Ukraine will receive €22.6 million from European partners to ensure nuclear safety, improve radiation protection, and manage radioactive waste, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources.
The relevant draft agreement on the 2024/2025 contribution was approved during a meeting of the Supervisory Board for the Implementation of the Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation in Ukraine. The meeting was held on Friday by Minister Svitlana Grynychuk together with Jan Pane, Director for Nuclear Energy, Safety and ITER at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy, and Inte Stockmann, Head of the Nuclear Safety Sector at the European Commission’s DG INTPE.
The agreed contribution agreement provides for the financing of a number of projects that are important for Ukraine. These include: ensuring backup power supply for the uninterrupted operation of radioactive waste management facilities, as well as the construction of the necessary infrastructure for the proper disposal of radioactive waste; the creation of an early warning system for forest fires in the exclusion zone; equipping a modern analytical laboratory for the analysis of radioactive materials in Chernobyl; restoring the functioning of the automated radiation monitoring system in the exclusion zone damaged by Russia during the occupation of the Chernobyl NPP.
In addition, there are plans to create a national integrated automated radiation monitoring system for the entire territory of Ukraine and integrate it with the European Radiological Data Exchange Platform (EURDEP), the European Community Urgent Radiological Information Exchange System (ECURIE), the International Radiation Monitoring Information System (IRMIS) managed by the IAEA; providing personnel of enterprises in the exclusion zone with adequate modern transportation and accommodation in the exclusion zone, as well as personal protective equipment and decontamination facilities in emergency situations.
Attention will also be paid to harmonizing Ukrainian legislation with Euratom standards as one of the conditions for Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
All measures are planned to be implemented over a period of five years.
In January-March 2025, DTEK Energy invested about UAH 1.2 billion in repairs and restoration of thermal power plants that suffered from massive enemy shelling.
“This is a third of the total investment in the restoration of TPPs over the past year,” the company said in a press release.
DTEK noted that the repair campaign is ongoing as the level of damage caused by the aggressor’s attacks remains extremely high.
As reported, as of the summer of 2024, 90% of the company’s thermal generation was damaged or destroyed. Although the power engineers managed to restore more than half of the capacity on the eve of winter, another massive shelling in November and December caused new serious damage.
“Our main task today is not to stop but to continue the reconstruction work. We are working hard to be ready for the summer peak loads and the upcoming heating season,” said DTEK Energy CEO Oleksandr Fomenko.
In 2024, the energy holding invested UAH 3.6 billion in the restoration of thermal power plants and another UAH 7.5 billion in the development of domestic coal mining.
Last year, the Russian Federation launched 13 massive attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector, dealing a serious blow, in particular, to DTEK Energy’s thermal power plants. In total, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the company’s TPPs have been attacked 205 times. As a result of the attacks, 56 power engineers were wounded and four were killed.
“DTEK Energy provides a closed cycle of electricity generation from coal. As of January 2022, the pre-war installed capacity in thermal power generation was 13.3 GW. The company has established a full production cycle in coal mining: coal mining and enrichment, mechanical engineering and maintenance of mine equipment.
Over 1.7 thousand people have already been added to the list in the first two months of 2025
Almost 13 thousand people have been included in the Register of Problem Gamblers as of early March, according to the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (CRGL). Over the past year, the number of problem gamblers on the list has increased 3 times. Almost 1.5 thousand more people were removed from the list due to the expiration of the restriction period. Overall, last year, on average, 780 new people were added to the Register every month.
12,807 Ukrainians are currently on the Register of Gambling Problems. The list has increased 3 times over the year. Over the past year, the Register was replenished by 9,389 people, and 1,496 were excluded due to the expiration of the restriction period.
In total, 14,979 people have been added to the Register since its inception, of whom 2,172 have already been removed.
99% of all entries in the Register are voluntary applications. People apply for self-restriction themselves to deny themselves access to gambling facilities and participation in gambling for a certain period of time. The term of such restriction is from six months to three years.
Only 1% are people who have their access restricted by a decision of the CRGL. There have been 169 such decisions since the registry was created. Almost all of them took place last year – 140 decisions. But not a single person has been included in the Register by a court decision.
“It is indeed easier to apply for self-restriction than to submit a third party to the registry. Moreover, people are becoming more aware of this possibility. Accordingly, the number of people in the register is growing. So our goal is to give people the most convenient tool for self-restraint and to promote its use,” comments Hennadii Novikov, head of the state agency PlayCity.
This year, the Cabinet of Ministers liquidated KRAIL and created the state agency PlayCity instead. Now, this agency will be responsible for regulating the gambling and lottery market and maintaining the Register of problem gamblers.
On average, 780 people were included in the register every month last year, which is 2.8 times more than in 2023, when the list was updated by about 280 people per month. The highest number of applications for self-restriction was received in April – 1,041, and the lowest in June – 524.
In the first two months of 2025, 1,719 people have already been added to the Register, which is an average of 860 per month, which is 10% more than in 2024.
It is worth noting that Ukraine currently has no clear statistics on the actual number of citizens with gambling addiction, and the figures from the relevant register do not reflect the full picture – in particular, people who play in online casinos.
The head of the newly created agency, Gennadiy Novikov, believes that the existing register fulfills its function – it consolidates information about people who are restricted from participating in gambling so that gambling organizers can verify a person and, if necessary, prevent them from playing. At the same time, it is important to understand that this registry is in a trial mode and does not have all the necessary functionality that needs to be implemented for the convenience of citizens and the market.
“We plan to create a full-fledged product on the Diia.Engine platform. The new registry will meet all the requirements of the legislation on personal data protection and other aspects, as well as contain additional functionality for gambling organizers.
The process of applying for a person to be included in the registry will be automated and much more convenient. A person will be able to add themselves to the register in a few clicks to restrict access to the game,” comments Gennadiy Novikov, Head of PlayCity.
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/play-city-ludomania
On April 24, 2025, the Government of Albania officially suspended the agreement on mutual visa waiver with the Republic of Belarus signed in February 2020. This decision cancels the partial suspension introduced in May 2024, which applied only to diplomatic passports. Now Belarusian citizens are required to obtain a visa to enter Albania.
Earlier, in May 2024, Albania partially suspended the agreement, limiting visa-free entry for holders of diplomatic and service passports. The current measure completely abolishes the visa-free regime for all categories of Belarusian citizens.
The decision takes effect immediately and is published in the official gazette of Albania.
Source: https://t.me/relocationrs/881
Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk and British professional boxer Daniel DuBois will hold a heavyweight championship rematch on July 19 at Wembley Stadium in London, The Ring reports.
“Oleksandr Usyk’s rematch with Daniel DuBois for the Ring magazine world title and undisputed heavyweight champion of the world will now take place a week later – on July 19 at Wembley Stadium in London. The fight was originally scheduled for July 12,” the statement reads.
The reasons for the postponement of the fight are not reported.
As reported, in August 2023, Usyk defeated Dubois by technical knockout in the ninth round and retained the titles of the world’s leading boxing organizations.
Astarta Agro Holding, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, increased its net profit by 34.5% in 2024 compared to 2023 to EUR83.25 million, according to the company’s report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
According to the report, consolidated revenue last year decreased by 1.1% to EUR612.15 million, while gross profit increased by 5.3% to EUR235.53 million and EBITDA by 9.6% to $159.35 million.
In hryvnia terms, Astarta’s revenue last year increased by 8.5% to UAH 26.531 billion, while net profit grew by 48.1% to UAH 3.634 billion.
It is noted that stable sea exports provided higher sugar sales compared to the previous year, partially offsetting the lower harvest of grains and oilseeds. Export sales of EUR395 mln accounted for 66% of consolidated revenue in 2024 compared to 53% in 2023.
The agriculture segment generated 34% of consolidated revenue or EUR209 mln in 2024 (-13% year-on-year). The main contribution was made by the sugar production segment with sales of EUR229 mln (+15% yoy), which accounted for 37% of total revenue in the reporting period. The soybean processing segment accounted for 17% of Astarta’s revenue or EUR106 million (-13% yoy). The livestock segment increased its sales by 25% yoy to EUR53 mln, accounting for 9% of total revenue in 2024.
The company attributed the increase in gross profit to a 35% or EUR 78 million increase in the fair value of biological assets and agricultural products, reflecting higher commodity prices.
Taking into account the data for the first nine months, Astarta’s financial performance in the fourth quarter of 2024 was slightly worse than in the fourth quarter of 2023.
It is also noted that operating cash flow increased in 2024 by 83% yoy to EUR167 million amid active inventory sales.
According to the report, investment cash flow increased by 30% to EUR52 million last year. The main investments were made to expand the fleet of beet harvesters, build a sugar silo and the production capacity of the soybean processing plant.
It is emphasized that Astarta’s net financial debt (excluding lease obligations) has turned into a positive cash position of EUR 21 million against EUR 39 million of debt in 2023.
As reported, in the first nine months of 2024, Astarta increased its net profit by 35.1% compared to the same period in 2023 to EUR75.60 million. The agricultural holding’s revenue increased by 12.6% to EUR441.46 million, and EBITDA by 12.8% to $131.56 million.
In 2023, the agricultural holding reduced its net profit by 5.0% to EUR61.9 million, and its EBITDA decreased by 6.1% to EUR145.77 million, while revenue increased by 21.3% to EUR618.93 million.
“Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding company operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes six sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 220 thousand hectares and dairy farms with 22 thousand cattle, an oil extraction plant in Globyno (Poltava region), seven elevators and a biogas complex.
