The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) expects a reduction in international reserves in the second half of the year by 8.6% – from $22.8 billion to $20.8 billion and maintaining them at this level in 2023, the regulator’s forecast says.
According to him, at the end of 2023, the reserves will amount to $21.2 billion, and in 2024 they will grow to $28.7 billion.
At the same time, the current account balance, according to the regulator’s forecasts, will be positive and amount to $6.4 billion by the end of 2022, while at the end of last year it was negative and amounted to $3.2 billion.
The NBU expects that by the end of 2023 and 2024 this figure will be negative and amount to $3.9 billion and $8.8 billion, respectively.
The appointment of a new prosecutor general is expected in the next ten days, his first and main task should be the appointment of the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, head of the Servant of the People faction David Arakhamia has said.
“His first and main task should be the appointment of the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, as required by the President of Ukraine. And in order to avoid any delays on this issue, I want to appeal to the competition commission for the election of the SAPO head with a request to complete all the necessary procedures within 10 days,” he wrote on his Telegram channel on Thursday.
As reported, on July 19, the Verkhovna Rada supported the presentation of President Volodymyr Zelensky and agreed to the dismissal of Iryna Venediktova from the post of Prosecutor General of Ukraine, and Ivan Bakanov from the post of head of the Security Service of Ukraine.
The member states of the European Union have agreed to mobilize the fifth tranche of military assistance in the amount of EUR 500 million in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell.
“Participated at Ministerial Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting. EU Member States agreed to mobilise 5th tranche of military assistance of EUR 500 million to further support Ukraine‘s Armed Forces. EU remains focused & steadfast in its support for Ukraine, together w partners,” Borrell said on Twitter Wednesday evening.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine announced the extension of the “Roaming like at home” service for Ukrainian refugees in the EU countries.
“The joint statement of the mobile operators of Ukraine and the European Union is being extended. Ukrainians who are forced to leave for the EU countries will be able to continue calling their relatives at the prices of Ukrainian operators. The preliminary agreements were for three months. And from July, Ukrainians would have to switch to European tariffs. However, the European Commission called EU operators to extend support for Ukrainians,” the Ministry’s Telegram channel reported.
According to the Ministry of Digital Development, currently about 70 European operators provide Ukrainians with free roaming. From the Ukrainian side, the statement is supported by mobile operators Kyivstar, Vodafone Ukraine and lifecell.
The Ministry thanked the National Commission for State Regulation in the Fields of Electronic Communications, Radio Frequency Spectrum and Postal Services (NCEC), the European Commission and the Association of European Regulators in the Field of Electronic Communications (BEREC) for the efforts made to ensure that Ukrainians in the EU stay in touch with loved ones.
As reported earlier, the operators of Ukraine and the EU signed a joint declaration on coordinated efforts to ensure and stabilize affordable or free roaming and international calls between the EU and Ukraine.
At the time of publication, the declaration has been signed by 27 telecom operators in the EU and Ukraine, including several pan-European groups, as well as an association representing a number of virtual mobile operators (MVNOs in Europe), and is open to further signatories.
Ukrainians in Poland will be able to maintain Ukrainian tax residency without paying taxes in the host country from income received in Ukraine, the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) reported, citing an official letter from the Ministry of Finance of Poland in response to a request from BRDO and the IT Association of Ukraine.
“In May, BRDO and the IT Association of Ukraine appealed to the government of our state and the Ministries of Finance of Bulgaria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia with a request not to change the tax residency of refugee entrepreneurs who ended up in these countries. The success of our advocacy is evidenced by clarification that we received the other day from the central executive authority of Poland,” the office said.
According to the letter of the Polish Ministry of Finance, Ukrainians will be able to retain tax residence in Ukraine and not pay taxes in the host country, if it is not about income from sources in Poland.
As reported, the European Business Association called on the government to resolve the issue of tax residence of Ukrainian citizens abroad, since staying outside the country for more than 183 days, they can be recognized as residents of the host country and there will be a risk of double taxation of income received in Ukraine.
The European Commission has put forward a draft EU proposal for Ukraine to be invited to join the Common Transit Conventions (CTC) – an international framework for the customs transit of goods that ensures simplified procedures between the EU and partner countries.
“Ukraine fulfils all relevant criteria for admittance to the Conventions, including legal, structural and IT requirements,” the draft EU proposal, adopted on Friday, says.
In the draft EU position paper adopted today, the Commission takes the view that “furthermore, accession to these Conventions is foreseen in the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and in the EU’s pre-accession strategy for Ukraine.”
The Conventions mean that goods can move much more easily between the EU and the seven so called Common Transit Countries (Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and the UK).
In this way, the simplified rules, such as mutually recognised financial guarantees for customs transit and less controls, help to cut down on costs for EU and partner country businesses, while facilitating and boosting trade, the European Commission said in a press release.
Once endorsed by the EU Council, the EU’s position will be put forward to the highest body of the Conventions, the EU-CTC Joint Committees, made up of the EU and other CTC signatories, which can then formally invite Ukraine to join the Conventions by as early as 1 October.
