Excerpts from the most important news on Ukraine
Ukrainian banks receive UAH 39.8bn of net profit in 2020
23.11.2020
As of November 1, 2020, the net profit of Ukrainian banks amounted to UAH 39.828 billion, which is 23.4% less than in the same period last year, according to data provided by the National Bank of Ukraine, Ukrinform reported.Ukraine’s banks in January-October 2020 received UAH 39.828 billion of net profit, which is UAH 12.164 billion less than in the same period last year (UAH 51.992 billion).Banks’ revenues for ten months of 2020 increased by UAH 8.214 billion compared to the ...Ukraine’s Iskra wins contract to supply new radar system to Pentagon
16.11.2020
The United States Department of Defense has reportedly awarded to Ukraine’s Iskra, which is part of the UkrOboronProm defense giant, a contract for the supply of a new radar system.Iskra’s head designer Dmytro Semionov in an interviewwith OPK.com.ua said another contract was signed just recently, Defence-Blog writes.“We have a successful experience in supplying radars to the United States. As far as we know, these radars are actively used and customers are completely satisfied with the quality of the delivered products,” Semionov said. “Moreover, our ...Nicaragua’s “honorary consulate” in russian-occupied Crimea is veiled attempt to justify law violation – US
16.11.2020
The opening of an “honorary consulate” of Nicaragua in russian-occupied Crimea is another veiled attempt by russia to justify its violation of international law, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine has said.“Crimea is Ukraine. Nicaragua’s ‘honorary consulate’ is yet another thinly-veiled attempt by russia to justify its contravention of international law. We call on russia to end its occupation and return full control of Crimea to Ukraine,” the embassy wrote on its Twitter account.On November 10, Ukraine launched a sanctions process against Nicaragua ...Pandemic may push over 9 million Ukrainian citizens into poverty – UN
13.11.2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is pushing Ukraine towards its worst recession in decades and may push over nine million people into poverty, according to a recent UN report.“Reportedly, more than 80 per cent of households have lost income, and over 40 per cent have at least one family member who has lost a job since the beginning of the pandemic,” says the UN study.It is stressed that while disaggregated data on eastern Ukraine is not immediately available, the effects of this socioeconomic ...Portal, a startup founded by Ukrainian, attracted $350 000 of angel investments
10.11.2020
Portal, an international startup with Ukrainian founder Andrew Bondarenko, has closed a $350,000 angel funding round, according to the representatives of the company, writes ain.ua.Portal is a platform that helps companies with remote employees to simplify administrative work, make international payments, and reduce legal risks. As reported, Portal focuses on the American market and does not have Ukrainian clients yet.The angel round was closed by a group of investors from the Netherlands, including ex-VP of Software Engineering at Oracle ...Foreign investors defined major barriers for investing in Ukraine – survey
10.11.2020
48% of foreign investors think that Ukraine became less attractive for investment, 42% consider the investment climate largely unchanged, and only 9% see improvements, according to the fifth annual survey of strategic and portfolio investors jointly conducted by the European Business Association (EBA), Dragon Capital, and Center for Economic Strategy (CES) at the end of October 2020.The “lack of trust in judiciary” was named the main obstacle to foreign investment for the first time in five years, while “widespread corruption”, ...Ukraine’s unrealized export potential reached USD 24bn in 2019
08.11.2020
In 2019, the unrealized potential of merchandise export of Ukraine amounted to USD 24 bn, according to the International Trade Centre, Ukrinform reported.“China is the largest untapped market for Ukraine. Exports to this country can be increased by USD 1.9 billion,” the audit of the Ukrainian economy says.The main obstacle to increasing exports to China is discriminatory conditions for many Ukrainian product groups that have medium or high added value. Among the countries with the most unrealized export potential of ...Cultural institutions in US are fueled by russian money
08.11.2020
russian influence in the US is not limited to politics, instead, it extends to philanthropic activities, much of which has gone unreported, writes foreignpolicy.com.The database from the Anti-Corruption Data Collective reveals that seven post-Soviet oligarchs over the past two decades have donated up to USD 435 million to more than 200 of the most prestigious non-profit institutions in the US. The list of recipients includes the Brookings Institution, the Council on Foreign Relations, Harvard, the University of Southern California, the New York’s ...russia offered Puigdemont 10,000 soldiers, judge says
08.11.2020
The judge Joaquín Aguirre, investigating the misuse of public funds and money laundering suspects that, russia offered the former Catalan regional President Carles Puigdemont to transfer 10,000 soldiers to Catalonia and pay the Catalan debt, which Puigdemont rejected, writes 20minutos.es.The judge based his suspicions on two conversations recorded from the phone of the former CDC (Democratic Convergence of Catalonia) leader Víctor Terradella.Those conversations, the judge said, support his thesis that Terradella, which was responsible for international relations of CDC, helped ...Washington imposed sanctions on a russian research institute tied to malware
03.11.2020
Washington imposed sanctions on a russian research institute tied to the development of a virus capable of causing major industrial damage, Reuters reported.The US Treasury Department believes that the Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics in russia was responsible for “building customized tools that enabled the attack” on a petrochemical facility in the Middle East in 2017.Treasury also said that the attackers were scanning for vulnerabilities least 20 electric utilities in the United States .russia uses retired Canadian professor to spread disinformation
27.10.2020
A Montreal-based website run by a retired University of Ottawa professor Michel Chossudovsky became an unlikely source of russian-aligned disinformation, cbc.ca reported.The platform, Global Research, offers articles that experts have attributed to a russian spy agency, while also hosting an impressive collection of conspiracy theories about 9/11 attacks, COVID-19 pandemic and other topics.According to the US State Department, with more than 275,000 Facebook followers, the site has the biggest reach among “kremlin-aligned” disinformation sites.Women comprise 44% of candidates in Ukraine’s local elections
27.10.2020
The representation of women in the lists of candidates in Ukraine’s local elections is 44%. Olha Aivazovska, the coordinator of the OPORA civil network, stated this at a press conference at Ukrinform.“The Ukrainian parliament has made a major breakthrough in terms of protecting electoral rights and gender principle. For the first time in the history of Ukraine, a gender quota will be implemented among all candidates, 271,000 across the country, 44% of candidates are women,” she said.Aivazovska stressed that next ...
