Ukraine will begin its participation in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, before the official opening of the Games, with a football match against Iraq on July 24. The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris will open on Friday, July 26, and the competitions will last until August 11.
At the same time, on July 24, the Ukrainian Olympic team will make its debut at the Olympic football tournament. In particular, the first round group stage match between Ukraine and Iraq will start at 20:00 Kyiv time.
All matches of the national team will be broadcast on the platforms of Suspilne Sport, local TV channels of Suspilne and Radio Promin.
In addition, on July 24, a fan zone for the Olympic Games will open in Urban Park at VDNKh, where the competitions will also be broadcast.
As reported, the Summer Olympics in Paris will take place from July 26 to August 11. Ukrainian athletes have received 124 licenses to participate in the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
The Ukrainian national team of 140 athletes will be represented in 26 out of 32 disciplines: badminton, boxing, freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, breaking, weightlifting, cycling (mountain bike and road), rowing slalom, rowing, canoeing, artistic gymnastics rhythmic gymnastics, judo, track and field, artistic swimming, swimming, rock climbing, diving, archery, benchrest shooting, shooting, modern pentathlon, tennis, table tennis, fencing and football.
At the last Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics (which took place in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic), Ukraine took 44th place in the medal standings and became the 16th country in the ranking by the total number of medals won (1 gold, 6 silver and 12 bronze). At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Ukrainian athletes won 11 Olympic medals (2 gold, 4 silver and 5 bronze).
According to the Union of Poultry Breeders of Ukraine, in January-June 2024, Ukraine increased egg exports to 36.98 thousand tons. Including eggs in the shell, national producers exported 32.98 thousand tons for 33.711 million dollars.
At the same time, egg exports in the first half of 2023 amounted to 29.7 thousand tons. In particular, 25.737 thousand tons of shell eggs were exported for 34.745 million dollars.
The largest importers of Ukrainian eggs are EU countries, in particular Italy and Poland, as well as Singapore, the UAE and Israel.
Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) will receive almost EUR43 million under the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) program.
According to the company’s press service on Tuesday, the program’s coordinating committee approved the company’s project application on July 16.
“Ukraine continues its European integration path and has systematic support from the EU. Thus, for the second year in a row, the CEF has been allocating funds for the implementation of strategic infrastructure projects aimed at developing the European gauge in Ukraine, so that we can open new passenger routes and increase the country’s transit potential,” the statement quoted Yevhen Lyashchenko, Chairman of the Board of UZ, as saying.
It is noted that the EUR42.95 million provided under the CEF mechanism will be used to implement a project to improve the railway network and build a 1435 mm gauge to ensure technological compatibility and increase the capacity of the railway infrastructure.
The total project budget is EUR85.91 million.
A feature of the CEF program is co-financing for project implementation in the amount of 50%. The Ukrainian side must provide a similar amount.
UZ clarified that within the framework of the project to improve the railway network and develop a 1435 mm gauge, it is planned to design the reconstruction of railway facilities with the introduction of a 1435 mm gauge on the Chop-Lviv section, as well as design the reconstruction of railway facilities with the construction of a 1435 mm gauge and electrification on the Lviv-Chernivtsi-Vadul-Siret-state border section.
It is also planned to develop a strategy for the reconstruction of the Lviv railway junction, taking into account the prospects for expanding the 1435 mm gauge railway network of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) in Ukraine; design and construction of a 1435 mm gauge with electrification on the Pavlovo-2/Mativtse-Uzhhorod section and electrification of the 1435 mm gauge on the Chop-Uzhhorod section.
The costs of the TSI compliance examination of the above projects, as well as the Kovel-Yahodyn – state border and Medyka/Mostiska II – Lviv (Sknyliv) sections are provided for, UZ said.
The CEF (Connecting Europe Facility) is a European Union fund established in 2014 to invest in transport, energy, digital and telecommunications projects. It is the main instrument for financing the development of TEN-T.
Earlier it was reported that Ukraine would receive a grant of EUR 53 million for the implementation of four projects under the CEF program.
The European Business Association (EBA), the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine (AmCham) and the Association of Tobacco Manufacturers “Ukrtobacco” have appealed to the Verkhovna Rada to support in the second reading the draft law No. 11090 on increasing the excise tax on tobacco products as proposed by the Cabinet of Ministers.
“It is necessary to provide for the EU’s approach to determining a single euro to hryvnia exchange rate throughout the year (as of October 1 of the previous year for the entire next year) in order to ensure business planning for enterprises that are the largest taxpayers in Ukraine, which, according to the official opinion to the draft law and relevant letters, is insisted on by both the Rada Committee on Ukraine’s Integration into the EU and the Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of the Cabinet of Ministers,” the second version of the draft law reads on the EBA website.
The associations are confident that the initiatives of some Ukrainian MPs to introduce conceptual changes to the decision already adopted in the first reading to change the excise tax rates on tobacco products pose significant risks to the State Budget of Ukraine. These proposals could provoke a galloping growth of the illegal cigarette market, which has been reduced with extraordinary efforts for several months, taking into account the recommendations of the G7 countries and the leadership of the Chairman of the Parliamentary Financial Committee Danylo Hetmantsev.
The most critical and risky initiatives, according to the member companies, are the proposals to establish an ad valorem excise tax on tobacco products at 25% and to compare the tax rate for cigarettes and electrically heated tobacco products (EHT).
It is emphasized that such an initiative does not comply with the European approach and the practice of EU member states.
“Please take into account the position of the united business community when making the final decision on the revision of excise tax rates on tobacco products as part of the further consideration and adoption of Draft Law 11090,” the association summarized.
Earlier, the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs (UUE) and the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC) called for the adoption of the draft law on tobacco excise taxes in the version of the Cabinet of Ministers.
As reported, on June 4, the Verkhovna Rada supported in the first reading and adopted as a basis the draft law No. 11090 on increasing the excise tax on tobacco products.
The draft law provides for the conversion of excise tax rates on tobacco products from hryvnia to euros, reaching the EU minimum excise tax level on cigarettes (EUR90 per 1000 cigarettes) through a gradual increase in specific excise tax rates by 2028, returning to the differentiation of excise tax on HTPs and cigarettes, and introducing a special mechanism for calculating excise tax on tobacco products based on the exchange rate.
According to the estimates of the Ministry of Finance described in the draft Budget Declaration, this will increase state budget revenues by UAH 0.6 billion in 2025, by UAH 5 billion in 2026, by UAH 9.4 billion in 2027 and by UAH 13.9 billion in 2028.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has set Tuesday, September 2, as the start of the new 2024/2025 school year in general secondary schools, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
“Today, by a separate resolution, we are determining the start of the new school year in general secondary schools on Monday, September 2. And its completion on June 30, 2025,” Shmyhal said at a government meeting on Tuesday.
In this regard, regional administrations have been instructed to ensure the organization of the process depending on the security situation in a particular territory.
At the same time, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine reminded that within the limits of the school year approved by the government, the pedagogical council of the educational institution determines the structure and duration of the school year, school week, school day, classes, rest between them, and forms of organization of the educational process. “In determining this, it takes into account the time provided for by the educational program, the amount of academic workload in the curriculum and age-related features, physical, mental and intellectual development of children, and the peculiarities of the region,” the statement says.
It is noted that the duration of vacations in educational institutions cannot be less than 30 calendar days.
“Therefore, an educational institution can independently determine the structure of the school year and the forms of organization of the educational process. In particular, taking into account the extent to which studying in wartime affected the mental state and intellectual development of students, whether they have educational losses, what is the security and energy situation,” the ministry said.
In June this year, Ukrainian steelmakers increased steel production to 735 thousand tons, up 68.4% year-on-year (436 thousand tons), but down 0.4% from the previous month, when they produced 738 thousand tons.
At the same time, Ukraine took 20th place in the ranking of 71 countries that are global producers of this product, compiled by the World Steel Association (Worldsteel).
The top ten steel-producing countries in June are as follows: China (91.610 million tons, up 0.2% by June 2023), India (12.258 million tons, up 6%), Japan (7.022 million tons, down 4.2%), USA (6.659 million tons, minus 1.5%), Russian Federation (6.030 million tons, down 4.1%), South Korea (5.132 million tons, down 7.2%), Germany (3.187 million tons, up 8.9%), Turkey (3.071 million tons, up 4.3%), Brazil (2.874 million tons, up 11.8%) and Iran (2.612 million tons, down 8.5%).
In total, in June 2024, steel production increased by 0.5% compared to the same period in 2023 to 161.399 million tons.
In January-June 2014, the top ten steel producing countries were as follows: China (530.570 million tons, down 1.1% compared to January-June 2023), India (74.184 million tons, up 7.4%), Japan (42.696 million tons, down 2.6%), the United States (39.960 million tons, down 2.4%), and the Russian Federation (36.815 million tons, down 3%), South Korea (31.526 million tons, down 6.4%), Germany (19.360 million tons, up 4.5%), Turkey (18.615 million tons, up 16.9%), Iran (16.647 million tons, up 5.9%) and Brazil (16.433 million tons, up 2.4%).
