Business Week: Footballer Zinchenko sells his restaurant and Tsyvinsky takes a polygraph

The business week was full of news. Oleksandr Zinchenko sells his restaurant due to poor location, the government solves communication crises: Oleksandr Tsyvynskyi to undergo polygraph before heading BES, and a competition for the head of customs to be held.

Azerbaijanis continue to take control of UMCC after winning the auction, now making changes in the management.

Olena Duma has resigned, and a competition will be held for the head of the ARMA. And the NBU says it will still change "kopecks" to "steps". Read about this and much more in the new business review from LIGA.net .

Tsyvynskyi to take polygraph, and Customs to get a new head after competition

On Friday, August 1, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko made two statements.

First, she reported that the candidate for the post of director of the Bureau of Economic Security (BES), Oleksandr Tsyvinsky, agreed to take a polygraph to remove all doubts about his appointment.

Next, an announcement was made about the creation of a commission to select a new head of the State Customs Service. This will take place at the next government meeting.

Olena Duma leaves ARMA

on July 30, Olena Duma resigned as head of the ARMA after President Zelenskyy signed Law 12374-d on strengthening the institutional capacity of the ARMA. According to Duma, ARMA now needs a new head and her mission is over.

On the same day, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said that she had appealed to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with an initiative to completely reboot the ARMA, which the president supported. On the same day, the Duma was dismissed.

In a conversation with LIGA.net, Olena Duma categorically denied that she had been asked to resign. "I wrote a letter of resignation of my own free will. And the government granted it," she said .

"I have no right to comment on their comments," Duma said.

She also made it clear that she hopes to return to public service. "The state will definitely need me and I will definitely never betray national interests," Duma said .

State-owned banks to sell Gulliver shopping center

State-owned banks Oshchadbank and Ukreximbank are going to sell the Gulliver shopping and office complex in Kyiv after they recovered it from the previous owner, Tri O, for debts. This was reported to LIGA.net by Ukreximbank.

"The task of the current owners is to sell the asset to the market. Until the sale, the lending banks will manage the real estate," the bank said .

"Gulliver was taken over by state-owned banks after Tri O stopped servicing the loan in 2024. At the beginning of 2025, the banks began the procedure of debt collection and mortgage foreclosure, which ended on July 26, 2025 .

Minister of Defense has no complaints against heads of agencies for procurement of weapons and logistics of the Armed Forces

Denys Shmyhal currently has no complaints against Arsen Zhumadilov, head of the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA), and Andriy Sozansky, acting head of the State Logistics Operator (DOT). He made this statement in an interview with the Ukrainian service of the British BBC News.

"When I took office as Defense Minister, I said that we would focus on three issues. The first, and the key one, is people. The second is the system. We have already partially talked about the system – we need to organize the work of the Ministry so that it works like clockwork. And third, arms procurement is an arms procurement system, and today it is on a certain track. Arsen Zhumadilov was appointed in accordance with all the necessary procedures. The work is underway," the official said .

Shmyhal says there are no complaints about the stability of troop supply.

State-owned PrivatBank defeats its former owners in London court

The High Court of London rules in favor of PrivatBank in the case against its former owners, Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Boholyubov.

Judge William Trowler ruled in favor of PrivatBank, stating that Kolomoisky and Boholyubov are "jointly and severally liable" for about $1.9 billion, less any amounts the bank may have previously received.

"In rejecting Mr. Kolomoisky's and Mr. Bogolyubov's contention that there was 'not a single piece of evidence' linking the former owners of the Bank to these transactions, Judge Trowler found that their objections were 'entirely based on dishonesty'. The judge also found that Mr. Kolomoisky "appears to have considered himself above the law" and that it was "dishonest of Mr. Bogolyubov" to use misleading documents to distance himself from the fraud," PrivatBank said in a press release .

The full amount of the former owners' liability to the bank is yet to be determined at the next hearing later this year.

PrivatBank hopes that it will be "significantly" more than $2 billion.

The NBU does not abandon the idea to return the "kopiyka" instead of "kopiyka" – Pyshny

The National Bank of Ukraine continues to work on the initiative to replace the term "kopiyka" with "shag", , said NBU Governor Andriy Pyshny in his Facebook post.

According to him, it is not only about changing the name of the coin, but also about completing the monetary reform launched in 1996.

"No, we are not abandoning the initiative to change the name of the retail coin from the Russian "kopiyka" to "shag"... This decision does not depend on the number of coins in circulation, their shape or material. First of all, it is about moving away from Russian financial traditions and returning to the Ukrainian terms," Pyshnyi emphasized .

According to him, a "kopiyka" is still officially defined as one hundredth of a hryvnia, so it is present in financial documents, checks, price tags, and software.

Footballer Oleksandr Zinchenko decided to sell his restaurant in the center of Kyiv for $2.5 million: it is said to be due to poor premises

Oleksandr Zinchenko, a footballer of the Ukrainian national team and London Arsenal, has decided to sell his restaurant INCH in the center of Kyiv in a year. The announcement was published on the website of Keys Real Estate.

The cost of the facility is $2.5 million. The reasons for the sale are not yet disclosed.

Oleksandr Zinchenko and his wife Vlada opened the restaurant in June of 2024, but in July of 2025 it was announced that it would close.

INCH restaurant was positioned as a premium conceptual establishment with author's cuisine.

According to restaurant market expert Olga Nasonova, the main reason is the wrong premises and the wrong concept. The premises at 59 Zhylianska Street are a deaf basement of a residential building, close to the train station, no parking, and a tiny summer terrace. There are very few pedestrians who could be guests of a beer restaurant in this area, and premium audiences do not go to basements, they need parking and spacious, bright rooms.

Azerbaijanis appoint CEO and new management team of UMCC

The United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC) has a new CEO and team. Following the privatization for UAH 4 billion, the new owner, the Azerbaijani holding Neqsol, has begun to update the management structure, the company said in a press release.

In July, Neqsol introduced the company's new management. Dimitri Kalandadze was appointed CEO of UMCC. Along with him, the top management team includes:

→ Rishad Aliyev – First Deputy CEO;

→ Nikoloz Sisauri – Deputy CEO for Legal Affairs and Corporate Governance;

→ Jalal Hajibekov – Director of Strategic Development and Transformation;

→ Vlad Klymenko – Chief Commercial Officer;

→ Valeriy Zakharenko – Chief Operating Officer.

"We've been through a lot together, and if titanium is considered one of the strongest materials, then it probably hasn't worked in a state-owned company during the war. And we have endured. And we have become even stronger. I am sincerely grateful to each of you for your endurance and joint work," said Dimitri Kalandadze, CEO of UMCC.

The AMCU allowed UPG to lease 47 gas stations of Privat Group

Ukrpaletsystem, a part of the business group of UPG owner Volodymyr Petrenko, has received permission from the Antimonopoly Committee to acquire control over 47 gas stations. The regulator announced this following a meeting on July 31 .

The AMCU allowed Ukrpaletsystem to acquire control over the assets of ten companies: Ailong Evolution, Albiland, Angel Capital, Corso Town, Lyke Invest, Naftaprime, Newport Holding, Sirius Gold, Sorella Oil, Taros Group.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the AMCU, said in an interview with the NaftoRynok publication that UPG plans to become the third key player in the fuel market along with WOG and OKKO.

According to him, after UPG has been granted permission to lease 47 filling stations, applications for lease of 46 more will be considered. These are the gas stations owned by Privat Group and located in the southeastern, eastern and central regions.

UPG's strategy, Kyrylenko explained, is to acquire assets in stages: first lease, and then purchase.

Labor market is overheated, wages will grow more slowly – NBU forecast

In the first quarter of 2025, real wage growth slowed to 9.2% yoy; the NBU estimates that this trend continued in the second quarter, according to high-frequency indirect indicators. This is stated in the NBU's July Inflation Report.

The labor market is experiencing overheating caused by a shortage of staff. At the same time, potential employees are increasingly interested not only in the level of wages, but also in other working conditions, such as the possibility of remote or part-time employment. Internally displaced persons also pay attention to the availability of housing.

Despite the fact that wage expectations have already approached market levels, employers are forced to resort to non-price competition for employees. This, according to the NBU, will restrain the rate of further wage growth.

In the medium term, real wages will continue to grow, but at a slower pace – by 4-5% annually.