Watchdog tells of Russian businesses still operating in Ukraine

REUTERS There are six times more subsidiaries of Ukrainian companies in Russia than those of Russian branches operating in Ukraine, that&#39;s according to an analytical report by YouControl, which published data from the registers of Russia&#39;s Federal Tax Service. The project&#39;s experts investigated how the picture of cooperation between Ukrainian and Russian companies has changed in recent years, YouControl reports. Russia&#39;s Unified Register of Legal Entities says there are 104 branches of Russian companies in Ukraine. In turn, the relevant register in Ukraine says 12,970 companies with Russian founders or beneficiaries operated in Ukraine as of in June 2020. Read alsoKravchuk names two first steps he intends to take in Donbas settlement talks Some 12,563 Russian-based individuals or entities had a share in Ukrainian companies. Since some companies may have several Russian beneficiaries, while certain individuals may be beneficiaries of several companies, there were 16,844 links between Ukrainian companies and Russian owners as of June 2020. In most cases, Russian companies or individuals are minor shareholders: only in 7,022 cases was the Russian share more than 50%, and in 2,301 cases – below 25%. At the same time, in 2,308 cases, information about the share is unavailable. Individuals are beneficial owners or founders in 14,122 cases, legal entities (companies, public organizations, or the Russian government) – in 2,722 cases. It is legal entities that are the beneficiaries in 177 cases, which is contrary to Ukrainian law, YouControl noted. In recent years, Russian presence has somewhat decreased. At the same time, 618 Ukrainian companies are founders of Russian companies or non-profits. Of these, 592 are active. Aside from companies based in the occupied Crimea or the occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, 464 Ukrainian companies remain in Russia (of which 444 are active). Read alsoNet profit of Ukrainian banks falls by almost quarter Non-profits (charitable foundations, associations bringing together companies operating in a particular sector, etc.) are the second most popular field of activity where Ukrainian companies establish representative offices in Russia. As of June 2020, 84 Ukrainian companies or public organizations were founders of operating non-profits in Russia. Aside from non-profits, Ukrainian legal entities found companies in Russia in the following areas: wholesale trade (85 companies), real estate (58 companies), construction (31 companies), and catering (29 companies). "In general, the study shows that although Russian presence in Ukraine has slightly decreased over the past 10 years, many Russian companies continue to operate in Ukraine. At the same time, Russian companies are located mainly in Kyiv, as well as in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian companies also continue to do business in Russia, being both participants in Russian non-profits and founders of commercial organizations. As with the presence of Russian companies in Ukraine, companies from eastern Ukraine are also most connected with Russia," YouControl said. Sale of subsidiaries On September 6, 2019, the Ukrainian subsidiary of a Russian bank was put up for sale. The PFTS Stock Exchange announced the sale of Prominvestbank for UAH 399 million. On March 3, 2020, the Stockholm Arbitration Court banned the sale of the Ukrainian subsidiary of the Russian state-owned bank. Ukraine has lost the appeal to the Russian VEB in the case of the forced sale of Prominvestbank. On March 5, 2020, the executive service sold the Ukrainian subsidiary of the Russian state bank. Control stake of 99.7726% of Prominvestbank shares was foreclosed.

Watchdog tells of Russian businesses still operating in Ukraine

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