Initial registrations of electric vehicles (new and used) in Ukraine in 2020 decreased by 1% (or 87 units) compared to 2019, to 7,455 units, including 91.3% used cars (6,803), according to the Ukrautoprom association.
According to the data on its website, 7,095 passenger cars (of which only 9% are new), 359 commercial vehicles (3% new) and one electric bus (manufactured in 2019) were registered over the year.
At the same time, the average age of the used electric registered passenger cars was five years last year, of commercial vehicles seven years.
Thus, compared to 2019, the registration of used cars in 2020 decreased by 2% (by 135 cars), and new ones increased by 8% (or by 48 cars).
The most popular electric vehicle in Ukraine remains Nissan Leaf with 2,180 registrations, the second place is taken by Tesla Model 3 (some 865 cars), and the third by Tesla Model S (753 cars). The fourth position is taken by Chevrolet Bolt with 474 registrations, and the Tesla Model X closes the top five most popular zero-emission vehicles with 366 registrations per year.
The best result for new electric vehicle sales was shown by Audi E-Tron, which was chosen by 122 buyers.
The commercial electric vehicle market was dominated by Renault Kangoo Z.E. with 304 registrations, including only seven new ones.
The association also said that in December 2020, the Ukrainian vehicle fleet was replenished with 632 electric vehicles, which is 8% more than a year earlier, including 598 cars (more by 7% compared to December 2019) and 34 commercial (more by 36%).
The share of used cars in December last year in the passenger segment was 86%, in the commercial segment 97%.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved the Concept of the national target scientific and technical space program of Ukraine for 2021-2025. The relevant decision was made at the Wednesday government meeting.
“Finally, the situation in the industry will get off the ground, because the last few years it has actually been in a frozen state, not understanding either its priorities or the conditions for development. The next important and urgent step is the adoption of the National target scientific and technical space programs of Ukraine for 2021-2025,” Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Strategic Industries of Ukraine Oleh Urusky said.
He said this concept was developed by the Ministry of Strategic Industry along with the State Space Agency. Its purpose is to expand the use of space potential, increase influence on the development of society, ensure the implementation of the interests of the government in the defense and national security sectors. The concept also defines the key problems of scientific and technological development of space activities, ways of solving them and expected results.
According to the explanatory note to the draft concept, the estimated amount of funding for the implementation of the program is approximately UAH 30 billion, including about UAH 15 billion from the national budget.
Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko, during the adoption of this document, made a remark that the implementation of this program should be carried out within the budget assignments.
It is expected that the implementation of the program will lead to the following results: access to the most modern information technologies (Earth remote sensing systems, coordinate-time and navigation systems) will be extended for the citizens of Ukraine; increased security will be ensured (through the use of space information to ensure national security in the military, political, economic, social, environmental, scientific and technical, information spheres); workers in the space industry will be provided with stable orders, prestigious and highly paid jobs; workers in agriculture, forestry in other sectors of the economy will have the opportunity to rational land use using space images; young people will have the opportunity to take the first steps in science and technology, to establish creative ties with peers from abroad in the process of implementing scientific and educational space projects.
PrJSC Dniprovsky Metallurgical Plant (DMZ, formerly Evraz-DMZ), part of DCH Steel from DCH Group of businessman Oleksandr Yaroslavsky, reduced the output of finished rolled products by 68.4% in 2020 compared to the previous year, to about 140,000 tonnes due to downtime as a consequence of repairs from the end of October 2019 to May 2020.
As the company told Interfax-Ukraine, in December the plant produced 20,000 tonnes of rolled metal, while in August-November it produced 22,000 tonnes per month.
Steel production in 2020 was reduced by 66%, to 175,000 tonnes (in December 28,000 tonnes), and cast iron by 67.3%, to 160,000 tonnes (25,000 tonnes).
The plant specializes in production of steel, cast iron, rolled products and products from them. Since 2016, investments in environmental programs amounted to UAH 350 million.
Ukraine is a strategic partner for the Republic of Moldova, and maintaining constant and pragmatic cooperation with Ukraine is an important task for Moldova, said Moldovan President Maia Sandu during her official visit to Ukraine.
“I am glad to be in Kyiv as President to restore friendship between our countries at the highest level. In recent years, the Moldovan-Ukrainian dialogue at the level of heads of state has been virtually suspended. I confirm that Ukraine is a strategic partner for the Republic of Moldova, and maintaining constant and pragmatic cooperation with Ukraine is an important task for the Republic of Moldova and for the President,” Maia Sandu said at a press conference following talks with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Tuesday.
She stressed that during today’s talks, the parties had agreed to bring relations between the two countries to another level – strategic partnership.
“Today we are taking an important step towards the establishment of these strategic relations. We decided to create the Council of Presidents of the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine as a new permanent format of cooperation at a high level,” Sandu said.
According to the Moldovan President, this mechanism of constant interaction will help in the development of policies and strategies, and will contribute to solving problems on the bilateral agenda, as well as to monitor the implementation of the agreed agreements.
“During the meeting, we reaffirmed our joint desire to intensify the implementation of the European integration program by our countries. This path is a strategic option for the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, and a reliable way of developing a functional state with a modern market economy in the interests of citizens,” she stressed.
Sandu added that the heads of state also spoke in favor of strengthening the Moldovan-Ukrainian partnership with the Eastern Partnership, in particular within the framework of the summit of this initiative, which will be held this year.
“We paid special attention to the issues of Moldovan-Ukrainian relations, which for a long time remained unresolved. We agreed to intensify efforts and identify mutually beneficial solutions to existing problems. In this context, we agreed to resume dialogue through the specialized institutions of our countries, including the continuation of the activities of working groups and bilateral sectoral commissions on current issues,” she explained.
Sandu noted that the presidents discussed the need to find solutions in the interests of citizens of both countries in such key areas as ensuring security on the joint state border, ensuring environmental protection, cooperation in the energy sector, regulation in accordance with international law and in the interests of both countries related to the mutual recognition of property rights, the constant and balanced development of bilateral trade, the liberalization of international transport between countries and the problems associated with the operation of the Dniester hydropower complex.
“Taking into account that the waters of the Dniester River provide life to more than 7 million people who live in the basin of this river both in the Republic of Moldova and in Ukraine, it is very important to continue the dialogue between our countries to ensure the protection and sustainable use of the Dniester River, so that its water serve both our generation and future generations,” the head of state believes.
She and Zelensky also agreed to expedite the search for a sustainable solution to ensure mutual travel based on ID cards, which would benefit the citizens of both countries, she said.
Sandu noted that one of the projects discussed during the meeting concerns the development of road infrastructure on the Chisinau-Soroca-Yampil-Kyiv highway.
“This will create an automobile transport corridor that will reduce trip time between Chisinau and Kyiv, and may become the fastest route from the central region of Ukraine to the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe,” she said.
The President of Moldova started her speech in Ukrainian. She also thanked Zelensky for the invitation to make this visit.
Accrued insurance premiums under Green Card international insurance contracts concluded by the member companies of the Motor (Transport) Insurance Bureau of Ukraine (MTIBU) in January-November 2020 decreased by 28.65% compared to the same period in 2019, to UAH 1.099 billion.
As the MTIBU reported on the website, the number of Green Card contracts concluded during this period fell by 44.9%, to 554,194.
At the same time, the amount of compensations paid on claims grew by 12.14%, to EUR 15.323 million, while the number of claims paid by 4.4%, to 15,323.
The MTIBU is the only association of insurers that provide compulsory insurance of civil liability of land vehicle owners for damage caused to third parties.
The net international reserves of Ukraine as of January 1 amounted to $ 18.1 billion, which is 19% more than at the beginning of December 2020 ($ 15.2 billion), Head of the Council of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Bohdan Danylyshyn has said.
“The net forex reserves of the NBU [excluding the debt to the IMF] as of January 1, 2021 amounted to $ 18.1 billion and are sufficient to cover payments by the public sector and the National Bank on external debt to non-residents, which in 2021 will amount to about $ 7.2 billion,” he said on Facebook.
Danylyshyn added that of the external debt to non-residents, about $ 2 billion should be paid by the government on eurobonds in September 2021, as well as to cover the current account deficit, which, according to the NBU forecast, is expected at $ 3.5 billion in 2021.
According to him, the volume of planned payments of the state in favor of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2021 is about $ 1.6 billion, including $ 1.36 billion for the repayment of the principal amount of the debt and $ 260 million for interest payments.
“The need to refinance Ukraine’s debt to the IMF requires the parties to fulfill their obligations under the current Stand-By Arrangement, which will allow Ukraine to attract IMF financing in the amount of about $ 2.9 billion,” he said.
He added that taking into account payments on the debt of banking and corporate sectors, as well as inter-company debt, the total volume of payments from Ukraine in favor of non-residents in 2021 will be about $ 15.5 billion.
As reported, the international reserves of Ukraine in 2020 increased by 15% and amounted to $ 29.1 billion as of January 1, 2021.
