Financial news, budget and personal finances
# Claude Mythos independently discovered thousands of critical vulnerabilities in every major operating system and browser. Anthropic acknowledges this, but claims the model is being withheld for protection — not attack.
# Currency Exchangers Promise Money on Card in 10 Minutes — and Sometimes Actually Deliver. But There's a Specific Difference Between "Convenient" and "Safe" That You Should Understand Before Sending Funds.
Former Rodovid Bank Chairman Dmytro Yegorenko received a 10-year sentence in absentia — and will not spend a single day in prison. The verdict took effect simultaneously with the loss of force.
# VACS Confirms Verdict for Illegal Enrichment: Former Deputy Avoids Prison in Exchange for Returning 11 Million Hryvnias to Budget and 2 Million to Army The Specialized Anti-Corruption Court has approved a sentence for a former lawmaker convicted of illegal enrichment. The defendant avoided actual imprisonment in exchange for returning 11 million hryvnias to the state budget and an additional 2 million hryvnias to the military. The key question remains whether there is an enforcement mechanism in place if the funds are not transferred.
The High Anti-Corruption Court has authorized special proceedings against the owner of VAB Bank, his sister, and the board chairman — all three are in hiding abroad and have already evaded extradition.
March price growth has interrupted a prolonged disinflation trend. The NBU has already warned: next come utilities tariffs and new excise taxes on fuel.
# Supreme Rada Mandates Pension Fund to Independently Collect Data from State Registries The Supreme Rada has obligated the Pension Fund to independently gather information from state registries and notify citizens when documents are missing. For hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians whose archives were destroyed by war or business liquidations, this represents a systemic shift in logic — from requesting to receiving.
If tensions in the Middle East do not ease, Ukraine will overpay between $1.5 to $3 billion annually for oil — and this is before rising logistics costs reach supermarket prices.
Russia's budget deficit exceeded $58 billion in the first quarter of 2026 — an amount the Kremlin had planned to spend throughout the entire year. This is more than just a number on a spreadsheet.
Hungary's tax authority claimed that the recording contained conversations about "corrupt payments" — in reality, people were laughing about the conditions they had to work in while processing documents. The case is unfolding a month before Orbán's election.
Pulitzer Prize winner Nathaniel Poppers points to cryptographer Adam Back as the creator of Bitcoin. Back denies this — but the journalist's arguments prove harder to dismiss than he would like.
Against the backdrop of a fragile two-week ceasefire, Trump announced negotiations on tariffs and sanctions via Truth Social — but Iran has already called the American 15-point plan "unacceptable" and has no intention of abandoning uranium enrichment.
American billionaire proposes merging UMG with his shell company and relocating listing to New York. Why this is beneficial for Ackman is clear. Why this would benefit Universal is already a question.
Credit Agricole allowed a client to withdraw funds that should have been blocked under a financial intelligence decision. Five non-banking companies received fines for separate violations — ranging from refusing to verify a banknote to ignoring risk profiles.
After three months of investigation, detectives hand over the materials to the defense for review — the next step is up to the SAP prosecutor, who will decide whether to proceed to court with an indictment.
257 MPs voted to preserve the 5% tax rate for individuals after the end of martial law. This decision is backed by an overdue IMF commitment and $0.69 billion of the next tranche.
# Translation Starting April 7, the Ministry of Economy is paying national cashback for February to over four million people, but remains silent about the total amount. Meanwhile, since March, the program has switched to differentiated 5% and 15% rates instead of the uniform 10% — depending on how much a particular category of goods competes with imports.
# Over just two months, Asvio Bank won FGVFL competitions twice — first acquiring Kominvestbank's assets, now Motor Bank's. This is no coincidence, but a documented growth strategy through other banks' bankruptcies.
A Dutch bank spent a year trying to sell its Russian asset but failed: the buyer did not receive permits. This is not an exception but a new norm for exiting Russia, where the regulator effectively controls who can take over foreign businesses.
A bill on parcel taxation, upon which the unblocking of IMF financing of over $8 billion depends, includes the cancellation of lifetime PEP status — a provision that Parliament has already reinstated as a condition for EU accession negotiations.
In 2020–2021, a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the ninth convocation acquired an apartment in the center of the capital and other assets worth 12.7 million hryvnias beyond his official income — and retains his mandate to this day.
A7 — a Russian payment network created by a state bank and a fugitive Moldovan oligarch — is expanding in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Togo despite sanctions from the US, EU, and Great Britain. Its proprietary stablecoin has already processed over $51 billion.
Reports of negotiations for a 45-day ceasefire between the US and Iran crashed oil prices and lifted bitcoin: the market is betting on de-escalation, though Trump simultaneously threatens to bomb civilian infrastructure.
# From 0.84% to 0.1% of Blocked Invoices Per Year — STS Calls It Success, But Admits: Some Blockages Still Occur Due to Taxpayers' Own Technical Errors The State Tax Service has reduced blocked invoices from 0.84% to 0.1% annually, calling this a significant achievement. However, the agency acknowledges that a portion of blockages continues to result from technical mistakes made by taxpayers themselves. The service now provides step-by-step instructions for completing the Data Table — a document that either saves a business from blockage or ruins it due to a single incorrect commodity code.
The government and parliamentary committees have agreed on a package of bills for the IMF and Ukraine Facility — but this is already the third attempt after months of failed negotiations, as the external financing deficit has reached a critical level.
Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Austria have asked the European Commission to introduce a windfall profits tax on oil and gas companies because of rising fuel prices after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. But the first time this instrument was used it already failed to achieve its own objectives — and none of the letter’s signatories mention that.
Kyrylo Budanov publicly acknowledged: the EU‑promised funds have still not arrived in Ukraine and are unlikely to arrive anytime soon. But behind Orbán’s veto lies a concrete legal trap, not merely Budapest’s whim.
The IMF has acknowledged that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is the largest disruption to the global oil market in history. The impact is uneven: poorer energy-importing countries are paying the most, and there is no way out unless the strait is reopened.
The European Commission approved the EDIP work programme. €260 million is allocated for Ukraine through the USI instrument — for rebuilding its own defence industry, not merely for purchasing Western weapons.
The largest U.S. bank is settling a lawsuit with a payment without admitting wrongdoing. We explain why the sum matters for victims and regulators, and what questions the "Epstein files" raise about information risks, including for Ukraine.