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.
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink had a “valuable discussion” with Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov on negotiations with UN and Turkey on establishing grain transport corridors through the Black Sea.
“Ukraine is ready to export grain to countries in need; the United States continues engaging with partners to provide safe passage for grain,” she said on Twitter on Saturday following the discussion.
In addition, Brink met with Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko. “So proud to call the beautiful city of Kyiv our home… With victory, we can’t wait to realize Kyiv’s future as a great European capital,” the U.S. Ambassador said.
The French company Matiere will hand over 36 lightweight bridges to Ukraine, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
“Together with the French government and the federation of French industrialists MEDEF, we have agreed to transfer to Ukraine 36 easily assembled bridges from 23 to 46 meters long from the Matiere campaign. These structures can quickly replace the destroyed Ukrainian bridges, and subsequently replace them on a permanent basis,” Kuleba said on online briefing on Wednesday.
According to him, the French company Matiere has many years of experience in the rapid deployment of bridge crossings for road and rail transport, especially in countries where the war has destroyed infrastructure.
“Already on July 25, the company’s engineers will arrive in Ukraine and conduct a joint assessment mission with the engineers of Ukravtodor. Potentially, the company is considering the possibility of deploying the production of these bridge crossings in Ukraine,” Kuleba said.
The money supply in Ukraine (aggregate M3) increased by 1.4% in June, or by UAH 30.5 billion, to UAH 2 trillion 151.6 billion after a decrease by 0.1% in May and growth by 2.4% and 2.6% respectively in April and March, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) reported.
According to his data, deposits over the past month increased by 2.4%, or by UAH 35.1 billion – up to UAH 1 trillion 520.2 billion, while in May their volume increased by only 0.3% after an increase of 3. 2-3.6% in April-March.
Unlike previous months, this happened both due to hryvnia deposits, which increased by 1.8%, or by UAH 18.9 billion – up to UAH 1 trillion 39.8 billion, and due to foreign currency deposits, which increased by 3.5% , or by UAH 16.2 billion – up to UAH 480.4 billion.
In May, hryvnia deposits decreased by 0.2%, while foreign currency deposits increased by 1.4%, while in April and March, hryvnia deposits grew rapidly – by 4.7% and 7.5%, respectively.
The NBU indicates that the monetary base (reserve funds) in June decreased by 1.3%, or by UAH 9.6 billion, to UAH 729.4 billion, after a slight increase of 0.4% in May.
At the same time, cash in circulation outside banks (M0) over the past month decreased by 0.8% (in May – by 0.9%), or by UAH 5 billion – to UAH 629.4 billion.
Reserve money of banks, which grew by 8.8% in May, decreased by 4.4% in June to UAH 100 billion.
Over the past month, banks increased investments in certificates of deposit from UAH 163.4 billion to UAH 189.4 billion, slightly reducing funds on correspondent accounts – from UAH 57.3 billion to UAH 56 billion and cash at the box office – from UAH 47.3 billion to UAH 44 billion
The volume of loans after an increase in May by 0.8% in June decreased by 1.3%, or by UAH 13.7 billion, to UAH 1 trillion 26.9 million. At the same time, as a month earlier, both hryvnia loans decreased by 1%, or by UAH 7.5 billion, to UAH 777.4 billion, and foreign currency loans, by 2.4%, or by UAH 6.2 billion. up to UAH 249.5 billion
In general, over the first half of this year, the money supply in Ukraine increased by 3.9%, the base – by 10.1%, cash outside banks – by 8.3%.
Deposits in hryvnia for January-June increased by 2.5%, in foreign currency – by 1.3%. Hryvnia loans increased by 5.4%, while foreign currency loans fell by 14.4%.
As reported, the money supply in Ukraine in 2021 increased by 12%, the base – by 11.2%, cash outside banks – by 12.5%.
The deposit portfolio of banks last year grew by 11.9% due to a jump in hryvnia by 21.4%, while in foreign currency it decreased by 4.1%. The loan portfolio of banks in 2021 increased by 9% due to an increase in hryvnia loans by 23.7%, while foreign currency loans decreased by 16.2%.
