Excerpts from the most important news on Ukraine
First direct container train from China has reached Ukraine
10.06.2020
The first direct container train from China has arrived to Ukraine, the press service of Ukraine’s state rail operator Ukrzaliznytsia has reported.“Today is a historic moment – the first container train from China arrived in Ukraine. Given the strengthening of trade and economic relations between our countries, it is important to build quality transport logistics. Rail container transportation is a really reliable, cheap and convenient type of transportation that can become competitive on the China-Ukraine route,” the company’s acting head, ...Lawsuits from green energy producers could hit $1 billion a year
09.06.2020
State losses due to lawsuits from green energy producers could hit $1 billion a year, predicts Oleg Gramotenko, General Director of Tesla Energy,ubn.news reports.“More than half of investors in renewable energy are already negotiating with international law firms regarding the preparation of lawsuits against the state of Ukraine,” he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine. He said that nine months of talks over green tariffs have not resulted in a compromiseThe Guaranteed Buyer of electricity, known as GarPok, has ...Raiffeisen Bank moves digital banking department to Ukraine
09.06.2020
The team in Vienna was working on digital banking applications for some time before at the end of May the project was relocated to Ukraine, reports derstandard.de.For this transformational project, Raiffeisen Bank needed a strong leader, and she was found – the founder of the Ukrainian start-up Edenlab.The woman was ideal for the project because she has experience both in retail and IT. Edenlab has a strong IT team with “agile” approach, plus developing in Ukraine also means lower ...Foreign traders have tripled their volumes of natural gas stored in western Ukraine
06.06.2020
Foreign traders have tripled their volumes of natural gas stored y-o-y in western Ukraine’s ‘Customs Warehouse’ reservoirs reports ubn.news.Increasingly comfortable with the 2-year-old low duty regime, foreign traders now have about one third of their 2 billion cubic meters in the system as ‘short haul transportation.’“We are confident that this trend will continue in the coming months,” says Serhiy Oleksienko, Ukrtransgaz general director. “The level of filling of European gas storage facilities is rapidly approaching the maximum…in ...Ukraine is second largest exporter of organic products to EU
05.06.2020
In 2019, Ukraine became the second largest exporter of organic products to the European Union. This is stated in the annual report of the European Commission “EU imports of organic agri-food products. Key developments in 2019.”“Ukraine has significantly strengthened its positions in the EU organic market. In 2019, Ukraine ranked 2nd out of 123 countries in terms of the volume of imported organic products to the EU, climbing two places compared to the previous year. In 2019, 3.24 million tonnes of organic ...Reuters welcomes russia, known for its disinformation campaigns, to its digital content marketplace
03.06.2020
Reuters announced that TASS, the russian news agency, has become a partner on its award-winning digital content marketplace, Reuters Connect.Michael Friedenberg, Reuters President, said: “I’m delighted that TASS and Reuters are building upon our valued partnership by having TASS join Reuters Connect. Their addition shows our ongoing commitment to bring incremental value to Reuters Connect customers. Alongside the vast output of Reuters own world-class newsroom, we continue to provide customers content with unrivalled breadth and depth.”Yet, TASS is known to ...russian gas transit through Ukraine dropped to 20 bcm, but it still has to pay for shipping 65 bcm this year
03.06.2020
russian gas transit through Ukraine dropped by 46% January-May y-o-y, to 20 billion cubic meters, says Ukraine’s state-run gas transit operator.At this rate, russia may send 52-55 bcm across Ukraine this year, about 40% less than last year and 15-20% less than the contracted volume. Under the contract signed Dec. 30, russia commits to paying for shipping 65 bcm this year, whether it ships it or not. russia is up to date on payments, reports Ukraine’s Transmission System Operator.“If ...One-third of small businesses lost more than 50% of their income
01.06.2020
One-third of micro and small businesses report 50-75% of income losses due to the coronavirus lockdown. Businesses also report a significant increase in receivables, European Business Association reports.Another 44% suffered up to 50% of revenue losses, and 7% of businesses are considering closing. At the same time only 14% did not have any changes in work or even increased their income.It will take one year for 38% of entrepreneurs, two or more years for 25%, and about six months for 19% to reach the pre-lockdown of development. Only 3% reported that the level ...IMF and Ukrainian officials reached a staff-level agreement
31.05.2020
An International Monetary Fund concluded remote discussions with the Ukrainian authorities on May 21 and reached a staff-level agreement on economic policies for a new 18-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA).At the conclusion of the discussion, Ms. Vladkova Hollar made the following statement:“The International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff and the Ukrainian authorities have reached staff-level agreement on economic policies for a new 18-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). The new SBA, with a requested access of SDR 3.6 billion (equivalent to US$5 billion), aims ...Times Higher Education World University Rankings shows Crimea as russian
31.05.2020
Times Higher Education World University Rankings page on Facebook showed Ukrainian Crimea as part of the russia.“After 6 years of russian illegal annexation of Crimea, it’s a shame that such a respectful educational rating agency AS Times Higher Education World University Rankings lacks basic knowledge of political map,” Embassy of Ukraine to the UK writes.Ukraine’s export to China has doubled
27.05.2020
During the first quarter of 2020 Ukraine’s export to China has doubled, consolidating China’s position as a top trading partner for Ukraine.For the January-March period bilateral trade reached almost $3.2 billion, reports Ukraine’s State Statistics Service. Imports from China fell by 5%, to $1.9 billion, but exports surged to $1.25 billionPoland occupies second place among the Ukrainian trade partners, with over $1.8 billion. Overall EU trade with Ukraine totaled $10.6 billion. The EU accounts for 41% of Ukraine’s foreign trade.For far too long Ukrainian history was written by others – Motyl
26.05.2020
Dr. Alexander Motyl is a professor of political science at Rutgers-Newark Unversity. A specialist on Ukraine, russia, and the USSR answered the questions in the interview for uainfocus.org.What is your view on the institutionalization of historical revisionism aimed at political rehabilitation and heroization of the OUN and the UPA? Do you see substantial risks for Ukraine’s image abroad and political stability inside the country?The mainstream view in Ukraine and elsewhere of the OUN/UPA was never crafted by Ukrainians. Rather, the ...
