According to the draft concept for the transformation of the coal industry, all unprofitable mines will be closed within ten years, and subsidies for coal enterprises from the budget will be reduced in the coming years, First Deputy Energy Minister Olha Buslavets has said. “The concept is already completing all the approval procedures. It provides that unprofitable mines will be closed within ten years, minimization of subsidies to the industry from the national budget will take place in the coming years,” she said during the First German-Ukrainian Energy Day on Tuesday. According to her, Ukraine intends to completely abandon fossil fuels by 2070.
At the same time, referring to the European Green Deal, Buslavets said the abandonment of fossils should occur gradually, without negative impact on the economy and people employed in the industry. “It is necessary to worry so that no one is left behind, this is the motto of a fair transformation of the coal industry, laid down in the European Green Deal. It should also happen here,” Buslavets said, drawing attention to the need to “attract real material and technical assistance from Ukraine’s partners” and creating incentives for the development of new businesses in coal regions.
As reported, the draft concept for the transformation of the coal industry provides for the division of mines into three groups: the first is the mines to be integrated with PJSC Centrenergo and are its resource base. The second is dual-use mines, that is, those that extract both steam and coking coal used in metallurgy. The third group is mines, which are subject to privatization not only as coal mining enterprises, but also as integral property complexes for the purpose of re-profiling.
Traffic in the airspace of Ukraine in November fell by 56.7% compared to November last year, the press service of the Ukrainian State Air Traffic Services Enterprise (UkSATSE) has reported.
In general, UkSATSE serviced 9,910 flights last month, of which 1,909 were domestic (a decrease of 15.6% from November 2019), 4,563 international (less by 62%) and 3,438 transit (down by 60%).
Ukrainian airlines performed 3,578 flights (53.4% less than in November a year earlier), foreign airlines 6,332 flights (58.3% less).
“The next year in the aviation segment is seen through the prism of a certified vaccine, new rules for transportation for passengers and a new economic reality for airlines. The rebirth of the industry will depend on macroeconomic factors, adjusted for aviation narrow-profile features. In positive circumstances, the recovery of the aviation market could occur much earlier than predicted. This is especially true for Ukraine,” Head of UkSATSE Andriy Yarmak said.
According to the agency, the dynamics of the number of flights in the airspace of Ukraine in 2020 remains low: June – 4,584 flights, July – 12,195, August – 16,690, September – 14,959, October – 13,041 flights.
However, UkSATSE notes that the situation with traffic in the sky may begin to change in the near future.
Philip Morris Ukraine, a large tobacco manufacturer, will soon file a motion with the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington in response to the decision of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) on a UAH 1.2 billion fine.
“Several years ago, the Antimonopoly Committee issued permits for the concentration of a company that practically ‘swallowed’ all distribution in the tobacco market. We actually had no choice with whom to work with. What happened next? Over time, the same Antimonopoly Committee declared that we, the producers, were to blame for ‘establishing a monopoly,’ and issued a huge fine to the producers,” said the company’s CEO Kostas Salvaras in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, back in February, the company filed a notification to the Ministry of Justice about the violation by the state of Ukraine of a number of obligations under the investment protection agreements. “The state has expired six months for the peaceful settlement of the dispute, and we have the right to initiate arbitration proceedings directly,” Salvaras said.
“At the moment, we have already prepared an application to the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington. We will submit an application shortly. We believe that we have a high chance of winning. When we win, we will be able to demand from the state not only return the fine paid by us, but also to compensate for our costs for lawyers,” said the director general of Philip Morris Ukraine.
As reported, the AMCU imposed a fine of UAH 6.5 billion for anti-competitive concerted actions on four cigarette producers, including a UAH 3.4 billion fine on the distributor Tedis Ukraine.
Later, Philip Morris Ukraine paid a fine to the AMCU for a total amount of more than UAH 1.18 billion in order to avoid the accrual of penalties.
PJSC Philip Morris Ukraine jointly with LLC Philip Morris Sales and Distribution are affiliated companies of Philip Morris International (PMI), one of the world’s largest manufacturers of tobacco products.
The company has been operating in Ukraine for over 20 years. It produces products at a factory in Kharkiv region.
In 2016, Ukraine became the seventh market in which Philip Morris launched IQOS, based on tobacco heating technology. Both affiliated companies employ over 1,300 people.
Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air plans to resume flights from Kyiv, Lviv and Kharkiv to 19 cities in ten countries.
Wizz Air will resume flights from Kyiv to Copenhagen, Pardubice, Billund, Vienna, Krakow, Lisbon, Hamburg, Budapest, Naples, Poznan, Bratislava and Katowice in December 2020, according to a press release of the company on Tuesday.
The airline plans to fly from Lviv to Berlin, Szczecin, Bratislava, Pardubice and Vilnius, and from Kharkiv to Krakow, Dortmund, Vienna, Gdansk and Wroclaw.
“The resumption of flights depends on the decision of the authorities to leave or remove this or that country from the list of the ‘green’ zone. Accordingly, in this case, the implementation of these flights will be postponed,” the company said. If the airline is forced to cancel the flight, customers whose reservations have changed will automatically receive a 120% compensation from the initial fare, calculated as a WIZZ credit, which can be used within 24 months from the date of flight cancellation. Passengers can also choose a cash refund.
Wizz Air started operating in Ukraine in 2008. Over the past period, has transported more than 11 million passengers to and from Ukrainian airports.
Nova Poshta Global, part of the Nova Poshta group of companies, has created an additional hub for international shipments in Lviv: it launched charter flights to Lviv airport and opened the second central sorting station.
According to Nova Poshta, the first charter flight from the United States flew to Lviv in early December. On board were more than 15,000 items of the NP Shopping service with a total weight of over 30 tonnes. Nova Posta Global plans to operate flights from the United States regularly, twice a week: one flight to Lviv and one to Kyiv.
In addition, the company plans to carry out charter flights from China both to Lviv and Kyiv. In particular, on December 6, a flight with departures from the Chinese online store AliExpress, on board of which there were 60,000 parcels with a total weight of 20 tonnes, already arrived at Boryspil International Airport.
“Soon we expect the arrival of two more flights, which will deliver about 20 more tonnes of cargo,” the company said.
Previously, the company’s flights with international departures arrived only at Boryspil airport, and went through customs clearance and sorting at the central station in Kyiv.
Since the beginning of this year, Nova Poshta Global has more than doubled its volumes, delivering 5.7 million shipments: an increase that has put additional strain on the sorting station.
The Motor (Transport) Insurance Bureau of Ukraine (MTIBU) as of October 1, 2020 placed 72.6% of the hryvnia funds of the centralized insurance reserve fund for protection of road accident victims at four state banks.
According to a report on the MTIBU’s website, there are UAH 324.3 million on deposits in Ukreximbank, UAH 147 million in Oschadbank, UAH 267 million in Ukrgasbank, and UAH 24.750 million in PrivatBank.
In addition, Kredobank has UAH 94.2 million on deposits, Credit Agricole Bank some UAH 9.120 million, OTP Bank some UAH 42.9 million, TAScombank some UAH 95.794 million, FUIB some UAH 5.3 million, Alfa-Bank some UAH 7.6 million, and Pravex Bank some UAH 33.7 million.
In addition, as of September 30, 2020, the money of the centralized insurance reserve fund for protection of road accident victims in hryvnia-denominated government domestic loan bonds amounted to UAH 559.3 million and foreign currency government bonds some $ 107.087 million.
