European Business Association (EBA), forecast growth of their business in 2022, while a year ago 60% members said this, according to Business Forecast 2022 conducted by the European Business Association together with Nestlé Ukraine.
“In 2022, the vast majority, namely 83% of the respondents, forecast growth of their business, 15% of the directors assume it will be possible to sustain their business performance at the level of 2021, and only 2% expect some deterioration in their business situation (14% last year),” the EBA said.
According to the press release, the companies have significantly improved the financial forecasts for next year. Most entrepreneurs, namely 67%, forecast income growth by 10-20% – in hryvnia. This figure returned to the level of 2020 after a significant decline in the past.
Thus, 36% of directors expect revenue growth of up to 10% in volume terms, and almost half (49%) expect a 10-20% growth, the EBA said.
All respondents to this year’s survey note their plans to increase the salaries of their employees in 2022. Most managers, namely 55%, plan to increase salaries by 5-10%. Other 30% will increase salaries by 10-20%. It should be mentioned that last year 15% of the companies were not able to increase staff salaries.
The companies are enthusiastic about the plans to create new jobs. Thus, last year 60% of companies did not plan any changes in their staff, while this year their number is only 36%. The majority, namely 58% of the top managers, plan to expand their staff. And only 6% of the companies will be forced to reduce staff.
One-third of the entrepreneurs, namely 32%, plan to implement new investment projects next year with a budget from $20,000 to $400 million. Moreover, we are pleased to note that almost half of the respondents (49%) plan to invest in social initiatives aimed at supporting Ukrainian society next year.
“Such optimistic forecasts of the directors are certainly very uplifting. Maybe, for the first time since the pandemic broke, we can talk about a significant improvement in the assessments and sentiments of the top managers regarding their own business plans,” EBA Executive Director Anna Derevyanko said.
The CEOs also identified the top three tasks from business to the government for next year. It’s been the second year in a row that the first need mentioned is the need for judicial reform and the rule of law, the second is the fight against corruption, and the third is the need to ensure political stability and effective management in the country. Also, this year, the directors highlighted the importance of further reforming the tax and customs sectors.
Altogether, 95 CEOs of the EBA member companies took part in the Business forecast 2022 study, conducted in September 2021.
In Kyiv, at various stages of construction readiness, 32 business centers with a total GLA of almost 670,00 square meters (excluding large-scale facilities) are announced for opening in 2021-2022, Managing Partner of UTG Offices Volodymyr Heliuta has told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, according to the results of the first half of 2021, the total rental area of professional facilities in Kyiv is slightly more than 2 million square meters. In the structure of supply of space, class A accounts for 25%, B and C – 75%.
“About 52% of office space was commissioned before 2010 and today it is morally and technically outdated. Therefore, despite the permanent lockdowns, we see the interest of investors and developers in the office real estate market – frozen and postponed projects have been actively revived since the middle of 2020. Outdated shopping centers, hotel complexes, enterprises and factories are being reconstructed into office real estate,” Heliuta said.
For June 2021, the rental price per square meter a month in class A it was $20-25 excluding VAT, OPEX, utility bills and BOMA coefficients, in classes B and B + – $16-20.
The expert said that due to the release of a new proposal, vacancy is growing. Thus, in class A business centers it is 10%, in class B, B + business centers it is 10-15% with a tendency to increase.
Since the end of 2020, the tendency towards a decrease in rented space has continued. There is a growing trend towards renting turnkey office space, including fully equipped workspaces. Smaller and medium-sized tenants (especially those who are not ready to invest in renovation, improvement, furnishing of premises) are considering alternative options for changing offices.
“There is a high demand for open space offices without intricate renovations, within walking distance from the metro, in an area with developed infrastructure. In addition, one of the desired options for tenants is parking for bicycles and electric vehicles, as well as the opportunity to take a shower. Flexible office spaces adapted to a hybrid work format that allows employees to combine remote work from home with stay in the office are becoming the new norm,” Heliuta said.
According to him, the main consumer today is the representatives of the IT sector. “Adaptive offices are attractive for them: there are many projects and a team for 200 people – a large office is needed, few projects and the team has been reduced to 50 – a small one,” the expert said.
BUSINESS, BUSINESS CENTER, HOTEL, OFFICE CENTER, SHOPPING CENTER
The Center for Economic Recovery and the Ukrainian Business and Trade Association (UBTA) in a letter to Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal propose to consider three scenarios for reducing the country’s carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and, accordingly, adjust the goal of Ukraine’s second Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris agreement.
“Considering the fact that for the entire period of Ukraine’s independence, the dynamics of GDP and the dynamics of greenhouse gas emissions had an almost direct correlation, business associations expressed concern about Ukraine’s plans with great ambitions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 35% by 2030 from the 1990 level,” the letter says.
The analytical report prepared by the associations contains three scenarios for reducing CO2 emissions until 2030. As noted, the scenarios are calculated in accordance with the goals of the National Economic Strategy of Ukraine.
According to the baseline scenario, with the volume of investments in decarbonization at the level of EUR12 billion, Ukraine will be able to reduce CO2 emissions to 43% of the 1990 level.
The conservative scenario envisages achieving a more ambitious goal of reducing emissions to 40%. At the same time, investments in decarbonization should increase to EUR27 billion.
In accordance with the optimistic scenario, Ukraine can reduce CO2 emissions to 36% (the target is 35%), provided that it invests EUR50 billion in decarbonization by 2030.
The letter states that at the current level of financing environmental modernization, only the baseline scenario is realistic for Ukraine so far.
