Finland will provide Ukraine with the next 18th defense aid package by the end of the week, it will include heavy weapons and ammunition, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has said.
“Finland has already provided Ukraine with 1.7 billion euros in aid… We are now preparing the next 18th aid package. It will include heavy weapons, ammunition… We should deliver finally at the end of this week. This is a very good package. It contains very necessary materials,” Orpo said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev.
Answering journalists’ questions whether Finnish high technologies would be available to Ukraine and whether there was anything concrete that Finland could offer, the prime minister said he had discussed the issue with Zelensky and called it “a good idea.”
“We discussed this issue with the president. Last week we saw that a Swedish company signed a cooperation agreement with Ukraine. We discussed that there are high-tech companies in Finland, that they could engage in cooperation to manufacture something together. I think we have something to do. We have experience. So it’s a good idea,” he said.
In turn, Zelensky said that Ukraine is extremely interested in Finnish armored personnel carriers.
“We would like to manufacture them together – in Ukraine. We discussed this with the Prime Minister. He very rightly said that we concluded a memorandum on the production of CV-90. But we need more. And during the war and after the war Ukraine will need to remain strong in order not to give Russia any opportunity to think about the second wave of aggression against us. That’s why we need to produce more. That is why we wanted and want to organize this Defense Industries Forum,” the Ukrainian president said.
The Vikram lander of India’s Chandrayaan-3 Automated Interplanetary Station (Chandrayaan-3), which landed on the Moon on Wednesday, has successfully established communication with the Mission Control Center in Bangalore, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) reported.
“Communication has been established between the Chandrayaan-3 lander and the MOX-ISTRAC (Mission Operations Center for Telemetry, Surveillance and Control) located in Bangalore,” the organization said in a statement.
The landing was made at 18:02 Indian time (15:32 sq. m.) in the area of the unexplored South Pole of the Moon.
Thus, India became the fourth country after the USSR, the United States and China to land its own vehicle on the Moon.
The LVM3 rocket with the Chandrayaan-3 automatic interplanetary station was launched on July 14 from the launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Center, located on the island of Sriharikota. On August 5, the station was launched into lunar orbit.
After the landing, the Pragyan lunar rover, equipped with various research equipment, will move off the platform and begin chemical analysis of the surface of the Earth’s natural satellite. The mission of the 20 kg lunar rover is designed for 14 Earth days.
The previous attempt to send a lander and lunar rover to the Moon was made in 2019 as part of the Chandrayaan-2 mission. Then the orbiter managed to enter lunar orbit, but due to communication problems, specialists were unable to correct the lunar position of the lander, which separated from the interplanetary station and crashed into the lunar surface.
The Chandrayaan-2 mission orbiter remained in orbit and continues to collect scientific data about the Earth’s natural satellite. Chandrayaan-3 does not include such a mission.
Charitable Foundation “Kolo” provided transportation for two social projects implemented by the Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy named after V.P.Filatov of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine (Odessa). V.P. Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine (Odessa).
As Interfax-Ukraine was informed in the Institute, the Foundation provided transportation for the project “Let’s Save Sight”, within the framework of which a team of ophthalmologists from the Institute travels weekly to the settlements of the region to examine patients directly in their places of residence. This helps to detect eye diseases in time, which without timely ophthalmologic care can lead to disability and even blindness.
The second project, the further implementation of which became possible thanks to the provided transportation – “I want to see”. The project has been running for about 15 years, and within its framework the Institute’s specialists regularly visit the departments for nursing premature babies in maternity hospitals and examine premature newborns to detect retinopathy of prematurity. This is a severe eye disease based on immaturity of eye structures, in particular the retina, at the time of premature birth. Timely diagnosis and highly skilled care can save children from irreversible blindness.
“A huge challenge for both teams was the lack of appropriate transportation. The team of the project “Let’s Save Sight” left on a twenty-year-old car “Gazelle” with absolutely unacceptable conditions of transportation of ophthalmologic equipment. Doctors of the project “I want to see” used their own transport, and cars rented by the benefactors, and even public transport of Odessa. Today the problems of traveling teams are solved thanks to the charity fund “Kolo”, – emphasize in the Institute.
“Doctors and patients of Filatov Institute sincerely thank the Charitable Foundation “Kolo”, its director Elena Krivenko, volunteer of the Foundation Maria Kotvitskaya and General Producer of Ukrainian Fashion Week, volunteer Vladimir Nechiporuk for their help”, – emphasized in the Institute.
Ukrainian flour millers are increasingly reporting low quality of the new harvest wheat, in some regions the total share of grade 2 and 3 wheat will not exceed 10% of total production, APK-Inform news agency reported.
According to the report, the majority of processors in communication with the agency’s experts noted that they mainly receive offers of wheat with low protein content – up to 11%, a small share – at the level of 11-12% and only a few offers with protein content at the level of 13%.
“Some processors predict that in some regions of the country the total share of wheat of 2nd and 3rd class this year will not exceed 10% of the total production,” the analysts said.
According to them, the current situation with the quality of wheat provides significant support to prices. This week, most Ukrainian millers continued to gradually increase their purchase prices for milling wheat.
As of August 23, the demand prices for wheat of the 2nd and 3rd grades were mostly fixed in the range of 5700-6700 UAH/ton and 5500-6500 UAH/ton CPT, respectively, which is 100-200 UAH/ton higher than at the end of last week, but most buyers raised the minimum and close to them prices, experts explained.
Agrarians continue to restrain the sales of high-quality grains, which provides additional support to prices, APK-Inform summarized.
As reported, Ukraine has already harvested 27 mln tonnes of wheat with record yields, but analysts point out that due to weather conditions, 60% of the crop will be sold as fodder, which is twice as much as last year.
Japan will provide up to $7 billion in aid to Ukraine, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, speaking online at the 3rd Summit of the International Crimean Platform in Kyiv.
“Japan will continuously provide (Ukraine – IF-U) with a variety of assistance in the amount of up to $7 billion, depending on the needs,” he said.
In addition, Japan will use its experience and expertise in post-war reconstruction and disaster recovery to provide assistance, he said.
Kishida reiterated that Japan has consistently supported the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including Crimea, and will continue to work closely with the international community, particularly the G-7 countries, and join sanctions against Russia to provide continued support to Ukraine.
“I visited Kyiv and Bucha in March of this year and witnessed the tragedy with my own eyes. This confirmed my belief that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is an extraordinary act that violates the foundations of the international order,” he said.
As Kishida emphasized, “Japan is on the side of the people of Ukraine to ensure peace and bring it back to the beautiful Ukrainian land.”
Ukraine in the season-2023 can export more than a third of the produced sugar, as about 1 million tons is enough to meet the needs of the domestic market, while the production forecast is 1.6-1.7 million tons, CEO of Astarta agroholding Viktor Ivanchik said.
“The opening of the sugar market by the European Union (in 2022 – IF-U) has significantly helped Ukraine. We can export a third, if not more, of this year’s crop. We have enough in Ukraine about 1 million tons. This year’s production forecast is 1.6-1.7 million tons. This potential should be unambiguously used. We need to gain a foothold in the markets. Both for the near and distant future – this is a serious factor of Ukraine’s entry into the European Union with its goods, services and labor force,” he said during the Business Breakfast with Forbes Ukraina on Wednesday.
Commenting on the investigation by the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) regarding possible cartel collusion between sugar producers, Ivanchyk noted that the AMCU “constantly observes, conducts this or that research.”
“Today we do not see such a problem. It was not there before. We have convincingly proved to AMCU, with whom we have been in communication for the last five years, that there are no violations of antimonopoly legislation. It makes no sense for us to agree on prices and volumes. We compete hard on the Ukrainian market, as it is surplus,” Ivanchyk explained and added that sugar producers are in contact with each other on the basis of the industry association “Ukrtsukor”, but do not discuss the issues of prices or sales volumes.
The CEO of Astarta also noted that with the opening of the market to the European Union, sugar producers and exporters fall under the European regulatory policy. This forces the management of the country’s largest sugar producer to “look even more meticulously at our and all our employees’ compliance with these requirements.”
“I don’t see any risks of coming under investigation,” he stated.
Asked about pressure, particularly from law enforcement agencies on business, Ivanchik declined to voice specific cases, but confirmed that Astarta also has to face such problems.
“To be in society and be free from problems in the business community is unrealistic. “Astarta tries to build relationships on a legislative basis. We are as law-abiding as possible. There is absolutely no reason to suspect us of anything,” he assured and confirmed that his colleagues have to face more complicated problems.
According to the head of the agricultural holding, there is an initiative to create a public association on the basis of the Federation of Employers of Ukraine (FEU), which is called “Manifesto-42” (from Art. 42 of the Constitution of Ukraine on the right of every citizen of Ukraine to conduct entrepreneurial activity – IF-U) to protect Ukrainian business from unjustified encroachments by law enforcement and controlling bodies.
Ivanchyk reminded that business has the right to publicly and legally defend its interests. “Especially since Ukrainian business has now shown very good examples of patriotic attitude, help, selflessness. This should be respected by the state in a partner-like manner,” he emphasized.
The CEO of Astarta noted that business received understanding from the state leadership, in particular, a month ago at a meeting with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, Prime Minister Denis Shmygal, teams of the Office of the President and the Cabinet of Ministers.
“We (representatives of business – IF-U) were assured that the state controlling bodies will pursue a legitimate policy on this matter, communicating with us through the business ombudsman and through our joint structures, such as the Federation of Employers of Ukraine, Ukrainian Club of Agrarian Business, European Business Association, CEO Club Ukraine. We will be able to build such relations absolutely openly, honestly and transparently”, – the head of Astarta is convinced.
“Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes six sugar factories, agricultural farms with a land bank of 220 thousand hectares and dairy farms with 22 thousand cattle, oil extraction plant in Globino (Poltava region), seven elevators and biogas complex.
In the first half of 2023, Astarta’s revenue from sales of key products increased by 64.8% year-on-year to UAH 10.72 bln. The main contribution was made by sales of sugar – UAH 3.27 bln, which increased by 75.5%, corn – UAH 2.66 bln (+53.2%) and soybean meal – UAH 1.96 bln (+84.5%).
