National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 27/04/21
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of April 27
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
Some 68% of Ukrainian citizens believe that the direction of events in the country is wrong, according to the results of a sociological survey conducted by the Ukrainian Institute for the Future (UIF) with the assistance of New Image Marketing Group from April 9 to April 18 and presented at Interfax-Ukraine on Monday.
According to the survey, only 17% of respondents say that Ukraine moves in the right direction, and another 15% cannot decide.
One of the most pressing problems in Ukraine, 40% of those polled called the war in Donbas, 36% linked the problems with low wages and pensions, 31% with corruption, 29% with high utility rates, and 27% with a pandemic.
At the same time, it is noted that in March it was the problem of the war in Donbas that ranked first in the anti-rating.
Some 56% of citizens are sure that their rights and freedoms are not violated, and 44% noted that such violations are present.
In case of violation of their rights, citizens would choose mostly peaceful and non-violent methods to protect their rights and freedoms. First of all, this is the collection of signatures (26%), sanctioned rallies and actions (22%), and electronic petitions (16%). Road closures (15%) are the single most popular protest methods that go beyond the sanctioned limits. In general, radical actions gain no more than 5-6% and lag significantly behind moderate measures.
The number of citizens who are not ready to defend their rights has remained almost unchanged since March (41%).
The sociological survey was conducted by the “face-to-face” method using a structured interactive questionnaire. Audience included the population of Ukraine aged 18 and over in all regions, except for the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas. The sample was 2,400 respondents.
The error of the representativeness of the survey with a confidence level of 0.95 does not exceed 2.05%.
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of April 26
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine together with the International Labor Organization (ILO) presented a new joint pilot project called “Economic Empowerment of Women as a Response to the COVID-19 Crisis in Ukraine,” the communications department of the UNDP in Ukraine said.
It says that he project aims to contribute to a sustainable recovery of living standards of the COVID-19 crisis-affected population in Ukraine by promoting and supporting women’s economic empowerment. This is to be done by improving the relevant institutional frameworks, and increasing economic opportunities to improve women’s livelihoods. The project will be implemented in two target regions of Ukraine – Rivne and Sumy regions.
UNDP Resident Representative to Ukraine Dafina Gercheva, speaking at the launch of the joint project, said that it aims to address shortcomings that were exposed by the pandemic, and to scale up efforts to support vulnerable groups.
“The promotion of women’s economic empowerment is a crucial step that brings us closer to gender equality. I’m confident that this project will serve as a starting point for a great partnership, promoting equal economic opportunities, and supporting women’s economic resilience – despite the formidable challenges the current crisis is posing,” Gercheva said.
In turn, Director of the ILO Office for Central and Eastern Europe, Markus Pilgrim, noted that access to the labor market is a key issue in Ukraine – 36 percent of women between 15-64 years are outside the labor force.
“The pandemic sharpened the existing problems of the Ukrainian labor market. In times of crisis, entrepreneurship constitutes an important and sometimes unique opportunity for women to get out of poverty, but could also lead to further improvements – decent employment, gender equality and economic empowerment,” Pilgrim said.
It is noted that this project is all about promoting gender equality and women empowerment at all levels, including national, sub-national and community levels.
The joint project has a total of four activities with several sub-activities, holistically addressing the topic on the macro-, meso-, and micro levels. Besides several events to encourage inclusive policy dialogue, four local communities and two Business Membership Organizations will be supported to strengthen their portfolio to support women-led businesses.
The project would provide 100 women with training to advance their entrepreneurial skills by applying modules of the world’s largest entrepreneurship development program.
Afterwards, 25 women-entrepreneurs will receive mentoring assistance to certify their business or other related activities. Furthermore, 25 micro-, small and medium enterprises are selected to receive e-commerce training in the target regions.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine plans to exempt air carriers from taxation on internal flights, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
“In order to enhance travel within the country, we plan to exempt air carriers from taxation on such routes. This step will reduce the costs of companies and cut the cost of air tickets for internal flights. Ukrainians, for their part, will have greater access to fast travel around the country,” Shmyhal said on Facebook on Sunday, April 25.
According to him, for this it is necessary to amend the current legislation. “I have already set this task for the ministries,” the head of government said.
The prime minister said the government also discussed the issue of intensifying cooperation in the tourism sector with Turkey. “We set a goal not only to expand sea and air traffic in order to open new and convenient routes for Ukrainians, but also to encourage Turkish citizens to come to Ukraine for family vacations,” Shmyhal said.
