Excerpts from the most important news on Ukraine
Cargill to invest USD 75m in Canadian iron mining project in Kryvyi Rih
15.05.2021
Black Iron announced that it has selected Cargill for offtake rights on the initial four million tons per year of production from its Shymanivske iron ore project and a USD 75m finance facility to be used for project construction.Subject to completion of due diligence and successful conclusion of negotiations, Cargill will offtake the production and extend financing of USD 75m for the construction of the project through a finance facility, Black Iron said in a press release. Drawdown on this ...German Siemens and Danish Grundfos install their equipment in occupied Crimea
11.05.2021
Water pumps from German Siemens and Danish Grundfos were supplied and installed in the occupied peninsula despite a prohibition by a Council of Europe decree since 2014.“It is not 100% clear how these pumps got to Crimea. We see statements from Siemens and Grundfos that they complied with everything. That they oblige their counterparties to indicate where the equipment will be supplied. How they would comply. But the result is visible and the sanctions are being violated, “says Mikhail Maglov, ...Ukrainian feature ‘Stop-Zemlia’ wins in Berlinale’s youth section
07.05.2021
The Ukrainian coming-of-age drama “Stop-Zemlia” won the highest award at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival as part of the Summer Special for a young audience.According to the jury, the film by Kateryna Gornostai convincingly covers a variety of important topics which appeal to young people.“Platonic love, queerness, solidarity and psychological stress reinforce the effect of the film as an authentic coming-of-age story. By virtue of creative visualization techniques, it becomes clear in an artistic manner how our generation ...Firefly completes oversubscribed USD 75m Series A
06.05.2021
Ukrainian-American Firefly Aerospace, a leading provider of economical and dependable launch vehicles, spacecraft, and in-space services, announced the successful completion of its Series A financing.The USD 75m Series A, which valued the company at greater than USD 1bn, was led by DADA Holdings, with participation by Astera Institute, Canon Ball LLC, Reuben Brothers Limited, SMS Capital Investment LLC, Raven One Ventures, The XBTO Ventures and other investors. The Series A capital raise team was led by Darren Ma, Firefly ...US Embassy in russia will offer only emergency US citizen services
04.05.2021
Effective May 12, US Embassy moscow will reduce consular services offered to include only emergency US citizen services and a very limited number of age-out and life or death emergency immigrant visas.These service reductions are necessary due to the russian government’s April 23 notification of its intention to prohibit US Mission russia from employing foreign nationals in any capacity. Non-immigrant visa processing for non-diplomatic travel will cease, as reported.Embassy moscow will not offer routine notarial services, Consular Reports of ...NATO’s door remains open to Ukraine – US
03.05.2021
Ukraine has an opportunity to join the North Atlantic Alliance, and to do so it must carry out the necessary reforms to meet NATO requirements and standards, ukrinform.net reported.“Biden administration remains to – committed to ensuring that NATO’s door remains open to aspirants when they’re ready and able to meet the commitments and obligations,” Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker said at a briefing on April 30, commenting on Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration prospects.According to him, the ...Italian company to purchase 10 more Ukrainian rocket engines
03.05.2021
Yuzhnoye State Design Office, Yuzhmash Production Association, and Italian company AVIO S.p.A agreed upon the purchase of 10 more Ukrainian rocket engines at the overall value of nearly EUR 6 million for the Vega launch vehicle, ukrinform reports.“The broader participation of Ukraine in ESA’s Vega program is the evidence of the reliability and competitive power of Ukrainian engineering developments in the space industry… The support of such contracts is a top priority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the ...BlaBlaCar acquires Ukrainian transportation automation platform Octobus
27.04.2021
Paris-based road travel platform, BlaBlaCar, acquired Ukrainian Octobus, a cloud platform for the automation of bus passenger transportation, ain.ua reported. The deal is aimed at expanding the capabilities of BlaBlaCar and its service of bus transportation, which the company is planning to launch. The purchase, for an undisclosed sum, comes as the car-sharing service seeks to add bus offerings for its 90m users worldwide.In 2019, BlaBlaCar acquired Ukraine’s largest aggregator of bus routes Busfor. Today, around 5m Ukrainians use BlaBlaCar, ...Ukraine urges West to kick russia out of SWIFT
25.04.2021
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that European foreign ministers should discuss kicking russia out of the global SWIFT payments system next monday.In an interview with reuters.com Kuleba said that the consolidated reaction of the West is important to prevent russian President Vladimir putin from launching a new military operation against Ukraine.Western diplomacy had helped restrain russia but everything “will depend on whether they’re ready to … follow their words with deeds,” Kuleba said.russia’s attempt to undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty will not remain without consequences – Macron
21.04.2021
russia’s military escalation at Ukraine’s borders and in Crimea could not remain without consequences, French President Emmanuel Macron told CBS, according to the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.“In the context of the current tensions at Ukraine’s borders and in Crimea, a further attempt by russia to undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and integrity would be unacceptable and could not, on that basis, remain without consequences,” reads the report on the French ministry’s website.“France, alongside Germany, is continuing its discussions to that end within the Normandy format ...US sanctions russia for harmful foreign activities
15.04.2021
President of the United States Joseph Biden signed a new sanctions executive order that provides strengthened authorities to demonstrate the Administration’s resolve in responding to and deterring the full scope of russia’s harmful foreign activities.Treasury issued a directive that prohibits U.S. financial institutions from participation in the primary market for ruble or non-ruble denominated bonds issued after June 14, 2021 by the Central Bank of the russian Federation, the National Wealth Fund of the russian Federation, or the Ministry of Finance ...Ukraine’s export of IT services exceeded $5 billion for the first time
13.04.2021
In 2020, Ukraine’s export of IT services exceeded USD 5bn a year for the first time, as well as exports of transport services and mineral products. This is according to the NBU data on external accounts and foreign trade, given in the presentation of the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO).According to the NBU, Ukraine’s total exports decreased by 4.6% in 2020. Both exports of goods and services also decreased.At the same time, IT industry exports increased by USD 853m, or ...
