The U.S. Senate unanimously adopted a resolution in support of Kyiv on Thursday evening, The Hill reports.
“This was a very significant resolution that we passed. It was led by Senators Shaheen [democrat Jeanne Shaheen] and Portman [republican Rob Portman] and sends a very strong message to Mr. Putin that the United States Senate, Democrats and Republicans of all different ideologies, are united in defending Ukraine in the ways that the administration sees fit,” the Hill quoted Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer as saying.
And the fate of the resolution was in limbo earlier Thursday after republican Sen. Rand Paul warned that he would object to quickly passing it without changes, The Hill said.
Because senators wanted to fast-track passage of the resolution, they needed buy-in from all 100 senators, it said.
According to The Hill, sponsors of the resolution made changes to address Paul’s concerns, including adding language specifying that the resolution, which is nonbinding, was not meant to be viewed as authorization for the use of military force against Russia or authorizing U.S. troops for Ukraine.
The resolution was adopted due to the fact that senators could not agree on a bipartisan bill on sanctions against Russia initiated by Democrat Bob Menendez.
At the same time, Republicans in the Senate on Tuesday unveiled their own bill on sanctions against Russia.
The net profit of Credit Dnipro Bank (Kyiv) amounted to UAH 561 million in 2021, which is 13.6 times more than in the same period of 2020 (UAH 41.41 million), according to the bank’s website on Thursday.
According to the report, net interest income increased 1.9 times over the year compared to the corresponding period of 2020, to UAH 804 million, net fee and commission income – 1.5 times, to UAH 173 million.
As of January 1, 2022, the bank’s assets amount to UAH 20.4 billion, which is 59% more than at the beginning of last year.
“This asset growth was due to both a growth of a resource base and an increase in capital at the expense of net profit,” the report says.
Credit Dnipro Bank was founded in 1993. On July 30, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) agreed on the direct acquisition by Oleksandr Yaroslavsky of 100% of a charter capital of the financial institution.
According to the data of the National Bank of Ukraine, as of January 1, 2022, in terms of total assets, Credit Dnipro Bank ranked 29th (UAH 23.565 billion) among 71 operating banks.
As part of a stress scenario in the event of escalation of hostilities, the pharmaceutical company Interchem (Odessa) is increasing stocks of raw materials and forming additional reserves of finished products for a number of items, Director General of Interchem Anatoliy Reder has said.
“We have revised the calculation criteria and approaches to the formation of stocks of raw materials and products. For the most vulnerable stock items, we are taking all necessary measures to increase them, including allocating additional working capital for a prompt response to force majeure situations,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
Raeder noted that recently there have been interruptions in the supply of raw materials and consumables. To a greater extent, they concerned imported products delivered by sea. However, at the same time, the top manager notes that this is a common problem for the entire pharmaceutical industry and for the Ukrainian business in general, which largely depends on external raw materials.
“I can’t say whether they are caused to a greater extent by the current political situation, or in general by global logistical problems, but today the arrival of a container with raw materials, which we expected to receive on February 15, has been postponed to February 23. I really hope that all the raw materials will arrive, as the passage of sea vessels has been resumed,” he said.
In addition, the Interchem CEO said that the company was also concerned about possible complications with the supply of raw materials, which were carried out by air freight transportation. For example, if insurance companies for cargo flights take measures similar to those they have taken in relation to passenger air travel.
“It is important for us that all directions and types of transport logistics function, since Interchem receives raw materials for production both by land, by air, and by sea,” he said.
Commenting on the issue of possible changes in the range of products, Reder noted that the company had already formed a production program and production volumes of a particular commodity item, taking into account its possible increased demand in the event of escalation of hostilities.
“We have several items that belong to the state reserve range, and for these items we have ensured the necessary stocks. They are maintained in sufficient quantities and do not depend on the needs of the open market, we will be able to immediately ship them as soon as necessary. This required additional effort and expense, but it had to be done,” he said.
In order to prevent “any kind of failure” in the production process, the company has optimized the work schedule: production has moved to a six-day work week with three shifts on weekdays. In addition, as part of the development of the stress scenario, Interchem revised a program of foreign business trips, developed an emergency plan for evacuation of employees and conservation of production, and also carries out complex equipment of a bomb shelter in one of the largest residential areas of Odessa on its own, Reder specified.
“I really hope that with such thoughtful actions we will be able to avoid a shortage of raw materials and ensure uninterrupted supply of products. After all, the main task of the company today is to mobilize as much as possible in order to ensure the stable operation of production and uninterrupted shipment of products. People should not have a reason to panic due to a shortage of essential goods, and especially medicines,” the CEO says.
Interchem is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the country. The company is a supplier of medicines for the programs of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Interchem is a member of the Association of Manufacturers of Medications of Ukraine.
Pumping capacity via the Ukrainian gas-transit corridor has held at the previous minimum level on Thursday, and it remains 50% below the booking level under the long-term contract of 109 million cubic meters of gas per day, while the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline is still not in use.
Booking capacity of Gazprom for gas transit via Ukraine on Thursday, February 17, is 50.6 million cubic meters compared to Wednesday’s updated booking capacity of 51.6 million cubic meters, according to data of the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine.
Among the gas-export pipelines, Gazprom primarily loads Nord Stream at 170 million cubic meters per day, and then loads the Ukrainian gas-transit corridor, thereby leaving the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline in a closing or balancing role. Gazprom again did not book capacity via Yamal-Europe on February 17, and direct flow along the pipeline ceased on December 21.
The presence of unclaimed gas-transit capacity in the list of transit alternatives this winter demonstrates the baselessness of the claims that the lack of Gazprom’s reserves in underground gas storage (UGS) facilities in Europe has been causing rises in prices. Reserves in underground gas storages should, if necessary, compensate for the lack of supplies via gas pipelines, though Gazprom has large transit possibilities in reserve.
It is already possible to talk in general about the heating season concluding, as winter has been rather mild in Europe this year, with the average temperature in February being two-and-a-half degrees warmer than the previous year. According to forecasts, the week of February 14 to 20 should be two-and-a-half degrees warmer than the previous week of February 7 to 13.
Electricity generation from renewable sources in Europe has been rising solidly each day this week. Wind generation contributed 17.2% to electricity generation in the week of February 7 to 13 in the region following 16% in the week of January 31 to February 6, and it rose to 28.6% on Wednesday, which was the highest figure since March 2021, according to data from the WindEurope association.
The level of gas reserves in underground storage facilities in Europe following the results of the gas day on February 15 dropped to 32.22% on Wednesday morning. This was 12.5 percentage points below the average for the past five years, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe. During the first 15 days of February, gas consumption from UGS facilities exceeded the average level over the past five years by 25%.
Gas flow from LNG terminals into the European gas-transit system in February 2022 should double compared to the level of February 2021. Average capacity utilization of regasification terminals in February is 64%.
The price of gas for Thursday delivery at the benchmark European trading platform, the Dutch TTF gas hub, is $806 per thousand cubic meters, averaging $905 per thousand cubic meters since the beginning of February.
Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB has accredited Atomenergomash, a separate subdivision of Energoatom, as a supplier of top and bottom nozzles for the company’s fuel assemblies; production of these components is expected to start within six months, Energoatom’s press service reported.
“Necessary equipment has been installed at Atomenergomash to launch manufacturing. At present, pre-commissioning, commissioning, and operation qualification process are going to come to the end. Manufacturing top and bottom nozzles for Westinghouse fuel assemblies are expected to begin within six months,” Hryhoriy Horodner, General Director of Atomenergomash, said.
It is also noted that accreditation was preceded by the successful completion of an audit of Atomenergomash’s integrated management system for compliance with the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 “Quality Management System. Requirements,” SQSR 13-067 “Supplier Quality System Requirements,” as reported by Westinghouse to Energoatom.
“These components are likely to be used not only for manufacturing fuel assemblies to be supplied by Westinghouse for the needs of Ukrainian nuclear power plants, but also for the needs of other consumers of these Westinghouse products across the globe,” Energoatom said.
One of the priorities of Energoatom for 2022 is to launch production of some components for fuel assemblies using Westinghouse technology at Atomenergomash, the report said.
Atomenergomash is a multifunctional service subdivision of Energoatom, which develops and manufactures certified products as well as carries out unit and restoring repair of heat-exchange and heat machinery equipment, pipeline components for nuclear and thermal power plants of Ukraine.
International IT outsourcer Sii Group in January joined the Ukrainian division of Sii Ukraine to the Polish Sii Poland and announced large-scale growth of the company in Ukraine.
“In order to diversify the candidates’ resource pool and increase competitiveness, Sii Poland decided to expand and invest in Ukraine. The contract has been finalized in November 2021. The company intends to hire dozens of engineers in the coming months. We decided to make an investment on the Ukrainian market because it has huge potential,” the company quoted Gregoire Nitot, CEO of Sii Poland, Sweden, and Ukraine as saying.
The company stressed that more than 200,000 highly qualified IT specialists work in Ukraine, which makes it an attractive place for investment.
“Our goal is to make Sii Ukraine a large delivery center, just like Sii Poland is today. We hope to hire hundreds of engineers and open new offices in many Ukrainian cities,” Nitot said.
Sii Poland informed the Ukrainian IT media DOU that they plan to hire 2,000-3,000 employees, mainly IT specialists, and open offices in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipro and other cities.
Sii Ukraine was opened in 2006. Currently, the company employs about 30 specialists, working in the office located in Odesa.
A merger of the subsidiary with Sii Poland is connected with dozens of open IT positions, but also back office specialists in Ukraine.
Sii Group was founded in 1979. The company employs 13,000 people worldwide and has opened 88 locations. The company is a global business partner in the field of IT, engineering, digital technologies and business process outsourcing (BPO) services. Its Sii Poland division is considered the largest Polish IT service provider.
