NEC Ukrenergo, the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Finance have signed two agreements with the World Bank to provide the company with $240 million in grant aid to improve the reliability of the energy system, Ukrenergo Chairman of the Board Volodymyr Kudrytskyy said.
“Almost $240 million is another significant contribution from our international partners to ensure the sustainability of our connection to the European energy system and the restoration of high-voltage substations,” he wrote on his Facebook on Tuesday evening.
According to his message, the first agreement provides Ukrenergo with grant funds from the German government, which will be used for the purchase and installation of STATCOM – special devices that increase the stable operation of the power grid.
“Ukrenergo fulfills an important technical condition of ENTSO-E to strengthen our connection to the European grid. STATCOM devices will not only increase the stability of the Ukrainian energy system, but will also have a positive impact on the balance of the entire interconnected European continental grid,” Kudrytskyi explained.
Another document determines the transfer of assistance to the NEC for the purchase of special equipment, autotransformers and other high-voltage equipment damaged by Russian missile and drone strikes.
At the same time, the head of Ukrenergo thanked the Ukrainian government, WB Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Antonella Bassani and WB Regional Director for Eastern Europe Arup Banerjee “for the fruitful joint cooperation and strengthening of Ukraine’s energy security”.
U.S. Agency for International Development USAID Administrator Samantha Power condemned Russia’s decision to suspend participation in the “grain initiative” and announced $250 million in support for Ukraine’s agriculture sector, which has suffered as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion, USAID said.
“The United States is providing this assistance because of its Agriculture Sustainability Initiative-Ukraine (AGRI-Ukraine). In total, the U.S. government has already directed $350 million to the initiative. The agency plans to engage the private sector, other donors and foundations to raise an additional $250 million,” the USAID press office quoted Power as saying during a visit to the Port of Odessa on Tuesday.
The additional funds will be used to expand critical agricultural infrastructure, including irrigation systems, grain elevators, transloading facilities, and port and border infrastructure.
In addition, USAID will expand support to small and medium-sized agricultural businesses so that they have access to financing and resources to plan for planting and harvesting in 2023.
The agency noted that the Russian full-scale invasion has caused more than $6.6 billion in direct damage to Ukraine’s agricultural sector.
“AGRI-Ukraine will continue to help Ukraine’s farmers produce, store, and export agricultural products and grain to the world,” USAID assured.
The AGRI-Ukraine initiative was launched in July 2022 and supports more than 30% of Ukraine’s registered farmers. Thus, the U.S. provides seeds, fertilizers, agricultural and financial services and storage.
Thanks to USAID support, farmers were able to store more than 843,000 tons of grain, and more than 600 farmers received nearly $49.8 million.
International companies such as Bayer, Grain Alliance, Kernel, and Nibulon are investing in programs to support Ukraine’s agricultural sector. The World Bank has also joined AGRI-Ukraine in financing reforms in the sector.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned on Tuesday that temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius will linger in many parts of the world for several days.
“Temperatures in North America, Asia and northern Africa and the Mediterranean will be above 40 degrees Celsius for an extended number of days this week,” Western media quoted excerpts from a WMO statement.
“And while the focus is on maximum daytime temperatures, nighttime temperatures pose the greatest risks to human health,” it notes.
Meanwhile, residents in most European countries faced abnormally hot weather on Tuesday. Italian health services warned of increased danger due to the weather in dozens of cities in the country. The highest temperature in the country is in Sardinia and Sicily, the thermometer in some areas rose above 45 degrees Celsius.
Italian media noted that on Tuesday in Italy recorded the highest level of electricity consumption for the year, which is associated, in particular, with the use of air conditioners.
Spain is also experiencing extremely hot weather, with the northeast of the country and Mallorca preparing for record high temperatures this week. Residents are being warned about the risk of forest fires.
Natural fires are already raging in several European countries, including Greece and Switzerland, which are spreading rapidly just because of the dry weather.
Ten departments in France declared an orange danger level on Tuesday due to the heatwave. In Corsica the temperature has risen above 41 degrees Celsius, in most communes of the Eastern Pyrenees the thermometer column does not fall below 40 degrees Celsius.
Residents of some American states continue to struggle with hot weather, in the capital of the state of Arizona, Phoenix, on Tuesday, as expected, will again break the temperature record – above 43.4 degrees Celsius. The city has been recording record highs for more than a week.
In January-June 2023, Guardian Insurance Company (Kyiv) made insurance payments in the amount of UAH 180.2 million, which is three times more than in the same period a year earlier, the insurer said on Tuesday.
According to the company, UAH 673.8 million was collected during the period.
The level of insurance payments for the leading types of insurance amounted to 26.74%. In particular, for the Green Card – 22.6% with insurance premiums of UAH 452.8 million, for MTPL – 47.4% (UAH 154.3 million), for hull insurance – 45.9% (UAH 21.6 million).
Prices of Ukraine’s Eurobonds jumped by an average of 13% over the past week and, taking into account the growth at the end of June, reached a new high for the period since the beginning of the full-scale Russian aggression.
According to Bloomberg data, last week the quotations of dollar Eurobonds ended in a range from 28.1% of the face value of the shortest securities maturing in September 2025 to 25.0% of the face value of the longest securities maturing in March 2035.
On average, quotations grew during the week by 3.1 percentage points rather evenly along the whole curve.
According to market participants, such a spurt could be caused by the positive reaction to the results of the NATO summit, as a few weeks ago – by the results of the Conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine in London and the rebellion of Prigozhin.
In addition, Ukraine’s GDP warrants also rose to a new military maximum last week – 42.6% of the nominal value, while a week ago they were given 39.3% of the nominal value, and several attempts to break through the 40% level were unsuccessful.
In the second quarter of 2023 there is a noticeable recovery in the number of provided medicines after a decline in the winter period, which indicates a continuing trend of their increase compared to previous years, according to the press release of the insurance company “INGO” (Kiev).
It is also noted that the analysis of the popularity of services showed a continued increased demand for diagnostics since September 2022. At the same time consultations of doctors remain at a stable level without significant changes.
The other groups of services, although accounting for less than 20% of the total, do not show pronounced changes, with the exception of medical examinations, the demand for which has doubled in recent months compared to the preliminary figures.
According to the report, for the provision of medical services to its clients in the second quarter of 2023 paid UAH 110 million. The amount of payments for accident insurance programs has also increased.
According to the information of the Department of personal types of insurance, the average number of customer contacts is kept at a fairly high level – about 1.5 thousand contacts daily, but a little less than in the winter-spring period.
JSC INGO Insurance Company has more than 25 years of experience in the market. Since 2017, the main shareholder of the company is the Ukrainian business group DCH of Oleksandr Iaroslavskyi.
The company has 29 licenses for various types of compulsory and voluntary insurance, provides insurance services to corporate and retail clients.
