Author’s articles
After Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi was appointed head of the Economic Security Bureau, the agency was never relaunched. Instead, the de-shadowing of the economy slowed down. In particular, today more than 1 trillion hryvnias in taxes remain in the shadows.
Over the past few months, dozens of posts about the achievements of ESBU Director Oleksandr Tsivinskyi have appeared on Telegram channels with millions of subscribers. Most of them are included in the list of resources that MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak accused of commissioned publications and attacks on NABU. At the same time, the ESBU announced the launch of an investigation into violations of the law by the owners of these channels.
The International Monetary Fund's Board of Directors will consider in the coming days a $8.1 billion financing programme for Ukraine agreed at staff level, which will pave the way for new support and unlock other international resources.
The Swedish government has presented one of the largest military aid packages for Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war. The main focus is on air defence, long-range systems and ammunition.
The High Anti-Corruption Court has imposed a preventive measure on former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko in the form of 60 days' detention with the right to post bail of 200 million hryvnias. He is suspected of laundering money through a foreign fund which, according to the investigation, accumulated more than 112 million dollars in cash.
Social media users criticised Oleksandr Tsyvinsky, director of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine, who suggested commenting on his idea of pre-trial settlement of tax crimes. In particular, the head of the Economic Security Bureau was reminded of the mechanisms already existing in the legislation and accused of attempting to distract public attention from the bureau's low efficiency with yet another round of "talk."
The head of the Verkhovna Rada Tax Committee, Danylo Getmantsev, publicly called on ESBU Director Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi to finally get down to work instead of giving interviews and coming up with fantastical ideas.
Former US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker said that no breakthrough should be expected from the new round of talks in Geneva, as Russia is not showing any willingness to end the war and is not feeling enough pressure.
The United States has granted India's Reliance Industries a general licence allowing the company to purchase Venezuelan oil directly without violating sanctions, amid Washington's statements about easing restrictions on Venezuela's energy sector after Nicolas Maduro's seizure of power.
On 14 February, during his speech at the Munich Security Conference, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine wants all efforts to result in genuine security and peace, and that partners must make decisions faster because weapons evolve faster than the politics that are supposed to stop them.
In an internal memo, which, according to Bloomberg, was distributed among senior Russian officials, the Kremlin outlined seven areas of possible economic rapprochement with the United States after an agreement to end the war against Ukraine, including Russia's return to dollar-denominated settlements.
During the meeting, the President of Ukraine and the Chancellor of Germany discussed further military assistance, additional contributions to the PURL programme, joint production of drones, and coordination of diplomatic efforts to achieve peace.
