Ukraine and Belarus are discussing building new interstate power lines and DC links for existing power lines, the press service of the Ministry of Energy and Environment Protection said after a meeting of the Ukrainian-Belarusian group for cooperation in the fuel and energy sphere. “At the meeting, the issue of building new electric power lines between the neighboring states was discussed. It was about the line between Rivne and Brest regions (Belarus). The issue of building DC links on the existing 330 kV overhead lines between the Belarusian unified power grid and the Ukrainian unified power grid was discussed: Mozyr-Chornobyl NPP and Gomel-Chernihiv,” the press service said.
Minister of Energy and Environment Protection Oleksiy Orzhel said that cooperation between the states in the field of electricity is one of the priority issues in the energy sector.
“Electricity is among the priority issues. Next February, Belarus NPP should start working. There may be an excess of electricity in which we are interested. Although, of course, the capacity of the interstate lines for electricity exchange must be taken into account,” the press service said, citing the minister as saying.
Also during the meeting, the issue of power supply to the border areas was raised, in particular, the involvement of 0.4-110 kV interstate power transmission lines in order to ensure supplies to the border areas under contracts between Belenergo and D.Trading LLC.
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) is considering a repeat application of OH Holding Limited (Nicosia, Cyprus) for permission to acquire a share in Kyiv-based LLC Luxoptica Holding’s charter capital, which ensures over 50% of votes in the company’s highest governing body.
The committee in November 2019 began consideration of the relevant case on concentration, the AMCU said.
“OH Holding Limited and LLC Luxoptica Holding earlier lodged a similar application with the committee, after which the concentration case was opened in September this year. However, the applicants withdrew their applications and the case was closed,” it said.
Luxoptica is one of Ukraine’s largest optic chains, it has been operating on the market since 1994. According to the information in the state register, the final beneficial owners are Oleh Kalashnikov and Nadiya Shalomova. Other owners are Olena Biletska, Volodymyr Kononenko, Vitaliy Cherepanov, Inna Alter, Oleksiy Svystun, and Valeriy Devko.
On November, 23 and 24 Ancient Kyiv in the Principality of Kyivan Rus («The Kyivan Rus Park») invites to make a thrilling time travel in a thousand years ago and join the ancient rites of the ancestors. Slavic amusements, horse shows, horse riding, tasty dishes prepared on open fire and hot drinks, merry games and contests, fiery round dances will be waiting for the guests. And all of this in the atmosphere of living Middle Ages!
Ancient Kyiv opens at 10:00. The program starts at 13:30 and lasts till 18:000.
The ticket price: a full adult ticket – 190.00 UAH, for pensioners and students – 150.00 UAH; for schoolchildren – 80.00 UAH, for preschool children – for free.
Ancient Kyiv in the «Kyivan Rus Park» is situated in the vill. Kopachiv, Obukhiv district, Kyiv region. Route taxis leave from Kyiv from the «Vydybitchi» metro station
Detailed information on the website www.parkkyivrus.com
The Interfax subscribers can save money with the “openbusiness-20” promo code for a 20%-discount for the adult ticket (at full price) to the Principality of Kyivan Rus:
– by previous order by tel.: +38 044 461-99-37, +38 050 385-20-35
– or at the cash desk at the entrance to the «Kyivan Rus Park».
Six companies have bought access to 1.1 GW of interstate network carrying capacity for importing electricity from the Russian Federation to Ukraine in December, according to information on the website of Ukrenergo. Thus, TAS Energy of Sergiy Tigipko bought 350 MW (24.6% more compared to the access capacity purchased in November). Ukrtorgenergy LLC acquired an additional 300 MW of capacity in December (Volodymyr Lytvynchuk is the ultimate beneficiary of the company founded in May 2019, while in mid-August the core business changed from electricity production to trade), which in November gained access to only 10 MW. The next largest one in terms of volume is ONK Group with 150 MW. At the November auction, this company failed to gain access to the section.
In turn, United Energy LLC (which has contracts for the supply of energy to the enterprises of Ihor Kolomoisky and the Surkis brothers) bought access to 100 MW in December (against 500 MW in November), and ETG LLC bought the same amount.
Access to the capacity for imports from Belarus was obtained by D Trading (Donbasenergo of Maksym Yefimov) and ERU Trading LLC (the Energy Resources of Ukraine group of companies) in the amount of 450 MW and 50 MW respectively.
D Trading also bought access to 404 MW for imports from Moldova and 85 MW from Hungary.
Kharkiv IT Cluster predicts a 25% increase in the IT industry in the region by the end of 2019. “According to the dynamics of the last two years, in 2019 we expect growth in the industry in the region by at least 25% compared with the results of 2018,” Kharkiv IT Cluster CEO Olha Shapoval said, commenting on the results of Kharkiv IT Research 2.0.
According to Kharkiv IT Research 2.0, the demand for experts in the field of information technology in 2019 also exceeds the supply: the companies’ need for specialists is 1.5 times higher than the number of graduates (Kharkiv universities annually graduate more than 2,000 young specialists only in specialized fields).
The authors of the study noted the growing popularity of non-formal education, as well as the creation of corporate training centers within companies that are ready to invest in youth training.
According to the study, by the end of 2018 the IT industry in the region had about 480 service and product companies, and the number of IT specialists exceeded 31,000 people.
In general, according to Kharkiv IT Research 2.0, the IT industry in Kharkiv in quantitative terms grew by 24%, and the total volume reached $962 million in 2018, ensuring a growth of 20%.
Transport enterprises of Ukraine increase cargo transportation by 9%
The transport enterprises of Ukraine in January-October 2019 increased cargo transportation by 8.8% compared to the same period in 2018, to 561.6 million tonnes, according to the State Statistics Service. According to its data, freight turnover of carriers for the specified period increased by 2.2%, to 282.3 billion tonne-kilometers.
According to statistical data, in January-October 2019 some 220.2 million tonnes of goods were transported by rail within the country and for export, which is 1.1% less than in January-October 2018.
Transportation of timber decreased by 59.4%, construction materials by 21%, scrap metal by 18%, coke by 9.3%, cement by 5.6%, coal by 4.2%, and ferrous metals by 3.4%.
At the same time, transportation of iron and manganese ore rose by 3.2%, oil and petroleum products by 0.1%, grain and cereal by 23.9%, chemical and mineral fertilizers by 32.9%.
In the total volume of cargo transportation by water, foreign traffic accounted for 41.5%. The volume of foreign cargo transportation decreased by 1.2%.
In January-October 2019, compared with January-October 2018, the volume of cargo transportation by pipelines increased. So, transportation of ammonia grew by 10.6%, gas by 0.6%. Ammonia transit was up by 11.1%, gas by 1.7%. Along with this, oil pumping and transit decreased by 1.9% and 4.3% respectively.
