An earthquake with magnitude 4.0 (on the Richter scale) was registered on Sunday at 08.06 Kiev time in the area of Vrancea Mountains (Romania), it could be felt in Ukraine, but does not pose a threat to the population, the Main Center for Special Control reports.
“The source of the earthquake is located on the territory of Romania, in the area of Vrancea mountains, 110 km from the border with Ukraine, at a depth of 103 km. The earthquake does not carry a threat to the population of Ukraine. Fluctuations can be felt only by individuals who are quiet indoors, especially on the upper floors,” – said in a message published on the website.
The Main Control Center reminds that the last powerful earthquake from the area of Vrancea mountains was registered on December 04 this year with a magnitude of 4.6 (on the Richter scale).
The border between Ukraine and Poland will soon be unblocked: the Ministry of Community Development of Territories and Infrastructure (Ministry of Restoration) and the Ministry of Infrastructure of Poland have agreed on the action plan necessary for this, the Ministry of Restoration reported.
“Ministry of restoration together with the new leadership of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Poland agreed on a plan of action to unblock the border”, – stated in the message of the Ministry of restoration in Facebook following the results of the meeting of the Deputy Ministers Sergei Derkach and Yuriy Vaskov with the new Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Poland Pawel Gantsazh on Friday.
It is indicated that the meeting was a continuation of agreements at the level of Deputy Prime Minister for Recovery – head of the Ministry of Recovery Alexander Kubrakov and Polish Minister of Infrastructure Dariusz Klimczak on December 20.
It is noted that the parties reached an understanding on compromise solutions and their implementation. The next stage – negotiations at the level of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Poland and the protesters. The issue of changes to the current Agreement on liberalization of freight transport is not discussed, stressed the Ministry.
“On the third day after the appointment welcomed in Kiev the new Deputy Minister of infrastructure Pawel Ganczaj. Together we finalized the action plan for unblocking the border. Agreed a protocol with a unified position of the ministries. About this meeting agreed on Wednesday Alexander Kubrakov and Polish Infrastructure Minister Dariusz Klimczak”, – wrote in Facebook on Friday Derkach.
According to him, the Ukrainian side “offered the things they are ready to do to unblock the checkpoints”. At the same time, the agreement on liberalization of freight traffic is fundamental and is not being discussed now, he stressed.
On Wednesday after the meeting between Klimczak and Kubrakov, Poland’s Ministry of Infrastructure said on its official website that its main topic was the protest of Polish carriers at the Polish-Ukrainian border.
“Together with the Ukrainian side, we must find a solution to the reasons for the ongoing protest and meet the expectations of entrepreneurs working in the field of freight transportation between Poland and Ukraine,” the statement quoted the Polish infrastructure minister as saying.
It was also reported that Klimczak handed Kubrakov the demands received from the protesters at the meeting in Lublin. In particular, they spoke about the need for the Ukrainian side to improve the mechanism of crossing the border by trucks that use the Ukrainian system of electronic queue, the exclusion of registration in this system of empty vehicles returning from Ukraine, the exclusion from this system of EU carriers, including Polish carriers, at the border crossing points specified by them. Alternatively, the principle of reciprocity may be introduced regarding the period of stay of EU vehicles in Ukraine and Ukrainian TCs in the EU.
The report said that Klimczak also emphasized the need to modify the agreement between the EU and Ukraine on road transportation of goods (“transport visa-free zone”), on the complete abolition of which the protesters initially insisted.
As reported, Polish carriers began the blockade of the checkpoints “Jahodyn – Dorohusk”, “Krakivets – Korczowa” and “Rawa Ruska – Hrebenne” on November 6, and on November 22, the protest was joined by the organization Oszukana Wieś, which blocked the checkpoint “Shehyni – Medyka”. Only empty vehicle checkpoints and low-tonnage vehicle checkpoints remained outside the blockade.
The Cabinet of Ministers at a meeting on Friday included in the Register of industrial parks three parks at once: two in Khmelnytskyi region and one in Lviv region, the Ministry of Economy reported.
In particular, the register includes FE Krasyliv Technoport with the area of 10.146 hectares, the creation of which was initiated by JSC Krasyliv Machine-Building Plant. The park plans to create about 500 jobs in the industrial cluster for metalworking and metal products manufacturing.
“The initiator plans to invest in the park 87 million UAH, it is also expected to attract investments of the management company, residents of the park (in its own production), private financing of the project,” – indicated the Ministry of Economy.
It is noted that investors from Poland, Germany and Turkey have confirmed their readiness to invest in the park’s enterprises following the results of negotiations.
The total amount of preliminary confirmed investments is 555 million UAH, another 70 million UAH is expected from small and medium-sized businesses, which will help with the manufacture of parts for the production of large investors.
The second park in Khmelnytsky region, included in the register, was the FE “Carbon Neutral ECO AGRO HAB Podillya “Gorodok”, on the territory of Gorodok city territorial community. 50.1856 hectares of land were allocated for the arrangement of the park, and the initiator of the IP was Epicenter K LLC.
“The park will specialize in agro-processing – production of oil and fats, products of the flour and poultry industry, other food products and ready-made animal feed. In addition, it is planned to produce most of the electricity for the work of the enterprises located there,” the report says.
It is assumed that the creation of the park will provide work for about 480 residents of the community. As noted in the concept of the park, during 2026-2032 the enterprises participating in the park will pay to the budgets more than 525 million UAH of taxes and fees.
In addition, the register of FE includes “YADRO Industri” in Drohobych, Lviv region, with an area of 10.0036 hectares, initiated by LLC “Facade-West”, which plans to invest in the development of more than 561 million UAH.
It is planned to create about 500 jobs in the industrial cluster, one of the key types of production of which is planned to be window production.
Priority for placement in the park will also be enterprises for production of building materials from clay, porcelain and ceramics products; production of cement, lime and gypsum mixture and products from these materials, processing and finishing of stone, etc.
It is stated that among the investors ready to invest in production are companies from the USA and Spain, Ukrainian small and medium-sized enterprises. The total amount of their investments is planned at the level of 270 million UAH.
“The development of industrial parks is very important in the context of recovery and further growth of the Ukrainian economy…The government is purposefully working on the development of processing with high added value. And the work of processing enterprises within the parks gives businesses significant additional opportunities for growth,” the press service quoted Deputy Economy Minister Volodymyr Kuzo as saying.
Given the decisions taken by the government on Friday, 73 parks are included in the Register of industrial parks.
As reported, the draft state budget for 2024 for the first time provided for the allocation of UAH 1 billion for the development of infrastructure of industrial parks.
CABINET OF MINISTERS, Carbon Neutral ECO AGRO HAB Podillya "Gorodok, FE Krasyliv Technoport, INDUSTRIAL PARKS, YADRO Industri
The Ministry of Economy together with USAID launch a grant program for medium and large enterprises for $15 million, under which one business will be able to receive a grant from $250 thousand to $2 million.
“Businesses with an estimated minimum annual sales volume of $8 million in hryvnia equivalent are invited to participate in the program. This indicator is important due to the fact that the target increase in sales by the results of the concept should be at least $2 million,” – said in the release of the Ministry of Economy.
It is indicated that the grant funding should be directed by the program participants to business development, in particular, to increase sales, increase exports and create new jobs.
The condition for participation in the program is the investment of additional funds – own funds of the enterprise or other resources attracted by the enterprise. The selection of the program participants will take place in two stages: the first stage – evaluation of concepts, the second stage – evaluation of detailed grant applications from the participants who passed the first stage. One of the criteria for evaluating concepts will be the number of jobs created.
It is specified that concepts should be submitted no later than February 29, 2024. It is expected that they will be implemented within 12-24 months.
Coal Energy, a coal mining company with assets in Ukraine, has acquired 100% of shares of Advanced industrial technologies Sp. z o.o. (Katowice, Poland) for EUR295 thousand (UAH 12.124 million).
According to Coal Energy’s announcement on the Warsaw Stock Exchange on Friday, the purchase was made in accordance with the company’s new development strategy for 2023-2026. Payment for the deal will be made within three months after the agreement is signed.
Advanced industrial technologies was established in 2018 and provides underground mining services for coal mines in Poland.
DIM Group built more than 45 thousand square meters in 2023 and plans to commission approximately 100 thousand square meters of real estate, said Daria Bedia, Marketing Director.
“This year we have built more than 45 thousand square meters. We expect to receive certificates in two of our projects in the near future: the eco-city of Lucky Land and the multifunctional cluster of Park Lake City. Next year, we plan to commission about 100 thousand square meters. We are preparing several new projects to be launched, which we want to present to the market,” Bedia told Interfax-Ukraine.
She stated that since the spring of 2023, the company has been recording a steady increase in demand in the range of 5-6% per month in comfort+ and business class projects.
“In total, we managed to return more than 45% of the pre-war demand. And this is high-quality demand that is converted into real transactions. This is very important, as it indicates the liquidity of the product (concept, format, quality characteristics of the residential complex) and the high pace of construction,” Bedia said.
At the same time, the weighted average growth in construction costs for the year was almost 45% due to higher prices for construction and installation works due to inflation, lack of qualified personnel, and indexation of builders’ salaries. In addition, this was caused by the rise in the cost of construction materials due to the lengthening and changing of supply chains, rising prices for raw materials, and the loss of production capacity in the eastern and southern regions.
According to her, the level of demand is directly influenced by the project itself and its concept, as well as the stage of construction and whether active construction work is underway at the site. Buyers are ready to enter the project not at the stage of the pit, but at least with a readiness of 30-40%.
“Important criteria are the developer’s reputation, ability to keep their word in terms of terms and promises, as well as flexible purchase terms for both 100% payment and installment payments. According to our observations, the demand for long-term installments of more than 3 years has increased by a third in just one year,” Bedia said.
She noted that the key factors in the choice are the type and quality of materials: brick or ceramic block, noise-absorbing windows with magnetropic coating, high-speed elevators from the best manufacturers. Much attention is paid to the service company, spatial zoning of the territory, landscape design, security and concierge service.
A diverse multifunctional infrastructure that reflects the expectations of the target groups of buyers, a well-thought-out apartment layout and a variable range of planning solutions, and the energy independence of the complex, in particular, the availability of alternative power sources for water supply or power for elevator equipment, are mandatory.
According to Bedi, most buyers in the comfort+ segment are interested in one-bedroom apartments of 40-47 sq. m. with a kitchen-living room of 20 sq. m. and a separate bedroom with a dressing room. The top two-room apartments are 68 to 75 sq. m. with two separate bedrooms, a kitchen-living room of 20 sq. m., and three-room apartments are 85-90 sq. m. with three separate bedrooms, one of which is a master bedroom with its own bathroom and wardrobe, a large kitchen-living room is also a priority.
“The area of 1-room apartments, which are most often bought in the business segment, reaches 50-55 sq. m., 2-room apartments – 75-80 sq. m., 3-room apartments – 100-120 sq. m. The mandatory attributes of such apartments are a large living area with panoramic windows of 30 sq. m. or more, a master bedroom with a dressing area and a separate bathroom of 20 sq. m., a children’s room of 25 sq. m. or more with a wardrobe,” the expert said.
DIM Group was founded in 2014 and consists of six companies covering all stages of construction. To date, it has commissioned 12 houses in six residential complexes with a total living area of more than 218 thousand square meters. Six residential complexes of “comfort+” and “business class” categories are under construction: “New Autograph, Metropolis, Park Lake City, Lucky Land, etc.
