Cash currency imports to Ukraine in January-September 2024 amounted to $9.89 billion, which is 80.9% more than in the same period last year and 4.5% more than the total amount of currency imported in 2023, according to statistics from the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
According to the statistics, this is the highest figure since 2014, when cash currency imports amounted to $12.43 billion for the year.
In particular, in August, banks imported $1.09 billion in the equivalent to Ukraine, which is less than $1.31 billion in July, $1.33 billion in June, and $1.18 billion in May.
According to the statistics, the US dollar and euro accounted for 77.5% and 22.5% of all imported cash currency in August, respectively.
At the same time, dollar deliveries decreased from $960.8 million in July to $840.8 million in August, while euro imports fell for the second month in a row: from $348.7 million in July to $243.9 million in August.
As reported, since the beginning of 2024, the dollar has risen in price by 8.3%, or UAH 3.16, to UAH 41.1664/$ at the official exchange rate, and by 12.6%, or UAH 4.60, since the National Bank switched to managed flexibility on October 3, 2023.
Meanwhile, since the beginning of this year, the cash dollar has risen in price by about UAH 2.72 when buying to UAH 41.47/$, and by about UAH 2.1 when selling to UAH 41.52/$.
In January-June, cargo transportation in Ukraine increased by 18.6% year-on-year to 178.8 million tons, according to the State Statistics Service.
According to the agency, cargo turnover in January-June increased by 19% to 94347.1 million tons per kilometer.
At the same time, the number of passengers transported in the first half of the year increased by 13.5% to 1.07 billion people.
Passenger turnover increased by 17.2% to 20887 million passenger-kilometers.
The data exclude the territories temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation and part of the territories where military operations are (were) conducted.
As of 8:00 a.m. on September 28, the level of air pollution in Kyiv is very low, and the radiation background throughout the city is normal, according to the Department of Environmental Protection and Climate Change Adaptation of the Kyiv City State Administration.
According to the KCSA website, a total air quality index of 20 to 36 (very low level of pollution) was recorded at seven stationary air monitoring stations in different districts of the Ukrainian capital. The radiation background is 0.1 μSv/hour.
“In 2024, the Defense Procurement Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has contracted more than 400,000 UAVs of all types – with few exceptions, these are all Ukrainian-made drones, said Maryna Bezrukova, director of the Defense Procurement Agency.
“In 2024, we have already contracted more than 400 thousand UAVs of all types. From small FPVs to diplomatic strikes that hit targets deep behind enemy lines. With few exceptions, these are all Ukrainian-made drones. In the last two weeks alone, we have signed 21 contracts for drones worth more than UAH 3 billion,” she wrote on Facebook.
At the same time, Bezrukova explained that since the Defense Ministry is an agency of the Defense Ministry, this imposes certain specifics.
“We can only contract weapons that are on the list compiled by the General Staff and approved by the Ministry of Defense. The list is a small and highest-priority part of the large need collected from the military, for which funding is provided. Because the budget is really limited,” she said.
The director also reminded that the Defense Industry can only contract weapons that have received NATO codification and only those manufacturers that have confirmed their production capabilities to the military missions of the Ministry of Defense.
According to her, the Defense Industry is in constant contact with manufacturers, receives feedback and initiates changes that simplify the work and reduce the time to contracting. In particular, Bezrukova noted that the inspection by military missions has already been significantly simplified. The director emphasized that there is “still a lot of room to make the UAV contracting procedure, as provided for by the Ministry of Defense’s regulatory framework, simpler and more transparent.”
“Unfortunately, the opponents of the Agency’s work are now doing everything possible to destroy our reputation. For example, they are pouring money into spreading the news that the Agency has purchased a specific UAV at inflated prices. Although in fact we did not contract it at all. All this is a sign that we are on the right track. And we will be happy to go through it together with the manufacturers,” she emphasized.
The State Enterprise Guaranteed Buyer (Guaranteed Buyer) has announced the first auction in Ukraine for the distribution of the green generation support quota.
According to the state enterprise, 11 MW of solar power generation capacity is up for auction, with a starting price of 9 euro cents/kWh.
Applications are accepted until October 30.
The auction itself will be held on October 31 at 12:55 in the state electronic trading system Prozorro.Sale.
The auction will be held with a decreasing price.
According to the auction requirements, the solar power plant must be located on the left bank of the Dnipro River, except for the areas of military operations.
To participate in the auction, a bank guarantee in favor of Guaranteed Buyer in the amount of EUR 5/kW of the power plant’s capacity or its queue must be provided. To sign the contract, the winner of the auction must provide Guaranteed Buyer with a bank guarantee in the amount of EUR 15/kW of capacity, under which the winner is entitled to support based on the results of the auction. The remuneration of the operator of the authorized electronic platform is EUR 0.8/kW.
“The government has created all the conditions for holding the most transparent auctions for the distribution of state support for renewable energy producers. This is another step towards European integration and the implementation of best practices in supporting green energy in Ukraine,” Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko commented on the auction announcement, as quoted in the ministry’s website on Friday.
As reported, the Cabinet of Ministers, by its resolution of August 13, set an additional quota for support for business entities that produce electricity from alternative energy sources in the amount of 110 MW for 2024, of which wind farms – 88 MW, and solar power plants and other types of renewable energy sources (biomass, biogas, small hydropower plants) – 11 MW each.
The SPPs must be located on the left bank of the Dnipro River, and the auction for them will be held in October; there are no territorial restrictions for wind farms and other types, and the auctions are scheduled for November.
The contract with the State Enterprise Guaranteed Buyer for the provision of services under the market premium mechanism with the winner of the auction will be valid for 12 years.
For solar and wind power plants, the maximum selling price for electricity is 9 euro cents/kWh. For other types of alternative energy sources – 12 euro cents/kWh.
France and Canada have agreed to strengthen cooperation in the field of military materiel for Ukraine and in the field of training within the framework of the Defense Contact Group (Ramstein), in particular, they will continue to deepen strategic cooperation in the field of cyber defense in support of Ukraine, according to a declaration agreed upon during a meeting in Ottawa on September 26 by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron.
“We are committed to working with Ukraine and our partners to enable Ukraine to defend its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity in the face of Russian aggression, both in traditional domains and in cyberspace, including by supporting the strengthening of Ukraine’s civilian cybersecurity capacity through the Tallinn Mechanism. More broadly, we will continue to discuss topics of mutual interest that were discussed during the Paris Conference on February 26, 2024,” the document, published on the Canadian government’s website, reads.
The declaration states that Canada and France have already trained tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers as part of Operation UNIFIER for Canada and the EU Military Assistance Mission in Support of Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine) for France. The armed forces of the two countries also continued to cooperate in training Ukrainian fighter pilots.
