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.
Ukraine can easily cope with EU demands for reforms, said German Ambassador to Ukraine Anka Feldhusen.
“I think that Ukraine can easily cope with them, because these are really demands that have already been in place for many years. There is already progress. Perhaps not the progress that Ukrainians themselves would like, especially in the field of judicial reform … We, your partners, especially the G7, are constantly in contact with the Ukrainian government regarding these issues,” Feldhusen said at a briefing at the Ukraine media center on Monday.
The diplomat stressed that for her the most important issue has always been judicial reform in Ukraine.
“We have successfully implemented the decentralization reform. I think that this is really a success story. But the judicial reform is the second reform that will really change the country. All the years that I have been working in Ukraine, I have watched the steps that have been taken, I I will continue to do so,” she said.
Feldhusen pointed out that judicial reform “has never been easy.”
“But if there is political will, a lot can be done there,” she said.
As reported, the European Commission recommended that the European Council grant Ukraine the status of a candidate member of the European Union with the subsequent implementation of the necessary steps. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen indicated that this meant the country would pursue a number of further important reforms.
Ukraine plans to develop the Open Border project at border crossings with Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova.
“We are also implementing similar projects to increase capacity at the borders with other Western neighbors. We are already negotiating to join the Open Border of Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova,” Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov was quoted as saying in a Facebook post on Monday.
As reported earlier, Ukraine and Poland doubled the throughput at the Krakovets-Korcheva checkpoint modernized as part of the Open Border project.
ADONIS medical group of companies will relocate a family-type maternity hospital located in the left-bank part of Kyiv due to non-renewal of the lease of the premises.
“The circumstances under which we are forced to relocate the maternity hospital do not depend on us. The owner of the building did not renew the lease of the premises, and therefore we are forced to leave it before the end of the week,” the medical group said.
CIM ADONIS clarifies that the full complement of medical teams work in the maternity hospital in Sofiyivska Borshchagovka.
“All patients who have entered into obstetric agreements with Adonis Center LLC in connection with these circumstances will receive obstetric services at the clinic in Sofiyivska Borshchagovka. ADONIS ambulance transportation is free and round-the-clock (including during curfew hours)”, – specified by the company.
The clinic reported that over the years of operation of the maternity hospital on the left bank, more than 800 babies were born.
As reported, ADONIS International Group of Companies opened a family-type maternity hospital on Sofiyivska Borshchagovka.
ADONIS is a network of private medical centers for adults and children founded over 20 years ago. It includes 12 branches in Kyiv and the region, including two own maternity hospitals and a stem cell laboratory.
In the branches of the clinic, doctors receive patients in 66 medical areas.
CLINIC, MATERNITY HOSPITAL, SOFIYIVSKA BORSHCHAGOVKA, АДОНИС
Ukraine’s anti-money laundering legislation partially complies with the standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and international legislation, but the recommendations of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Money Laundering Measures (Moneyval) still remain unfulfilled , says the European Commission.
“Further reforms are needed to improve Ukraine’s compliance with FATF standards, in particular those relating to virtual assets, ultimate beneficial ownership and supervision of non-banking enterprises and transactions,” the European Commission’s Opinion on Ukraine’s application for membership in the European Union states.
It states that for these reasons, Ukraine is still reporting to Moneyval in accordance with the enhanced control procedure.
The European Commission also pointed to the need for more progress in investigating and prosecuting major money laundering schemes.
“Establishing a comprehensive framework for combating financial crime and money laundering and ensuring its effective implementation is critical to addressing the significant risks they pose,” the Opinion notes.
With regard to the established National Agency of Ukraine for the identification, search and management of assets obtained from corruption and other crimes (ARMA), it is indicated that since the end of 2019 it has not had a permanent head.
“Legislation regarding the management of seized assets should be improved and an appropriate national strategy for the return of assets should be adopted,” the European Commission believes.
The number of refugees from Ukraine registered for temporary protection or similar national protection schemes in Europe stood at 3.207 million as of June 16, 2022, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported on its website.
Compared to the June 1 data, the increase was almost 0.5 million, including 0.2 million in the last week, significantly contributed by data updates in Germany, France and the UK.
According to UNHCR data collected from national governments, the largest number of refugees with temporary protection status in Poland is 1 million 169.5 thousand, while 4,166 arrived in the country from Ukraine, according to the Polish border service, from the beginning of the war to June 18 million people, and 2.195 million went to Ukraine in the opposite direction.
Following are Germany and the Czech Republic, where the number of refugees registered for temporary protection from Ukraine amounted to 641.39 thousand and 373.82 thousand, respectively.
The UN, referring to government data, indicates that in total in Germany, where Ukrainians are allowed to stay without registration until the end of August, 780,000 refugees from Ukraine were recorded. Based on the data presented, a significant proportion of them have not yet applied for temporary protection status in that country.
In the Czech Republic, the situation, according to UN information, is different: almost all arrivals applied for protection status – 373.82 thousand out of 373.97 thousand.
In the vast majority of other countries, the picture is similar to the Czech Republic: the statistics of registered refugees is completely or almost equal to the statistics of those who applied for protection status, which is probably due to the peculiarity of their registration. An exception, similar to Germany, is only Romania – 37.83 thousand with the status of 90.3 thousand refugees registered in the country, Estonia – 27.49 thousand out of 42.26 thousand and Italy – 97.31 thousand out of 129 .62 thousand
In addition to Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany and Italy, more than 50 thousand refugees from Ukraine have also registered for the status of temporary protection in Spain – 119.74 thousand, France – 87.97 thousand, Slovakia – 78.11 thousand (out of 270 thousand). net inflow across the border since the beginning of the war), Austria – 71.83 thousand, Great Britain – 70.5 thousand, the Netherlands – 64.48 thousand and Switzerland – 55.92 thousand.
At the same time, in Lithuania, the number of refugees with temporary protection status decreased from 53.89 thousand to 46.55 thousand over the week.
Next come Belgium – 46.85 thousand, Portugal – 42.15 thousand, Sweden – 38.05 thousand, Ireland – 36.91, Denmark – 28.29 thousand, Latvia – 26.8 thousand and Finland – 26.75 thousand, as well as the above-mentioned Romania and Estonia.
From 10 to 25 thousand refugees from Ukraine with the status of temporary protection in Hungary – 24.45 thousand, Norway – 18.51 thousand, Greece – 14.89 thousand, Croatia – 14.26 thousand and Cyprus – 13 .05 thousand
In addition, the UN statistics on those who received the status of temporary protection include Ukrainian refugees in Slovenia – 7.1 thousand, Luxembourg – 5.25 thousand, Montenegro – 3.98 thousand, Iceland – 0.9 thousand, Malta – 0 .92 thousand, in Serbia and Kosovo – 0.75 thousand and Liechtenstein – 0.22 thousand.
In addition, the table contains data from Bulgaria, possibly entered with an error: according to them, 79.2 thousand refugees from Ukraine were recorded there, but 114.88 thousand received protection status.
The UN also indicated the countries in which refugees from Ukraine were recorded, but there is no data on their obtaining status: Moldova – 85.5 thousand, Georgia – 20.39 thousand, Azerbaijan – 4.84 thousand, Albania – 1.53 thousand, North Macedonia – 1.21 thousand, Armenia – 0.49 thousand and Bosnia and Herzegovina – 0.33 thousand.
Turkey, where 145,000 refugees from Ukraine were listed a week ago, is now excluded from the data.
Separately, it is worth mentioning Russia and Belarus, the Ukrainian border with which, respectively, 1 million 230.8 thousand and 16.66 thousand people crossed. The UN information indicates that in the Russian Federation all those who crossed the border were recorded, while in Belarus – 9.01 thousand. There is no data on any status of these people, as well as data on crossing the border of Ukraine in the opposite direction.
