“Business News Roundup: OTP Bank Sponsorship, Economic Outlook, and Car Sales in Ukraine”

The Hungarian OTP Bank added to the list of sponsors of the war, Vadim Novinsky’s licenses were taken away and real estate in Ukraine was arrested, the Kiev Pechersk Court canceled the arrest of Igor Kolomoisky Ukrneftebureniya, and in the meantime, Ukrainians are buying up new cars. Read about these and other main events of the business week in the selection LIGA.net

Business for the first time in a year and a half positively assessed its prospects

The index of business activity expectations calculated by the National Bank for the first time since October 2021 exceeded the neutral value (50 points) and rose to 51.1 in April from 49.9 in March.

Improvement in the situation with energy supply, an increase in the supply of food and fuel, improvement in inflation and exchange rate expectations, an increase in consumer sentiment of the population had a positive impact on the expectations of enterprises in most sectors, the National Bank explains.

Trade enterprises most optimistic about the results and prospects of their activities.

Industrial enterprises For the second month in a row, they expect their economic results to improve on the back of reduced logistics problems, reduction in production costs to restore energy supply and stabilize fuel prices.

Service industry enterprises continued to soften negative estimates of their economic outlook due to the gradual resumption of demand, improving the situation with energy supplies and the seasonal factor.

Construction companies provided the most conservative estimates of their economic performance, given the low financial solvency of consumers, lack of investment and adverse weather conditions.

Demand for new cars is increasing in Ukraine

In April, Ukrainians purchased and registered 5160 new cars, which is 14% more than in March. This is 4.3 times more than last year, but almost 49% less than in April of pre-war 2021.

The first place in the ranking of brands in the market of new passenger cars in April was taken by Toyota – 805 registrations against 648 in March.

The second is the French Renault – compared to 438 a month earlier

BMW has the third result – 439 purchased cars (355 in March).

The fourth result is for Volkswagen – 417 (432 respectively), the fifth – for Skoda – 393 cars (346 a month earlier).

April’s bestseller on the Ukrainian market of new passenger cars was again the Renault Duster crossover, which was chosen by 508 buyers compared to 414 in March.

OTP Bank added to the list of international sponsors of the war

National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) contributed by the Hungarian OTP Bank to the list of international sponsors of the war.

The decision was made due to the position of the bank’s management to continue operations in Russia and the actual recognition of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics”.

The NAPC notes, citing open sources, that the bank also provides preferential terms for lending to the Russian military. Russians called up for military service by mobilization or contract, as well as their families, can apply for a deferment of payments on loans and borrowings.

OTP is one of the 50 largest banks in Russia and serves more than 2.2 million customers. It is represented in more than 1,850 settlements of the terrorist state, which underlines its importance for the Russian economy, which is struggling with sanctions and trying to circumvent them, the NACP points out.

In turn, OTP Bank Ukraine issued a statement in which calls false information about the activities of OTP Group in the Russian market.

The bank said in a statement that OTP Group drastically reduced its presence in the Russian market in 2022: the market share decreased to 0.17%, lending to legal entities was stopped, and the corporate loan portfolio was reduced by 75%.

OTP Bank has already become the 24th company that the NAPC has included in the list of international sponsors of the war.

Novinsky’s licenses were taken away and real estate in Ukraine was arrested

The Security Service of Ukraine announced the arrest of 230 real estate objects of a sanctioned businessman Vadim Novinsky. Among the objects are the Park Inn by Radisson hotel near the NSC Olimpiyskiy, the Ochakov sea trade port, the Veres cannery and shopping centers in different regions of Ukraine.

The value of real estate is estimated at UAH 10.5 billion.

The arrest is related to Novinsky’s attempt to get his business out of sanctions by transferring it to trusts.

In turn, the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine stopped nine special permits for the use of subsoil, which were issued to companies associated with the businessman.

Earlier, Novinsky’s gas business was arrested, including gas in underground storage facilities.

December 2, 2022 NSDC imposed sanctions against Novinsky due to involvement in a religious organization affiliated with centers of influence in the Russian Federation.

Read also: “Get rid of Gundyaev”. The SBU came to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra: what does this mean for the UOC-MP

The court canceled the arrest of Ukrnefteburenya Kolomoisky, Khomutynnik and Fuchs. But just for a day

On May 3, the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv canceled the arrest of the corporate rights of PJSC Ukrnaftobureniye, affiliated with Igor Kolomoisky, Vitaly Khomutynnik and Pavel Fuchs.

The arrest took place as part of an investigation into the illegal acquisition of the subsoil of the Sakhalin oil and gas condensate field in the Kharkiv region.

Subsequently, the State Bureau of Investigation reported that on May 4, the court re-arrested and transferred to ARMA the corporate rights of Ukrnaftoburenya.

“The State Bureau of Investigation warns “interested” persons against similar decisions on the rest of the arrested enterprises and promises to act just as quickly,” the agency said.

Ukrnefteburenie is one of the largest private gas producing companies in Ukraine. The main activities are the extraction of natural gas, gas condensate and oil. The company operates 28 gas condensate and oil and gas wells.

Ukraine has completed the procedure for mutual recognition of e-signatures with the EU

Ukraine has completed the procedure for mutual recognition of digital signatures with the EU. Now Ukrainian e-signatures and seals on digital documents will automatically be able to check in the EU member states and confirm their validity.

Ukrainians will be able to sign European contracts, documents and statements with the help of Diya.Pidpis-EU. This, according to the Ministry of Digital Transformation, will open up new opportunities for Ukrainian entrepreneurs and refugees in the EU countries.

For its part, Ukraine has recognized qualified trust services of the EU. EU citizens will be able to use e-signatures and seals of their countries to do business in Ukraine.

Recall digital signature beta test European documents Diya.Signature-EU in Ukraine was held in April.

The NBU named two scenarios for the Ukrainian economy: with the imminent end of the war and without

The National Bank has published a new inflation report, which describes two scenarios for the Ukrainian economy: with an early end to a full-scale war and with a longer period of hostilities.

“The main assumption of this macro forecast is a significant reduction in security risks from the beginning of 2024 due to the successful actions of the Ukrainian army”the report says.

The regulator predicts that, given the rapid recovery of the energy system, as well as a soft fiscal policy, the Ukrainian economy will return to growth at the level of 2.0% this year.

In subsequent years, growth will accelerate to 4.3% in 2024 and 6.4% in 2025.

Inflation in 2023, according to the NBU forecast, will slow down to 14.8%, in 2024 – to 9.6%, and in 2025 it will return to the target corridor – 6%.

A longer period of hostilities could slow down the economic recovery and worsen inflationary and exchange rate expectations.

In this scenario, economic growth in 2024 will be limited to 2%, despite the adjustment of business to the conditions of high security risks, which as a result will slow down the recovery of the labor market.

Ukraine has built a state-owned multi-channel television network MX-7

The Concern for Broadcasting, Radio Communications and Television has completed the construction of a nationwide digital multi-channel television network MX-7, which will cover more than 90% of the territory of Ukraine, including the occupied one.

The creation of the state multiplex MX-7 in the meter range is provided for by the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of 2021 to combat the monopoly of the private company Zeonbud. The cost of the project was estimated at UAH 490 million.

The current multiplexes MX-1, MX-2, MX-3, MX-5 are broadcast in the decimeter range and are controlled by Zeonbud. For the period of martial law, according to another decision of the National Security and Defense Council, he was subordinated to the PRT Concern.

Multiplex – a set of television and radio broadcasting channels transmitted over one digital channel.

See also: Four TV channels will receive almost half a billion hryvnia for United News

BlackRock will accompany the Ukraine Development Fund

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting with the leadership of the world’s largest asset management company BlackRock. The parties discussed the details of creating an investment fund to restore the economy of Ukraine with the involvement of public and private capital.

As a result of the meeting, the Ministry of Economy signed an agreement with BlackRock Financial Market Advisory on the provision of services to support the Development Fund of Ukraine.

The main purpose of the foundation is to attract private and public capital for the implementation of large-scale business projects in Ukraine.

The President of Ukraine emphasized that the launch and launch of the fund will allow attracting capital and starting the restoration of the country’s economy and the creation of new enterprises immediately after the cessation of active hostilities.

Remember, in November The Ministry of Economy signed a memorandum with BlackRock on the development of a special platform for attracting private capital for the restoration of Ukraine.

According to the Ministry of Economy, for the “economic miracle” Ukraine needs investments in the amount of $70-80 billion a year.

Ukrainian startup LetsData won the investment summit SelectUSA 2023

Ukrainian AI startup LetsData became the winner of the startup competition at the large-scale American investment event SelectUSA 2023.

LetsData is developing an intelligent system to help organizations identify threatening communications campaigns and negative social media sentiment. According to the founders, LetsData helps its clients improve communication with their customers and reduce the risks of interacting with potentially dangerous communities.

LetsData is not the only Ukrainian startup that hit investors. Two more Ukrainian projects competed in the final.

Read also: Ukraine has developed a chat bot for Telegram that deletes comments about the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine