The Czech railway carrier ČD Cargo delivered the first train with 1,800 tonnes of corn from Ukraine to the German port of Brake for subsequent shipment to Egypt on a grain carrier ship.
Such a change in logistics routes is necessary to free up silos in Ukraine to receive a new crop, and to avoid starvation in North Africa and Asia that consume Ukrainian agricultural products, according to a posting on the website of the publication zdopravy.cz (the Czech Republic) on Tuesday.
“We see this as a help and at the same time a business opportunity. Due to the Russian invasion, Ukraine cannot export grain in the traditional way through the Black Sea ports. A new harvest is approaching, and the silos in Ukraine are still full. Therefore, it is necessary to decide how to get at least part of the stocks by rail across Europe,” Board Chairman of ČD Cargo Tomáš Tóth was quoted as saying.
The Czech railway carrier returned with a batch of corn from Ukraine, where it had previously delivered a batch of humanitarian aid and military equipment.
At the same time, railway exports from Ukraine are fraught with problems due to different gauges in the EU and Ukraine, as well as insufficient capacity of logistics routes.
“Firstly, these are different dimensions: carriers can either pick up wheeled carts or reload the cargo. However, transshipment options are limited. Another bottleneck is, respectively, border crossings. Their capacity is significantly limited, for example, in the Elbe valley between Děčín and Dresden. Unloading capacities in ports are also not unlimited,” the publication said.
Zdopravy.cz recalled that Ukraine is one of the main suppliers of grain and other crops to the world market. Due to the blockade of its seaports by Russian ships, wheat exports have stopped, the country needs to export about 20 million tonnes of grain to avoid starvation in the countries of North Africa and Asia, which traditionally purchase Ukrainian agricultural products.
Since the beginning of the war, Ukrzaliznytsia has transported more than 100,000 tonnes of humanitarian cargo by rail in passenger, freight cars and containers, Oleksandr Kamyshin, the head of the company’s board, said on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.
“Volunteers came to the first evacuation trains, which we used to transport our citizens from the east to the west, and brought humanitarian aid. Food, clothes, medicines. They loaded all this into passenger cars and the trains rushed back to the east,” he wrote.
Thus, in passenger cars, according to him, since the beginning of the war, transported more than 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid. There were days when 700 tonnes of humanitarian aid per day were transported in passenger cars.
“And then we brought humanitarian aid in freight wagons and containers. And our foreign partners have already joined here, first of all from Poland, and then from other countries. And as of today, we have already transported more than 5,000 freight wagons with humanitarian aid. Since the beginning of the war, we have transported over 100,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid by rail in passenger, freight wagons and containers,” Kamyshin said.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine will cooperate with Microsoft on documenting the war crimes of the Russian Federation, and the Xbox game service will be officially launched in Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov said.
According to him, Ukrainian accounts will appear on Xbox, and the Ukrainian language will appear on the consoles.
“This was agreed in Davos at a meeting with Microsoft President Brad Smith. In addition, the Microsoft team plans to help the digital industry of Ukraine during the recovery,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.
Fedorov noted that the Ministry of Digital Development has been cooperating with Microsoft for a long time, and they actively support Ukraine during the war: they became one of the first companies that suspended all new sales of products and services in Russia in early March and provided free cloud services for Ukraine until the end of 2022.
“Microsoft has supported and will continue to support Ukraine, it was very important to hear this from Brad Smith,” the minister added.
According to him, the company calculated that through their initiatives they provided Ukraine with digital support for $242 million. This includes financial grants, promotional campaigns, free access to the company’s products and services, and equipment.
The average retail prices for gasoline and diesel fuel in Ukraine increased by 22-30% from May 16 to May 23, according to the data of the A-95 consulting group (Kyiv).
Thus, the average retail prices for A-92 gasoline increased by UAH 8.93/liter – up to UAH 48.78/liter, A-95 – by UAH 10.72/liter, up to UAH 50.84/liter, premium A-95 – by UAH 9.85/liter, up to UAH 51.51/liter.
In addition, retail prices for diesel fuel increased by UAH 13.24/liter, up to UAH 56.49/liter, for liquefied gas by UAH 4.14/liter, up to UAH 39.24/liter.
As reported, by resolution No. 594 of May 17, 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers suspended state regulation of fuel prices introduced a year ago in connection with quarantine, expecting that gasoline prices would not exceed UAH 52/liter, diesel fuel – UAH 58/liter.
The decision to cancel the maximum margin for gas stations was made so that market operators could saturate the Ukrainian oil market with the necessary resources in the face of their shortage after reorienting to supplies from the western border and Kremenchuk oil refinery bombed by Russia.
At the same time, the State Service on Food Safety and Consumer Protection announced the start of inspections of gas stations based on consumer complaints about inflated prices, refusal to accept payments with cards and the absence of settlement documents.
The international conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war will be held in the summer in Lugano, said Swiss President Ignacio Cassis.
“The conference, co-organized by Ukraine with Switzerland, will be held in Lugano, Switzerland in early July this year,” Cassis said at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos on Monday.
According to him, this will be a conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine.
“When the war is over and the guns are silenced, all our efforts must be focused on reconstruction. Let the reconstruction and elimination of Ukraine’s economic consequences go through a broad political and diplomatic process. The Lugano conference is an opportunity to discuss this difficult path to recovery with all key stakeholders. parties, “he added.
According to Cassis, the conference will be a starting point in the process of rebuilding Ukraine.
According to the President of Switzerland, 40 countries and 17 international organizations have been invited to take part in the high-level conference.
Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin said that 20 countries have decided to send additional military assistance to Kyiv.
“About 20 countries have announced new security assistance packages. Many countries are donating critically needed artillery ammunition (…), tanks and other armored vehicles,” Austin said at a press conference on Monday following a meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group.
He said that other countries have taken on new commitments to train the Ukrainian military.
Austin thanked the Czech Republic for its significant support, including the recent transfer of combat helicopters, tanks and missile systems.
In addition, the chief of the Pentagon announced Denmark’s decision to send Ukraine a Harpoon anti-ship missile launcher and ammunition.
In addition, the Pentagon chief welcomed the contribution of Italy, Greece, Norway and Poland to the supply of Ukraine with artillery. Separately, Austin noted the role of Britain in coordinating the transfer of military assistance to Ukraine.
The chief of the Pentagon announced that the third meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group will be held on June 15 on the sidelines of the meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.
The group’s first meeting took place in April at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
