The Government of Latvia has approved the allocation of EUR 100 thousand to finance the operation of Ukrainian medical institutions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia reports.
“On July 16, 2024, the government approved a bill submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the allocation of financial resources from the State Budget Program “Reserve Fund”, which aims to provide funding in the amount of 100,000 euros for Latvia’s support to the functioning of Ukrainian medical institutions in wartime. By this order of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is authorized to make a contribution on behalf of Latvia to support the work of Ukrainian medical institutions,” the statement said.
It is noted that the funds will be used to reconstruct medical facilities and supply medical equipment, their operation and treatment of patients. The payment will be made through a single responsible UN agency, such as the World Health Organization or the UN Office for Project Services, or through the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
“The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Latvia, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and embassies, is collecting information on urgently needed medicines, medical devices and equipment, and work is underway to organize the next shipment of donations to Ukrainian medical institutions,” the Foreign Ministry said.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Latvia has been providing Ukraine with medical devices, medicines, ambulances and other medical equipment and materials.
On July 8, 2024, Russia launched a missile strike on Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital, Okhmatdyt, and the ISIDA Women’s Health and Family Planning Center. The strikes injured or killed several patients and doctors of both medical institutions. These attacks have seriously disrupted the operation of medical facilities and put additional strain on other Ukrainian hospitals.
In January-June 2024, Ukrainian ports increased their transshipment volume by 1.6 times, to 53 million tons, amid an increase in processing volumes in the Black Sea ports and a decrease in the Danube ports, the press service of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) reports.
“In total, in 6 months of 2024, Ukrainian ports transshipped 53 million tons compared to 31.2 million tons in 2023, 6,046 vessels were handled,” the statement said.
It is indicated that in June, the cargo turnover of ports amounted to 7 million tons, which is 1.5 times higher than in 2023. At the same time, about 80%, or 5.6 million tons, were shipped through the Ukrainian Sea Corridor. More than half of this volume – 3.6 million tons – was the production of Ukrainian farmers.
Grain cargo remains the leader in port transshipment. During the month, 4.4 million tons were transshipped, compared to 3.4 million tons in 2023, as well as ore cargo – 1.2 million tons, compared to 0.2 million tons in 2023.
“90% of foreign trade goes through the ports of the Danube and the ports of Greater Odesa. Today, Danube ports export 1.5-1.3 million tons. The reason is the de-blockade of Odesa ports and the seasonal decline in exports,” the statement quotes the head of the USPA, Yuriy Lytvyn, as saying.
According to the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, 2.79 million tons were exported through the ports of the Danube cluster in June 2023, and 2.98 million tons in July.
A number of countries in southern and central Europe are facing extremely hot weather, European media reported on Wednesday.
In particular, this situation is observed in Greece. In Athens, the Acropolis was closed to the public on Wednesday. The local authorities announced that they had made this decision to protect both employees and tourists from the heat. It is expected that during the day the air temperature in the capital will warm up to 43 degrees Celsius.
In addition, Greece has introduced an increased level of danger due to forest fires amid hot, dry weather. In some regions of the country, a ban has been imposed on construction work in the middle of the day, when temperatures reach peak levels.
In Italy, the day before, 12 cities, including Rome, declared the highest level of danger due to the heat. In recent days, four people have died in different parts of the country due to this weather. The country’s Ministry of Health recommended that citizens stay indoors and drink plenty of water if possible.
According to the forecast of the Spanish Meteorological Service, in the coming days in the south of the country, the air may warm up to 44 degrees Celsius.
In Romania, the air temperature in many areas has also been around 40 degrees Celsius in recent days.
Forest fires have started in different parts of Albania due to heat and wind.
Abnormally hot weather has also set in Turkey, where temperatures can reach 40 degrees Celsius. It is expected that this heat will remain in the country for another two days.
The presence of a military registration document when crossing the border is a mandatory condition for all male citizens of Ukraine aged 18 to 60, starting July 17, 2024, the State Border Guard Service (SBGS) has reminded.
“When crossing the border to leave, border guards check military registration documents of all male citizens of Ukraine aged 18 to 60. The document can be either paper or electronic,” the State Border Guard Service emphasizes.
It is noted that on July 16, the deadline established by the law of Ukraine expired, during which citizens of Ukraine had to register for military service or clarify their military registration data.
In the absence of a military registration document, border guards refuse to cross the state border to leave Ukraine.
Another reason for refusal will be the presence in the Unified State Register of Conscripts, Persons Liable for Military Service and Reservists of information about the person being put on the wanted list. In such cases, a police officer will be called to the place to carry out administrative detention of the person and bring him/her to the nearest territorial center of recruitment and social support (TSC and SS).
A separate mention is made of the category of men who have the right to cross the border due to deferment from conscription or exclusion from military registration for health reasons. Their military registration documents must contain information on the receipt of such a deferment or exclusion from military registration or a certificate in the form specified in Annex 6 of the Procedure for the Conscription of Citizens for Military Service during Mobilization, for a Special Period, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of May 16, 2024, No. 560.
The categories of persons who, in accordance with the Rules for Crossing the Border by Citizens of Ukraine, are allowed to leave Ukraine have not changed at this time.
A number of temperature records, including the temperature of water in the Dnipro River in Kyiv, were set on July 16, according to the Facebook page of the Borys Sreznevsky Central Geophysical Observatory.
“According to the observations of the Kyiv hydrological station of the Borys Sreznevsky Central Geophysical Observatory, on July 16, the maximum water temperature in the Dnipro reached 29.0°C and exceeded the previous maximum by 0.4°, which was recorded on July 22, 2010, and amounted to 28.6°C,” the post says.
The maximum daily air temperature in Kyiv on July 16 was also the highest on record for this date and amounted to 36.0°C, exceeding the previous record of 1931 by 0.2°C.
In addition, the maximum wind speed in the capital reached a record 21 m/s, which is 1 m/s more than the previous maximum recorded in 1964.
A number of daily temperature records were also set on July 16 at meteorological stations in the Kyiv region: in the district center of Vyshgorod, the town of Baryshivka in Brovary district, and at the Teteriv meteorological station in Piskivka, Bucha district.
“A new record was set at the Teteriv meteorological station. The maximum daily air temperature was +36.9°C. The previous record was set in 1951: +35.5°C,” the report says.
In Baryshivka, the maximum daily air temperature was recorded at +34.5°C, the previous record was set at +33.6°C in 2010.
At the United Hydrometeorological Station “Vyshgorod” on the night of July 16, the warmest minimum daily air temperature was recorded at +23.5°C, which is 0.1° higher than in 2010.
Over the past year, there has been a revival – the average rate of investment transactions in the Kyiv and regional markets is 15-20% due to liquid complex projects of developers who have not lost confidence during a full-scale war.
At the same time, the return of investors and the purchase of real estate for investment purposes are heavily influenced by the geopolitical situation, news, reports, and forecasts from the front line and shelling of cities.
For their own lives, people choose the comfort segment. The average cost per m2 in comfort-class new buildings is USD 1200-1500.
Investors are interested in the business segment, but only in projects with a cool concept, unique location and minimal competition.
For example, in the business class complex OLEGIV Podil by DIM, we see a very stable demand from investors who are interested in the location of the ancient Podil, the architecture, and our updated project concept in the art boutiqe format.
The usual format of business-class residential buildings at a cost of $2000-$3000 m2 is not popular among investors. In most cases, these are new buildings located in the Pecherskyi, Shevchenkivskyi, and Holosiivskyi districts. Today, there are a large number of apartments from owners on the secondary market who, for various reasons, get rid of them, sometimes giving a big discount, which creates a lot of competition with the primary market for developers.
Last year, investors did not even consider the premium segment for investment.
Now we can state the interest in premium real estate – the more expensive and unique the project, the more people buy it for early investment.
The closed pre-sale of the premium project The One by DIM exceeded all our expectations, and since the beginning of the year we have sold almost 30% of the apartments. This suggests that people are ready to invest even at the excavation stage in high-quality conceptual projects with innovative engineering solutions. Investors value exclusivity and are looking for investment opportunities. By the way, The One has the highest share of investment transactions, because for buyers of premium real estate it is definitely not the main place of residence, but rather 3-5-10 apartments that are bought for investment purposes.
The most popular apartments for investors are 1-2 bedroom apartments up to 60 m2. We have almost 70% of requests for these apartments, which indicates the interest of investors. However, I would like to note that we are talking about our unique location, where there will be no other similar projects.
In general, the share of investment transactions in DIM before the war was 50%.
Now the demand for apartments as an investment is quite restrained and amounts to 20%. People buy them mostly to save money from depreciation and to make money on resale in the future. There is also a small share of transactions for the purpose of renting out real estate.
The main criterion for an investment buyer is to find an object with the highest yield and minimum risks. The biggest risk of investing in residential real estate remains the risk of unfinished construction. Therefore, you need to pay attention to:
– real, not nominal, construction dynamics,
– the number of m2 commissioned during the war
– the developer’s plans in the long term: whether the company plans new projects, improves existing ones, monitors and implements new trends
– the developer’s publicity and fresh and relevant publications in the media, social networks, and website. Their presence indicates that the developer has long-term plans.
– sales pace. If sales are very slow and the discounts are suspiciously attractive, study the information about the property and the developer more carefully.
High investor interest is also demonstrated by high-quality suburban eco-clusters with a recreational component and a wide range of their own infrastructure.
For example, more than 20% of transactions in Park Lake City are made for investment purposes.
We would like to add that in difficult times, DIM, as a system developer with a quality product, always meets the buyer halfway. For example, we now have many financial instruments in place: an installment program of up to 5 years with a down payment of 20%; a program where the first year there are fixed minimum payments from $300 to $600 per month, depending on the selected apartment size; a program with flexible payment terms – the buyer makes a down payment of 30% before the completion of construction, and pays the remaining amount within two years after the object is ready; a trade-in program – you can exchange any property you own for a new one.
