Вefore the introduction of quarantine due to the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Ukrainian business improved its expectations regarding the slowdown in inflation in the next 12 months to 5.1% from 7% early this year and the strengthening of the hryvnia to UAH 26.01/$1 from UAH 27.43/$1.
According to the quarterly business outlook survey conducted by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) from February 4 through March 4, 2020, business was more restrained in expecting growth in production of goods and services in Ukraine in the next 12 months. Thus, almost 30.8% (37.6% a quarter earlier) of respondents expected an increase in this indicator, another 48.7% (45.5%) believed that they would remain at the same level.
According to the survey, business activity of Ukrainian enterprises decreased to a moderate level amid a reduction in the Business Outlook Index (BOI) for the next 12 months to 110.5% from 112% a quarter earlier.
The decrease in BOI was insignificant due to high business estimates for the total sales of own-produced products, investment costs for machinery, equipment and inventory, as well as the financial and economic condition of enterprises.
According to the survey, the share of companies expecting improvement in their financial and economic condition over the next 12 months fell to 27.6% from 28% the previous quarter, while those forecasting deterioration increased to 10.8% from about 10%. The regulator said that all surveyed enterprises, except for the water supply sector, had optimistic forecasts, and the mining industry had the most optimistic forecasts.
LCF Law Group has announced the expansion of its business by adding the teams of the Evris Law Firm and the Sheverdin and Partners attorneys association and introducing new practices.
The company said in its press release that it launches such new practices as tax law, antitrust and competition law, intellectual property law, as well as criminal law and cross-border investigations.
As a result of the integration of two law firms, the company’s team will increase to more than 60 lawyers, including nine partners.
The executive team remains unchanged: Managing Partner Hanna Ohrenchuk and Senior Partner Artem Stoyanov.
The integration will be fully completed by the end of May 2020.
Nationwide legal association Revealing Information has set up the Business Support Center. The Center will provide businesses with support to fight illegal seizures, which have become a burning issue during the emergency situation and quarantine.
According to the Justice Ministry, the number of illegal seizures through making amendments to state registers has increased by 16 times during the quarantine.
Managing Partner of the Revealing Information Law Firm Oleksandr Keyer said that today both the society and businesses experience an intensive turbulence.
“The number of fraud cases is growing in Ukraine. The Justice Ministry has officially reported an increase in the number of illegal seizure attempts by dozens of times. We also can see such a trend. The situation is getting even worse due to uncertainty about the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease and its influence on business and economy. We are doing the utmost to stay one step ahead and, in particular, for this reason our company has set up the Business Support Center right now,” Keyer said.
The Business Support Center of the Revealing Information Law Firm will provide services to protect businesses by all available legal means, including security and prevention measures, represent them in court, provide them with legal support while concluding agreements during the quarantine, and so on.
Revealing Information is a nationwide legal association of broad-based experts providing services to protect the rights of victims of all types of offenses, fraud and banditry.
The association’s services include legal business support, analytical and information work, security measures to counter raiding, customer support in criminal, commercial and civil disputes, and more.
http://revealinginformation.com.ua/en/
E-mail: revealing@ukr.net
Phone: +38095 868 3590, +38067 868 3690
BUSINESS, CORONAVIRUS, COVID_19, ILLEGAL, KEYER, RAIDING, REVEALING_INFORMATION, SEIZURES
Representatives of the shopping center development market of Ukraine have sent an open letter to authorities asking to start a dialog on consolidation of actions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease COVID-19 and taking steps aimed at reviving business activities after the end of quarantine.
“The shopping centers and the companies that are represented in them are among the largest taxpayers. However, today they are most affected by quarantine, because understanding the responsibility and gravity of the situation visitors have limited access to malls. Developers faithfully and promptly complied with the decision of Cabinet of Ministers No. 210 on preventing the spread of COVID-19 in Ukraine,” they said in a collective letter sent on March 30, the text of which is available for Interfax-Ukraine.
In the letter, the developers drew attention to the need: to harmonize the content of the local protocols of the standing commissions of the fuel and energy complex and the emergency response with the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers; allow the sale of textile masks in malls; provide the opportunity to use public transport for employees of permitted groups of tenants; reduce the amount of VAT and defer the payment of income tax for three months after the end of quarantine; exempt from land fees, real estate tax and income tax; confirm holidays for bank loans; to keep the obligatory payment by the tenants for maintaining malls.
The letter is addressed to the President of Ukraine, Verkhovna Rada, National Bank of Ukraine, Kyiv City Administration, the Bar Association and the European Business Association.
The document was signed by CEETRUS Ukraine Commercial Director Ganna Koryagina, Dragon Capital Property Management Commercial Director Nataliya Kravets, Arricano CEO Anna Chubotina, Chief Operation Officer of Budhouse Group Maksym Havriushyn, CEO of New Business Views (Odesa-based Riviera Shopping City mall) Andriy Brynzylo, representative of Terkury-2 (Podoliany mall in Ternopil) Mykhailo Ibrahimov, Operational Director of Davento Ukraine (network of the Equator shopping centers) Larysa Pervinenko, director of Smena (Hollywood shopping center in Chernihiv) Ruslan Zemliansky, and Commercial Director of Urban Oasis Center Ludmyla Vilischuk.
Ukrainian business is backing medical workers in the conditions of quarantine imposed over the coronavirus disease COVID-19 pandemic, and is actively buying lungs artificial ventilation machines and other required equipment.
In particular, IMC Agroholding CEO Alex Lissitsa told Interfax-Ukraine that he plans to send about UAH 20 million to the fight against COVID-19.
According to him, part of the funds has already gone to the purchase of a laboratory for the diagnosis of COVID-19 for Chernihiv region. In addition, according to Lissitsa, the IMC intends to purchase 20,000 tests for 11 district hospitals in Chernihiv, Poltava and Sumy regions and 100,000 masks.
Agroprodservice of businessman Ivan Chaikivsky plans to send UAH 3 million to the budgets of district hospitals, where the company processes the land (Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Kherson regions).
The Milk Alliance Group allocated UAH 100,000 for the purchase of necessary medical supplies and personal protective equipment and disinfectants to medical institutions in the areas where the group has enterprises: Zolotonosha district multidisciplinary hospital, Yahotyn central district hospital and Yahotyn primary health care center. Also, disinfectants, chlorine and washing solutions were provided to medical institutions.
Using the contribution of Board Chairman of Alef Corporation Vadym Yermolaev, Kiddo Charitable Foundation bought a Savina 300 artificial lungs ventilation machine, as well as respirators of protection class FFP2, FFP3 for the medical staff of Dnipropetrovsk region, thanks to which the number of masks in the region’s hospitals has quadrupled, but still remains insufficient.
The Darnitsa pharmaceutical company allocated funds for the purchase of three artificial lungs ventilation machines for Ukrainian hospitals as part of the initiative of the Zagoriy Foundation and the Ukrainian Philanthropic Marketplace to raise funds for the purchase of 50 artificial lungs ventilation machines.
Using the funds of businessman Pavlo Fuks, two digital X-ray diagnostic complexes OPERA RT 20 with a total value of UAH 13.4 million will be installed in City Hospital No.17 and Kharkiv City Clinical Multidisciplinary Hospital No.25 within 5-7 days.
OKKO will finance 20,000 trips for medical workers through the Uber service, 20,000 trips through Uklon and 10,000 through Bolt.
Restaurant chains Tarantino Family, Mafia, MisterCat, PapaFeta and This is Pivbar organized the delivery of home cooked food for Kyiv doctors. These restaurant chains work with the Oleksandrivska Hospital, the Institute of Neurosurgery named after Romodanov, Children’s Hospital No. 2, Children’s Hospital located at 23, Dehtiarivska Street, and Hospital No. 4 at 17, Solomianska Street. The plans of cooperation of restaurateurs are to increase delivery to 2,000-3,000 hot lunches daily. For these purposes, a separate transport, separate kitchens and separate couriers are provided.
The mobile communications operator lifecell provided healthcare workers with free 20 GB and 1,500 minutes of calls in Ukraine for the period until April 30, 2020.
The Kyivstar mobile operator provided free access to the Doctor Online application with the ability to consult a doctor via chat, audio or video call (previously the cost of the consultation in the application was UAH 50).
The Shafa marketplace launched a charity marathon #rozvantazhuyus in order to support health workers. Marketplace will direct all its profits from the sale of things of the marathon participants from March 24 to March 27 to the urgent needs of hospitals. The funds will be transferred to the Tvoya Opora charitable foundation.
The charitable foundation Lifelover, Garik Korogodsky and Tina Mikhailovskaya, provided 2,000 grocery sets for elderly people. Separately, the Department of Social Policy of the Kyiv City Administration in conjunction with the Lifelover foundation will provide 390 children with disabilities, living only with their mothers, with essential kits.
The NOVUS trading network has provided 10,000 essential kits.
Arzinger Law Firm created the Anti-Crisis HelpDesk, highlighting a team of specialists who can be contacted on issues related to COVID-19, economic and other challenges that may have consequences for business.
The Barristers Lawyers Association during quarantine provides free advice to employees of healthcare institutions on criminal and administrative liability, as well as on the observance of the legal rights and interests of health workers.
The microcredit company Moneyveo announced a donation of UAH 3 million for the purchase of artificial lungs ventilation machines for Ukrainian hospitals.
Accordbank set a rate of 0.001% on previously granted consumer loans to health workers and canceled all types of fees under contracts.
PrivatBank allocated EUR 1 million to supply 28 hospitals with artificial lungs ventilation machines and other equipment necessary for overcoming the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Four machines have already been delivered to hospitals in Kyiv, Odesa and Lysychansk.
The Ukrainian Business Council has proposed that business activities are resumed from April 3, the introduction of additional measures should not be quitted and gradually cancel the restrictions imposed, the Council has said on its website. “We must save the economy. Business must work and pay taxes – everyone. We must support healthcare as a whole and doctors… Therefore, we propose to partially resume business activity from April 3, by no means introducing new measures and gradually canceling the current restrictions,” the Council said in the statement.
At the same time, the Ukrainian Business Council offers the following steps to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease COVID-19: extensive testing and isolation of infected people, enhanced control of infected people in self-isolation using electronic means, specific restrictions on public transport for risk groups – cancellation of benefits for risk groups, equipment of medical facilities and protection of doctors.
According to the Council, the state should move from banning the operation of a wide business segment to banning only certain segments, which involve large crowds.
“The introduction of a state of emergency at this time does not seem appropriate, it is enough to introduce a state of emergency in some regions,” the Ukrainian Business Council said.
“Representatives of the Ukrainian Business Council coalition, which includes 84 Ukrainian associations, urge the president, parliament and government to immediately consider the proposed measures, initiate a joint meeting and create a Crisis Response Center with the participation of experts from the Cabinet of Ministers, the Office of the President, the Verkhovna Rada, business and independent experts to discuss and work on the actions that will ensure effective response to the epidemic and do not harm the economy,” the Council said.
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