Excerpts from the most important news on Ukraine
Ukraine attracts growing numbers of tourists from Europe and Asia
05.03.2019
Ukraine is already witnessing rising numbers of tourists from European and Asian countries but there is huge room for further expansion of the country’s fledgling international tourism industry, writes Business Ukraine.New figures for 2018 released in February 2019 by Ukraine’s border service show rising numbers of visitors coming to the country from Europe and Asia.The biggest growth in terms of European tourists came among Spanish visitors, with 68% more Spaniards visiting Ukraine in 2018 than during the previous year. Next ...Ukrainian agrarian exports grew by USD 321m
05.03.2019
In January 2019, Ukraine exported agricultural products for a total sum of $1.7 billion, an increase of almost 22.5% compared to the corresponding period in 2018, according to Deputy Agrarian Policy and Food Minister of Ukraine on European Integration Olha Trofimtseva, writes Ukrinform.“In January 2019, the Ukrainian agrarian exports again demonstrated growth and increased by $321 million comparted to January 2018,” Trofimtseva stressed.She added that the largest share of Ukrainian agricultural exports was traditionally formed by grain crops (44.6%), vegetable ...Black sea will become a “Bermuda triangle” for russia – Klimkin
05.03.2019
The Black Sea will never belong to russia, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said, writes defence-ua.com.“The Black Sea will never belong to russia. In fact, it will become a Bermuda Triangle for russia,” he said during the ‘The Odesa Debate: Uniting Ukraine, the Black Sea Region and the Transatlantic Partners’ conference held in Odesa on Friday.According to him, the only option is to oppose russia from many sides.“We will definitely return Crimea. To do this, we must be strong ...Ukraine boosts agricultural exports to EU
04.03.2019
The export of Ukrainian agricultural products to the countries of the European Union during the three-year period of operation of the free trade area has increased 1.5-fold up to USD 6.3 billion.“For three years of operation of the free trade area with the European Union, the export of agricultural products from Ukraine to the EU countries has increased 1.5-fold: from USD 4.2 billion in 2016 up to USD 6.3 billion dollars in 2018,” Deputy Director of the National Scientific Center ...russian special agencies prepare to disrupt elections in Ukraine
04.03.2019
russian intelligence agencies plan to involve agents of the so-called “LPR State Security Ministry” in creating extraordinary situations at polling stations during the presidential election in Ukraine.A former employee of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, First Rank Captain Yuriy Smyshchuk, and a former officer of the Special Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Colonel Viacheslav Protopopov, made such a statement, according to Ukraine’s Information Resistance group, Ukrinform reports.“According to available information, russian curators ...Turkey expects to sign free trade deal with Ukraine soon
03.03.2019
Turkey expects to sign a free trade area (FTA) agreement with Ukraine in the near future.“In particular, negotiations with Ukraine are at the final stage. An agreement on free trade with Ukraine may be signed soon. An agreement with Japan will be signed in June,” Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said, according to Anadolu Agency, reports UNIAN.Earlier this year Ukraine has signed agreement to purchase Turkish combat UAVs.Google, Facebook and Twitter way behind on effort to fight “fake news”
02.03.2019
The European Commission has taken Google, Facebook and Twitter to task for failing to act quickly in efforts to clamp down on so-called ‘fake news’, writes Colm Gorey for Siliconrepublic.com.As signatories to the code of practice against disinformation in October last year, Google, Facebook and Twitter were tasked by the EU to quickly and efficiently clamp down on the spread of disinformation across social media ahead of key European elections. However, a series of reports published by the European Commission ...Ukraine and Canada will launch new format for cooperation between Defense Ministries
01.03.2019
Delegations from the Ministries of Defense of Ukraine and Canada conducted extended consultations in the framework of launching a new format of Ukrainian-Canadian bilateral cooperation – a strategic dialogue on defense and security issues at the level of deputy defense ministers, Ukrinform reports.“The decision to transfer Ukrainian-Canadian bilateral defense consultations to the level of strategic dialogue aims at radically accelerating the implementation ...Poroshenko: IT sector can reach 6.8% of GDP in two years
26.02.2019
The IT sector of Ukraine currently provides 4% of gross domestic product (GDP), and in two years this figure may reach 6.8% of GDP. President Petro Poroshenko said this during a meeting with representatives of the IT industry today, Ukrinform reports.“The industry already creates 4% of GDP. There is every reason to believe that in two years it will be 6.8% of GDP,” he said.Poroshenko reminded that 100 thousand workers had been employed in the IT industry in 2016, 161 ...kremlin’s Disinformation Machine Recycles Soviet Narratives
25.02.2019
Strong emotions are a much better driver of propaganda messages than calm reasoning and argumentation. Some words carry such a strong emotional value within themselves already that a single word, if used in the right place, can deliver the desired message almost by itself, writes Jakub Kalenský for disinfoportal.org.Peace and war are some of the most unambiguous terms; therefore, they get abused frequently in propaganda messaging.The most recent example of this is the kremlin’s disinformation machine. The attacks of russian-controlled ...Germany seizes millions in russian money laundering probe
21.02.2019
German authorities say they’ve seized properties worth 40 million euros and millions more in cash in an investigation linked to a big russian money laundering scheme, AP reports.Federal investigators and Munich prosecutors said in a statement Wednesday the seizures of properties in central and southern Germany came after three years of investigating three individuals, whose identities weren’t released. Some 6.7 million euros was also seized from German banks and another 1.2 million euros from a Latvian bank.Prosecutors allege “income ...It is time to deprive russia of its veto right at the UN
21.02.2019
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says that it is time to deprive russia of its veto right at the United Nations, UNIAN reports.“Maybe it is time to put russia in its place – start with depriving it of its veto right, at least when it comes to issues related to the russian aggression against Ukraine?” he said, addressing the UN General Assembly in New York City on Wednesday, February 20. “What else could we do in order to bring peace ...
