The following is the October 30, 2024 edition of our weekly Ukraine Business Roundup newsletter. To get the biggest news in business and technology from Ukraine straight to your inbox, subscribe here.

Companies in Ukraine that expected to be able to “reserve” their employees to protect them from military service may not be able to do so as of mid-November.

The government in Kiev said last week that it is currently reviewing the exemption process until November 15 to assess which companies qualify for “critical business status” that allows them to prevent certain employees from having to serve.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has allowed some men of conscription age to be spared from conscription as a way to keep strategic sectors, including the defense industry, afloat and to curb the toll Russia’s war has taken on the economy.

But as the war stretches into its third year, Ukraine is struggling to mobilize enough troops to make up for troop casualties and the need to rotate soldiers who have been fighting since 2022.

It is a difficult issue in Ukraine, with a feeling that it is unfair that others do not have to serve depending on their professions. It has also led to abuse of the system.

About 1.5 million people in Ukraine were exempt from military service in mid-August.

President Volodymyr Zelensky is reportedly unhappy with how high that number is, as well as the fact that the number nearly doubled over a couple of months, an unnamed senior official in the presidential office told NVwhich leads to the decision to carry out the audit.

“The reason for the audit is the abnormal increase in the number of critical companies and the number of reserved employees. This is done in order to strengthen the country’s defense capabilities and prevent abuses,” the Cabinet of Ministers said.

The government also said over the weekend that employees in “strategically important sectors of the economy” who received an exemption from military service before May 31, 2024 would be able to extend that status.

Stay tuned for more developments on this front.

Naftogaz wins against Russia

A Finnish court ruled in favor of Ukraine’s state oil and gas giant Naftogaz to seize Russian assets in Finland worth tens of millions of dollars as part of a claim against Russia for its annexation of Crimea, Naftogaz. said on 28 Oct.

A court in The Hague ordered Russia in 2023 to pay $5 billion to Naftogaz as compensation for assets illegally seized during the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014, but Russia had not yet done so.

“As Russia refuses to voluntarily pay Naftogaz the funds stipulated in the Hague decision, we continue to use all available mechanisms to collect them. Today we are one step closer to restoring justice,” Naftogaz CEO Oleksii Chernyshov said after the Finnish court’s decision.

Finnish authorities began confiscating Russian state property on October 28, Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat reported reportedseizure of the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Helsinki.

Russia said it would appeal the decision in court, with Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov tell reporters that Moscow would “use all legal mechanisms to protect our interests.”

Real estate mogul dies at 61

Businessman Adnan Kivan, owner of the Kadorr Group and the English-language Ukrainian news outlet Kyiv Post, passed away on October 28, the group said in a statement.

The Odesa-based millionaire and investor of Syrian origin would have turned 62 in December. The statement did not state the cause of death.

The Kadorr group is primarily known for its construction and real estate projects. In 2021, Forbes Ukraine listed Kivan as the 42nd richest person in Ukraine with a fortune of $240 million. His group was also involved in agriculture and media.

Kivan bought Kyiv Post in 2018 from British-Ukrainian businessman Mohammad Zahoor. Conflicts over editorial independence with the newsroom led to Kivan shutting down the Kyiv Post and firing the staff in November 2021.

The former editorial staff of the Kyiv Post founded the Kyiv Independent right after they were fired. It is now the largest English-language media outlet in the country.

Cash for everyone

Late last week, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government made a decision that gave everyone Covid flashbacks — that every Ukrainian, including children, would receive a one-time payment of 1,000 Hr (about $24) “to support the population in winter.”

But wait, isn’t Ukraine’s budget and military starving for money? According to the government, the payments will come from funds provided to Kyiv by its international partners that must be used up before the end of the year and cannot be sent to the military.

The money will only be able to be used for things like utilities, medicine, transportation, cell phone plans, buying Ukrainian books and other various services. The government has also said that people can donate their money to the army, if they want.

It is not yet clear how much money will be paid out, but a deputy finance minister said a similar measure during the Covid-19 pandemic cost the government around Hr 8 billion, or almost $200 million.

“The final amount of this program for three winter months will depend on the number of Ukrainians who want to use this program. It is not possible to mention the final amount now,” Deputy Minister Oleksiy Sobolev said. Those who “don’t want” to use the program may not want to go through the trouble of opening the particular account they would need in order to get the money.

There have been many reactions, from some wondering why the government doesn’t direct the funds to investments or to low-income families, to others wondering how it will work logistically to get money to children and the elderly who do. not have easy access to banking services.

The government defended its decision, with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal saying the move has three main goals: financially support Ukrainian families, activate domestic demand for Ukrainian services, and “show the unity of Ukrainian society for our stability and victory.”

If you live in Ukraine – especially in Kiev – you know firsthand that 24 bucks doesn’t get you very far. Personally, I suspect many will donate their money to the military.

Russia gets a pass, again

After days of discussions, the world’s leading anti-money laundering watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), chose last week not to blacklist Russia despite efforts by Kiev to get members to do so over the Kremlin’s increasingly close ties with blacklisted North Korea and Iran.

FATF’s decision not to blacklist Russia has instead again exposed the lack of leadership among the West in containing Russia, Timothy Ash, a senior emerging markets (EM) sovereign strategist at BlueBay Asset Management, told the Kyiv Independent.

“This should have been a slam dunk,” he said.

Read more here.

What else is happening

The Ukrainian agricultural giant is attracting $150 million in loans from international lenders

Kernel — one of Ukraine’s largest agricultural companies — said in a posts on Facebook that for the first time since the start of the full-scale invasion it had received a $150 million loan from a group of European banks, including the Dutch commercial banks ING Bank and Coöperatieve Rabobank, and the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank. The funds will be used to support operations aimed at increasing exports of Ukrainian agricultural products, including sunflower oil, the company said.

G7 to give Ukraine $50 billion in loans backed by frozen Russian assets

The Group of Seven (G7) has reached an agreement to provide Ukraine with approximately $50 billion in loans backed by proceeds from overseas Russian assets, G7 announced on October 25. “Our goal is to start disbursing the money at the end of the year,” reads a statement from the G7 leaders.

German Rheinmetall plant in Ukraine is a “legitimate” target for Russia, Kremlin says

German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall’s new factory, which opened at the end of October in Ukraine, is a “legitimate” target of Russian attacks, says Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian pro-state news agency Ria Novosti on 29 October. The plant, which is already operational in Ukraine at an undisclosed location, will produce a batch of Lynx infantry fighting vehicles by the end of the year, according to Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger.

The EU is to increase the capacity to export electricity to Ukraine to 2.1 gigawatts before the winter

The transmission system operators in Continental Europe are coming increase their export capacity to Ukraine and Moldova by 400 megawatts (MW) to 2.1 gigawatts (GW) as of December 1, allowing Ukraine to rely more on electricity imports this winter when blackouts are expected. Russia conducted a massive campaign of airstrikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in the spring, destroying 9 GW of capacity on Ukraine’s power grid.

“We can’t have a bad outcome,” says JP Morgan Chase CEO on Ukraine, Russia’s nuclear threat

“Nuclear proliferation is the greatest risk facing humanity,” JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said at an event by the Institute for International Finance (IIF) on 24 October. According to Dimon, the West has to have clarity and subordinate a lot of things “to make sure this ends up right.”