On Sunday, May 18, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Holy Mass in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican to mark the beginning of his Petrine ministry, Vatican News reports.
In his first sermon as Pope Leo XIV, he called for “unity and love.”
“In our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, fear of differences, an economic paradigm that exploits the earth’s resources and marginalizes the poor. And in the midst of this trial, we want to be a small leaven of unity, communion, and fraternity,” he said.
Voting in the presidential election began in Poland on Sunday at 7:00 a.m. local time (8:00 a.m. Kyiv time – IF-U), according to the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
Thirteen candidates are participating in the election. Voting will continue until 9:00 p.m. An election silence is in effect in the country until the polls close.
“Almost 29 million citizens are eligible to vote. Polling stations are open throughout the country – more than 32,000, with another 511 stations operating abroad,” the report said.
Earlier, the Experts Club analytical center released a video analysis dedicated to the most important elections in the world in 2025. For more details, see here — https://youtu.be/u1NMbFCCRx0?si=QeURHol_f1zN_jLE
Voting in the presidential election began in Romania at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday. The second round features George Simion, representative of the right-wing Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, and Nicușor Dăncilă, the incumbent mayor of the capital Bucharest, who received the most votes in the first round on May 4.
“We voted so that only Romanians decide our future, for Romanians and for Romania,“ Simion told reporters outside a polling station.
“We decide what kind of country we want to be: a country of hope, dialogue, and development,” Dănălescu wrote on Facebook.
According to Reuters, despite the fact that 38-year-old Simion won 41% of the vote in the first round and 55-year-old Dan only 21%, opinion polls show that they have almost equal chances of winning, or show a slight advantage for Simion. Earlier, the Experts Club think tank released a video analysis dedicated to the most important elections in the world in 2025. For more details, see here —
In January-April of this year, Ukraine increased imports of coke and semi-coke in physical terms by 64.2% compared to the same period last year – to 256,628 thousand tons from 156,255 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS) on Tuesday, imports of coke in monetary terms increased by 47.8% during this period, to $82.920 million. It was mainly imported from Poland (86.87% of supplies in monetary terms), Indonesia (11.54%), and the Czech Republic (1.57%).
During the period in question, Ukraine exported 3 tons of coke worth $2,000 to Albania.
As reported, Metinvest suspended the operations of the Pokrovsk Coal Group in January this year due to changes in the situation on the front line, power shortages, and the deterioration of the security situation.
Last year, Ukraine increased imports of coke and semi-coke in physical terms by 2.01 times compared to 2023, to 661,487 thousand tons, importing it mainly from Poland (84.76% of supplies in monetary terms), Colombia (7.74%), and Hungary (2.69%). In monetary terms, imports increased by 81.9% to $235.475 million.
In 2024, the country exported 1,601 thousand tons of coke, 84.76% of which went to Moldova ($368 thousand) to Moldova (99.18%) and Latvia (0.82%), while in January, March, October, and November 2024, there were no exports, whereas in 2023, exports amounted to 3,383 tons worth $787 thousand.
Imports of electric generator sets and rotary electric converters (HS code 8502) to Ukraine in January-April 2025 increased sevenfold in monetary terms compared to the same period in 2024, reaching $516.31 million, according to statistics from the State Customs Service (SCS).
According to SCS data, electric generators and converters were most often imported from the Czech Republic (18% of total exports of these products, or $93.7 million), Austria (15.6%, or $80.3 million), and the United States (15%, or $77.3 million), while a year earlier it was the Czech Republic ($15.36 million), Austria ($15.2 million), and China ($14.1 million).
In particular, in April, imports of this equipment increased almost fivefold compared to April last year, but decreased by 6% compared to March this year, to $83.14 million.
Ukraine exported electric generators in January-April in insignificant volumes ($1.9 million), mainly to Latvia, Bulgaria, and Turkey.
In addition, according to the State Customs Service, imports of electric accumulators and separators to Ukraine increased 2.3 times in four months to $288.35 million, mostly from China (78.4%), as well as Taiwan (5.3%) and Bulgaria (4.1%).
At the same time, in April, imports of these products increased by more than 81% compared to April 2024, to $70.52 million, which is also 7% higher than in February 2025.
In four months, Ukraine exported batteries worth $17.1 million, mainly to Poland (27.9%), France (15.9%), and Germany (11.3%).
As reported, at the end of July 2024, Ukraine exempted the import of electric generator equipment and batteries from customs duties and VAT.
According to the State Customs Service, in 2024, imports of electric generators and converters to Ukraine increased by 3.7% compared to 2023, to $732.5 million, and batteries more than doubled, to $950.6 million.
