On August 27-28, the charity squash tournament “Zenit Ukraine Open 2022” was held on the courts of the capital’s fitness center “SPORT LIFE”. The competition was attended by players from Romania, USA, Moldova, Lithuania, as well as athletes from Kyiv, Lvov, Kharkov, Dnipro, Khmelnitsky, Poltava, Kherson and Odessa.
Among the participants were awarded awards in 5 categories. The winners of the competition were:
Category Lady:
1. Anna Tarasova;
2. Alina Nizdrakova;
3. Oksana Gerasimenko.
Category M3
1. Arayik Sargsyan;
2. Stepan Kobzev;
3. Alexander Stepanyuk.
Category M2:
1. Maria Lovko;
2. Yulia Sikalenko;
3. Dmitry Tokar.
Category M1:
1. Alexey Alekseenko;
2. Evgeny Popko;
3. Nikita Petrov.
Category PRO Men:
1. Ruslan Sorochinsky;
2. Denis Yard;
3. Nikita Panov.
This year the tournament was held in Kyiv for security reasons, while Odessa has been the traditional venue for the competition for many years. According to tournament organizers Dmitry Shcherbakov and Maxim Urakin, the return of Zenit Open to the Black Sea coast is planned for next year.
“For the last 10 years, the tournament has been held in Odessa, and we know it under the name Zenit Black Sea Open. Now, due to the war, we were forced to change traditions and move the venue to Kyiv. At the same time, we plan to return to Odessa courts next year,” Shcherbakov emphasized.
The executive director of the “All-Ukrainian Association of Squash Players” Oleksiy Usenko said that the association will contribute to the organization and holding of tournaments on a regular basis.
“The holding of such competitions improves the skills of our players and our cohesion, it is important not only to support Ukrainian sports, but also the country as a whole,” Usenko stressed.
According to the organizers, the money raised at the tournament will be directed to charity and assistance to Ukraine.
“Zenit Open” is the most famous and largest international squash tournament in the history of independent Ukraine. The scale of the championship is evidenced by the number of countries and participants, as well as a large number of organizations involved in the preparation and holding of the competition.
The main fitness partner of the event is the national network of fitness clubs No. 1 “SPORT LIFE”;
The main organizer of the tournament is “All-Ukrainian Association of Squash Players”;
The main information partner of the tournament is the news agency “Interfax Ukraine”;
The official sponsors were the company “MAXEVENTS” and the analytical center “Club of Experts”;
Prize fund partners – Eye and VICTOR;Partner – Public Association “UKRSADVINPROM”;
Prizes and gifts from the leading companies Tecnifibre and Reima;
The official water of the tournament is “KRAYNA”;
Official beer of the tournament from TERMOPUB;
Tea Partner – At Market;
Official hotel of the tournament – “FAVOR”;
Party partner restaurant – “OZERO”.
DMITRY_SHCHERBAKOV, EXPERT_CLUB, EXTREME, FAVOR, MAXEVENTS, OZERO, REIMA, SPORT, SPORT_LIFE, SQUASH, TECNIFIBRE, TERMOPUB, TOURNAMENT, URAKIN, ZENIT_OPEN
Ukrainian population by regions as of Feb 1, 2022 (graphically)
SSC of Ukraine
Stock indices of the largest countries in the Asia-Pacific region are mainly falling during trading on Wednesday following the decline in the US stock market, as well as due to weak statistical data from China.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for China’s manufacturing industry rose to 49.4 in August from 49 in the previous month, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics said.
A PMI value above 50 points indicates an increase in activity in the sector, below – its weakening. The indicator is below this level for the second month. Meanwhile, analysts had expected a less significant increase on average – to 49.2 points, according to the results of polls by The Wall Street Journal and Trading Economics.
PMI services and construction fell this month to 52.6 points from 53.8 points in July. Consolidated PMI fell to 51.7 points from 52.5 points.
China’s Shanghai Composite index fell 0.2% by 8:43 qoq, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.5%.
Leading gainers on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange include shares of restaurant chain owner Haidilao International Holding Ltd. (+6.6%), game developer Netease Inc. (+3.9%), Internet company Meituan (+4.2%), sporting goods manufacturer Li Ning Co. (+4%).
Meanwhile, shares of automotive companies BYD (-7.5%) and Geely (-1.2%), oil PetroChina (-1.3%) fell in price.
Country Garden Holdings Co. share price fell by 4.8%. China’s largest real estate developer by sales in the first half of the year reduced its net profit by 96%, which was the largest decline since the company’s entry into the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2007.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 fell 0.5% by 8:38 a.m.
Oil company Inpex is down 3.5%, metals producers Pacific Metals Co. and Japan Steel Works – respectively by 2.3% and 2.4%.
In addition, shares of investment and technology company Softbank Group (-0.3%), consumer electronics manufacturer Sony (-1.9%), Asia’s largest clothing retailer Fast Retailing (-0.9%) are depreciating.
Industrial production in Japan in July decreased by 1.8% compared to the same month last year, according to preliminary data. The indicator showed a decline for the fifth month in a row.
The number of homes started in the country last month fell 5.4% year on year. The index has been declining for the third month. Analysts had expected a 4.1% contraction.
Meanwhile, Japan’s consumer confidence index rose to a three-month high in August at 32.5 points. In July, the indicator was at a minimum for 18 months – 30.2 points. The average forecast of experts assumed a rise of only 31 points.
Retail sales in the country in July increased by 2.4% compared to the same month last year. Thus, they rose for the fifth month in a row. Analysts, on average, expected a less significant increase of 1.9%, according to Trading Economics.
The South Korean index Kospi rose by 0.7% by 8:36 a.m.
Shares of one of the world’s largest manufacturers of chips and consumer electronics Samsung Electronics Co. rose in price by 1.4%, automaker Hyundai Motor – by 0.3%.
The Australian S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3%.
The market value of the world’s largest mining companies BHP and Rio Tinto fell by 2.8% and 0.9%, respectively.
Oil prices are rising on Wednesday, recovering slightly after the collapse the day before.
The cost of October futures for Brent on London’s ICE Futures is $100.01 per barrel by 8:06 a.m. on Wednesday, which is $0.7 (0.7%) higher than at the close of the previous session. As a result of trading on Tuesday, these contracts fell by $5.78 (5.5%) to $99.31 per barrel.
October Brent futures expire at the close of the session on Wednesday. More actively traded November contracts added $0.94 (0.96%) in price, trading at $98.78 per barrel.
The price of futures for WTI oil for October in the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is $92.51 per barrel by this time, which is $0.87 (0.95%) higher than the final value of the previous session. By the close of the market the day before, the cost of these contracts decreased by $5.37 (5.54%) to $91.64 per barrel.
Experts from the OPEC+ technical committee have raised their estimate of the oil surplus in 2022 from 0.8 million bpd to 0.9 million bpd, according to reports prepared for the meeting of the technical committee scheduled for August 31, which Interfax has read.
Based on the reporting, experts downgraded their estimate of oil demand growth in 2022 under the baseline scenario from 3.4 million b/d to 3.1 million b/d, to 100 million b/d; growth in supply – from 5.8 million b/d to 5.6 million b/d to 100.9 million b/d.
Traders, meanwhile, are waiting for the US Department of Energy’s weekly report on commercial stocks of oil, gasoline and distillates in the country, which will be released later on Wednesday.
Experts on average expect oil inventories to fall 1.9 million barrels, gasoline more than 1.3 million barrels and distillates nearly 1.2 million barrels, according to a S&P Global Commodity Insights survey.
The income of NPC Ukrenergo from the sale of the interstate section for the export of electricity to Romania and Slovakia from June 30 to August 31 rose to UAH 2.94 billion.
According to the results of daily auctions held by Ukrenergo in these areas, in the last ten days of August, proceeds from the sale of cross-sections increased by UAH 1.02 billion due to an increase in electricity prices in Europe, which directly affects the price of cross-sections. As a result, exports to Romania for ten days cost UAH 502.1 million, which is 39% higher than in the third week of August, to Slovakia – UAH 519.5 million (63% higher than the average daily cross-sectional cost in the third week of August).
The most expensive was the section on the last day of August – in Romania 56.8 million hryvnia, in Slovakia 59.4 million hryvnia.
On the same date, a new record was also set for the maximum hourly price of a section – UAH 22.1 thousand / MWh in Romania and UAH 23.7 thousand / MWh in Slovakia (previous records were UAH 21.7 thousand, respectively) /MWh and 21.27 thousand UAH/MWh).
According to Energy Reform calculations, the average hourly price of a section for ten days of August amounted to UAH 16.7 thousand / MWh in Romania, and UAH 17.3 thousand / MWh in Slovakia.
According to the Market Operator, as of August 31, the average electricity price on the day-ahead market (DAM) in Romania is EUR684/MWh (in terms of the current euro exchange rate, about UAH 25,000/MWh) , Slovakia – EUR 673 / MWh (about 24.6 thousand UAH / MWh). In Ukraine, the electricity price of the BASE period on DAM is EUR 86/MWh (about UAH 3.14 thousand/MWh).
The most active exporter is the state-owned energy trader AK ECU, which entered the market on August 19. Of the possible 3,000 MWh per day, the company buys a section for export via the Romanian direction of 1488 MWh per day (62 MW per hour of the day), along the Slovak route – for the supply of 1512 MWh per day (63 MW per hour).
The second largest exporter in both directions remains DTEK Zakhidenergo, which bought out during this period mainly a cross-section for deliveries from 1,000,000 MWh to 1,200 MWh.
Most of the remnants of the cross-section were bought out by Latest Technologies 3000, Ukr Gas Resource, Electric Trading Group, and DE Trading. Many companies participated in auctions without results.
The state-owned PJSC “Ukrhydroenergo” continued to buy a section of 100 MW on a flat schedule for the supply of electricity to Moldova (a total of 2400 MWh per day).
The section to Poland continues to buy back at daily auctions in addition to the 147 MW of capacity bought out at the monthly auction of DTEK Zakhidenergo – on August 22-31 at 63 MW every hour (1512 MWh per day),
Sections from Slovakia, Romania and Moldova at daily auctions for the last ten days of August traditionally remained not redeemed.
The section price at all auctions, except for exports to Romania and Slovakia, is 0 UAH/MWh.
As reported, on July 28, ENTSO-E increased its capacity for export to Romania and Slovakia to 250 MW. Ukrenergo held a daily auction on the same day, dividing the capacity equally. A month earlier, commercial exports began with 100 MW to Romania, from July 7 they were shared with Slovakia for 50 MW.
According to the Ministry of Energy, technically, Ukraine can already export at a capacity of 1.5-1.7 thousand MW and expects an increase in exports over time.
The head of Ukrenergo, Volodymyr Kudrytsky, noted that he expects a decision to increase exports from the Europeans on September 2.
An inter-factional deputy association (IFO) “In support of friendship, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation with Taiwan” will start working in the Verkhovna Rada, said Alexander Merezhko, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Policy and Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation (Servant of the People faction) .
“Together with our colleagues, we decided to create an IFI “In support of friendship and cooperation with Taiwan” (…) In fact, the IFI has already been created. All that remains is to announce its creation at the plenary meeting,” Merezhko told Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.
According to the head of the committee, he was one of the initiators of the creation of the IFO, which included 15 people’s deputies from the Servant of the People, Holos, and European Solidarity factions.
Merezhko noted that he personally was prompted to create an IFO by Taiwan’s actions – “serious sanctions against Russia” imposed after the start of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the assistance provided to our country.
“That is, Taiwan behaved like a true friend in a difficult time for us. Society in Taiwan also very actively supported Ukraine,” Merezhko stressed.
Speaking about the plans of IFIs, Merezhko emphasized that he considers the model of European countries, which have their own economic representations in Taipei, to be attractive.
“We need to develop economic, cultural, humanitarian and other ties with Taiwan. By the way, the European Parliament recommends that EU states develop ties with Taiwan. And this is right, because we have common values. For example, such as democracy and the rule of law,” explained people’s deputy.
In the statement on the creation of the IFO, handed over by Merezhko to the Interfax-Ukraine agency, the people’s deputies note the need to “develop relations with Taiwan to protect peace, within the framework of international law, the UN Charter, Ukraine’s international obligations and the one China policy.”
According to the document, the MPs included in it elected Merezhko as the head of the MFI.
