The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved $250 million in financing to support Uzbekistan’s accelerated climate transition to a green, inclusive and resilient economy.
This project marks an important milestone in promoting sustainable economic growth in line with the Uzbekistan 2030 Development Strategy, as well as the country’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
The project will cover three interrelated areas. First, it will improve climate-related governance structures. Second, it will focus on improving water and land management while promoting economic resilience. Thirdly, the project will accelerate the transition to low-carbon solutions in key sectors such as energy and transportation, prioritizing energy efficiency and sustainable practices.
In addition, the project will pay special attention to the implementation of sustainability and climate risk disclosure practices for state-owned enterprises, as well as to the expansion of renewable energy initiatives that benefit women and vulnerable communities.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that he is stepping down as leader of the ruling Liberal Party, but will remain as head of government until the Liberals elect a new leader, Reuters reports, citing Trudeau’s speech.
“I intend to resign as party leader. And as prime minister after the party selects its next leader through a rigorous, nationally competitive process,” he said on Monday.
His decision to resign was preceded by a drop in the party’s popularity and open conflicts with other leading Liberals. He said he would remain as prime minister until a new Liberal Party leader is elected.
Trudeau has been heading the government since 2015. However, his popularity has plummeted due to record inflation, rising food prices, and an acute housing crisis. Recent polls have shown that the ruling Liberal Party has an approval rating of 16%, the worst in more than 100 years. The opposition Conservatives, on the other hand, have come out on top in electoral preferences.
Earlier it became known that Trudeau would announce his intention to resign on Monday, January 6. This was reported by the Toronto Star newspaper, citing a high-ranking source. A month ago, US President-elect Donald Trump ridiculed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whom he called the “governor” of the non-existent state of Canada.
He wrote about this on his social network Truth Social.
Trump commented on the meeting with Trudeau at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, noting that he had the pleasure of having dinner with “Governor of the Great State of Canada, Justin Trudeau, the other day.”
“I look forward to meeting with the Governor again so we can continue our in-depth tariff and trade negotiations, the results of which will be truly spectacular for everyone!” Trump added.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has signed an agreement with Ukraine’s OTP Bank (Kyiv), approved in early December, to cover up to 50% of the credit risk on the bank’s new EUR200 million loans, the EBRD said in a statement on Monday.
“This is the fifth and largest such loan agreement provided by the EBRD to OTP, building on the successful cooperation between the two institutions to date,” the release said.
It is specified that this will enable the bank to finance critical sectors such as agriculture, energy, manufacturing, and transportation.
The EBRD’s participation in the project, estimated at EUR 60 million, will be supported by first-loss risk coverage funded by donors, including the European Union (EU), under the UIF Ukraine Facility.
It is also noted that, taking into account this project, the total amount of financing under similar EBRD guarantees signed since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine is almost EUR 2 billion.
Up to 20% of the project’s risk-sharing loans will be used to support long-term investments by private micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in EU-compliant and green technologies that increase their competitiveness in domestic and foreign markets. Upon completion of the investment projects, these sub-borrowers will receive EU-funded investment grants under the EU4Business initiative, as well as technical assistance. The EBRD has already allocated EUR 66 million in grant support for Ukrainian MSMEs under the EBRD-EU4Business credit line, including EUR 5 million for projects through the TFP.
According to the bank’s website, the guarantees are planned to be provided in three tranches: two in the amount of EUR 22.5 million, each covering EUR 75 million, and one in the amount of EUR 15 million to cover EUR 50 million of the loan portfolio.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), as of November 1, 2024, OTP Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hungarian OTP Bank, ranked 11th (UAH 116.9 billion) in terms of total assets among 62 banks in the country. The financial institution’s net profit for 10 months of last year amounted to UAH 4.82 billion.
Since Russia’s invasion in 2022, the EBRD has lent more than EUR 5.4 billion to Ukraine, including more than EUR 1.6 billion last year.
Metinvest Group’s KAMETSTAL, a steelmaking plant at Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (DMK, Kamenskoye, Dnipro Oblast), has completed a 50-day overhaul of its main air separation unit (ASU).
According to the company, on New Year’s Eve, the plant’s power engineers resumed operation of the air handling unit, and the overhaul of the AKAR-40/35 was one of the largest overhauls performed at the plant under the 2024 program.
It was specified that after completion of the scheduled repair work, specialists began preparatory pre-start-up operations in mid-December. High-temperature regeneration of the adsorbent was performed after its complete replacement. As part of the overhaul, 68 tons of zeolite and 33.6 tons of aluminum oxide, highly dispersed materials for air purification from moisture and carbon dioxide, which negatively affect the performance and quality of air distribution, were loaded into the cleaned and repaired adsorbers.
On December 26, the first post-repair oxygen was supplied to the collector after completion of the preparatory stages required by the technology – heating of the unit and cooling of the vessels and apparatus of the plant. The passport characteristics of the AKar-40/35 were restored and it started operating, after which the power engineers gradually put the AKar-30 units into reserve, which replaced the main unit during its overhaul. Tests conducted on December 28 confirmed the unit’s nameplate capacity of 40 thousand cubic meters per hour of nitrogen and 35 thousand cubic meters per hour of oxygen.
“The unit is now operating in the set mode, steadily supplying air separation products to the steelmaking process. The unit’s load varies according to the needs of the production process. Thanks to the well-established cooperation between the OCC specialists and their colleagues from the blast furnace and converter shops, we determine the optimal production mode on a daily basis without unproductive losses of oxygen produced, which makes it possible to increase the efficiency of the repaired unit and the shop as a whole,” explained Vyacheslav Grevtsev, head of the oxygen compressor shop, as quoted in the statement.
“KAMETSTAL was established on the basis of Dnipro Coke Plant and Centralized Steel Works of Dnipro Metallurgical Plant.
According to the 2020 report of Metinvest Group’s parent company, Metinvest B.V. (Netherlands) owned 100% of the shares in DCCP.
Farmak Pharmaceutical Company (JSC Farmak, Kyiv) has started exporting to Pakistan, the first product supplied is an injectable drug for general anesthesia, which is also registered in the UK.
According to the company’s press release, Pakistan became the second country in South Asia after Jordan to which Farmak supplies its products. Farmak’s presence in the region is ensured by the Farmak International Middle East & Africa team.
In general, Farmak exports its products to more than 60 countries, including 15 EU countries, as well as countries of Central and South America, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Australia.
As reported, in 2023, Farmak increased its net profit by 18% compared to 2022, to UAH 1.557 billion.
Farmak Group is the leader of the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market in monetary terms, has two production sites in Ukraine and a production site in Spain, as well as 11 international representative offices and marketing and distribution companies in countries such as Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Moldova. The ultimate beneficial owner of Farmak is the Chairman of the Supervisory Board Filya Zhebrovska (80% of the company’s shares).
The Slovak state-owned operator SEPS will provide electricity supplies to Ukraine as part of emergency assistance under the current contract with Ukrenergo, Czech media outlet iRozhlas writes in response to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico’s threats to cut off electricity supplies to Ukraine.
“Analyst Józef Badida told the Slovak newspaper Pravda that artificially limiting electricity supplies from Slovakia abroad would most likely violate European and Slovak legislation. Former Slovak Minister of Economy Karel Hirman previously stated that electricity is sold to Ukraine by traders, not the state. He argued that if electricity supplies to Ukraine were cut off, Slovakia would be drawn into a conflict within the EU,” the publication writes.
It is also noted that in the spring of 2024, SEPS extended the contract for another 12 months, under which it can supply up to 150 MW of electricity to Ukraine as part of emergency assistance. “In the first 11 months of last year, net electricity exports from Slovakia to Ukraine reached 2.43 terawatt-hours, which is three and a half times higher than in the same period in 2023,” the report says.
As reported earlier, in response to Ukraine’s decision to stop the transit of Russian gas, some of which goes to Slovakia, Slovak Prime Minister Fico threatened to cut off electricity supplies to Ukraine. In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that “it seems that Putin has instructed Fico to open a second energy front against Ukraine at the expense of the interests of the people of Slovakia.” Poland expressed its readiness to increase electricity supplies to Ukraine following the Slovak prime minister’s comments.
In December 2024, Ukraine’s electricity imports increased by 2.7 times compared to November, to 433.4 thousand MWh, while exports fell by 6.1 times, to 6.8 thousand MWh. Thus, electricity imports in December-2024 exceeded exports by 63.7 times. Most electricity was imported from Hungary – 152.33 thousand MWh (35.16%). This was followed by Slovakia – 107.08 thousand MWh (24.71%), Poland – 91.98 thousand MWh (21.23%), Romania – 70.78 thousand MWh (16.34%), and Moldova – 11.12 thousand MWh (2.57%).
