Today's Contents
Just The Facts:
- IMF, Ukraine reach deal allowing $1.1 billion disbursement
- EBRD provides €50 million liquidity loan to Kyiv's heating utility
- Ukraine's parliament approves 2025 budget with $54 billion in defense spending
- EUEA outlines concept to shield renewable energy firms from shifts in Ukrainian electricity market
- EIB provides €14.5 million to Ukraine's Mykolaiv, Dnipro for municipal infrastructure
Here's What They Think:
- The Irish Times calls on UK and France to follow Biden's lead and let Ukraine use their missiles to strike deep into Russia.
- Newsweek says Ukraine's allies must prove the ideals of the free world still matter.
- EurasiaReview calls Biden's war record a "fight to the last Ukrainian."
Sober Second Thought:
A total of 329 media outlets were forced to stop operating since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, with only 16% of them managing to resume operations, a study shows.
The Rebuilder's Social: Today's posts cover humanitarian demining efforts, gas production partnership opportunities, government debt and other topics.
Ukrnafta to acquire majority stake in Shell gas station network in Ukraine
Ukrainian oil and gas firm Ukrnafta has agreed to acquire a 51% stake in Alliance Holding, a network of 118 operating gas stations, from Shell International Company, Ukrnafta said, without saying how much it paid.
The existing 1,550 employees at the gas stations and in the head office will be retained, Ukrnafta said in a press release. All gas stations will be re-branded within a year and the terms of existing B2B agreements will be fully adhered to.
The Shell chain currently ranked ninth in terms of fuel sales in the first nine months of 2024 and seventh in terms of the number of filling stations located mainly in favourable heavy-traffic areas, according to the release.
Shell and Ukrnafta — which is part of government-run Naftogaz Group — will submit an application with the Antimonopoly Committee for a concentration permit.
The acquisition "will provide Ukrnafta an opportunity to expand its gas-station network and market share, which corresponds to the Company's development strategy," said Ukrnafta CEO Sergii Koretskyi via Facebook.
Kyiv-based investment bank FinPoint advised Ukrnafta on the deal along with partner Rothschild & Co, FinPoint Managing Director Oleg Kovtun said in a LinkedIn post.
Half of Ukrainians want a swift, negotiated end to war, Gallup poll shows
Some 52% of Ukrainians want their country to negotiate an end to the war as quickly as possible and 38% believe Ukraine should keep fighting until victory, according to a Gallup survey conducted in August and October.
The results represent a resolute shift from the attitudes of Ukrainians recorded at the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion in 2022, and from opinions expressed in a 2023 survey, Gallup said in a press release on Tuesday.
In the months after the full-scale invasion, 73% of surveyed Ukrainians preferred fighting until victory, while this figure stood at 63% in 2023.
By 2024, support for continuing the war has declined across all regions of Ukraine, including those near the front lines, falling below 50% nationwide, Gallup said.
The survey revealed that a significant portion of Ukrainians who are in favor of a quick end to the war support the idea of territorial concessions for peace. Among them, 52% agree that Ukraine should consider ceding some territory as part of a peace deal, 38% disagree, and 10% remain uncertain.
Gallup also asked Ukrainians favoring a quick negotiated end to the war about foreign involvement in peace efforts. Most prefer significant roles for EU countries (70%) and the UK (63%) in peace talks, ahead of the US.
IMF, Ukraine reach deal on loan arrangement, unlocking $1.1 billion disbursement
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Ukrainian authorities have reached a staff-level agreement on the sixth review of the four-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement, granting Ukraine access to $1.1 billion in funding, subject to approval from the IMF board.
If approved, the agreement would bring the total disbursements to Ukraine under the program to $9.8 billion, the IMF said in a press release on Tuesday, noting that the board is expected to review the deal in the coming weeks.
"The outlook remains exceptionally uncertain and Russia's war in Ukraine continues to take a heavy toll on Ukraine's people, economy, and infrastructure," the IMF noted.
Ukraine's real GDP is projected to grow by 4% in 2024, but growth is expected to slow to 2.5–3.5% in 2025 due to challenges from energy infrastructure damage and labor shortages, as per the statement.
The IMF's EFF arrangement with Ukraine, which was approved by the IMF board in March 2023, totals $15.6 billion.
Ukraine's Finance Ministry said in a separate press release the country has met four structural benchmarks as part of the sixth EFF review, including reviewing pre-war policies and practices for medium-term budget planning, evaluating financial risks to stability, analyzing the financial status of District Heating Companies, and developing a state ownership policy for SOEs.
EBRD provides €50 million liquidity loan to Kyiv's heating utility
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said it is providing a €50 million liquidity loan to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv's municipal district heating utility Kyivteploenergo.
The loan will ensure that Kyivteploenergo continues operating, keeps its workforce, and maintains essential heating and electricity services for Kyiv's residents, businesses, and municipal entities, the EBRD said in a press release on Tuesday.
The loan is 25% backed by a first loss risk cover guarantee from the European Union and co-financed by a €5 million grant from the US.
Since February 2022, the EBRD has committed up to €5.2 billion to Ukraine, including €1.4 billion this year, prioritizing energy security, vital infrastructure, food security, trade, the private sector, and key policy reforms, it said.
Ukraine's parliament approves 2025 budget with $54 billion in defense spending
Ukraine's parliament on Tuesday approved the 2025 state budget in the final reading, with planned spending for defense and security of UAH 2.23 trillion ($54 billion), the finance ministry said in a press release.
The defense spending is equal to 26.3% of Ukraine's GDP and is UAH 47.6 billion higher than the spending planned for 2024.
Budget revenues, excluding grants and international aid, are planned at UAH 2.05 trillion, while budget spending is estimated at UAH 3.6 trillion, the ministry stated.
The ministry also said that financing of UAH 224.2 billion is planned for 2025 within the framework of the Public Investment Management (PIM) system.
Of the total, UAH 115 billion will be attracted under state guarantees for the restoration of critical infrastructure, in particular, transport and energy facilities; UAH 71.8 billion will comprise loans and grants from international financial organizations, which will allow financing projects in transport, industry, health care, education, and energy sectors, while the remainder will come from the budget for key social and infrastructure projects.
"The adoption of the State Budget for 2025 is a balanced strategic decision built on clear priorities: state defense, support of citizens, and recovery of the economy," Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko said.
EUEA outlines concept to shield renewable energy firms from shifts in Ukrainian electricity market
The European-Ukrainian Energy Agency (EUEA), a Ukraine-based non-profit organization, presented the Commercial Risks Guarantee Fund concept to protect private renewable energy companies from shifts in the Ukrainian electricity market.
EUEA board member Oleksandr Melnyk said the fund, to be established by international financial organizations, will protect private renewable energy firms from fluctuations in the electricity market by guaranteeing a minimum price for electricity, according to a press release by EUEA on Monday.
The fund, presented at the ReBuild Ukraine conference in Warsaw last week, would require all participants to offer a minimum required guaranteed price (MRGP) for their projects, aligning with the estimated Ukraine prices forecast by each generation technology, according to the concept.
Fund donors would then determine for each auction the quota of installed capacity volume covered by MRGP. All projects can participate in auctions by lots of installed capacity volume.
For each of the first three auctions, MRGP covers two years of construction and 10 years of commissioning, with the total period of the fund's activity being 14 years, the concept read. Winners would be participants who provided minimal MRGP for the volume of installed capacity within the one-year auction quota.
The EUEA developed the concept jointly with the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association.
EIB provides €14.5 million to Ukraine's Mykolaiv, Dnipro for municipal infrastructure
The European Investment Bank (EIB) said it is providing a total of €14.5 million of EU guarantee-supported funds to the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv and the central city of Dnipro for municipal infrastructure projects.
Of the total, €7.8 million will be used to overhaul Mykolaiv's water supply and wastewater collection and treatment facilities, which are operated by the Mykolaiv Vodokanal municipal enterprise, the EIB said in a press release on Tuesday.
The remaining €6.7 million was allocated to Dnipro under the EIB's Ukraine Municipal Infrastructure Programme for the street lighting upgrade by replacing sodium lamps with LED systems.
The funds are being allocated as part of EIB's Ukraine Solidarity Urgent Response package, through which more than €2 billion has already been provided to Ukraine since 2022, as per the statement.
Ukraine strikes Russia with US-made missiles; Russia amends nuclear doctrine
On the 1,000th day of the war, Kyiv launched US ATACMS missiles at Russian territory on Tuesday, using permission from the outgoing US administration of Joe Biden, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources.
Ukraine announced that it hit a Russian weapons depot some 110 kms inside Russia, near the town of Karachev. The Ukrainian military did not disclose publicly which missiles were used, but a US official and a Ukrainian government source said it was ATACMS. Russia reportedly intercepted two of eight missiles, the US official added.
Earlier Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin amended the nuclear doctrine and lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike as a response to a broader range of attacks, Reuters reported separately.
Putin reportedly approved the amendments days after unnamed sources said on Sunday the Biden administration allowed Ukraine to use US-made long-range weapons to strike Russia.
In October, Putin said the country's defense ministry is working on strategies to respond if the US and its allies allow Ukraine to hit deep into Russia using long-range Western missiles.
The Russian defense ministry "is thinking about how to respond to the possible long-range strikes on Russian territory, it will offer a range of responses," said Putin, as quoted by Reuters.
The Irish Times: UK, France should follow Biden and call 'Putin's bluff'
The UK and France should also authorize Ukraine to use their long-range missiles for strikes into Russia following US President Joe Biden's decision, and calling the Russian President Vladimir Putin's escalation threats or "bluffs," the Irish Times wrote in an editorial, noting that Putin's threats in the past were mostly limited to missile raids on civilian targets.
Newsweek: Allies must stand with Ukraine to defend liberty
The US and the European allies of Ukraine must help the country win the war with Russia to defend liberty and prove that the ideals of the free world still matter, the University of Amsterdam Academic Director Andrew Chakhoyan wrote in an op-ed for Newsweek.
EurasiaReview: Biden bolsters his war record with a 'Fight to the Last Ukrainian'
US President Joe Biden has adorned his war record with this latest variant of US foreign policy — that is, fighting to the last Ukrainian, by allowing Ukraine to use US-made long-range missiles to strike Russia, Malaysian economic historian and policy analyst Lim Teck Ghee wrote in an op-ed for the Eurasia Review.
329 Ukrainian media outlets closed since Russia launched full-scale invasion, study finds
A total of 329 media outlets were forced to stop operating since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, with only 16% of them managing to resume operations, a study conducted by the Kyiv-based non-governmental organization Institute of Mass Information showed.
Media closures have impacted frontline regions the most, with the highest numbers reported in Zaporizhzhia (50 outlets), Donetsk (35), Kherson (34), Mykolaiv (30), Kharkiv (29), Luhansk (26), and Odesa (24).
Overall, the study showed that the invasion has led to the closure of media outlets in all regions except two - Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk.
The primary reason for media closures was the temporary occupation of territories, affecting 117 outlets, followed by financial difficulties caused by the war, which led to 96 closures. For instance, in the Odesa region, 83% of closed outlets cited financial struggles.
Intense hostilities were the third most common reason, making work impossible for journalists and shutting down 82 outlets.
Additionally, 29 media outlets closed for other reasons, such as journalist relocations, distribution challenges, or the inability to operate as before the war. Notably, six outlets ceased operations due to the mobilization of their chief editors or managers.
As for the types of media that have closed, television has suffered the biggest losses. According to the study, 105 TV channels have closed since the beginning of the invasion, which is 32% of all media outlets that have ceased operations.
In second place in terms of the number of closed resources is print media, 95 newspapers have disappeared. The Russian invasion also caused the closure of 77 radio stations, while online media was the least affected, with 52 news sites closed, accounting for 16% of all closed media.
Oleksiy Chernyshov, CEO at Naftogaz in Ukraine, said he met with Baker Hughes "to explore strategic partnership opportunities," adding that "Ukraine holds immense potential for gas production. It was a productive discussion, and I look forward to further expanding our collaboration!"
Oleg Kovtun, managing director of Kyiv-based investment bank FinPoint, announced that his firm, along with Rothschild & Co,
Yulia Svyrydenko, first deputy prime minister and economy minister of Ukraine, posted a summary of business-friendly provisions of the newly approved 2025 budget, including subsidies for purchases of farm equipment, government money for infrastructure and industrial parks, and more.
- She also recapped a working visit to Slovenia to raise funds and awareness for humanitarian demining.
The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine announced that it sold domestic government bonds worth UAH 13,718 million on Nov 19.
