China increased its gold reserves by 44.17 tons in 2024 to a record 2279.57 tons, according to the China Gold Association (CGA). The PRC ranks sixth in the world in terms of reserves of this precious metal, Xinhua reports.
Gold consumption in the country last year decreased by 9.6% to 985.31 tons. Total gold production from domestic and imported raw materials increased by 2.85% to 534.106 tons.
In 2024, China’s largest companies mined 71.937 tons of gold at foreign mines, up 19.1% year-on-year.
In 2024, Ukrainian airline SkyUp Airlines increased passenger traffic by 61.6% compared to 2023, carrying 2.5 million passengers last year, its press service said on Monday.
The number of flights operated by SkyUp Airlines in 2024 also increased by 60.7% to 16,927. The number of routes increased from 664 in 2023 to 851 in 2024, the company said in a Facebook post.
It is noted that in 2024, SkyUp Airlines received a SAFA rating of 0.16, one of the best in European aviation. This rating is a safety indicator and is associated with the SAFA (Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft) program, which is conducted by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and national aviation authorities in Europe.
In addition, the airline has passed the IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit) audit, an international audit program developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to assess the operational safety of airlines.
Among other things, it was noted that the air carrier has implemented AMOS (Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Operating System), a leading integrated management system for aircraft maintenance and repair. With its help, the company was able to improve resource management and stability of operations. In the future, the company expects to reduce spare parts costs and minimize aircraft downtime.
Earlier it was reported that from April 2025, SkyUp Airlines will start operating regular flights from Chisinau (Moldova) to the most popular destinations in Ukraine: France, Portugal, Spain, Greece, and Cyprus.
In 2023, SkyUp increased passenger traffic by 24% to 1.546 million.
Sales of new passenger cars in Ukraine in 2024 are estimated at more than UAH 125 billion, up 18% year-on-year, according to Ukravtoprom’s telegram channel.
According to Ukravtoprom, the initial registrations of new passenger cars in Ukraine last year increased by 14% to 69.6 thousand units, and according to Auto-Consulting, their sales increased by 9.8% to 71.3 thousand units.
“Ukravtoprom informs that about half of the amount spent on the purchase of new cars was spent on five car brands, with the leader being Japanese Toyota – UAH 18.3 billion.
BMW came in second with UAH 16 billion, Mercedes-Benz took third place with UAH 9.7 billion, Volkswagen was fourth with UAH 9.2 billion, and Renault rounded out the top five with UAH 6.4 billion.
Audi, Skoda, Lexus, Land Rover, and Porsche are also among the top ten brands of new cars that Ukrainians have spared no expense.
As reported, according to Ukravtoprom, the top five registrations in quantitative terms were Toyota (10.73 thousand), Renault (7.27 thousand), Skoda (5.03 thousand), Volkswagen (4.9 thousand), and BMW (4.83 thousand). At the same time, Mercedes-Benz did not make it into the top ten, and in December 2024 it ranked 12th in terms of the number of cars sold.
In 2024, Zaporizhstal Iron and Steel Works of Zaporizhzhia launched the production of six new types of sheet and coil products, which are in demand in the construction industry, railcar building, and hardware segment.
According to the company’s press release on Monday, over the past year, about 14 thousand tons of new products were shipped to consumers from Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia and the domestic market.
“Ukrainian steelmakers are working despite the following: lack of workers; energy supply constraints; underutilization of production capacities; and the logistics crisis. In these realities, we are not just producing steel products – we are competing and fighting for customers, and in response to customer requests, we are developing new product mixes. In 2024, Zaporizhstal shipped 14 thousand tons of new product mixes to its customers. And the work on replenishing the product portfolio continues: we are currently working on the development of three more new types of products,” said Taras Shevchenko, Acting CEO of the steel plant.
At the same time, the press release clarified that in 2024, Zaporizhstal will launch four products in the cold-rolled segment. In particular, the S250GD coil, which is used for further galvanizing and other coatings, and then for the manufacture of lightweight steel thin-walled structures.
The press release also specified that in 2024, Zaporizhstal will launch four products in the cold-rolled segment. In particular, the S250GD coil, which is used for further galvanizing and other coatings, and then for the manufacture of lightweight steel thin-walled structures. The new products also include S215G rolled steel, which is used to manufacture open and welded metal profiles, sheets and other building structures.
Zaporizhstal’s metallurgists have also mastered the technology for producing DC01 coils with a thickness of 2.5 mm and cold-rolled plates with a thickness of 2.1-2.5 mm. These types of rolled products are used in conditions where the precision of product geometry and ease of forming with a sufficient level of mechanical strength are important.
In addition, in 2024, Zaporizhstal started production of two types of hot-rolled steel. These are coils and sheets of S355JR/S355J2 grades with a thickness of 2.75-2.79 mm, which are used in the production of electric-welded pipes and profiles, and a sheet with a size of 5.0×1500×6000 mm made of 09G2/09G2S steel for the manufacture of railway structural elements.
In total, in 2024, Metinvest Group’s Ukrainian steelmaking enterprises mastered the production of 20 new types of steel products in response to market demand.
“Zaporizhstal is one of the largest industrial enterprises in Ukraine, whose products are in great demand among consumers both in the domestic market and in many countries around the world.
“Zaporizhstal is in the process of being integrated into Metinvest Group.
As of November 30, 2024, 4 million 234.49 thousand non-EU citizens who left Ukraine as a result of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, had the status of temporary protection in the EU, which is 36.01 thousand, or 0.9%, more than a month earlier, Eurostat reports.
“The largest absolute increase in the number of beneficiaries was observed in Germany (+11,915; +1.0%), the Czech Republic (+5,820; +1.5%) and Poland (+4,045; +0.4%),” the agency said.
It is noted that the number of people under temporary protection in November decreased only in Italy (-1,270; -0.8%), France (-695; -1.2%) and Luxembourg (-15; -0.4%).
According to Eurostat, Germany remains the country with the largest number of refugees from Ukraine in the EU and the world by a growing margin – 1 million 152.62 thousand at the end of November, or 27.2% of the total number of beneficiaries in the EU.
The top three also includes Poland – 987.93 thousand, or 23.3%, and the Czech Republic – 385.19 thousand, or 9.1%.
Spain (224.29 thousand), Romania (177.61 thousand), and Italy (164.41 thousand) follow with a significant lag.
At the same time, Eurostat clarified that the data for Spain, Greece and Cyprus take into account some people whose temporary protection status is no longer valid.
According to the agency, compared to the population of each EU member state, the largest number of temporary protection beneficiaries per thousand people in November 2024 was observed in the Czech Republic (35.3), Poland (27.0), Latvia and Estonia (25.5 each), while the corresponding figure at the EU level is 9.4.
It is also reported that as of November 30, 2024, Ukrainian citizens accounted for more than 98.3% of the beneficiaries of temporary protection. Adult women accounted for almost half (44.9%) of temporary protection beneficiaries in the EU, children for almost a third (32.0%), while adult men accounted for less than a quarter (23.1%) of the total. A year earlier, the share of women was 46.3%, children 33.3% and adult men 20.4%.
More than 100 thousand people with temporary protection status at the end of November 2024 were also in Slovakia – 130.47 thousand, the Netherlands – 120.55 thousand and Ireland – 109.18 thousand.
Between 50 thousand and 100 thousand of them were in Belgium – 85.44 thousand, Austria – 84.60 thousand, Norway – 78.10 thousand, Finland – 68.78 thousand, Bulgaria – 67.54 thousand, Switzerland – 67.45 thousand, Portugal – 64.78 thousand and France – 59.13 thousand (data on children are mostly not included – Eurostat).
This is followed by Lithuania – 48.01 thousand, Latvia – 47.65 thousand, Sweden – 46.00 thousand, Denmark – 38.92 thousand, Hungary – 38.89 thousand, Greece – 32.37 thousand, Estonia – 35.12 thousand, Croatia – 25.81 thousand, Cyprus – 22.09 thousand, Iceland – 3.97 thousand, Luxembourg – 3.84 thousand, Malta – 2.20 thousand and Liechtenstein – 0.70 thousand.
Eurostat clarified that all the above data relate to the granting of temporary protection on the basis of EU Council Decision 2022/382 of March 4, 2022, which establishes the existence of a massive influx of displaced persons from Ukraine due to Russia’s military invasion and entails the introduction of temporary protection. On June 25, 2024, the European Council decided to extend temporary protection for these persons from March 4, 2025 to March 4, 2026.
According to updated UNHCR data, the number of Ukrainian refugees in Europe as of January 16, 2025, was estimated at 6.303 million, and 6.863 million worldwide, which is 49 thousand more than as of December 16.
In Ukraine itself, according to the latest UN data, there are 3.6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), while approximately 160,000 people were displaced from the frontline areas in the east and south between May and October 2024 due to the intensification of hostilities.
As Deputy Minister of Economy Serhiy Sobolev noted in early March 2023, the return of every 100,000 Ukrainians home results in a 0.5% increase in GDP. At the same time, in its October inflation report, the National Bank again downgraded its forecast for the outflow from Ukraine in 2024 from 0.4 million to 0.5 million. At the same time, the outflow estimate for 2025 was lowered from 0.3 million to 0.2 million.
In the report, the National Bank confirmed its expectation that Ukrainians will start returning home in 2026, but lowered its net inflow forecast to 0.2 million from 0.4 million.
http://relocation.com.ua/status-tymchasovoho-zakhystu-v-krainakh/
On 13 February, the largest conference for Ukrainian entrepreneurs on entering foreign markets, finding partners, step-by-step strategies and tactical solutions – Mind Export Summit 2025 – will take place in Kiyv for two days.
Top 5 reasons why you should visit MES-2025:
All these (and other) questions will be answered, as the topics of the Mind Export Summit 2025 panel discussions are as follows:
Among the speakers:
Visitors will also be able to learn about the cases of Ukrainian companies already operating in foreign markets and even try their products at the Exporters’ Fair, which will be part of the Summit. Among the companies: vegan products Wanted Vegan, furniture company Tivoli, law firm Mitra, crispy cheese balls snEco, and signature herbal teas Zhygun Herbs.
Those who are already determined to conquer foreign markets will have the opportunity to take part in the Business Simulation ‘Entering Export Markets’ on the second day of the Summit, where participants will simulate the process of expanding abroad and work out possible problems.
To get tickets, please follow the link https://exportsummit.mind.ua/
Come, it will be useful!
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