Head of National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom Petro Kotin and Senior Vice President for Commercial Operations at Westinghouse Electric Company Elias Gedeon have discussed cooperation in the construction of new NPP units in Ukraine using AP1000 reactors.
According to the press service of Energoatom, in particular, during the negotiations held in Kyiv on June 29, the parties agreed to create a joint working group.
Energoatom said that the use of the American AP1000 technology – a next Generation III+ double loop reactor with a capacity of about 1100 MW, the design of which has fewer components, and standardization and licensing of which help to reduce the construction time and cost – in the long term will enable the company to provide a high level of safety and reliable operation of nuclear generation and respect for the environment.
As reported, Energoatom and Westinghouse have been cooperating since 2000 in the supply of nuclear fuel.
The Parliamentary Committee of the Nation’s Health, Medical Assistance and Medical Insurance has supported a bill on the use of cannabis for medical purposes.
The committee adopted the corresponding bill No. 5596, developed by the MPs of different factions, at a meeting on Wednesday.
According to the explanatory note to the bill, it provides for the need to comply with Ukraine’s international legal obligations regarding the circulation of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors.
The bill provides for the classification of hemp depending on the content of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in it: medical hemp (Cannabis) with a low content of THC in dry matter (0.2-1%) and Cannabis with a high content of THC (more than 1%), as well as industrial hemp, the content of THC in the dry mass of which does not exceed 0.2%
The bill proposes, in particular, to create regulatory conditions for the legal circulation of cannabis, in particular for use in medical practice, scientific and technical activities, to establish requirements and determine the features of controlled circulation of cannabis in certain areas of activity in accordance with the requirements of international law, to resolve issues related to organization of activities for the circulation of hemp at each stage of such a turnover, including, inter alia, operations for the import/export/transportation through the territory of Ukraine, storage and sale of hemp.
Also, the bill will define the requirements for business entities that can carry out operations related to the circulation of hemp, define and regulate the distribution of functions and powers of regulatory bodies that ensure the fight against illegal traffic in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors, to control the use of hemp for purposes specified by law.
According to the authors of the document, it should give an impetus to the development of medical science and the pharmaceutical industry by introducing the possibility of using hemp for medical and research purposes, to help improve the level and quality of medical services for the population in the field of palliative medicine, the methods of which, in particular, are based on the use of medical hemp.
The bill should also ensure that patients can purchase and store cannabis for medicinal purposes as medically indicated and prescribed by a doctor.
The bill provides for amendments to the foundations of the legislation of Ukraine on health care regarding the consolidation of the human right to access the necessary medicines, including, among other things, drugs containing narcotic drugs and/or psychotropic substances and precursors, the law On Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Precursors regarding the provision of the possibility of using plants of the genus hemp for industrial, scientific and medical purposes, the law On the List of Permitting Documents in the Sphere of Economic Activity regarding the inclusion in this list of permits for the use of facilities and premises intended for the implementation of activities for the circulation of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors.
At the same time, the committee rejected the alternative bill No. 5596-1.
Apple has officially opened an office in Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov wrote on Telegram.
Now, according to him, the company will directly import equipment to Ukraine and control the stores of official dealers.
“This is important news. The opening of the Apple office will strengthen our image in the international arena and in the future will help attract new investments,” Fedorov said.
Also, from June 29, 2021, support for Apple users in Ukrainian became available.
“For more than a year now, our team has been communicating with both the European and American offices of the company. Together we plan to launch new Apple services for Ukrainian users,” Fedorov said.
SkyUp Airlines will launch flights on the Odessa-Thessaloniki (Greece)-Odessa route from July 6.
According to the press service of the company, they will be performed once a week on Tuesdays.
There are currently no direct flights from Odessa to Thessaloniki.
Prices for construction and assembly work in Ukraine in May 2021 increased by 16.8% compared to May 2020, the State Statistics Service has reported.
According to the statistics department, prices increased in all segments of construction: in residential construction the growth was 10.6%, in non-residential construction – 15.3%, in engineering – 22.1%.
Compared to the previous month, the cost of construction of residential buildings in May increased by 1.3%, non-residential – by 2%, engineering structures – by 1.4%.
Since the beginning of the year, the rise in prices for construction work amounted to 14.2%, the State Statistics Service said.
As reported, in 2020, prices for construction work increased by 3.7% compared to the previous year, while in 2019 – by 6%.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food is negotiating with companies from Israel, the United States, France and China regarding public-private partnership in the reconstruction of irrigation systems in the southern regions of Ukraine, Minister Roman Leshchenko said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“These are projects with main canals, pumping stations, systems for the sale of both drinking and irrigation water. Now we are negotiating with companies from Israel, the United States, France and China in terms of such a public-private partnership,” he said.
According to Leshchenko, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, during a meeting on the state of irrigation of lands with representatives of relevant ministries on June 9, instructed to prepare relevant projects on reclamation systems.
“The logic of the prime minister is that, given the uniqueness of our irrigation system, we need to scale the corresponding project through the prism of the expertise of world-renowned companies that can offer integrated solutions for both drip irrigation and the use of sprinkler machines, the use of main canals, and also the latest technologies of an intelligent water supply system,” the minister said.
He said that the Ministry of Agrarian Policy is currently negotiating with world leaders in irrigation, but cannot disclose their details yet.
As the minister said, there is an interest in companies with experience and the possibility of expertise in the implementation of large reclamation projects.
