National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 24/03/20
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has emphasized that the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and other financial organizations were ready to help Ukraine amid the coronavirus pandemic. “Yesterday I had a conversation with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. Our international financial partners, including the IMF, the World Bank, the EBRD assured us of their readiness to support and help Ukraine,” he said in an appeal to Ukrainians on Monday, March 23.
Legalization of drug delivery by certified postal operators amid quarantine will reduce the spread of the disease, according to the Manufacturers of Medications of Ukraine Association.
“This issue becomes especially relevant in the situation when it is necessary to limit unnecessary contacts as much as possible, because a pharmacy becomes one of the places of active contacts. This is especially important for elderly people who urgently need medicines and form the basis of the risk group,” head of the association Petro Bahriy said.
He noted that “the de facto delivery of medicines purchased online exists, but is illegal.”
“Such a service needs to be legalized so that people who need medicines can be quarantined,” he said.
According to the expert, the legitimization of such a delivery will guarantee the quality, origin of drugs and compliance with the mandatory logistic requirements, while involving all certified operators in the delivery will allow delivering drugs quickly and on time.
Director General of InterChem pharmaceutical company (Odesa) Anatoliy Reder, in turn, noted that attracting all the postal operators of Ukraine to the delivery of medicines will enable the widest possible delivery with a significant limitation of contacts and the spread of coronavirus.
According to him, this option will allow people living in remote and rural areas to “get their medicines at the right time and with the guaranteed quality.”
Reder believes that the possibility of delivery will not have a significant impact on the price of drugs.
CORONAVIRUS, DELIVERY, LEGALIZATION, MEDICINES, POSTAL OPERATORS
Biopharma pharmaceutical company has sent UAH 6 million to buy equipment for the reference laboratory of the Public Health Center, which will be used to diagnose the coronavirus disease COVID-19.
As the company told Interfax-Ukraine, the equipment will allow quickly determining the presence or absence of the coronavirus disease pathogens in the samples obtained, using modern methods.
The first unit is Thermo Fisher Scitific Nucleic automatic acid extraction workstation with consumables for 20,000 samples. It helps prepare samples for analysis.
The second unit is Bio-Rad CFX 96 PCR detection system, which already directly determines the DNA of the virus, as well as test systems for it.
The equipment was purchased at the initiative of Biopharma co-owners Kostiantyn Yefymenko and Vasyl Khmelnytsky.
The Public Health Center said that the number of samples sent for verification is growing daily, so new equipment will allow quick testing.
The complex, which will be launched on Saturday, allows processing up to 100 samples in 60 minutes that is, up to 2,000 per day.
Earlier, Biopharma transferred the necessary equipment for UAH 5 million for the Bila Tserkva hospital three. In total, Biopharma sent more than UAH 11 million to support measures to combat the spread of COVID-19.
BIOPHARMA, EQUIPMENT, HEALTH CENTER, PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY, PUBLIC
Biopharma, which is one of the ten largest Ukrainian manufacturers of the pharmaceutical industry and specializes in human blood plasma drugs, has submitted to the laboratories of the Public Health Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine equipment that will allow the presence and absence of samples to be determined quickly and by modern methods agents of coronavirus disease. This decision, in conjunction with entrepreneur Vasyl Khmelnytsky’s UFuture holding company, is a continuation of a series of social initiatives undertaken by Ukrainian entrepreneurs amid a coronavirus pandemic.
“The Center will become the main reference site that will monitor the correctness of diagnostics throughout Ukraine. In other words, samples from laboratories will be sent here to confirm or refute the diagnosis. Without the transferred equipment, effective control of coronavirus disease in Ukraine would be defective,” Kostiantyn Yefymenko, President of Biopharma, reported.
The first unit is the Nuclear Acid Extraction Equipment from Thermo Fisher Scitific with consumables for 20,000 samples. The equipment helps prepare samples for analysis. The second unit is the equipment of Bio-Rad CFX 96 for molecular genetic analysis by PCR for the presence of a DNA virus and a system test for the detection of COVID-19.
The total cost of the equipment exceeds six million UAH, its installation and startup is performed by the company “ALT Ukraine LTD”. The equipment allows to process up to 100 samples in 60 minutes and in total about 2 thousand analyzes per day.
“Business should do everything in its power to stop the spread of the coronavirus and bring Ukraine back to normal. First of all, we need quality and timely diagnostics. already hundreds of millions of hryvnias and assistance continues,” Vasyl Khmelnytsky, founder of UFuture, said.
In addition, UFuture purchased two lung ventilation devices and all materials for their operation for the amount of 1 million 700 thousand UAH to one of the hospitals in Kyiv, and Biopharma — equipment for Bila Tserkva city hospital №3 (reference infectious hospital for the Kyiv region) with an amount of five million UAH.
Among them:
• two AR-203 artificial ventilation apparatus;
• AS-200 biochemical automatic analyzer;
• 3-Part DiffH 18 light hematology analyzer;
• EasyStat blood gas and electrolyte analyzer;
• BM1600 patient monitor with BM200 module;
• Laura Smart urine analyzer;
• two microscopes Micromed Fusion FS-7620.
The total cost of assistance from the holding companies is more than 12 million UAH. Also, masks and systems for rapid tests for the hospitals of Bila Tserkva will be purchased soon.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
UFuture is a holding company of Ukrainian entrepreneur Vasyl Khmelnytsky that integrates his business and impact-investment projects. The company has a diversified portfolio of assets in the fields of real estate, infrastructure, industry, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals, and IT. Currently, UFuture’s assets are estimated at $550 million, and the total capitalization of the businesses it invested in is more than $1 billion.
Biopharma is a Ukrainian immunobiological pharmaceutical company that which specializes in the drugs of human blood plasma. The number of employees – more than 300 people. The company exports drugs to 36 countries. In 2019, the company opened in Bila Tserkva a “built from scratch” manufacturing facility, investing about $75 million. Its the only plant of its kind in Eastern Europe.
State-owned enterprise (SOE) Ukrspyrt has relaxed the rules of buying spirit for the volume of up to 1,000 liters a quarter, and the rules will be in effect from March 20 until June 30.
“Almost everyone needs alcohol! Therefore, given the coronavirus disease COVID-19 pandemic and the increased demand for alcohol, we have simplified the process of its sale. The buyer needs to take three steps: conclude an agreement (simplified, we have one signatory), pay and come to get the products. The rules work, if you do not need more than 1,000 liters per quarter,” acting Director General of Ukrspyrt Serhiy Bleskun wrote on his page on the social network Facebook.
He said that alcohol can be bought by private entrepreneurs or legal entities. The rule is valid until June 30. Price for 1 liter is UAH 184 (inclusive of excise tax and VAT).
The press service of Ukrspyrt told Interfax-Ukraine that the number of signatories under a contract from a state-owned enterprise was reduced from nine to one, and the number of required documents from a buyer was reduced from nine to four.
As reported, Ukrspyrt suspended the shipment of alcohol for export and put four more distilleries into operation due to the increased demand for medical alcohol in Ukraine over the spread of COVID-19.
