Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

GREEN CARD PREMIUMS IN UKRAINE 29.8% DOWN, NUMBER OF CONTRACTS 45% DOWN IN TEN MONTHS

Accrued insurance premiums under Green Card international insurance contracts concluded by the member companies of the Motor (Transport) Insurance Bureau of Ukraine (MTIBU) in January-October 2020 decreased by 29.82% compared to the same period in 2019, to UAH 1.007 billion.
As the MTIBU reported on the website, the number of Green Card agreements concluded during this period fell by 44.99%, to 511,528.
At the same time, the amount of compensations paid on claims increased by 14.79%, to EUR14.3 million, while the number of claims paid by 6.61%, to 5,049.
The MTIBU is the only association of insurers that provide compulsory insurance of civil liability of land vehicle owners for damage caused to third parties.

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CORONAVIRUS EPIDEMIC IN THE U.S. MAY SERIOUSLY DAMAGE TRUMP’S ELECTION CHANCES

International relations expert of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics Danylo Bohatyriov has said that the upcoming elections in the United States will be one of the dirtiest in the country’s history.
During the debut program “Expert Kitchen” on the Expert Club YouTube channel, Bogatyriov said that Trump’s chances to be re-elected to a second term are still rather high, although the situation with the coronavirus epidemic and chaos in the healthcare system may have a negative impact on his prospects.
The expert emphasized that despite numerous scandals during Trump’s tenure he managed to fulfill most of his campaign promises, and in the eyes of his voters he is an extremely effective president, who has returned to the United States a portion of industrial facilities, which had been withdrawn from the country earlier. In addition, he created hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
However, the heavy mortality from COVID-19 and the inability of the country’s healthcare system to cope with the number of infected American citizens could be used by Trump’s opponents during the entire election campaign, which could salvage the campaign of his main rival – 77-year-old Joe Biden.

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LAW FIRM FROM USA PAYS $11 MLN TO SETTLE DISPUTE WITH FORMER UKRAINIAN PM YULIA TYMOSHENKO

The New York-based law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has paid $11 million or more to avoid a lawsuit by former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who blamed the firm for aiding in her political persecution, The New York Time reported on May 10. “Skadden’s Ukraine work, which has already led to federal investigations and steep fines, centered around a report produced by the firm that [former Ukrainian President] Mr. [Viktor] Yanukovych’s allies used to try to justify his government’s treatment of Ms. Tymoshenko, a leading rival of Mr. Yanukovych. She was imprisoned starting in 2011 on abuse of office charges that the international community widely condemned as politically motivated,” it said.
The New York Times said referring to people familiar with the settlement that Skadden paid $11 million or more to settle the case before a lawsuit was filed.
“Funds from the settlement appear to have been passed through [law firm] Reid Collins to Ms. Tymoshenko and [Tymoshenko’s lawyer] Mr. [Serhiy] Vlasenko. That arrangement appears to be reflected in records filed by Ms. Tymoshenko and Mr. Vlasenko with the Ukrainian government, which show that they each received about $5.5 million from Reid Collins between July and last month,” reads the article.
According to The New York Times, the records do not mention Skadden. In his filings, Vlasenko characterized the money as “foreign income.” Tymoshenko described it in a filing this month as “compensation for the damage caused by the political repression of 2011-2014, which was received in the United States at the stage of precourt settlement.”

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UKRAINE RECOGNIZED SAFER THAN USA AND RUSSIA FOR WOMEN TRAVELING ALONE – STUDY

A study of the world’s most dangerous countries for women traveling alone reveals the good, the bad and the ugly
There’s hearsay. There are personal anecdotes from other travelers. There are specific worries. Then, there are the hard facts. We’ve gathered data from a variety of trusted international sources to create a “Women’s Danger Index” that will help you find the worst (and safest) countries for solo female travel.
At the end of the article we also have 42 tips on how women can stay safe while traveling alone.

Our Methodology
Ranking the top 50 countries with the most international tourists by a grand total of eight different factors, our “Women’s Danger Index” was compiled using the following data sources:
Gallup World Poll (2018): Percentage of women who feel safe walking alone at night = 2 points
Equal Measures 2030 (2018): Female victims of intentional homicide index = 2 points
UN Women (2016): Lifetime Non-Partner Sexual Violence = 1 point
Georgetown Institute (2017/2018): Lifetime Intimate Partner Violence = 1 point
Georgetown Institute (2017/2018): Legal Discrimination = 1 point
World Economic Forum (2017): Global Gender Gap = 1 point
UN Development Program (2017): Gender Inequity = 1 point
OECD (2018): Attitudes Toward Violence Against Women Survey = 1 point
To measure safety abroad, one cannot look at only data on street safety, rape or violence. It also depends on the general attitude of the culture, minutiae of the legal system, and systematic oppression of local women. These issues can affect everything, from easily getting a taxi alone to having your voice be heard in a conversation to even needing a male escort for your personal safety. A lot on our list, such as attitudes toward partner violence, may not affect solo female travelers directly, but these factors are a good indication of overall attitudes within the culture.
Sadly, not one country received an “A” which indicates we have a long way to go before there is true equality between men and women on Earth. Thankfully, there are many signs that things are improving and there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Please note: We gave both the “percentage of women who feel safe walking alone at night” and the “female victims of intentional homicide index” a double weighting score because they are very good indicators of safety for foreign female travelers and are more likely to be highly accurate since it isn’t “shameful” to admit. Whereas, non-partner and intimate partner sexual violence are obviously strong indicators for rape but the seriously widespread underreporting (to differing degrees per country) makes it hard to justify double weight because it could skew the results more than is fair.

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UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT PLANS TO GO TO UNITED STATES THIS SUMMER

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made it clear that his visit to the United States may take place this summer.
“Discussions are under way. Everyone has a busy calendar, they are looking into dates. It may happen in summer, as I understand,” he told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency on the way from Mariyinsky Palace to the Presidential Office after the Ukraine-EU summit.
In the middle of June, Kurt Volker, the United States Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, said that the exact date of Zelensky’s visit to Washington, D.C., had not been set yet. “Donald Trump sent an invitation to President Zelensky to visit the White House. However, the dates of this visit are to be agreed,” he said.

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RUSSIA (62% OF ALL IMPORTS) AND USA (30%) ARE MAJOR COAL SUPPLIES OF UKRAINE

Ukraine increased imports of coal and anthracite coal (HS code 2701) by 9.9%, or 1.719 million tonnes, in January-November 2018 year-over-year, to 19.095 million tonnes. Coal shipments over the period under review were estimated at $2.693 billion, which was 10.8% more than in January-November 2017 ($2.431 billion), Ukraine’s State Fiscal Service said.
In particular, coal bought from the Russian Federation (61.91% of all imports) was estimated at $1.667 billion, from the United States (29.94%) at $806.349 million, Canada (4.78%) at $128.608 million, and other countries (3.37%) at $90.865 million.
In addition, Ukraine in January-November 2018 exported 63,617 tonnes of coal and anthracite to the tune of $8.627 million, including to Russia ($4.597 million), Slovakia ($3.201 million), Moldova ($0.715 million), and other countries ($0.114 million).
As reported, Ukraine plans in 2018 to increase import of steam coal by 11.3% compared to 2017, to 5.669 million tonnes.
In particular, it plans to buy 4.882 million tonnes of coal from Russia (a rise of 29.6% from 2017), 664,000 tonnes from the United States (a rise of 47.7%), and 123,000 tonnes from South Africa (a fall of 83.8%).
In 2011, Ukraine’s coal and anthracite imports totaled $2.761 billion and exports $775.109 million, in 2012: $2.637 billion and $609.392 million, respectively. These indicators in 2013 were $1.974 billion and $737.009 million, respectively, in 2014: $1.773 billion and $521.017 million, in 2015: $1.632 billion and $53.651 million, in 2016: $1.467 billion and $44.762 million, and in 2017: $2.744 billion and $105.494 million, respectively.

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