The first Central Asian Universities Forum, organized by Times Higher Education (THE) with the support of the New Uzbekistan University, will be held in Tashkent on October 16-17 this year.
The forum will bring together more than 200 delegates from Central Asia and other countries, including representatives of academia, government policy and industry. Experts will discuss topical issues and innovative solutions that shape the future of higher education in the region.
The key topics of discussion will be:
The program of the forum will include lectures, panel discussions, workshops and experience exchange sessions, as well as presentations of the latest achievements in the field of educational technologies.
The forum will be preceded by a series of lectures by such world-renowned scientists as Jean Tirole (Nobel Prize in Economics), Luciano Recolla (one of the leading experts in theoretical astrophysics), and Eric Grimson (Chancellor and Vice President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
The 50% increase in minimum wholesale and retail prices for alcoholic beverages provided for in the draft law No. 11416d on introducing a number of amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine will have a positive impact on the country’s alcohol market, Volodymyr Pechko, chairman of the board of the public association UkrSadVinProm, told Interfax-Ukraine.
He reminded that the minimum retail prices for wine and spirits have not been raised since 2018, and they are regulated by the Cabinet of Ministers.
“This will lead to an increase in tax revenues to the state budget and resolve the issue of counterfeit products,” assured the head of the industry association.
Mr. Pechko pointed out that there is currently very cheap wine on store shelves that is of extremely poor quality.
“Such a product sometimes costs 40-45 UAH/l. And compare this price with juices, which are much more expensive – this is basically impossible. In order to sell cheaply, unfortunate producers are forced to mix something into their product or dilute wine with water. Accordingly, the decision proposed by the parliament will “knock out” unscrupulous producers from the market,” explained the head of Ukrsadvynprom.
Pechko confirmed that as a result of such actions by the parliament, wine will become more expensive for the end consumer, noting that this process in relation to alcoholic beverages in the country has been going on for a long time. He explained the rise in prices for wine and vodka products by the rise in gas prices, which led to higher prices for glass containers.
In addition, crop protection products have risen in price in the 2024 season, and the price of grapes is breaking records, having almost doubled. “If wine hasn’t risen in price at the same time, it should raise questions and concern consumers. A 50% increase in the minimum retail price for alcoholic beverages is a very modest price increase. Currently, the minimum retail price subject to excise tax is 42 UAH/l, while it should be at least 95 UAH/l,” Pechko said.
The head of Ukrsadvynprom advised consumers to choose wine at a price of at least UAH 130, 150, 200 per bottle in order not to risk their health and to be sure of the quality of the product they buy.
As reported, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the law (No. 11416d) on amendments to the Tax Code regarding the peculiarities of taxation under martial law, which provides for an increase in the military tax from 1.5% to 5% starting October 1, and a 50% increase in the bank profit tax in 2024. Other new provisions include the introduction of advance payments on gas station profits, pegging the advance payment rate for currency exchange offices to the euro, increasing the minimum tax liability for agricultural land and increasing the rent for crushed stone extraction, but at the same time exempting from taxation the funds received by citizens under the national cashback program.
On October 9 this year, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev familiarized himself with the draft master plan for the city of Tashkent.
Currently, the city’s territory is 43,822 hectares and the population is over 3 million people. These figures will undoubtedly grow in the future. In this regard, a master plan for Tashkent until 2045 has been developed.
According to the project, the territory of Tashkent will be divided into three zones. The conservation zone will ensure the preservation of cultural heritage sites, historical sites, buildings, and green areas. In the reconstruction zone, additional construction will be possible based on master plans. In the renovation zone, new construction will be carried out on the site of old housing and dilapidated buildings, as well as their repair.
In particular, it is planned to triple the area of green spaces in Tashkent and its environs to 25,000 hectares. This will increase the area of green space per capita from the current 3 to 6 square meters.
According to the requirements of urban planning, residents should be able to reach the nearest kindergarten, school, hospital, shopping and service facilities from their place of residence in no more than 15 minutes. In this regard, the public transportation network will be expanded, the number of hubs and stops will be increased, new roads will be built and metro bus routes will be organized.
Tashkent’s growth is putting additional pressure on the city’s electricity, water and sewerage infrastructure. The new master plan includes measures to increase the capacity of these systems to ensure sustainable operation.
The President of Uzbekistan has set a goal to turn Tashkent into a metropolis with a population of at least 7.5 million people. To this end, it is planned to develop the districts of Tashkent region – Kibray, Zangiat, Yukorichirchik, Urtachirchik and Tashkent – on the basis of a single agglomeration with the capital.
The project is aimed at creating comfortable living and working conditions in a fast-growing metropolis, which will make Tashkent even more environmentally friendly and modern.
The prices of sunflower seeds in Ukraine increased significantly last week, reaching the highest level since the end of May 2021, with the official purchase prices of processors reaching 22.5-24.5 thsd UAH/ton CPT, APK-Inform news agency reported.
“The companies reported that the supply of the oilseed slightly increased, but still remained insufficient. Therefore, those who needed urgent replenishment of stocks to fulfill the contractual obligations for oilseeds raised the prices more actively (up to +1000 UAH/ton) compared to the week before and were ready to pay extra for large volumes and oil content,” the analysts said.
Experts emphasized that the growth of prices for raw materials is facilitated by the increase in the cost of sunflower oil on foreign markets. At the same time, more and more crushers report that the profitability of processing is low or almost non-existent.
Last week, the demand prices for sunflower oil in the ports of Ukraine increased by 20-30 USD/ton and reached the highest level since January 2023 – 1020-1025 USD/ton CPT port.
APK-Inform reminded that the historical price maximum for sunflower oil in Ukraine was recorded in March 2021 – 25.5-27.4 thsd UAH/ton CPT.
Rivne Azot, a part of Group DF’s nitrogen business, has resumed operations and reached 100% capacity at its basic fertilizer production shops, the company’s press service reports.
“The forced shutdown of the basic shops a month ago was caused by damage to the energy infrastructure in the region during the shelling. During the plant shutdown, we carried out maintenance and reconstruction of a number of production systems, including the power supply system at the enterprise. This will help reduce production risks and ensure stable operation of the plant’s basic shops during the season. We have successfully completed the commissioning of key units and launched the plant at full capacity to meet the growing seasonal demand for mineral fertilizers from farmers,” said Mykhailo Zabluda, Chairman of the Board of Rivne Azot.
According to the report, the plant has launched an ammonia shop (A-2), a nonconcentrated nitric acid shop and an ammonium nitrate shop. The capacity of the loaded ammonia line is 650 tons of ammonia per day and that of the non-concentrated nitric acid line is 1,000 tons of nitric acid per day. The ammonium nitrate shop will operate at the maximum capacity of the ammonia line, i.e. at least 40 thousand tons of nitrate per month.
Currently, the plant is focused on supplying fertilizers to the domestic market of Ukraine. The products are shipped to customers across the country under contracts.
As reported earlier, Group DF’s capital investments in Ostchem’s nitrogen business in 2024 will amount to about EUR86 million. The purpose of the CAPEX investment is to optimize cost coefficients, reduce losses of various types of energy and improve the cost of finished products.
On April 12, Group DF and Hyundai ENGINEERING CO signed an agreement to build a chemical hub in Rivne. The project envisages the construction of green ammonia and hydrogen plants based on renewable energy sources; new enterprises and production sites for nitrogen fertilizers and chemical derivatives.
Ostchem has launched a 300,000-tonne-per-year production facility for UAN at Rivne Azot. The project is primarily aimed at farmers in the western regions of Ukraine.
Ostchem is a nitrogen holding of Dmitry Firtash’s Group DF, which unites the largest mineral fertilizer producers in Ukraine. Since 2011, it has included Rivne Azot and Cherkasy Azot, as well as Sievierodonetsk Azot and Stirol, which are out of operation and located in the occupied territories.
Cherkasy Azot PJSC (Cherkasy, Ukraine) is one of the largest Ukrainian chemical enterprises. The design production capacity is 962.7 thousand tons per year of ammonia, 970 thousand tons per year of ammonium nitrate, 891.6 thousand tons of urea, and 1 million tons per year of UAN.
Rivne Azot is one of the largest Ukrainian chemical companies in Western Ukraine. On April 12, 2024, Group DF and South Korean Hyundai Engineering signed an agreement to build a chemical hub in Rivne. The project envisages the construction of green ammonia and hydrogen plants based on renewable energy sources; new enterprises and production sites for nitrogen fertilizers and chemical derivatives.
The Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) has valued the Gulliver shopping center (Tri O LLC, Kyiv) at UAH 7.6 billion and is preparing a tender to select a manager, the ARMA press service reports. The press release specifies that the appraiser, Business Consulting PE, selected in a transparent tender, provided the National Agency with an appraisal report and a review of the report dated October 9, 2024.
According to the appraisal, the value of the Gulliver shopping center is UAH 7.6 billion. After processing all the information and preparing the tender documents, ARMA will announce a tender to select a facility manager. The Gulliver Multifunctional Complex (MFC) was transferred to ARMA by the decision of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv on June 3, 2024 and the Kyiv Court of Appeal on June 25, 2024.
Earlier it was reported that on June 3 this year, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv granted the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office to transfer Gulliver to the management of ARMA. The prosecutor’s motion concerned only the transfer of property to ARMA for management, not for sale. In addition, the court ordered ARMA to carry out periodic (at least once a month) checks on the effectiveness of the asset management.
The asset owner announced its intention to appeal the decision to the Court of Appeal. The Prosecutor General’s Office filed the motion as part of a criminal investigation by the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) into possible tax evasion by IFC’s management of almost UAH 146 million. The BES issued the relevant suspicion to IFC Director Gulliver in May 2023. On April 9, 2024, the Kyiv Court of Appeal granted the prosecutor’s motion and decided to seize the property of Tri O LLC, including the Gulliver shopping and office center in the capital.
Earlier, the investigation of the program “Schemes” reported on the company’s financial obligations to state-owned Oschadbank and Ukreximbank in the amount of UAH 14 billion. It was alleged that the actual owner of IFC is the former owner of Mykhailivskyi Bank, Viktor Polishchuk. However, the state register lists Vyacheslav Ihnatenko as the ultimate beneficiary.
The IFC press service noted that Three O fulfills its obligations to Oschadbank and Ukreximbank to repay loans: in 2023, UAH 300 million was paid, and UAH 700 million is scheduled for repayment in 2024. The company believes that the withdrawal of Gulliver from the ownership and management of Three O’s could pose a threat to the fulfillment of obligations to banks.
Gulliver mixed-use development in the Pechersk district of Kyiv was opened in 2013. Its area is 151.8 thousand square meters. The construction of Gulliver was financed by Oschadbank, which provided a $460 million loan to Tri O LLC. The debt restructuring procedure under the loan agreement with the mortgage of the Gulliver shopping center in the amount of UAH 18 billion 176.9 million was completed in 2020.
