Unemployment in the eurozone was 6.4% in August, unchanged from the July level, according to the European Union Statistical Office. This is the lowest figure since the calculations were made. The data coincided with the consensus forecast of analysts cited by Trading Economics.
In August 2023, unemployment in the euro area was at 6.6%. The number of unemployed people in the region decreased by 95 thousand in the month before last compared to July, to 10.925 million. Youth unemployment (population under 25) fell to 14.1% from 14.2% a month earlier.
The lowest unemployment rate among the largest eurozone countries was recorded in Germany (3.5%, the same as in July), and the highest in Spain (11.3%, down 0.1 percentage point). In France, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.5% in August, while in Italy it dropped to 6.2% from 6.4%.
Overall, in the European Union, unemployment fell to 5.9% last month from 6% in July.
Ukraine national futsal team defeated France in the match for the third place – 7:1. The goals for Ukraine were scored by Igor Chernyavsky, Mykhailo Zvarich, Yevhen Zhuk and Daniil Abakshin, follows from the broadcast of the match.
For the Ukrainian team – this is the first medals at the world championship.
Argentina and Brazil, the teams Ukraine lost to at the tournament, will play in the final.
Swiss company LLC Global Clearance Solutions Ukraine will join the demining of territories in Kyiv region, the press service of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration (KOVA) reports.
As reported, the relevant Memorandum was signed by the head of KOVA Ruslan Kravchenko and the CEO of the Swiss company “LLC Global Clearance Solutions Ukraine” Dmitry Salimonov. This is a company by engineering and production facilities in Germany and representative offices around the world.
“After the fighting in the de-occupied territories of Kyivshchyna, there are a lot of explosive objects left. There are great dangers for the civilian population. Specialists of the State Emergency Situations Service continue demining works, but exclusively the forces of Ukrainian specialists and budget funds are not enough. Therefore, we attract certified operators, as well as funding from international partners, so that demining does not stretch for many years. Another important issue is the proper amount of professional equipment,” Kravchenko explained.
It is noted that the Swiss company provides a wide range of mine action assistance, in particular project management, consulting, survey and cleanup, capacity building, and training.
Galina Gerega, co-founder of Epicenter K LLC (Kiev), indirectly through Epicenter K and Paravita Holding Limited (Nicosia) has obtained over 50% of votes in Intersport Polska S.A., which develops a chain of stores with the same name in Poland.
As reported by the Polish company on the Warsaw Stock Exchange on October 4, this happened after the above companies participated in the closed subscription for Intersport Polska series J shares, with Epicenter K’s share in the total number of votes exceeding 10%.
It is specified that the paid-in share capital of the Polish company amounts to PLN 8 million 274.49 thousand.
During the subscription, 12 million 655.468 thousand shares were sold to one company at a price of PLN1.0471 per share ($0.27 per share).
As reported, Gerega indirectly received 51.3% of Intersport Polska’s share capital at the end of last year within the framework of the investment agreement concluded by the Polish company with Epicenter K and Paravita Holding, but at that time her share of votes was just short of 50% – 49.94%.
The investment agreement with Epicenter K and Paravita Holding, which also operates stores under the Intersport brand in Ukraine, was concluded on April 19, 2023. The document envisaged a total investment of EUR10 million by the partner and the investor. This amount was to be used, in particular, for the development of the Polish company by opening new stores and modernizing existing ones.
On November 17, Yulia Maksymenko and Aivars Bunde, managing and commercial directors of Epicenter K LLC, a separate subdivision of Intersport Ukraine, joined the supervisory board of Intersport Polska.
Gerega at this week’s forum “Dialogues with NV on the Future. Business and War” in Kiev, said that Intersport Polska was unprofitable, it had no strategic investors, so Epicenter K, which had high indicators of the development of the Intersport project in Ukraine, was invited to cooperate.
“And we agreed to go and help realize this project,” she said, adding that this raised the image of the Ukrainian company in front of international partners.
Speaking about the current problems, Gerega pointed to the lack of staff. “Even for such a small Intersport in Poland, we faced the same staffing problem we have now in Ukraine. Even among Ukrainians who left temporarily to Poland, we can’t find effective staff for them to work in this Intersport,” she stated at the forum.
In the 2023/24 fiscal year (ended March 31, 2024), Intersport Polska’s revenue fell 21% to PLN189.1 million, while its net loss rose to PLN39.6 million from PLN13.1 million a year earlier.
The Intersport Polska network, according to its website, includes 31 stores and a delivery network with about 500 employees, while the Intersport network has about 5,400 stores worldwide.
External financing of the state budget as of 01.06.2024, billion USD
Open4Business.com.ua
Thanks to the best price-quality ratio, professional service and high customer confidence, Kovlar Group’s share in the Ukrainian fire protection market in 2024 amounted to 60%, and for some products it reaches 90%. The company announced this in a press release.
According to the company’s co-founder Kostiantyn Kalafat: “In 2016, the then newly established Kovlar Group offered the Ukrainian construction market an affordable fireproof plaster Ammokote GP-240, which completely changed the rules of the game in the segment. Prior to that, the market for fire protection materials was largely divided between unscrupulous Russian manufacturers and importers of European products, who kept the prices for fire protection high. This not only increased construction budgets, but also harmed the development of the steel construction industry in Ukraine, as customers refused to use steel solutions in their projects due to the high cost of fire protection.”
According to him, after the launch of the innovative Ammokote GP-240 gypsum plaster, due to the excellent combination of high fire protection properties and low price, it became so successful that in a few years it occupied about 80% of the plaster fire protection market. This allowed the company to invest in its own production facilities with modern equipment and a large warehouse, as well as in a research laboratory that allows for fire testing and the development of new materials.
Today, the company’s portfolio includes more than 20 different types of fire protection materials. Over the past 6 years, Kovlar Group’s turnover has amounted to about UAH 200 million, of which the company has paid more than UAH 38 million to the Ukrainian budget, which is a record figure for the fire protection segment.
Kovlar Group is owned by three Ukrainian citizens: Konstantin Kalafat, Lyubov Vakhitova and Andrey Ozeychuk.
