Verdi, the united union of service workers, which includes employees at Germany’s largest airports, has called on its members for a one-day warning strike on March 10. The union is forced to resort to protest action because of employers’ unwillingness to meet workers’ demands in collective bargaining, it said in a statement posted on its website.
The union is seeking an 8 percent wage increase, or at least 350 euros a month, as well as an increase in bonuses for heavy work and additional days off.
The protests will affect 11 airports, including Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, Hamburg and Berlin.
Germany’s airport association ADV warned that the strike could disrupt the plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers.
“Holding strikes at 11 airports simultaneously cuts off an entire country from air traffic,” said ADV managing director Ralf Beisel. – “We urge Verdi to take the interests of passengers into account and seek a negotiated settlement.
“The economic damage caused by such strikes is enormous and affects not only the airline industry, but the entire economy in an already extremely strained economic situation,” he added.
Apart from airlines and airports, other industries will also be affected due to flight cancellations and delays. Hotels, caterers and retailers in the affected regions could suffer significant revenue losses. When flights are canceled or delayed, the entire supply chain also suffers, according to a statement published on the ADV website.
Geographical structure of Ukraine’s foreign trade (exports) in January-October 2024, million USD
Source: Open4Business.com.ua
“On March 6, Kyivteploenergo announced a tender for compulsory motor liability insurance, according to the Prozorro e-procurement system.
The tender was also announced for services related to compensation for damage and negative consequences of transportation of dangerous goods by rail for CHPP-5 and CHPP-6, compulsory personal insurance against accidents in transport, compulsory liability insurance of subjects of transportation of dangerous goods.
The total expected cost of services procurement is UAH 3.913 mln.
The last day for submitting an application for participation is March 14.
US President Donald Trump’s administration plans to revoke the temporary legal status of some 240,000 Ukrainians fleeing the conflict with Russia, potentially putting them on a fast-track deportation path, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing senior officials and three sources familiar with the matter.
The publication writes that this is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to revoke the legal status of more than 1.8 million migrants who are allowed to enter the United States under temporary humanitarian programs launched during the Biden administration.
It was previously reported that in January, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the suspension of the United for Ukraine program for Ukrainians fleeing war in the U.S. due to the January 20, 2025 executive order “Securing Our Borders.”
China’s Ping An Insurance is the most expensive brand among the world’s insurance companies for the ninth consecutive year, according to an annual study by consultancy Brand Finance.
Its value remained virtually unchanged over the year ($33.6 billion), while the brand value of German insurer Allianz increased by 9% (to $26.75 billion), allowing it to slightly close the gap.
Third place goes to France’s AXA ($19.83 billion, up 20%), which pushed China Life Insurance ($18.32 billion, up 5%) into fourth place. Rounding out the top five is Italy’s Generali ($16.98 billion, up 47%).
There are four U.S. brands in the top 10: Allstate Corp – $15.95 billion, GEICO – $15 billion, MetLife Inc. – $14.59 billion and Progressive Corp. – $14.24 billion. Between them, China’s PICC ($15 billion) ranks eighth.
The fastest growing brand was Japan’s Nissay/Nippon Life Insurance, whose value almost doubled (+94%) and reached $9.2 bln. This was due to the company’s expansion outside the local market, including through the purchase of a 20% stake in the U.S. company Corebridge Financial.
The total value of the top 100 insurance brands for 2024 grew 9%, according to the report. Meanwhile, U.S. brands rose in value by 12%, with the result that they now account for a quarter of the total value.
Ukrainian car fleet in February this year was replenished with almost 17 thousand imported from abroad used cars, which is 5% less than in February last year, reported “UkrAvtoprom” in the Telegram channel.
At the same time, compared to January-2025, the demand for such cars increased by more than 21%.
According to the report, the average age of used cars that switched to Ukrainian registration in February amounted to 9.5 years.
According to “UkrAvtoprom”, the largest share in the segment of imported second hand cars with a large gap belongs to gasoline cars – 46%. Next come diesel cars – 23%, electric cars – 22%, hybrids – 5% and cars with SBB – 4%.
The leader of this segment of the car market is Volkswagen Golf – 900 registrations.
The top five most popular models are also Renault Megane – 653 units, Skoda Octavia – 592 units, Volkswagen Tiguan – 490 units, Audi Q5 – 449 units.
In total, in January-February, the first registration in Ukraine passed almost 31 thousand used cars, which is 10% less than in the same period in 2024.
As reported, in 2024 the demand for used foreign cars increased by 4% by 2023 – up to 222.1 thousand units, which amounted to 75% of the passenger car market.
At the same time, in February the Ukrainian car fleet was replenished with 17.8 thousand used cars from abroad – one third more than in February-2023.
