Excerpts from the most important news on Ukraine
EU is implementing anti-money laundering program in Ukraine
14.10.2019
The Council of Europe and the EU Delegation to Ukraine are implementing a €500,000 joint anti-money laundering program, reports Ukrinform.The project will be implemented between 2019 and 2022 and seeks to strengthen Ukraine’s institutional capabilities and regulatory framework in line with Council of Europe and other international standards.Also read: SBU raided money laundering center with $1 bln turnoverUkrposhta asks for a limited banking license
14.10.2019
Ukrposhta’s bid for a limited banking license is “in progress,” company Director-General Ihor Smelyansky tells Interfax.Ukrposhta hopes to offer banking services to large swathes of the population without convenient access. With over 11,000 branches, the state-owned enterprise offers post services in all of Ukraine’s regions.The National Bank is opposed, arguing that there are already four large state-owned banks in the market.International Warrant is Being Prepared for Billionaire Zhevaho
11.10.2019
An international arrest warrant is being prepared for Ukrainian billionaire Kostyantyn Zhevaho, who the newly created State Bureau of Investigations (DBR) suspects of large-scale money laundering and embezzlement of funds from a bank he formerly owned, Radio Free Europe reports.DBR chief Roman Truba said in a briefing on October 9 that an arrest warrant was issued for the metals magnate in Ukraine and that documents were being prepared for an international wanted notice.According to the procedure, a court must first ...Grammarly raises $90M, surpassing $1B valuation
11.10.2019
Grammarly, a startup that checks your grammar, suggests better ways to write and moderates the tone of what you write, has closed a $90 million round of funding.Brad Hoover, the company’s CEO, confirmed to TechCrunch that the funding catapults the company’s valuation to more than $1 billion. This latest round is being led by General Catalyst, which had also helped lead its previous and only other round, for $110 million in 2017. It brings the total funds raised by the startup to $200 ...Several big tobacco companies fined USD 265m in Ukraine
11.10.2019
The Antimonopoly Committee issues $265 million fine for several big tobacco companies and distribution company TEDIS. Committee Chairman Yuriy Terentyev said the penalty was for “collaborating to create and maintain artificial barriers for other companies” in Ukraine’s cigarette market. Phillip Morris, JT International, British American Tobacco, and Imperial Tobacco were among the companies hit.The amounts of fines:Philip Morris Sales & Distribution – UAH 366 million; Philip Morris Ukraine – UAH 814 million; JT International Ukraine – UAH 434 million; JTI International Ukraine ...Big tobacco companies threaten to pull out of Ukraine
10.10.2019
Big tobacco companies including Phillip Morris and British American Tobacco claim a new law targeting profit margins could cause a pullout.In a press conference, BAT General Director Simon Welford said: “Adoption of this law will have serious consequences for the industry. We don’t have a transition period and no implementation mechanisms. In the near future, this will expose our business to risks.”According to him, the company will be forced to consider production in other factories.PrivatBank posts a record profit of $1.11 bln
10.10.2019
PrivatBank posts a record profit of $1.11 billion in the first nine months of 2019, according to Board Chairman Petr Krumhanzl.Commissions netted the bank $539 million in revenue while interest income generated $596 million. PrivatBank was nationalized in Dec. 2016, after the previous ownership group, led by Ihor Kolomoisky, put the bank $5.5 billion in the red.Read also: IMF will not tolerate the denationalization of PrivatBankEBRD will loan Ukrzaliznytsia $100 mln to modernize infrastructure
09.10.2019
The EBRD plans to loan Ukrzaliznytsia $100 million to modernize Ukraine’s portion of the Trans-European Transport Network , Yevhen Kravtsov, the state railroad CEO, writes on Facebook.“70% of the $100 million will be used to upgrade the infrastructure. … Another 30% is for an update to control systems,” he writes.The TEN-T transport corridor accounts for approximately 80% of all transit freight.Government burns reserves to pay down debt
09.10.2019
Ukraine’s international reserves fell from $22 billion in September to $21.44 billion this month, or a 2.6 percent decrease, due to significant expenditures on state debt, reports the National Bank.Last month, the Government and the National Bank paid nearly $2 billion to meet its obligations: $1.22 billion to service Eurobonds, $560.9 million to the IMF. Some of this was offset by the successful placement of $546.9 million worth of bonds.Read also: Ukraine’s state debt grew by almost $2 bln ...Ukraine reaffirms its future role as a transit country for Chinese goods
06.10.2019
Ukraine’s future role as a transit country for Chinese goods to Central Europe was reaffirmed Wednesday by the arrival from China of a 44-car freight train at Dobra, Slovakia, just across the border from Chop, Zakarpattia.Carrying Chinese goods for Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, the train took 14 days to travel to Slovakia from Xi’an, in central China. Slovakia wants to win 50% of all railway traffic between Europe and China, writes RailFreight.com. With the collapse of eastern trade ...russian PR firms plant stories for companies in news outlets
04.10.2019
For a small fee russian trolls can boost your image or smear your competitors. The same tactics that was used to disrupt the 2016 U.S. presidential election, is finally available for a private sector, Fortune reports.Recorded Future, a young cyber-security company in Massachusetts, decided to prove that beyond any reasonable doubt and created a fake U.K. company to hire two russian PR firms that were supposed to wage information warfare on the company’s behalf. The firms were able to successfully ...Danske Bank in Estonia enters liquidation
04.10.2019
Danske Bank says its Estonian branch, which was involved in a 200 billion-euro money laundering scandal, has entered liquidation after. Danske Bank’s Executive Vice President Frederik Bjoern said that “Danske Bank has now essentially closed all banking activities in Estonia in accordance with the plan agreed with the Estonian FSA.” The money laundering scandal is one of the largest of its kind. It involved dirty money being funneled from 2007 to 2015 mainly from russia. Last week, the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) have confirmed that ...
