The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, during the coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey laid the crown of St. Edward upon the head of King Charles III of Great Britain.
After the crown touched the monarch’s head, the guests of the ceremony followed the archbishop in shouting, “God save the king!” Gun salutes began throughout the kingdom.
Charles III will now be enthroned, after which the archbishop, clergy and Prince William of Wales will swear allegiance to him. Those present in the abbey will also be able to take the oath of allegiance to the king. British television viewers will also have the opportunity to do so, which has become an innovation.
Next will be the coronation of Queen Consort Camilla.
Charles III is the 40th reigning monarch to be crowned in Westminster Abbey since 1066.
Electricity exports, which resumed in April after being halted in October, totaled 89,700 MWh for the month, according to data on the website of the ENTSO-E network of continental European system operators.
Most of the electric power was exported to Moldova – over 40 thousand MWh, another 30.4 thousand MWh was supplied to Poland and 19.2 thousand MWh – to Slovakia.
For Moldova, traders have been gradually increasing their booked cross-section capacity for exports and in recent days have booked about 85-95% of the 650 MW of offered hourly capacity. The market claims that most of the electricity supplied to Moldova goes on to Romania.
On the whole, the biggest volumes were reserved by “ECU” (150 MW per hour), PrJSC “Ukrhydroenergo” (100 MW per hour), “D. Trading” (130 MW per hour), “Artlex Energy” and “Sipige Energy” (mostly 50 MW per hour). DE Trading, ERU Trading, EES, Kub Energy, Smart Grid Ukraine, NAP-Comunity, NAP-Comunity Trading, and Astat Energy also booked the section. Besides, on April 26, Centrenergo PJSC started exporting electricity, having booked 10-11 MW per hour.
DTEK Zakhidenergo exports electricity to Poland, traditionally at 1800 MWh per day, reserving for this purpose the maximum at this time of the cross section capacity – 75 MW per hour.
The section to Slovakia, the only one paid by traders because of the great interest and competition in this direction, was shared by DTEK Zakhidenergo, which bought up to 146 MW of its 200 MW hourly capacity, DE Trading (about 50 MW), ERU Trading, Le Trading Ukraine, TES and once state energy trader EKU, which bought 10 MW for one hour.
Ukraine’s international reserves as of May 1, 2023, according to preliminary data, amounted to $35 billion 943.2 million, reaching a record high level for the last 11 years (since August 2011), the National Bank of Ukraine said.
“In April, reserves increased by 13% (by $4.065 billion) due to receipts from international partners amid a further decline in the net sale of currency by the National Bank and moderate debt payments of the country in foreign currency,” the central bank pointed out.
He specified that $5.852 billion arrived at the foreign currency accounts of the government at the National Bank in April, including $2.707 billion – within the framework of a new program of expanded funding by the IMF, $1.653 billion – macrofinancial assistance from the EU, $1.25 billion – a grant from the U.S. (through a World Bank trust fund) and $0.243 billion – from placement of foreign currency bonds of internal government bonds (IOB).
According to Interfax-Ukraine, the influx of foreign aid in April was the largest since the start of the war.
Also, the Ukrainian government paid $446.0 million for servicing and repayment of public debt in foreign currency, of which $282.7 million was for servicing and repayment of foreign currency OVGZ, $113.1 million was debt to the World Bank, the rest was debt to other international creditors. In addition, Ukraine paid $107.4m to the International Monetary Fund.
The NBU added that its net sale of currency in April declined for the fourth month in a row, decreasing compared to March by $0.299 billion – to $1.370 billion.
“Such dynamics in April is due to both industry factors (reduction of energy imports, increased sales of currency for the sowing season, a certain activation of mining and metallurgical enterprises), and the subsequent restriction of unproductive capital outflows from Ukraine,” the regulator pointed out.
Besides, the NBU’s consistent monetary policy aimed at improving the attractiveness of hryvnia assets and the refusal to finance the budget deficit directly in 2023 contributed to the stabilization of exchange rate expectations, the central bank added.
In addition, as a result of changes in market values and exchange rates, the value of financial instruments in reserves increased by $128.7 million.
The current volume of international reserves provides funding for 4.7 months of future imports, said the National Bank.
As previously reported, in late April, the NBU raised its forecast of international reserves of the country by the end of 2023 to $34.5 billion from $27 billion in the January forecast.
The issue of reforming the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CC) will be one of the key issues in the conversation with the delegation of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), which will soon arrive in Ukraine, the deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration Olha Stefanyshyn said in a commentary to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
According to her, representatives of the Venice Commission on the results of the visit will provide conclusions on the registered bill, which provides changes to the selection of candidates for the position of judge of the CC.
“There is an agreement with our international partners, who will nominate experts to the Commission, which will select judges of the Constitutional Court, that the Commission will act on the model of the Ethical Council, which formed compositions of other judicial bodies”, – noted Stefanishina, specifying that it means the priority in votes of international experts, when it comes to assessment of integrity.
According to her, today the only problematic issue is the assessment of candidates on professional qualities, where the Ukrainian parliament does not agree to give priority to international experts, because it is about the formation of the CC.
Stefanyshyna said that after all the issues are agreed, the Verkhovna Rada should pass a bill by 29 May.
The Swiss city of Lugano, where the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2022) was held in July 2022 and relevant Lugano Principles were adopted, will host the first Lugano Business Forum on May 11-12.
“The forum will bring together representatives of European business, first of all from Switzerland and Ukraine, associations, organizations, officials and opinion leaders to discuss topical issues of private sector participation in real projects of post-war reconstruction of Ukraine,” the announcement of the forum says.
The organizers are the Ukrainian-Swiss Business Association, the Swiss Trade Association SGV and the Blockchain Association of Ukraine.
It is pointed out that Lugano Business Forum is officially recognized as a part of URC2023 and a stage of preparation of the main Conference on Recovery of Ukraine, which this year will be held on June 21-22 in London.
“The Lugano Business Forum is held to give foreign business and capital access to the largest global project of the next decade: the reconstruction and transformation of Ukraine,” the organizers point out.
Seven key topics will be discussed at the forum: energy resources, food technologies, Digital, FinTech and IT, medicine and biotechnology, construction and industry, venture capital and startups, as well as the extraction of raw materials.
Among the speakers are heads of the Ministry of Reconstruction Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ministry of Natural Resources Roman Strelets, Ministry of Agrarian Policy Oleksandr Kamyshyn, State Agency for Environmental Protection Roman Opimakh, and Zhytomyr Mayor Serhiy Sukhomlin.
Business will be represented, in particular, by the Head of the Board of Directors of Oshchadbank Sergiy Naumov, founder and managing partner of TA Ventures Viktoriya Tigipko, Head of the EFI Group Board of Directors Igor Liski, CEO of UMGI Andrei Gorokhov, co-owner of HD Group and GFS Group Boris Shestopalov, CEO of Geo Alliance Lyudmila Kuchmenko, CEO and owner of APK-Resurs Darya Didkovskaya, President of Ozdogu Murat Kavak.
The Cabinet of Ministers at a meeting supported a decision that gives start to the procedure of transforming the state-owned company NAEK Energoatom into a joint stock company, the government portal reported with reference to Prime Minister Denis Shmygal on Tuesday.
“Energoatom is one of the largest operators of nuclear power plants in Europe, the company is strategically important for the energy security of the state. We`re bringing it in conformity with international standards of corporate management. At the same time the state retains 100% ownership of the plant,” he said.
According to Prime Minister, eventually it will increase the efficiency of management, will attract additional funds for implementation of new projects and will strengthen energy independence.
As reported, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on February 6, 2023, supported the draft law 8067 on corporatization of the state-owned enterprise Energoatom, which provides for the transformation of Energoatom from a state-owned enterprise into a joint stock company with 100% state-owned shares.
Energoatom’s corporatization is envisaged by the loan agreement between the company and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the guarantee agreement “Complex Generalized Safety Upgrade Program for Nuclear Power Plants,” ratified by the Supreme Council.
“Energoatom is the operator of all four operating nuclear power plants in Ukraine. It operates the Zaporizhzhya, South Ukraine, Rivne and Khmelnitsky plants, with 15 power units equipped with water-water power reactors, with a total installed electric capacity of 13.8 GW.
