Serbia will donate €8.4 million worth of generators and transformers to Ukraine as humanitarian aid, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in an interview with Serbian TV channel Prva TV.
“We have collected generators and transformers worth 8.4 million euros for Ukraine,” the president said.
According to him, the new Serbian ambassador to Ukraine will hand over this aid.
Earlier, the Serbian government provided humanitarian aid to Ukraine in connection with the disaster in Kherson region that occurred after the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant.
Kredobank (Lviv) has signed an agreement with the U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to raise $40 million in guarantees for loans to small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine.
According to the bank’s statement on Friday, the signing took place in Washington during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, the guarantee will cover 80% of the loan amount, meaning that the agreement will allow Kredobank to issue $50 million in business loans.
It is specified that working capital loans, investment loans and leasing under the DFC guarantee will be available to companies operating throughout the government-controlled territory of Ukraine, with no more than 300 employees and no more than $15 million. The maximum loan amount for a client is $1.5 million in equivalent. As part of the program, at least 25% of all loans under DFC’s guarantees must be granted to agricultural enterprises.
Jakub Karnowski, First Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Kredobank, noted that thanks to the risk-sharing programs that have been operating in the bank for more than two years, he managed to provide Ukrainian entrepreneurs with a total of more than EUR 155 million in loan financing.
Kredobank was founded in 1990. Its sole shareholder is the largest bank in Poland – PKO Bank Polski S.A. According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of June 1, 2024, Kredobank ranked 14th (UAH 57.93 billion) among 63 banks in the country in terms of assets.
Ukrainian athlete and high jumper Yaroslava Maguchikh has been officially recognized as the best athlete in Europe in 2024. She received her award at the Golden Tracks ceremony held in Skopje (North Macedonia), reports Suspilne Sport.
It is noted that in the 2024 season, Maguchikh set a new world record in the discipline – 2.10 meters, and added to it her debut Olympic gold, the title of European champion and the third consecutive Diamond League title.
The top three in the women’s category also included runners Femke Bohl of the Netherlands and Great Britain’s Keeley Hodgkinson.
“This was the most successful season for me. Many dreams came true: a world record and Olympic gold for Ukraine,” Maguchikh said during the ceremony.
Based on the results of her historic season, Maguchikh is also in the running for the world’s best athlete in non-running disciplines: World Athletics will announce the three finalists in early November.
On October 27, Ukraine switches to winter time.
“At exactly 4:00 a.m., the clock hands have to make one circle back. Modern electronic devices will do this automatically, while mechanical clocks need to be set manually. Thus, it will show 3.00,” the Government online telegram channel said.
As reported, on July 16, the Verkhovna Rada adopted Bill No. 4201 to cancel the transition from winter to summer time in Ukraine from 2025, but it has not been signed by the President of Ukraine.
The first plant of the defense concern Rheinmetall is already operating in Ukraine, and the second is on the way, Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger told TSN.
“The first plant is already in operation. The Ukrainian defense industry is our partner. We now have a production facility and a service facility,” Papperger said, adding that the first Lynx advanced infantry fighting vehicle in Ukraine will be launched at the end of the year.
“At the moment we are servicing infantry fighting vehicles, but also main battle tanks. So this is a very productive joint venture,” said the Rheinmetall director. He added that the company owns 51% of the shares in this enterprise.
Papperger noted that Rheinmetall is on the way to building a powder plant and an ammunition plant in Ukraine. “We also want to establish production of air defense systems so that you can defend yourselves,” he said.
As of October 25, farmers in all regions of Ukraine have harvested 63.7 million tons of new crops from 18.1 million hectares, up from 62.2 million tons from 17.7 million hectares a week earlier.
As reported by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food on Friday, 45.1 million tons (42.8 million tons) of grains and pulses, 18.6 million tons (18 million tons) of oilseeds and 8.3 million tons (6.5 million tons) of sugar beets have already been harvested.
The Ministry specified that the harvest of wheat has been completed, with 22.3 million tons harvested from 4.9 million hectares at a yield of 42.4 c/ha, barley – 5.5 million tons from 1.4 million hectares at a yield of 39.2 c/ha, peas – 465.3 million tons from 212.2 thousand hectares at a yield of 21.9 c/ha, and rapeseed – 3.5 million tons from 1.3 million hectares at a yield of 27.3 c/ha.
Corn harvesting continues with 15.4 million tons (13.2 thousand tons a week earlier) from 2.7 million hectares (67% of the plan), buckwheat – 126.9 thousand tons (124.8 thousand tons) from 87.5 thousand hectares (98%), millet – 159.5 thousand tons (158.9 thousand tons) from 85.1 thousand hectares (92%).
The oilseeds harvest is nearing completion in Ukraine. In particular, 5.6 mln tonnes of soybeans have been harvested (5.2 mln tonnes a week earlier) from 2.5 mln hectares (93%), and 9.5 mln tonnes of sunflower from 4.6 mln hectares (94%).
At the same time, the leaders in grain harvesting are farmers in Odesa region who threshed 4.4 mln ha, Poltava region – 4 mln tons, and Vinnytsia region – 3.3 mln tons. In terms of yields, the leaders are farmers in Khmelnytsky region with 68.3 c/ha, Ternopil region – 64.9 c/ha, and Chernihiv region – 63.5 c/ha.
