Excerpts from the most important news on Ukraine
Ukraine to produce guided missiles for Turkey
01.05.2019
Ukraine’s state-run enterprise SpetsTechnoExport will begin to produce 120mm Konus guided missiles for Turkey’s state-held company Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Kurumu (MKEK), Ukrinform reports.The relevant contract was signed within the framework of the IDEF 2019 International Defense Industry Fair in Istanbul, Turkey. The parties agreed on the contract’s costs and delivery dates.The contract envisages that the weapons will be produced by the Kyiv-based Luch construction bureau. Then, they will be delivered to Turkey, so that the Konus missiles can be ...Ukraine: The Epicenter of Hybrid Warfare and Why the West Must Win There
01.05.2019
Relatively few in Western democracies seem to realize that a fledgling democracy in Ukraine is in a fight for its life. Even with the current attention over Zelensky’s upset over the post-Euromaidan establishment, the real dangers of Ukraine slipping to the West’s proverbial backpage remain ever present. And to do so would spell certain doom for not only democracy in Ukraine, but also the country’s independence from russia as well, writes Spencer B. Meredith III for thestrategybridge.org.The initial Euromaidan protests ...New Estonian startup hub opens for business in Kyiv
30.04.2019
Estonian startup flagship Lift99 has opened a new hub in Kyiv that hopes to capitalize on the growing buzz around the Ukrainian startup scene, writes UkraineInvest Chairman Daniel Bilak.This is the second Lift99 startup workspace following on from the original Lift99 in the Estonian capital Tallinn. Estonia is seen as the unofficial startup capital of the world, with the highest ratio of startups per capita on the planet.Officials behind the new Lift99 hub in Kyiv see similar potential and ...Financial Times: Kyiv and Lviv enter global top-10 for cost-effectiveness
30.04.2019
Ukrainian cities Kyiv and Lviv have made it into the inaugural Smart Locations of the Future ranking produced by Financial Times division fDi Intelligence. Both Ukrainian destinations featured in the global top ten for cost-effectiveness, with the Ukrainian capital city occupying fifth place while Lviv was in eighth position, Business Ukraine reports.The cost-effectiveness category of the ranking assessed 115 investment destinations worldwide on such indicators as rental fees for office and industrial space, corporate and total tax rates, average salaries ...Ukraine’s military expenditure grew to $4.8 billion in 2018
30.04.2019
Ukraine’s military expenditure grew by 21% to $4.8 billion in 2018. Total world military expenditure rose to $1.8 trillion in 2018, representing an increase of 2.6% from 2017, according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).The five biggest spenders in 2018 were the United States, China, Saudi Arabia, India and France, which together accounted for 60% of global military spending. Military spending by the USA increased for the first time since 2010, while spending by ...russia violates religious freedom in occupied areas of Ukraine
30.04.2019
The United States criticized the kremlin’s persecution of religious minorities both in the territory of the russian Federation and in the occupied areas of Donbas and in Crimea.This is stated in the latest report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).“russian legislation targets “extremism” without adequately defining the term, enabling the state to prosecute a vast range of nonviolent, nonpolitical religious activity,” the documents says.In this regard, the report mentioned cases of persecution of representatives of the St. Petersburg Church ...Ukraine’s envoy to UN: What’s next? USSR revival?
28.04.2019
Volodymyr Yelchenko, Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, drew parallels between Vladimir putin’s desire to issue passports to Ukrainians with a novel by George Orwell.Taking to Twitter on Saturday, April 27, Yelchenko wrote: “This insanity continues as if it was written by Orwell. Another intention is to disseminate russian passports throughout Ukraine. What’s next? USSR revival? And the UN Security Council will continue to wait patiently while ‘calling for all sides’?”As reported earlier, on April ...Venture capitalists invested over $300 mln in Ukrainian IT companies last year
27.04.2019
Over the past year, the venture capital investments in Ukrainian IT companies have totaled $336.9 million. An average amount received exceeded one million dollars, writes Ukrinform.According to the Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity (UVCA) Overview 2018, the number of successful investment operations has grown from 85 to 115.Almost a third of the total investment was attracted by GitLab, founded by Kharkiv resident Dmytro Zaporozhets. In September, a startup raised $100 million in investment from Iconiq Capital. As a result ...putin says russia may offer fast-tracked passports to all Ukrainians, not only to those living in Donbas
27.04.2019
russian President Vladimir putin has said that russia may start granting russian citizenship, under a simplified procedure, to all Ukrainians, not only to those living in russia-occupied Donbas, eastern Ukraine. “We even think about granting our citizenship to Ukrainian citizens under a simplified procedure,” he said at a press conference on April 27 following his Beijing trip, according to an UNIAN correspondent.putin says all social obligations to russian citizens will be fulfilled, despite the decision to provide Ukrainians ...The EBRD wants to double its investment in Ukraine
27.04.2019
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plans in 2019 to increase the volume of investment in the Ukrainian economy to $1 billion, head of the Ukrainian office of the EBRD Marina Petrov has stated, open4bisuness reports.“The $500 million that we invested last year was not bad at all. This year we sincerely hope to increase it twice ,” she said at a meeting at the European Business Association (EBA), dedicated to the expectations of businesses ...Ukraine preparing new anti-russian sanctions due to putin’s decree on issuing passports in Donbas
27.04.2019
Ukraine is preparing a new package of sanctions against russia because of the decision of President Vladimir putin to simplify the procedure for issuing russian passports to residents of the occupied Donbas. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin stated this on the TV Channel Inter on Friday, the Foreign Ministry posted on Twitter, writes Ukrinform.“Ukrainian diplomats are actively working on creating a new wave of political pressure on the russian Federation, as well as preparing additional Ukrainian sanctions (both sectoral and ...Moody’s: Ukraine’s credit profile could be badly damaged because of the PrivatBank
26.04.2019
The intervention of a new president of Ukraine in legal cases on the nationalization of PrivatBank will have an adverse impact on Ukraine’s credit rating. The international credit rating agency Moody’s said this in a statement on Wednesday.“Ukraine’s credit profile would be badly damaged, if the country’s new president interfered in an acrimonious legal battle over the 2016 nationalization of the country’s biggest lender Privatbank,” reads the report. Moody’s said the banking sector changes, including the Privatbank move, had been one ...
