The total amount of pledges to help Ukraine with humanitarian demining, confirmed on Wednesday by participants of the first such special high-level international donor conference in Zagreb, is almost EUR0.5 billion, said Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović.
“The 34 participating states expressed their clear political support for Ukraine in the field of mine action and maintained their political commitments… The total amount of these contributions is almost EUR0.5 billion,” he said at a briefing after the first day of the conference.
According to him, additional contributions have been and will be made in the form of equipment, materials and expert assistance.
“Some countries have also made commitments that will be implemented in cooperation with international organizations, such as the United Nations Development Program,” Bozhynovych added.
He emphasized that the conference made it clear that Ukraine’s partners will join forces and act together at the national, European and international levels to identify as soon as possible the threats to the status quo posed by mines and explosive remnants of war.
“We emphasize the importance of using the most modern technologies, knowledge and experience, fully realizing that this is vital for the safety of Ukrainian citizens, as well as for the economic, social, environmental and all other aspects of post-war recovery and development of Ukraine,” said the Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Croatian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
He reminded that the EU Council is currently discussing a 4-year EUR 50 billion Ukraine Facility program to help Ukraine, and once approved, it will be very important to allocate part of these funds for demining.
“We hope that the conference that took place today confirmed these expectations and that it will be properly reflected in the upcoming rounds of negotiations in the Council and approved by the European Commission,” added Bozhynovych.
He also welcomed Switzerland’s announcement to organize, as a follow-up to the Zagreb event, the next international donor conference on humanitarian demining in Ukraine next October in Geneva.
On Thursday, the second day of the conference, there will be an expert discussion of detailed demining measures and activities in Ukraine.
According to a study conducted by the World Bank, the Ukrainian government, the European Commission and the UN, the cost of humanitarian demining in the year after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion was estimated at over EUR34 billion out of the total cost of reconstruction and recovery of EUR383 billion. At the same time, the full extent of the contamination remains unclear due to the ongoing hostilities and occupation of the territory.
In the spring, the Ukrainian government estimated the priority funding needs for humanitarian demining this year at $400 million.
The Hungarian government has removed cane and beet sugar from the list of banned Ukrainian products for import after September 15, 2023, Agroinform.hu reported.
According to the report, the Hungarian government’s resolution on measures related to the transportation of certain agricultural products from Ukraine, which restricted the import of 24 Ukrainian agricultural products after September 15, removed the line referring to cane and beet sugar, as well as hard sucrose.
The decision came into force on October 10.
As reported, the European Commission announced on September 15 that it would not extend restrictions on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine to five neighboring EU countries (Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia) with some conditions to avoid a new surge in supplies.
The restrictions were imposed on May 2, 2023 and concerned imports of wheat, rapeseed, sunflower and corn. These five Eastern European member states argued that Ukrainian agricultural products, when imported duty-free into the EU, were settling with them and harming the local agribusiness sector.
After the restrictions were lifted, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia introduced unilateral bans. Poland expanded the list of products banned for import with rapeseed cake and meal, as well as corn bran, wheat flour and derivatives. Hungary brought the list to 24 commodity items.
Ukraine has filed a lawsuit with the WTO, accusing Poland, Hungary and Slovakia of discriminating against its agro-products.
Ukraine is currently negotiating the introduction of a licensing mechanism for exports of Ukrainian agro-commodities with mandatory verification in each of the five countries.
Employees of the territorial department of the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) in Lviv region exposed a scheme for the illegal production and sale of alcoholic beverages in Ternopil and Lviv regions, the press service of the BES regional office reports.
“The investigation revealed the location of warehouses with vodka and cognac. The alcoholic beverages were delivered to one of the enterprises in Lviv, which distributed counterfeit alcohol through retail stores,” the statement said.
Counterfeit alcohol was distributed in a network of more than 300 stores.
“During the searches in Ternopil, about 61 thousand liters of liquid with the smell of alcohol and an alcohol production line were seized,” the BES reports.
At the same time, law enforcement officers seized more than 46 thousand liters of counterfeit alcohol, as well as containers and equipment for packaging alcoholic beverages, and financial and business documents at the company’s premises in Lviv region.
“According to the decision of the Lychakiv District Court of Lviv, the seized property worth more than UAH 26 million was seized,” the statement said.
On October 12, 2023, the ninth Kyiv International Economic Forum, an annual event that brings together representatives of the Ukrainian government, business, and society for open dialogue, exchange of experience, creation of a space of trust, and effective strategies for economic development, will take place.
For the second time, the forum will be held in Kyiv under martial law. The theme of this year’s KIEF is “People. Business. Economy. The Price of Freedom”.
Key topics of KIEF 2023:
“In times of the most difficult historical challenge for the country, its economy, business, society, and for each of us personally, we must unite, combine our efforts and experience to make complex, bold, and pragmatic decisions. The goal is to become co-authors not only of the Victory, but also of the future of an independent, innovative, and prosperous Ukraine that our descendants will be proud of. It all depends on us,” commented Vasyl Khmelnytsky, initiator of the forum and founder of UFuture holding.
70+ speakers will share their experience and vision, including:
“Last year, we discussed the topic of restoring the Ukrainian economy after the victory. But life turned out to be much more complicated and the challenges much more serious. KIEF 2023 is dedicated to finding solutions to the most pressing ones that need to be addressed here and now. The high price of Ukraine’s freedom and independence must be justified. This is a task for each of us,” said Yuriy Pyvovarov, CEO of the Kyiv International Economic Forum.
“Despite the war, Ukrainian business continues to operate, supporting the army and humanitarian initiatives. This year’s KIEF is an opportunity to discuss the problems, solutions and tools for integrating veterans into civilian life. It is an opportunity to share experience of doing business during the war and join forces on the way to victory. An opportunity to record our achievements and plan the next steps. This is a crucial event where Superhumans Center has a platform for a joint discussion on how to build a new social contract between people returning from war and business,” said Olga Rudneva, CEO of Superhumans Center.
As part of the event, each participant will be able to contribute to the support of the Superhumans Center for Rehabilitation, Prosthetics and Reconstructive Surgery. The proceeds from the registration fees will be used to rehabilitate Ukrainians affected by the war.
On the day of the event, the KIEF YouTube channel will broadcast the event via the link.
The innovative partner of the event and the exclusive partner of the online broadcast is Mastercard.
Strategic partner: UFuture.
Title partners: Nova Poshta; AJAX; Biopharma; Naftogaz; Federation of Employers of the Oil and Gas Industry; Smart-Holding.
Partners: Kyivstar, AEQUO, Dynasty Investment Group, Interpipe, Epicenter, MHP, Biosphere, PUMB, QP, Neqsol Holding, PrivatBank, DTEK, CEO Club, Work.ua, Superhumans Center, All-Ukrainian Mental Health Program “How are you?”, NGO “Bezbarernist”, Osvitoria.
Analytical partner: Gradus.
Title media partners: Starlight Media, 1+1 Media.
Official media partner of the Forum: Interfax-Ukraine.
Media partners: We Are Ukraine, Delo, The Page, Mind, The Kyiv Independent, TAVR media, Huxley.
We believe that our victory, our recovery and economic development is our choice and our business.
Join the change on October 12.
For more information about the event and conditions of participation, please follow the link.
Kyiv International Economic Forum 2023
People. Business. Economy
The price of freedom
In 2022, Kremenchuk Steel Plant JSC (Kremenchuk, Poltava region), part of the industrial assets of TAS Group, posted a net profit of UAH 50.281 million, while it ended 2021 with a net loss of UAH 56.833 million.
According to the agenda of the company’s general meeting of shareholders published in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) on November 13, the company’s uncovered loss as of January 1, 2023 amounted to UAH 56.886 million.
The shareholders intend to amend the charter, review the reports of the supervisory board for 2021 and 2022, consider the conclusions of the audit reports, approve the results of the company’s financial and economic activities for these years, determine the procedure for distributing profits (compensation for losses), approve annual reports, hold elections of the supervisory board, and consider other issues.
As reported, Kremenchuk Steel posted a net loss of UAH 22.81 million in 2020.
Kremenchuk Steel is a leading Ukrainian foundry producing steel castings for freight cars and heavy trucks.
According to the second quarter of 2023, Defano Investments Ltd (Cyprus) owns 48.4421% of the shares of PJSC “KSP”, FinEuroVector Financial Company LLC – 18.8392%, Alfa Cross Financial Company – 24.9%, Alta Finance LLC – 5.7276%.
TAS Group was founded in 1998. Its business interests include the financial sector (banking and insurance segments), industry, real estate, agriculture, and venture capital projects. The founder and major shareholder of the group is Sergey Tigipko.
Stodola (Mykolaiv region) has launched an organic tomato processing line that will reach full capacity next year, Organic Standard LLC, which specializes in certifying organic producers, reported on Facebook.
“This year we launched a new line with a capacity of 2 tons per hour. We plan to reach this volume of processing next year. This year, it is still difficult to say how much tomatoes we will process,” Stodola owner Yan Ostrovsky was quoted as saying.
According to Ostrovsky, Stodola will produce organic juices, sauces, pickled and dried tomatoes, and purees. These products will be presented on the domestic market, and test batches for export are also planned.
Stodola LLC was registered in 2018 in Mykolaiv region, where it operates an agricultural and gastronomic business. It specializes in growing certified organic vegetables, berries, fruits and their preservation. He has a registered trademark and a restaurant of the same name – Stodola.
According to Opendatabot, the company’s revenue in 2022 amounted to UAH 1.487 million, of which UAH 612.8 thousand was net profit. The company’s assets amounted to UAH 1.687 million, and its debt obligations amounted to UAH 240 thousand.
