Avtostrada Group of Companies has been recognized as the winner of the procurement procedure for the construction of the metro in Vynohradar, its founder Maxim Shkil said.
“We will start work without advances, at the expense of our own working capital. For us, the decision to enter the metro construction market is strategic, the company has been preparing for this for 3 years,” Shkil wrote on Facebook.
According to the public procurement platform Prozorro, the winner of the tender was determined on July 12 with a price of UAH 13 billion 785 million, which is slightly lower than the stated expected cost of the purchase of UAH 13 billion 956 million 843 thousand 711.13. The decision can be appealed until July 18.
The terms of the procurement stipulate the completion of construction (5th and 6th launch complex) of the Syretsko-Pecherska subway line to the Vynohradar residential area by December 30, 2026.
Shkil said that before the start of work, a detailed analysis of the status of work performed by previous contractors is required. Next, it is necessary to compare the actual amount of work performed and those that should be performed in accordance with the existing design solutions. After that, it is necessary to adjust the project in terms of the scope, type of work, and cost.
“For this purpose, Avtostrada has its own design institute with a separate underground construction unit, where employees have considerable experience in metro design. Accordingly, we will start this stage of work immediately,” said the founder of the group of companies.
In parallel with the documentary work, it is planned to start the construction of the metro to Vynohradar in the coming months.
He noted that there are difficulties with organizing the construction process at the highest possible pace, i.e. nine construction sites with round-the-clock operation.
“In today’s realities, it is impossible to ensure such an approach from the very first days, as the subway construction industry has been practically lost over the past ten years. From the very first days, Avtostrada will engage its employees, and in parallel, to reach the maximum construction schedule, we will recruit and train personnel, which will actually revive the metro construction industry,” said Shkil.
According to him, a significant factor that will affect the pace of construction is timely funding from the state for the work.
“We set ourselves the task of reaching the full pace of work around the clock in all construction sites in 2025, provided that we have adequate funding. In total, we plan to employ more than 4000 people. The total investment in this project will be more than $50 million. Next month, the company plans to contract the necessary equipment for the construction of the subway for more than $30 million. In addition, to avoid construction interruptions, we are counting on loans and our own working capital of up to UAH 1 billion. – These funds will be used in case the customer has a delay in financing. This will allow us to cover short cash gaps and continue to operate,” Shkil said.
As reported, on May 13, Kyiv Metro announced a tender for the continuation of the construction of the Syretsko-Pecherska line towards the Vynohradar residential area with a total cost of UAH 13,956 million.
In December 2023, Kyiv Metro terminated the contract with Kyivmetrobud JSC in court due to unsatisfactory terms of construction works performed by the contractor. The claim also seeks to recover a portion of the prepayment, the use of which was not confirmed by the relevant acts of completion. As of May 2024, the facility has constructed a right distillation tunnel with a length of almost 1,250 meters from Mostytska station to Syrets station, and completed the construction of the main structures of the distillation ventilation unit. Also, the wall-in-soil method of enclosing structures, monolithic and reinforced concrete support of the pit with metal structures – with excavation and removal of soil – were partially installed; the main structures of the combined traction substation were built; two-tier tunnels were partially constructed, etc.
The heatwave in Ukraine will not have a major impact on the harvest of early crops, but we can no longer count on high yields of late oilseeds, including corn and soybeans, said Taras Vysotsky, acting Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, during the Unified National Telethon.
He reminded that there are two types of crops grown in Ukraine – early and late. The harvest of early crops is already underway. We are talking about wheat and barley, as well as oats, peas, rye, and rapeseed.
“These crops are also subject to the heat effect, but it is not critical. They are even favorable for harvesting,” the acting minister said.
According to him, the average yield of early grain crops is 37 centners per hectare. However, it will grow as the harvest continues in the southern and central regions. In particular, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, and Dnipro regions have already harvested more than 1 million tons each. Next, the western and northern regions will start harvesting, where yields will be higher.
As of today, the average yield of early crops is expected to be around 45-48 cwt/ha, Vysotsky emphasized.
“If we look at the later crops, which are primarily corn, sunflower and soybeans, there may be a negative effect of the heat, as it is the peak of flowering, pollination and growth of these crops. It all depends on the weather in the coming weeks. But as of today (it can be stated – IF-U), the current heat will not allow us to collect record figures for corn and sunflower,” said the acting Minister.
Vysotsky said that the production of early grains is expected to reach 27 million tons. The domestic consumption of this group of crops is about 6-8-9 million tons, which is three times higher than the domestic demand. Therefore, there will be no grain shortage in the country, and no sharp price fluctuations are expected.
At the same time, he said, the situation may change in the fall. In August, after the early grain harvest is completed, the situation with other crops will become clear.
“As of today, the price change is expected to be more at the level of inflation or devaluation, because these (crops – IF-U) are export-oriented goods. They are also tied to the hryvnia exchange rate. No sharp price changes are expected based on this levy (of early grain crops – IF-U),” the acting minister stated. He added: “The final forecast for the crop harvest will be made in the second half of August.”
Partner banks of the state program of affordable mortgages “eHouse” have accredited 47 developers since the beginning of the year, bringing the total number of accredited developers to 67, the press service of PrJSC Ukrainian Financial Housing Company (Ukrfinzhytlo) reports.
According to the report, 11 developers joined the program in June. As a result, Ukrainians can now purchase housing under the program in 77 residential complexes in 15 regions of Ukraine.
Since the start of the eHouse program, Ukrainians have purchased 3,242 first-sale apartments, including 388 in newly constructed facilities.
The eHouse affordable mortgage lending program was launched in Ukraine in October 2022. Contract servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, employees of the security and defense sector, healthcare workers, teachers, and researchers can apply for a preferential mortgage at 3% per annum for up to 20 years with a down payment of 20% of the cost of housing.
Starting from August 1, 2023, war veterans, combatants, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and citizens who do not have their own housing larger than the standard area can apply for the eHouse program at a 7% discount.
Under the terms of the program, privileged categories of participants can purchase housing in a house under construction and houses not older than 10 years (in the capital and regional centers), while other participants can purchase housing in a house not older than three years or in a building under construction.
Ten partner banks participate in the program: state-owned Oschadbank, PrivatBank, Ukrgasbank, Ukreximbank, Sens Bank, as well as Globus Bank, Sky Bank and Credit Dnipro Bank, MTB Bank and TAScombank.
According to Ukrfinzhytl, as of July 12, loans were issued to 11,426 participants for UAH 18.1 billion.
Three phases of power cuts will be in effect in Ukraine on Monday from 00:00 to 16:00, with four phases simultaneously at other times.
“Tomorrow, on July 15, consumption restrictions will be in effect throughout the day. From 16:00 to 24:00, regional power distribution companies will apply four simultaneous cut-offs. At other times, three stages of blackouts will be in effect,” NPC Ukrenergo said in its telegram channel.
As the NPC explained in its social media, consumers in each region that are not included in the list of critical infrastructure facilities are divided into 6 queues or groups. The application of restrictions to three queues means that about half of the consumers will not have electricity at the same time. Four queues mean that up to 70% of consumers in each region will be cut off at the same time for a certain period. Information on the schedules of outages in each region should be found on the websites of regional power distribution companies or on their social media pages.
For his part, YASNO CEO Serhiy Kovalenko explained: “When the NPC gives a limit of one or two stages, there will be light in the light gray zones (“possible outage”), if the limit is three stages, then there may be no light in one of the stages in the light gray zones for 1-2 hours. During subsequent outages in the light gray slots, there will be no electricity in the other queue. When the limit is four queues, there will be no electricity throughout the entire light gray zone,” he wrote on Facebook.
In the first half of 2024, 283 organ transplants were performed in 24 Ukrainian transplant centers, the Ukrainian Center for Transplant Coordination (UCTC) reported on its Facebook page.
The report specifies that, in particular, 187 kidney transplants, 55 liver transplants, and 41 heart transplants were performed during this period. At the same time, 67% of transplants were performed using organs from posthumous donors.
Most of the transplants were performed by doctors at the First Medical Association of Lviv, the Shalimov National Center for Surgery and Transplantation, and the Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health.
The largest number of brain deaths were diagnosed in medical institutions in Kyiv (20), Lviv (11) and Vinnytsia (5).
According to the UCTC, there are currently 3212 patients on the national waiting list, 2077 of whom need kidney transplants, 523 need liver transplants, 507 need heart transplants, and 41 need lung transplants.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said during a meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Shannon Airport (Ireland) on Saturday that he had accepted an official invitation from the latter to visit Ukraine and hoped to make the visit in the coming weeks, The Irish Times reports.
During a brief conversation with journalists at the airport, Harris said he had a very good meeting with President Zelensky. “I’m very pleased to welcome him to Ireland,” he said, adding that “it gave me the opportunity to express the condolences of the people of Ireland to the people of Ukraine, to the President of Ukraine, for the loss of life during this brutal and illegal Russian war.”
The Irish prime minister also said he was “absolutely horrified” that Russia was abducting Ukrainian children. “I don’t believe the world knows enough about this… Russia is actively stealing children from Ukraine – taking young babies and children from their parents and taking them to the temporarily occupied territories or to Russia.”
Asked whether he and Zelensky had talked about the fact that the Irish government had recently cut child support payments to Ukrainian refugees living in the country, Harris said that the issue had not been raised.
“If that question had come up, I would have simply emphasized that it is very important to move from an emergency response to a more sustainable model,” he said, adding that “we have made the changes because we want to be able to continue to support those who need our support for as long as it takes. I think that from any fair and objective point of view, the changes we have made go a long way towards bringing Ireland in line with the best practice of other European countries.”
In addition, he noted that “everyone wants to achieve a situation where the war is over and the people of Ukraine can return home.” “The people of Ukraine will be welcomed here and will be accepted for as long as it takes,” Harris said.
He also added: “We want Ukraine to become a member of the EU, and if that happens, people from Ukraine will have the same freedom of movement as any other EU citizen.”
