Domestic Policy Matters

2021-12-10 20:30:29 The majority of Ukrainians believe that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has not fulfilled his obligations to fight corruption, half of the respondents make him responsible in this area, believing that the head of state must make the final decision when appointing the heads of anti-corruption bodies. Open / Comment

2021-12-10 19:33:37 Last years there was information that Larisa Arefieva, who was caught bribing 50 thousand dollars at the Odessa customs in 2015, now working in the Central Office of the Customs Service of Ukraine.
Interesting, for 2.5 years Zelensky talks about the relentless fight against smuggling in custom. Open / Comment

2021-12-10 19:27:01 The growth of the shadow tobacco market in Ukraine reached a record 18%.

The absence of criminal liability for the smuggling of excisable goods, the inaction of tax and law enforcement agencies and the rise in the price of legal cigarettes has led to the rapid growth of smuggling every year (from 2.3% to the current 18.1%). Because of this, in 2021 the budget of Ukraine will receive less than 14 billion hryvnia in taxes.

"smoking kills, especially ukrainian state budget" Open / Comment

2021-12-10 19:00:00 Ukrainians railway “prosperity”
Director of the regional branch "Odessa Railway" Sergey Nikulin improves his well-being.
He is the owner of two private enterprises: “ES-Avtomatika” and “Aranza”. But he is forbidden to have private enterprises because he is a civil servant. For some reason, he is modestly silent about this in the declaration.
Also he has an apartment in Odessa, with an area of 122 meters, that he bought for a song.
While his subordinates are slaving over a hot stove , the director of the regional branch "Odessa Railroad" has a salary of 2,289,117 hryvnia per year.

“THE PASSING OF AN POVERTY ERA” Open / Comment

2021-12-10 18:41:00 VIP Jail For Ukrainian Industrial Magnate
Attorney General of Ukraine presented design of the future jail.
Odd to observe new jails draft, especially before introduction of the new “antioligarchy” bill. The point is magnates who get in jail will better live than Ukrainians. Open / Comment

2021-12-10 18:22:01 The U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on former first Deputy Head of Ukrainian Presidential Administration and his fund

The former Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Presidential Administration under former President Yanukovych ANDRIY PORTNOV has cultivated extensive connections to Ukraine’s judicial and law enforcement apparatus through bribery. Widely known as a court fixer, Portnov was credibly accused of using his influence to buy access and decisions in Ukraine’s courts and undermining reform efforts. Open / Comment

2021-12-10 18:02:07 Ukrainian ammunition warehouses are in critical condition

Not so long ago firms of the wretched ukrainian developer “Mikitas” got tenders for construction three warehouses. But they built nothing at all. In the result, thousands of shells rusting in the air.
Defense minister Reznikov knew about the problem and now he have to excuse in public.

“Very modern army” Open / Comment

2021-12-10 17:40:58 Ukrainian oligarch Kolomoisky organized a crypto farm at a powerplant in Zaporozhye where huge consignments of equipment for mining cryptocurrencies began to arrive since February 2021. At the same time, Zaporozhye Ferroalloy Plant received electricity three times cheaper than Ukrainians. Open / Comment

2021-12-10 17:02:17 The US imposed sanctions on former chairman of Ukraine's Constitutional Court
Under the report of the US Department of State the former chairman of Ukraine's Constitutional Court Oleksandr Tupytskyi was included in the sanctions list "for significant corrupt acts to include the acceptance of a monetary bribe while serving in the Ukrainian judiciary." Open / Comment

2021-12-10 05:40:01 Ukraine's National Bank expectedly raises discount rate to 9% per annum
It is noted that the NBU is ready to further increase the discount rate in the event of further implementation of pro-inflationary risks
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), as expected, raised the discount rate to 9% per annum from the current 8.5% as the NBU reported.

"The Board of the National Bank has decided to raise the discount rate to 9% per annum. This decision is aimed at leveling the impact of additional pro-inflationary risks, improving inflation expectations, and ensuring a steady decline in inflation to 5%,” it was reported.

It is noted that the NBU is ready to further increase the discount rate in the event of further implementation of pro-inflationary risks. At the same time, it is noted that the peak of the inflationary surge has passed; however, inflation is declining more slowly than expected. In October, consumer price growth slowed to 10.9% on annual basis and inflation continued to slow in November due to the exhaustion of last year's low comparison base, better yields, administrative decisions on utility tariffs and the impact of previous decisions to strengthen monetary policy.

At the same time, the trajectory of inflation remains higher than expected by the October macro forecast of the National Bank due to increased pressure on prices of an increasingly wide range of consumer goods and services through the secondary effects of higher prices for food products and energy resources, as well as an increase in business costs for logistics and wages. Open / Comment