Page 12 - UKRRptNov19

From the 10 categories that go into making up the index, Ukraine did best in dealing with construction permits (rising to 20 from 30 place), getting credit (moving to 32 from 37) and protecting minority investors (rising to 45 from 72).
Ukraine ranked worst in getting electricity (rising to 128 from 135) and resolving insolvency (rising to 145 from 146), a ranking that will improve next year after the new bankruptcy code took effect as of October 21, according to the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs.
Legislation approved by the new parliament in recent weeks should enable Ukraine to improve its rank by at least 15 places by next year’s survey, the union said in an analysis performed jointly with the Ukrainska Pravda online outlet.
2.7 Politics - misc
Russia argues for a “package” approach that would include resolution of its $3bn debt to Naftogaz, stemming from a Stockholm arbitration court ruling last year. Raising the possibility of high-level talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone October 29 with German Chancellor Angela Merkel about the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine.
The leadership of the office of Ukraine's president believe that regardless of the decisions of the courts, there is “no reason to return the state- owned PrivatBank to its former shareholders,” the office's media service said in a statement on October 22. The statement is the first clear statement by the Zelenskiy administration that under no circumstances will the bank be denationalised – a statement that both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and international investors have been loudly calling for in recent months. According to the statement, "pursuant to the instructions" of the nation's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the head of the office Andriy Bohdan and his deputies Andriy Smirnov and Yulia Kovaliv made this statement during a meeting with ambassadors of the G7 countries. "Particular attention was paid to the negotiation process with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the reform of the banking sector and the repayment of funds of bankrupt banks. Having made a decision on nationalisation, the state invested UAH155.3bn in PrivatBank, which allowed to save the funds of Ukrainians," the statement reads. "We believe that regardless of the decisions of the courts, there is no reason to return the state-owned PrivatBank to its former shareholders." The meeting happened against a background of a snowballing legal crisis over the PrivatBank between the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), the Ukrainian government and ex-owner oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. The pressure on Kyiv by donors and investors is clearly having a result, as the Kyiv Economic court that was supposed to rule on the denationalisation of Privatbank on October 17 has now suspended the decision indefinitely, according to reports, to “consider related legal matters.” The court is seen as biased and was widely expected to rule in Kolomoisky’s favour.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) said that the talks with its most important donor, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), are “stalled” in a recent press release, but it still expects to receive the first tranche under a new support programme before the end of this year, Yakiv Smolii told journalists on October 24. Smolii said that at this stage of negotiations with the fund, the size of the programme is still not being discussed, so it's premature to talk about the possible amount of the first
12 UKRAINE Country Report November 2019 www.intellinews.com