President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has announced his intention to expand the country’s relations with the countries of the African Union.
“It was during my term that the first Strategy for the Development of Ukraine’s Relations with African States was approved. Dialogue with all countries of the continent will be intensified. The Special Representative of Ukraine for African Affairs will also start working in the near future,” Zelensky said, speaking via video link at a meeting of the Bureau of the Assembly of the African Union on Monday.
On his instructions, the first regional tour of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in the history of the Ukrainian state is being prepared for the states of Sub-Saharan Africa, the President said. According to Zelensky, he also initiates visits to African countries by representatives of the Verkhovna Rada.
“I invite you to visit our country now to renew our bilateral ties. And I propose to start preparing, with our common willingness, a large political and economic conference ‘Ukraine – Africa,” the president said.
He recalled that “many countries of the African Union know Ukraine well economically and in the field of education.” “Our ties are really very ancient. Our specialists built enterprises in your countries back in Soviet times. Your students studied at our universities and are studying now,” Zelensky said.
“Until February 24, more than 300 Ukrainian blue helmets performed tasks within six UN missions. And our national contingent, including the 18th Separate Helicopter Detachment, was an important part of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And it is on this basis of the relationship that has existed for many, many years that we must build a new political history, ” he said.
“If it wasn’t for the Russian war, you would be in a completely different position now – completely safe. That is why, in order to avoid famine, the efforts of states like Russia to return to the aggressive policy of colonialism must end, ” Zelensky said.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has held a meeting with American actor and director Ben Stiller in Kyiv.
“Your trip to Irpin and Makariv, meetings with our people say a lot. We appreciate that in this difficult time for our country you are close,” Zelensky said, hosting Stiller at the President’s Office.
According to him, Ukrainians now feel the support of the whole world and many famous people. “And the visit of Ben Stiller once again confirms this,” the Telegram channel of the head of state says.
As reported, Ben Stiller is paying a visit to Ukraine as a UN goodwill ambassador. He visited Lviv, liberated from the occupiers of Makariv settlement of Buchansky district of Kyiv region and the capital of Ukraine.
On April 30, the American and UN Ambassador for Refugees actress Angelina Jolie visited Lviv.
Bitcoin is trading near the psychologically important mark of $20,000 on Monday after the fall of the cryptocurrency rate on Saturday to the lowest level in 18 months.
According to CoinDesk, the price of bitcoin at 11:35 Moscow time is $20444. On Saturday, it fell to $17,630, but on Sunday it bounced back above $20,000.
Last week, during which the Federal Reserve System (Fed) raised the base rate by 75 basis points (bp) at once, turned out to be quite volatile for the cryptocurrency market, and experts believe that the current week will also be difficult, writes Market Watch.
“We may be out of the bottom of the market if bitcoin can quickly rise above $20,000 and hold there on Tuesday-Wednesday,” said Winnie Langham, chief executive officer of streaming platform Waitroom. become a tough resistance level.”
Bitcoin has fallen 57% since the beginning of the year, and its fall from the November peak of $69,000 is about 70%.
While some analysts see the beginning of a new “crypto winter” that will eventually end, others believe that the current downturn in the cryptocurrency market could mean the end of the industry as a whole.
The ethereum exchange rate, which also fell sharply on Saturday, rose in price by 15% over the past 24 hours, to $1113.28.
Two days earlier, market expert Igor Stakovichenko, responding to a request from Open4Business, said that in the current situation, the fall of the bitcoin market below 22,000 launched a new, even deeper “bearish phase” of the cycle, as it greatly shook the position of long-term holders of the asset. The long-term holders, who had held their positions during the last drops, could not stand it and started dumping the cue ball at the lowest prices.
“This shook the entire structure, and both technical and macroeconomic indicators today indicate a possible fall in the main cryptocurrency to 16,000 or even lower,” the expert said.
However, according to Stakovichenko, it is too early to bury bitcoin, as “whales” (investors owning more than 10,000 BTC) continue to accumulate this digital currency, which may indicate the possibility of growth in the medium and long term. In addition, the expert predicted possible stabilization and even some growth of the world’s main cryptocurrency.
The relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada on the health of the nation has supported the draft law on attracting foreign medical rehabilitation specialists (No. 7422) to provide medical care.
According to the bill, for the period of martial law and for 6 months after its completion, the procedure for attracting foreign medical workers and rehabilitation specialists to provide medical care is simplified.
Currently, this procedure takes at least 6-9 months.
The bill provides for the involvement of specialists from different countries, except for citizens of Russia and Belarus.
During the UK-Ukrainian infrastructure summit in London, Ukraine and the UK, as well as representatives of UK business, signed a Memorandum on Ukraine’s infrastructure restoration.
The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine said in a report on its website on Saturday that this memorandum provides an opportunity for UK business to fully participate in the restoration of Ukraine’s infrastructure destroyed by Russia.
In partnership with UK business, a working group has been created that will work on the restoration of the critical infrastructure of Kyiv city and the region.
“The Ministry of Infrastructure is already developing a public register of damaged infrastructure and, together with colleagues in the government and international partners, is developing solutions for digital recovery management,” Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov was quoted as saying.
According to him, now about 30% of the infrastructure in Ukraine has been destroyed.
At the same time, in the course of work on the restoration of transport communication, 41 temporary crossings have already been installed, almost 1,000 km of roads have been cleared.
The Ministry of Infrastructure said that the government of the UK, in particular, Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps, from the start of a full-scale invasion of Russia, provided full support in repelling aggression, restoring destroyed infrastructure and establishing supply chains in the condition of the war.
In Ukraine, from the beginning of 2023, newborns and 14-year-olds will be issued free certificates for Ukrainian publications in the amount of 0.3 subsistence minimum (lm) for able-bodied people (by the end of the year, this minimum will be increased from UAH 2,481 to 2684 UAH).
The relevant law “On Amendments to Certain Laws on Stimulating the Development of Ukrainian Book Publishing and Book Distribution” (No. 6287) was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on Sunday with 314 votes without discussion, according to information on its website.
In addition, the document provides for the payment of subsidies to specialized stores from April 1, 2023, in which 80% of revenue comes from book products.
After the adoption on January 25 in the first reading, when preparing the bill for the second, the amount of rental compensation was slightly increased: in Kyiv and international airports – from 0.3 to 0.35 linear meters, in territorial communities from 500 thousand – from 0.2 up to 0.25 l.m., from 100 to 500 thousand – from 0.16 to 0.2 l.m., from 30 to 100 thousand – from 0.08 to 0.12 l.m. and up to 30 thousand inhabitants – from 0.04 to 0.08 l.m.
At the same time, the rental area, the fee for which is subject to compensation, is limited from 50 m in small communities to 150 m in Kyiv.
The amount of the subsidy may also not be more than 20% of the income received from the sale of books in the relevant bookstore.
In the financial and economic justification section of the explanatory note for the first reading, it was noted that the amount of expenses from the state budget for providing subsidies to bookstores in 2023 will be from UAH 52 to 86 million.
