On Sunday, October 15, Poland holds elections to the Sejm, Senate, as well as a national referendum, voting began at 7.00 and will last until 21.00, reports Polskie Radio.
It is noted that citizens have been created conditions for voting in Poland, abroad and even on ships. According to the chairman of the National Election Commission Sylwester Marciniak, more than 31 thousand electoral districts have been created.
“There are 29 thousand 292 stationary constituencies, 1,701 separate constituencies, and in addition, 417 constituencies abroad have been created, however, one was eliminated in Israel, and 8 constituencies for voting on ships have been created,” Marciniak emphasized
According to Polskie Radio, 29 million Polish citizens have the right to vote in elections and referendums. More than 391 thousand voting certificates have been issued, which allow voting not at the place of residence.
It is noted that Poles will elect 460 deputies and 100 senators. And the referendum should answer four questions: whether they support the removal of the fence on the border with Belarus, support for the privatization of state-owned enterprises, raising the retirement age to 60 years for women and 65 years for men, as well as whether they agree to accept thousands of illegal migrants from the Middle East and Africa, in accordance with the mechanism of forced relocation, which operates in the EU.
As DW reports, according to the latest opinion polls, the ruling national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party of Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski with 34% of the vote is only slightly ahead of the opposition liberal-conservative Civic Platform (CP) party of former Polish Prime Minister and former President of the European Council Donald Tusk, for which 32% of voters are ready to vote.
It is emphasized that in case of victory each of the contenders will have to look for partners to create a government coalition.
In the 2022/2023 season, the total revenue of FC Shakhtar (including VAT) amounted to UAH 5 billion 992 million including VAT, which is almost 2.8 times higher than the previous season (UAH 2 billion 178 million), according to the annual report published on the club’s official website.
According to the report, the club’s total revenue from the sale and lease of players last season increased to UAH 4 billion 29 million from UAH 622 million a season earlier, while revenues from UEFA and FIFA for participation in the Champions League group stage and for reaching the last 16 of the Europa League increased to UAH 1 billion 606 million from UAH 1 billion 164 million.
The club clarified that last season it made 14 incoming transfers, of which 11 were purchases, 2 were rentals and 1 was a free agent. There were the same number of outgoing transfers, including 5 sales and 9 rentals. The most high-profile transfer was that of midfielder Mykhailo Mudryk to Chelsea London for a record-breaking sum in the history of Ukrainian football: EUR 70 million and another EUR 30 million in bonuses. In addition, Serhiy Kryvtsov joined MLS side Inter Miami.
Shakhtar’s revenues from commercial activities in the 2022/2023 season decreased to UAH 357 million from UAH 392 million in the previous season.
Last season, FC Shakhtar increased its payments to the budgets of all levels by 34.4% compared to the 2021/22 season, up to UAH 566.9 million.
Among the events in the report is the extension of cooperation with the BRSM-Nafta network for 2023 and the termination of cooperation with the club’s title partner Parimatch due to its inclusion in the sanctions lists.
It is specified that the number of subscriptions to the club’s social media pages has increased by almost 5% to 3.15 million. The most popular are Facebook (1.41 million) and Instagram (544.4 thousand, +5.2%), while the largest influx was recorded on TikTok – 61 thousand, or 75%, and on Twitter – 24.5 thousand, or 24.7%.
Shakhtar’s website is available in four languages: Ukrainian, English, Polish and German. Last season, it was visited by 1.07 million unique users.
In September, the Export Credit Agency (ECA) insured exporters’ loan agreements worth UAH 50.5 million, according to the ECA website.
It is specified that the volume of supported exports for the month amounted to UAH 162.8 million.
The most popular categories of goods for export in September were (by foreign economic activity groups) processed vegetables, ferrous metal products, and finished products made from grain, flour, starch, and milk, while the counterpart countries were Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Germany, and Lithuania.
The top three partner banks were Ukrgasbank (UAH 71.1 million of supported exports and UAH 21.9 million of financing), Oschadbank (UAH 52.8 million and UAH 20.6 million), and Kredobank (UAH 38.9 million and UAH 8 million), respectively.
This year, Ukrgasbank ranks first (UAH 1.35 billion of exports supported and UAH 159 million of loans disbursed), Raiffeisen Bank is second (UAH 605 million and UAH 210 million), and Oschadbank is third (UAH 584.7 million and UAH 128.67 million).
In September, entrepreneurs from Ivano-Frankivsk region were the most active in insuring their loans received under export contracts with the ECA (the amount of contacts amounted to UAH 51.5 million and the amount of loans was UAH 11.9 million), Dnipropetrovs’k region (UAH 38.9 million and UAH 8 million), Ternopil region (UAH 29.24 million and UAH 18.3 million), Zakarpattia region (UAH 23.55 million and UAH 2.3 million), and Rivne region (UAH 19.63 million and UAH 10 million).
In the first nine months of this year, ECA and its partner banks found the largest number of customers in Kyiv (UAH 311.27 million of insured loans), as well as in Dnipropetrovska (UAH 53.63 million) and Vinnytska (UAH 10.5 million) regions.
The state enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” is launching a project to create a system of personnel reserve, said the company’s CEO Yuriy Bolokhovets.
“Forests of Ukraine employs more than 30 thousand people in all regions of the country. Thousands of management positions. Recently, we have been actively getting rid of managers who commit abuses or violations (…) But where and how to find the best personnel? (…) That’s why we are creating a system of personnel reserve,” he wrote on Facebook.
According to Bolokhovets, the reserve should open up growth opportunities for the capable and hardworking. Every employee who wants to take part in the competition can apply, be tested and undergo a comprehensive assessment of knowledge and skills. Once a vacancy is opened, the HR committee will conduct a selection process, taking into account candidates from the reserve. Employees who are selected for the personnel reserve will be given the opportunity to improve their skills at training courses in law, management, psychology, IT, etc.
The Director General of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” expressed hope that the new system of candidate evaluation will be not only objective, but also transparent with the possibility of public control.
Currently, the talent pool system is being finalized, a list of positions is being formed, and tests covering all aspects of the company’s work are being developed. The reserve for three positions has already been launched in a pilot mode: a forester, a branch director, and a deputy director of a regional office.
The state enterprise expects that the reserve will start working next year. And all appointments to senior positions will be made exclusively on a competitive basis.
As reported, Ukraine launched a forestry reform in 2016. As part of it, the sale of raw wood at electronic auctions has already been introduced. Since 2021, an interactive map of wood processing facilities has been operating in a test mode in a number of regions.
The industry has implemented the Forest in a Smartphone project, which contains a list of logging tickets for timber harvesting and allows you to check the legality of logging on the agency’s online map.
On June 1, 2023, Ukraine launched a pilot for the electronic issuance of logging tickets and certificates of origin of timber. In addition, the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” has launched a pilot project to procure timber harvesting services through the Prozorro electronic platform.
To date, the SFE has harvested more than 130 thousand cubic meters of firewood for the 2023/2024 heating season.
The volume of imports to Ukraine in January-September 2023 amounted to $46.6 billion, up 18.9% or $7.4 billion compared to the same period a year earlier, the State Customs Service reported on its website on Friday.
At the same time, the volume of Ukrainian exports decreased by 18.1% or $6 billion to $27.1 billion, according to the published information.
The negative balance for the first 9 months of this year amounted to $19.5 billion, which is 3.2 times more than in the same period last year.
According to the State Customs Service, exports of goods fell by 15% to $24.5 billion over the first eight months, while imports grew by 19% to $41.1 billion, and the negative balance of trade in goods almost tripled to $16.6 billion.
“At the same time, taxable imports amounted to $38.3 billion, which is 82% of the total volume of imported goods. The tax burden per 1 kg of taxable imports in January-September 2023 amounted to $0.48 per kg, which is 47% more than in the same period in 2022,” the agency said on Friday.
It is specified that most of the imported goods during the reporting period came to Ukraine from China – $7.4 billion ($5.8 billion for 9 months of 2022), Poland – $4.9 billion ($3.8 billion) and Turkey – $3.7 billion (last year the top three included Germany with $3.3 billion).
Most of Ukraine’s goods were exported to Poland – $3.7 billion ($5.1 billion), Romania – $3 billion ($2.6 billion), and Turkey – $1.9 billion ($2.2 billion).
According to the State Customs Service, in January-September 2023, 65% of total imports of goods were machinery, equipment and transport – $14.1 billion (UAH 100.6 billion, or 31% of customs revenues, was paid to the budget during customs clearance), chemical products – $8.4 billion (UAH 57.2 billion, or 17% of customs revenues) and fuel and energy products – $7.9 billion (UAH 68.0 billion, or 21% of customs revenues).
The top three most exported goods from Ukraine are food products – $16.1 billion, metals and metal products – $3 billion, and machinery, equipment and transport – $2.3 billion.
The agency added that UAH 472.9 million was paid to the budget during customs clearance of exports of goods subject to export duties.
In 2024, Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) may raise salaries by 10% if the Cabinet of Ministers supports the decision, UZ CEO Yevhen Lyashchenko said at the International Economic Forum in Kyiv on Thursday.
According to him, the total payments to employees of shortage professions, such as fitters and electricians, have already been increased by 30-40%, thanks to a performance bonus program.
“We understand that there are 90,000 people without whom UZ will not operate. These people are the focus of our raises, and they are very significant. We have launched a program to increase the level of bonuses for the work done, for the real result. In about three months, we have increased total payments for acutely shortage professions by 30%, and even by 40% for electricians,” said Lyashchenko.
Personnel costs account for about 50% of UZ’s total expenses, the CEO said, which is a big financial burden on the company.
The average salary in the company is currently UAH 14.5 thousand. The company has 220,000 employees, but, according to Lyashchenko, 190,000 people work for UZ and 5,500 for affiliated companies.
