Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Singapore to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue conference, which is a key platform for security issues in the Asia-Pacific region and to hold a number of meetings, in particular with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
“Global security is impossible when the world’s largest country ignores recognized borders, international law and the UN Charter, blackmails with hunger, darkness and nuclear weapons,” the president wrote in his Telegram channel.
According to Zelensky, restoring a just peace in Ukraine, ensuring global food and nuclear security is the task of the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland. “That is why it will be important for us to hear the voice of the Asia-Pacific region there,” he said.
According to the head of state, in Singapore he will hold meetings with the president of this state Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, President of Timor-Leste Jose Ramos-Horta, Singaporean investors, as well as U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
As follows from the agenda of the conference, which this year is being held from May 31 to June 2, the Ukrainian president is scheduled to speak on Sunday, June 2.
Among others, the conference will be attended by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun, French Deputy Chief of Defense Staff Pierre Vandieu, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur. Zelensky will speak as part of a plenary session on solutions for Global Peace and Regional Stability.
According to media reports, Russia will not participate in the current conference.
The Asian Security Summit “Shangri-La Dialogue” is an annual intergovernmental security forum held by the independent think tank “International Institute for Strategic Studies” (IISS), which is attended by defense ministers, permanent heads of ministries and other military leaders of 28 APR states. The forum takes its name from the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore, where it has been held since 2002.
Spain will provide Ukraine with €1 billion in military aid in 2024 and another €5 billion within 3 years
As part of a bilateral security agreement, Spain will provide Ukraine with €1 billion in military aid in 2024 and €5 billion over three years, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
“…Under the agreement, Spain will provide Ukraine with €1 billion in military aid already this year and €5 billion over three years. The countries have also agreed to provide assistance in economic recovery, support Ukrainian reforms on the way to membership in the EU and NATO and the Formula for Peace, as well as strengthening sanctions against Russia,” the ministry said in a statement published in its Telegram channel on Monday.
As reported, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez signed in Madrid a bilateral agreement on cooperation in the field of security.
Ukraine is negotiating to maximise possible imports of electricity from European Union countries to compensate for the generation capacity destroyed by the Russian attacks, Ukrainian energy minister said on Friday.
Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector have intensified since March, resulting in significant damage and blackouts in many regions.
The attacks have caused more than $1 billion of damage to the sector, leading to the loss of 8,000 MWh of generating capacity from the energy system, the government says.
Currently, Ukraine can import from the EU states no more than 1,700 Mwh of electricity simultaneously.
“We’re negotiating. Our task is to maximise this figure,” Energy Minister German Galushchenko told parliament.
“Technically, we can receive (import) more than 2,000 Mwh, even 2,400 Mwh. I’m sure a decision will be made,” he added.
Volodymyr Kudrytskiy, the head of Ukraine’s national power grid operator Ukrenergo, told Ukraine’s Telegraf that 1,700 Mwh is “the ceiling for now”.
“Everything will depend on how quickly our European colleagues – energy system operators of neighbouring countries – will be able to implement projects to expand the capacity of their grids,” Kudrytskiy said.
He said that European grid companies need time and money to reinforce some of their substations, install additional transformers or build new transmission lines.
“We think 3,500 to 4,000 Mwh of interstate interconnector capacity is something we can have in the horizon of five years,” Kudrytskiy noted.
IMPORTS
Energy minister Galushchenko did not say exactly how much imports are being discussed now, but Maxim Timchenko, the head of Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, said earlier this month that an increase to 2,200 Mwh could significantly improve the situation.
DTEK has lost about 90% of its power generation capacity due to Russian missile attacks in recent months.
DTEK data showed that Ukraine consumed around 13,000 Mwh before the attacks as of March 17 but after a series of Russian attacks on the energy system, consumption fell to 9,100 Mwh.
Due to power shortages, Ukrainian power grid operator Ukrenergo has been forced to introduce regular shutdowns of industrial consumers and households and maintain high import rates.
Problems with power generation can have a “potentially negative impact” on industry, especially the largest electricity consumers, the economy ministry said this week.
More than 4 thousand companies have been founded by 14 Ukrainians over the past four years, according to the Unified State Register (USR). Each of these serial entrepreneurs accounts for more than 100 companies. The record holder among Ukraine’s serial entrepreneurs is opening 3-4 new companies a day in 2024. And the largest mass founder of companies is TAYKUN AP LLC – 532 companies.
4003 companies were created by 14 mass founders in Ukraine over the past four years. Opendatabot considers individuals and legal entities with 100+ companies to be mass founders. It is worth noting that one company may have more than one mass founder, and companies may change founders over time.
A record number of companies was created by Vitaliy Ilnytsky – 1399 businesses since the beginning of 2020. It is worth noting that this businessman confidently maintains his leadership this year. Since the beginning of the year, he has been opening about 3-4 companies a day: 507 companies in five months.
Serhiy Seko is in second place: according to the USR, he is the founder of 810 companies. Vitalii Tretyak rounds out the top three serial entrepreneurs: 436 companies over the past 4 years.
Almost half of the mass founders register companies in Kyiv – 1766 businesses or 44.1% of the total. Other popular regions among serial entrepreneurs are Lviv (8.4%), Kyiv (7.6%), Odesa (5.8%), and Dnipro (4.3%).
30.7% of companies created by mass founders are in the wholesale trade sector. Another 6% are in the field of land and pipeline transportation and 5.5% in the field of security services.
Serial entrepreneurs are not only people but also other companies. For example, 7 companies created another 2019 businesses in the same period. The leader among legal mass founders is TAYKUN AP LLC – 532 companies.
ALTON OBJECT LLC became another mass founder among legal entities – 332 companies. BUSINESS INNOVATION LLC is on the third place: 305 companies.
77% of these companies are established in Kyiv and Kyiv region.
Among these companies, the most popular areas are also wholesale trade (46.5%) and construction (7.5%).
Attorney Denys Popov notes that a large number of registered businesses owned by one person or company can be an alarming sign – it is worth checking the reputation and information about such a company before interacting.
“By law, any citizen or company can register an unlimited number of businesses. At the same time, this allows unscrupulous businesses to register companies for fictitious persons who will not be responsible for the company’s obligations in the future. Most often, this trend is found in businesses that are preparing for bankruptcy in advance or in one-day companies that do not aim to actually do business,” comments Denys Popov, attorney, insolvency officer, legal engineer at Opendatabot.
All links to companies and entrepreneurs: https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/mass-beneficiaries-2024
index housing prices in Ukraine at the end of January-March 2024 amounted to 116%, while in the same period of 2023 the index amounted to 111.4%, reported the State Statistics Service (Gosstat). According to its data, in the primary market housing prices in the first quarter of 2024 accelerated growth to 17.6% against 9.8% in the first quarter of last year. Three-room apartments went up in price the most – by 17.9%. The growth of prices for one-room apartments amounted to 17.8%, two-room apartments – 17.5%.
In the secondary market, prices accelerated growth to 15.3% in January-March 2024 against 12.5% in the same period of 2023. Thus, the price growth for one-room apartments amounted to 15.9%, two-room apartments – 15.2%, three-room apartments – 15.5%.
According to the agency, compared to the previous quarter, housing prices rose by 5.7%, with the primary market – by 5.2% and the secondary market – by 6%.
According to the State Statistics Committee, in the first quarter of 2024, prices on the “primary” increased for one-room apartments by 5.2% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, for two-room apartments – by 5.3%, three-room apartments – by 4.9%. In the secondary market, prices rose by 6.1%, 6.2% and 5.9%, respectively.
The State Statistics Committee pointed out that the figures are given without taking into account the temporarily occupied territories and part of the territories where hostilities are (were) conducted.
Governments face increased borrowing, taxes and public sector cuts to finance their soaring military budgets. European NATO members are set to spend a record $380 billion on defense this year — a tough sell to voters.
If you want a reminder of the security threats faced by the world today, take a look at how much governments have hiked defense spending. Global military budgets reached $2.44 trillion (€2.25 trillion) last year, nearly 7% higher than in 2022. It was the steepest year-on-year rise since 2009, recorded during the second year of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For every man, woman and child, world military spending is now at its highest since the end ofthe Cold War — at $306 per person.With Kyiv unprepared to fight such a large-scale conflict, Western countries ramped up military aid to Ukraine, while other escalating tensions with Russia and in the Middle East and Asia also prompted governments to shore up their defenses, unlike any time since World War II.
In 2024, the United States has allocated $886 billion for defense, a rise of more than 8% over two years. For the first time, NATO’s European partners are projected to meet the target set by the military alliance of spending 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) — a major bugbear of former US President Donald Trump, as many weren’t. This year alone, they’ve budgeted a collective $380 billion on defense, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said in February.
Poland leads the way (measured by GDP)
While Germany is still playing catch up with other NATO members — helped by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s special €100 billion ($109 billion) fund to upgrade the Bundeswehr armed forces — Poland is due to spend 4.2% of GDP on defense this year, the highest in the military alliance. Others on NATO’s eastern flank also far exceed or will soon surpass the 2% target, due to the heightened security threat on their borders.
As a result, governments are facing an increasingly tough choice over how to pay for those new defense commitments, just as many economies weaken due to the effects of the ongoing global geopolitical tensions and lingering inflation. Many countries are already fiscally stretched.
“Short-term commitments for military equipment for Ukraine should be financed with additional debt. That’s the way wars have historically been funded,” Guntram Wolff, a senior fellow at the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, told DW. “But for longer-term increased defense spending, either taxes need to go up or you cut other spending.”
“Is it painful politically? Sure! But if you spread it across the various government departments, it will be less so.”
Germany cuts ministry budgets, apart from defense
Germany, which faces the prospect of lower tax revenues due to weaker growth, has slashed spending across most government departments and has singled out international development aid for an almost €2 billion cut this year.
“Germany has some very significant trade-offs to make,” Jeffrey Rathke, president of the American-German Institute at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington D.C., told DW. “They need to be managed politically so that they don’t erode public support for strengthened security and defense.”
Leftist political parties in several countries have led calls for peace between Russia and Ukraine and have stoked the debate over whether the new military spending could be better spent on health care or social programs.
Rathke noted how Germany’s debt brake, which limits the government’s ability to borrow money to cover gaps in the budget, meant that Scholz’s coalition has less wiggle room compared to, say, France.
While Poland’s finances are in much better shape than many Western European countries, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who ousted the right-wing populist government last October, is struggling to deliver on election promises, including raising the limit before income taxes are levied, due to the much higher defense budget.
Other EU states struggle with NATO target
Other countries, such as those hit worst by the 2011 European debt crisis, have already faced deep austerity measures and any further cuts could affect the quality of public services.
Italy, for example, is expected to spend just 1.46% of GDP on defense this year and warned that meeting NATO’s 2% target by 2028 would be tricky. The country’s debt-to-GDP ratio is forecast to hit 137.8% this year.
Other countries in similar fiscal tight spots, like Spain, could find limits on any additional deficits needed to fund new military spending, which could be anything from 0.5% to 1.5% of GDP. Last year, Madrid hiked its defense budget by 26%.
“The European debt crisis forced budgetary adjustments of 5% to 7%, even 10% for Greece,” Wolff said. “Fortunately, these cuts will be much less painful than anything the European south had to endure.”
Sweden, Norway, Romania and the Netherlands have lower debt burdens. But even so, Dutch far-right firebrand Geert Wilders also plans significant spending on social security housing and agriculture to ensure his new four-party coalition holds.
“As well as the fiscal capacity and the indebtedness problems, this resource debate is overlaid on an ongoing difference of threat perception across Europe,” Rathke said, so countries located further from Ukraine may be less keen to prioritize defense than those near its border.
Next target: 3%?
Defense spending is expected to keep increasing over the next decade. NATO’s 2% defense spending target was first set in 2014 after war broke out between the Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatists in the east of the country and Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula.
Last year, at a meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, NATO leaders agreed that the target could often exceed 2%. Germany, which until now has struggled to meet the original target, has now mooted the prospect of a 3% budget target, which would have even bigger ramifications for government finances.
