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bne October 2017 Eastern Europe I 41
donor, has warned Ukraine’s leader- ship that the possible collapse of the country’s energy sector reform could shatter international confidence in the current government in Kyiv.
Specifically, Sir Suma Chakrabarti, the president of the EBRD, warned the
The EBRD’s unusually direct criticism apparently has had no effect on the gov- ernment, as Charles Proctor, an indepen- dent member of the supervisory board, said when he resigned from his post, citing lack of the government's support required to deliver corporate governance reform. Proctor was the second supervi-
draft financial plan for Naftogaz in July. However, a Kyiv source with knowledge of the matter told bne IntelliNews that the government failed to implement
all necessary procedures necessary for approval and further implementation of the above mentioned documents, which also triggered negative reactions from the EBRD.
The current crisis is also undermining possible further cooperation between the Ukrainian government, Naftogaz and the EBRD over multi-million fund- ing to Kyiv for natural gas purchases.
"The latest support programme included a $300mn loan facility provided by the EBRD for Ukraine’s gas purchases from European suppliers. Currently, Naftogaz sent signals that it wants to extend this cooperation. They was intended to nego- tiate a new $1bn loan for gas purchases," the source told bne IntelliNews.
Recently, the government in Kyiv
also refused to increase the price of
gas for the country's households from October 2017 by 18.84% or UAH931
per 1,000 cubic metres (cm) to
UAH 5,873 without VAT. The hike was in line with demands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and was neces- sary for the improvement of Naftogaz's financial results.
“Deadlines have passed and commitments have not been delivered with an environment of government control”
Ukrainian leadership of negative effects from the threatened resignation of the independent board members of Naftogaz.
This move might not only "severely damage" the company at a time when its transformation is finally beginning
to take hold, but could also "shatter
the international confidence in your government’s commitment" to reform and restructure Naftogaz and other state-owned enterprises in Ukraine, said the letter published by bne IntelliNews.
Sir Suma was in Kyiv for a conference last week and followed up with awarding Kyiv poor marks in its progress report, saying, “Ukraine just does not have the luxury of further delaying the reforms".
sory board member to resign in the last six months, following the resignation
of Naftogaz's head of the supervisory board Yulia Kovaliv, who represented the state of Ukraine.
Among the major Naftogaz and EBRD demands to the Ukrainian government, was an approval of the company’s financial plan for 2017 and performance indicators for Naftogaz supervisory board. The monopoly's financial plan prepared according to international standards was agreed by the company’s board and submitted to the Ukrainian cabinet for approval in April.
According to Ukrainian media, the Ukrainian government greenlighted the
Obuv Rossii has the right shoe for Russia’s regions
Ben Aris in Berlin
We are in a sweet spot right now. Lease rates are way down and the competition are weak. We need to make the most out of the situation. Now is the time to invest into the shoe business.”
Anton Titov is irrepressible and his enthusiasm is infectious. We first met in 2013 when he travelled from his native Siberian city of Novosibirsk to
try and IPO his company. Titov was still a kid when the Soviet empire collapsed and his father set up a shoe store,
Titov told bne IntelliNews in 2013 in an exclusive interview when the company first tried to float.
Today dubbed the “Magnit of Shoes,” Obuv’s distinction is to be – like the supermarket and long-time investors’ darling – focused almost exclusively on
Russia’s regions, virtually ignoring the Russian capital that has a local popula- tion larger than most Central European countries. In the last five years Obuv’s retail network has doubled to more than 500 stores in 140 cities across the breadth of Russia, but it still only has two stores in Moscow.
Titov was still in his thirties when he first tried to do an IPO. In 2013 Russia’s
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