Page 6 - UKRRptDec21

The extra money comes at a handy time as some had worried that Kyiv would struggle to meet debt redemptions due in the last quarter of the year, but those now look covered. Budget receipts have also been strong and the hryvnia appreciation means that the NBU was also able to buy almost a $1bn worth foreign exchange in October from the market to prevent the national currency from appreciated too fast.
Politically the situation remains fraught. At the end of October a report in the Washington Post said Russia was massing troops and preparing to attack Ukraine. However, Kyiv has not reacted and seems unperturbed, making almost no preparations to turn a potential invader way. As bne IntelliNews has reported we see this more as the Kremlin posturing ahead of a mooted December summit with US president Joe Biden and Russia’s fears of arming Ukraine than any actual military threat.
More seriously is the growing feud between Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, who the president accused of being involved in a coup d'état at a press conference. Tensions between Zelenskiy and Akhmetov have been growing as part of the president’s anti-oligarch campaign and Akhmetov has pushed back by using his press assets which have become more critical of Zelenskiy, who faces re-election next year.
Nevertheless the anti-oligarch programme continues and new legislation is on its way that will cut tax breaks and distance the government from the oligarchs further.
2.0 Politics
2.1 UK Supreme Court hears Ukraine position on $3bn Yanukovych
debt
Ukraine presented on November 11 its position to the UK Supreme Court on the so-called Yanukovych debt, two year Eurobonds issued by Russia during Yanukovych’s presidency worth $3bn in December 2013, Finance Ministry reported the same day.
The bonds have since become the subject of a dispute as the post-Maidan government has refused to honour them claiming they are “odious debt.”
“Ukraine has always contended that, as a result of Russia’s preceding threats and acts of both economic and military aggression, it was left with no choice and ultimately coerced by Russia into entering the contracts for the bonds,” MinFin commented.
“Either the bonds should be set aside by the Court for duress ... or the legal proceedings should be stayed ... if the English Court considers it cannot ...
6 UKRAINE Country Report December 2021 www.intellinews.com