The Swiss government will provide 30 million Swiss francs (about $34.7 million) to support the work of the Geneva-based Fondation suisse de déminage (FSD) in Ukraine until 2027, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis has said.
“These are players at the forefront. We need a strategy, but above all we need the men and women who do the work and the machines. I believe that with this contribution, the Swiss Foundation will be able to significantly expand its activities,” he said at a conference on Thursday in Lausanne at the Second Annual Ukraine Mine Action Conference (UMAC-2024).
Cassis noted that with this support, the FSD will be more confident in its work, as it knows that Ukraine’s strategic mine action plan will be funded in the long term and therefore it can commit to it.
The Foreign Minister noted that such international conferences often become a catalyst for government decisions to allocate support, and expressed hope that other countries would follow the example of Switzerland, which last year also allocated CHF100 million for demining to Ukraine over four years.
“The purpose of the conference, which aims to strengthen international cooperation and support for humanitarian assistance in Ukraine, is precisely to share knowledge and best practices at the technical level and at the same time at the political level to ensure support, not only moral but also financial and strategic, for the recovery, which is not an easy task,” said Cassis.
He noted that the conference will result in a call to action.
“We don’t need new rules, we don’t need papers, we need action. And it is on this word that we would like to focus the attention of all those present here today,” the Foreign Minister emphasized.
According to him, since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale aggression, Switzerland has allocated about CHF3.7 billion to Ukraine, most of which is intended for 65 thousand Ukrainians who have been accepted by the country.
Cassis said that the Swiss government has decided to remain committed to Ukraine for the next 12 years, and expects that the country’s parliament will reconsider its decision and approve the allocation of CHF1.5 billion over the next four years for a program for Ukraine, which includes humanitarian demining, as well as recovery, digitalization, decentralization and other projects.
He added that a program for spending these funds is being prepared, which will provide a general picture of what Switzerland wants to do over the next four years.
“Some things still have to be approved by the parliament. Discussions are ongoing. I am confident that by the end of the year we will have positive decisions to maintain our support for Ukraine,” he concluded.
By the end of 2024, Ukrzaliznytsia’s branch, the Transport Logistics Center (TLC), will receive 120 units of new grain carriers of the 19-8005-U model, the center’s website reports.
“Grain carriers are designed to operate throughout the entire 1520 mm gauge railroad network and have the ability to be switched from 1520 mm gauge type 2 bogies to 1435 mm gauge bogies with screw ties and buffer devices, with a design speed of up to 120 km/h, which eliminates the need to connect coupling cars,” the Center for Transportation Logistics said.
According to the report, the grain carriers with a carrying capacity of 69.5 tons have a body volume of 104 cubic meters, size 02-VM, five loading and six unloading hatches.
Ukrainian businessman Vasyl Khmelnytsky’s holding company UFuture has sold LvivTech.City to Western Ukrainian developer VD Group to optimize its portfolio. After reconception, the project will be implemented under the Lviv.City brand, with the first phase scheduled for completion by the end of 2025.
“Innovative parks and integrated projects that are a continuous ecosystem are a global trend that we have brought to Ukraine by creating UNIT.City and scaling the project in western and eastern Ukraine. I am pleased that the Ukrainian developers who became the new owners of LvivTech.City understand the prospects of this model. For me and UFuture, the funds raised from the sale will allow us to reduce the loan portfolio and redirect investments to key projects for the company,” commented Vasyl Khmelnytsky, founder of UFuture.
UFuture told Interfax-Ukraine that under the agreement, the office building B01 and corporate rights in the companies that own the LvivTech.City innovation park project were sold.
VD Group reported that they had changed the project concept, most significantly, changing the class from business to premium segment, respectively, and adjusting the content and materials.
“There is a shortage of high-quality premium housing in Lviv, which is always in demand by a certain audience. All that Lviv offers, calling it premium, is at most a business class. However, Lviv is a metropolis of the West, a logistics hub and a city with the largest number of relocated businesses, more and more Ukrainians are choosing it as their new home, and this trend is only growing over time,” the company’s press service commented.
The project is being adjusted by the team that created the concept of LvivTech.City – achimatika.
There are five phases, 11 buildings with a height of 7-11 floors, a total of 500 apartments, as well as a modern preschool, a hospital, coworking areas, and an extensive commercial component. At the same time, Lviv.City is implementing open planning solutions – a promenade with street retail and a square, the Korsa pedestrian road, will be arranged to connect the city center with Stryi Park. The project will reflect VD Group’s experience in creating panoramic rooftop pools.
The company focuses on the innovation and environmental friendliness of construction solutions. In particular, windows with safe glazing from floor to ceiling, 3.05 m high; warm aluminum, porcelain stoneware, environmentally friendly gypsum plaster, VRF system that allows you to create a personalized microclimate in the apartment, water purification using the world’s leading technologies, a separate ventilation shaft from each apartment, etc. will be used.
As for security issues, the underground floors, in addition to the parking lot, will have two separate shelters with the comfort of an apartment with bathrooms, a kitchen, a pet room, comfortable furniture, water, additional ventilation and a chimney. They will be designed for all residents and guests of the complex, and additional protected space is planned for each apartment.
The energy independence of the residents will be ensured through the use of diesel power plants. All engineering systems of the buildings are connected to uninterrupted power supply: heating, water supply, fire protection systems, communication networks and elevators. Additionally, to increase the level of comfort, flowing water storage tanks are installed in the basements. This solution makes it possible to compensate for the peak load on the water supply system during peak periods in the morning and evening.
According to VD Group, the start of construction work at the site is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2024, and preparatory work is underway. The first phase is scheduled to be commissioned in a year, at the end of 2025.
As for the future price, the agency was informed by the pre-booking sales departments that it will be approximately EUR3.2-3.5 thousand per square meter, as they have ambitions to build “the most premium complex in Europe in the center of Lviv”, while all three-room apartments in the first phase have already been booked.
The construction company VD Group (EDRPOU code 39475589) has been operating since 2017, with Vasyl Kavlak as the ultimate beneficiary. The developer is implementing projects in Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Lviv, and Bukovel, 12 of which have been commissioned and three are under construction.
UFuture is a holding company of Ukrainian entrepreneur Vasyl Khmelnytsky that unites his commercial and social projects. The company has a diversified portfolio of assets in real estate, infrastructure, industry, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals, and IT. The value of UFuture’s assets is estimated at $500 million, and the total capitalization of the businesses in which the company has invested is up to $1 billion.
In 2024, Ingo Insurance Company (Kyiv) paid a record UAH 231 million in insurance indemnities to 97% of farmers participating in the MeteoZahyst program from the representative office of the leading agrochemical company Syngenta Ukraine due to the extremely dry and hot season, the company’s press service reports.
According to the report, this figure is 10 times higher than the indemnity in the 2023 season and the highest compensation rate for the entire period of the program’s operation since 2016.
The insurance company noted that climate change continues to pose significant challenges for agriculture, as evidenced by crop damage caused by severe drought and heat in Ukrainian farms in the 2024 season. The implemented index insurance program from Syngenta in partnership with Ingo allowed 349 farms to partially reduce losses from adverse weather conditions.
“This season, MeteoZahyst’s coverage has expanded by 88% to 502,000 hectares. Due to unfavorable weather conditions, the amount of compensation increased 10 times, and the average level of compensation amounted to 52%. We support Ukrainian farmers, even in the frontline areas, with agro-technological innovations, services and unique financial products. When purchasing Syngenta products, each customer has the opportunity to apply for participation in our insurance program free of charge,” said Roman Khrypko, Head of Financial Programs and Insurance Solutions at Syngenta.
The company noted that the main crops covered by insurance payments in the 2024 season were corn and sunflower with a total area of 335 thousand hectares and a compensation amount of UAH 225 million. Agricultural producers have insured sunflower and corn crops in 1039 applications, including 1033 applications with 99% indemnification and 386 with 100% indemnification.
According to Khrypko, almost 50% of the total compensation amount was paid to farms in Kharkiv, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Kherson and Mykolaiv regions.
“Thanks to our cooperation with Syngenta and the use of advanced index-based insurance methods, we are able to clearly record risks such as drought and provide farmers with effective tools to minimize losses. Losses are automatically triggered when weather indices exceed predefined thresholds. Therefore, farmers receive insurance compensation faster than in the case of conventional loss settlement,” said Ruslan Zymovets, Head of Agricultural Insurance at Ingo.
“In the 2024 season, MeteoZahyst offered insurance for sunflower, grain, corn and rapeseed crops against three weather risks: drought, heat and rain. The key period of the program’s operation is the flowering and grain filling phases.
Currently, the program authors are finalizing the terms of MeteoProtection 2025 to further support farmers.
Syngenta AG (Syngenta) is a Swiss company, one of the leaders in the production of plant protection products and seeds. The company was formed in November 2000 as a result of the merger of the agricultural divisions of Novartis AG and AstraZeneca Plc.
The company is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. More than 28 thousand employees of the company work in 90 countries.
Ingo has almost 30 years of experience in the market. Since 2017, the main shareholder of the company is the Ukrainian business group DCH. The company is one of the largest insurance organizations in Ukraine in terms of premiums, own assets and insurance claims.
It holds 29 licenses for various types of compulsory and voluntary insurance and provides insurance services to corporate and retail clients.
“Ingo is a full member of the Motor (Transport) Insurance Bureau of Ukraine (MTIBU), a member of the American Chamber of Commerce (ACC), the European Business Association (EBA), the National Association of Insurers of Ukraine (NAIU) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). On September 21, 2023, the rating agency IBI-rating confirmed the long-term credit rating of JSC IC “Ingo” on the national rating scale at uaAA.
Trypillia Packaging Plant (TPK, Ukrainka, Kyiv region), a subsidiary of Rubizhne Cardboard and Packaging Plant, which stopped operations in Luhansk region, increased its corrugated packaging output by 19.7% in January-September compared to the same period in 2023, to 123.62 million square meters.
According to UkrPapir statistics provided to Interfax-Ukraine, the mill is now the second largest producer of corrugated packaging after Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill (166.7 million square meters).
According to the association, in September, TPK increased its corrugated packaging production by 10.6% year-on-year and by 1% year-on-year to 14.4 million square meters.
In monetary terms, the TPC’s production volume in January-September increased by 12.3% to UAH 2 billion 026 million.
The main companies in the industry that provided data to Ukrpapir Association increased their production of cardboard boxes by 15.6% to 434.6 million square meters during this period.
Earlier it was reported that before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Rubizhne Pulp and Paper Mill together with TPK were the leaders among corrugated packaging producers in Ukraine.
After the destruction, the plant in Rubizhne shut down, and the legal entity Rubizhne CPP was re-registered in Kyiv.
TPK produces a wide range of corrugated cardboard products for food, industrial goods, and chemicals. Among its customers are Roshen, Coca-Cola, MHP agricultural holding, and Lactalis Group.
In 2023, the plant increased its commercial output by 13.7% compared to 2022, to UAH 2 billion 480 million, while corrugated packaging production increased by 18% to 145.8 million square meters.
In the first nine months of 2024, Arterium Pharmaceutical Corporation increased its share of exports to 20% in physical terms, while maintaining its share in monetary terms at 23%.
As Arterium told IF, in 2023, the share of export sales amounted to 17% in physical terms and 23% in monetary terms.
“In 2023, Arterium reached the pre-war level of profit from export operations. Compared to previous years, we see a gradual increase in exports,” the corporation said.
At the same time, Arterium notes that the main focus of the corporation’s export strategy is on expanding its operations in Europe, Asia and neighboring regions.
“Arterium has already formed a portfolio of about 20 products with which it plans to enter the European market. Among them, in particular, are products for the treatment of cardiology and endocrinology diseases,” the corporation said.
Arterium reminded that in 2023, the corporation registered its first product in the EU market, Chlorophyllipte Solution, in Latvia, which, thanks to Latvian partners, is now available in Poland.
“In the future, we plan to supply it to other Baltic countries,” the corporation said.
At the same time, Arterium notes that a GMP certificate from the country’s regulatory authority is always a pass to a new market, “but some countries create barriers to industry competitors, thus protecting local producers.”
“One such market is the European market. The Ukrainian pharmaceutical business has been waiting for the so-called “visa-free regime for medicines” for a long time. It is important for the Ukrainian pharmaceutical industry to achieve the recognition of Ukrainian GMP certification in the European Union as soon as possible, as this is the main barrier to exports today,” the corporation emphasized.
The corporation also noted that Arterium is actively considering the possibility of entering the African market in the near future, which is one of the fastest growing markets for pharmaceutical products, thanks, in particular, to population growth, improved economic conditions and active support from international humanitarian organizations that provide funding and resources for the provision of medicines.
At the same time, there are a number of risks in this market, including insufficient harmonization of regulatory systems across Africa, difficulties in drug delivery and internal logistics problems, financial instability, payment delays, and the presence of a significant number of counterfeit drugs on the market.
“The corporation is looking for opportunities to partner with local distributors and international organizations to overcome obstacles and meet the growing demand for pharmaceuticals in the region,” Arterium said.
As reported earlier, according to the Proxima Research analytical system, Arterium Pharmaceutical Corporation, which increased its retail sales by 22.5% in UAH equivalent in the first six months of 2024, rose from sixth position in the first half of 2023 to third place in the pharmaceutical market. In the first half of the year, Arterium’s share in the retail pharmaceutical market amounted to 3.23%.
