National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 31/01/22
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
On Monday, January 31, the President’s Office will host a meeting of the delegations of Ukraine and the Republic of Poland with the participation of representatives of a number of ministries and departments of the two countries, the press service of the President of Ukraine reports.
“The Polish delegation arrived in our state in fulfillment of the agreements reached during the visit of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to the Republic of Poland on January 20-21, 2022,” the message says.
The Ukrainian delegation at the talks will be headed by Head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak, the delegation of Poland – by Secretary of State of the Office of the President of the Republic of Poland, head of the Bureau for International Policy Jakub Kumoch.
In addition, the negotiations, in particular, will be attended by Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov and Minister of Infrastructure of Poland Andrzej Adamczyk.
“During the meeting, topical issues of bilateral cooperation in the economy, energy and infrastructure will be discussed,” the President’s Office said.
The Kyivstar mobile network operator is preparing the network to offset possible risks in operation, including geopolitical ones.
“We are taking certain steps to prepare, despite the fact that it is very difficult to predict which scenarios will develop. Therefore, we have two priorities – our people, business continuity and the provision of communication services. We are looking at critical infrastructure, on how they are located, and we are taking certain steps to achieve geographic diversification across critical nodes. We are even investing money in this – and quite a lot – in order to achieve a radical increase in network resilience depending on scenarios in the horizon of several weeks,” Kyivstar President Alexander Komarov told Interfax-Ukraine.
He also said that the operator is implementing a number of steps aimed at increasing the flexibility of managing its network, depending on possible threats. This is the organization of stocks of fuel and lubricants for generators, with which the operator plans to maintain the operation of critical network nodes in the event of a power outage, the implementation of the ability to turn off certain areas in the absence of control over the network in some geographical areas.
As reported, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba thanked his British counterpart Liz Truss for the decision to impose large-scale sanctions against the Russian Federation.
The U.K. continues to show leadership in global efforts to deter Russia from further aggression, he said.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky thanked businessman Richard Branson and representatives of world business for supporting the Ukrainian state.
“Grateful to Richard Branson and the global business community for supporting Ukraine. Innovative businessmen best understand the key vectors of human development. Hence, their call to unite and defend Ukraine’s sovereignty, in particular, by imposing sanctions on the aggressor, is crucial,” Zelensky said on Twitter last week.
A day earlier, Branson said that in Twitter that “for business leaders, this is the moment to come together and stand up for Ukraine’s sovereignty,” and also published a link to his article “My thoughts on Ukraine and Russia” in which he repeated this thesis. “For business leaders, this is the moment to come together and stand up for Ukraine’s sovereignty. Even if it comes at a price, all of us should send a clear message that unilateral aggression is always unacceptable and that the global business community will support the full range of sanctions against any nation that seeks to violate the sovereignty of another,” he said.
The businessman also said in the article that “Business leaders all over the world have been watching the build-up of Russian troops and equipment at the Ukrainian border with great concern” and that any war between Russia and Ukraine will have devastating and terrible consequences, primarily for the civilian population on both sides, and further isolates Russia.
“But never in recent years has there been a greater risk of an all-out war on European soil – a war that, like so many before it, does not serve a just or legitimate objective. (It is hard for any of us to hide our exasperation at this point. In 2022, what on earth is one country doing amassing tanks at another country’s borders?” Branson said.
On February, 5 and 6, in Ancient Kyiv in the Principality of Kyivan Rus («Kyivan Rus Park»), the entertaining program «Horse Weekend» will be held. The guests will be awaited by an unforgettable journey into the epoch of the Middle Ages, horse events, significant communication with horses of rare breeds, Slavic winter amusements, master-classes, tasty hot drinks and dishes from fire from the princely cooks and many new and interesting things from the life of our ancestors.
Having entered the gates of the Principality, the guests will find themselves in a real medieval city. They will see with their own eyes what life in Kyivan Rus was really like, walk along the old streets with the signs in the Old Slavonic language. By the way, only here you can hear the live speech of our ancestors, and even more – some of the performances will be held in this language in combination with Ukrainian.
On February, 5 and 6, the inhabitants of Ancient Kyiv prepared a special entertaining program for the guests. Its «highlight» is that the visitors will be active participants in all the events during these days.
The inhabitants of the Principality will warmly welcome the guests at the entrance gate and will not let anyone get bored. After all, they have prepared for the guests a lot of interesting and informative entertainment.
An exciting program will be held on the Big tilting-yard with the participation of horses of rare historical breeds collected from the far corners of the world in the Princely stable.
These beautiful creatures will play the main roles in theatrical performances, of course, in tandem with the experienced stuntmen-actors of the horse-trick theatre of Ancient Kyiv. And after the performances, all the guests will be able to approach the horses, palm them, arrange a bright photo session, treat them with healthy delicacies and ride them on horseback, in a sleigh or in a carriage.
The experienced horsebreeders and trainers will tell the guests of the Principality about the origin of the breeds, their characteristics, about which outstanding commanders of antiquity owned the representatives of a particular breed, tell legends about them.
At the master-classes on training and horse care, it will be possible to learn how to look after these animals so that they are not only healthy and obedient, but also become true friends. And on the quiz about horses, everyone will have a chance to get a prize by correctly answering the questions from experts.
And if someone wants to learn more about horses, training, care, they can ask questions to experienced instructors and stuntmen, and get detailed and competent answers.
Everyone can master the ancient martial art of horseback archery by enrolling in the «Prince Volodymyr» school of horseback archery. It is very simple to become its student: you need to contact the organizers in Ancient Kyiv or call (050) 385-06-14 and (050) 385-20-35. Already from the first lesson, you will begin to comprehend the art of controlling a horse and accurate bow shooting. Join the fighting traditions of our ancestors!
In the Principality you can spend time in an interesting and active way, by plunging into the unique atmosphere of the Middle Ages, shoot a bow in the medieval shooting range, mint a coin «for luck», put on historical costumes of the Kyivan Rus times. By visiting the fortune teller – learn about the hidden at a cup of tea after a special recipe. In the medieval shop – choose exclusive handmade souvenirs. The fans of extreme sports will enjoy the «Zmiy Gorynych» high-speed slide and the «Politaylo» rope descent.
The princely cooks will treat the guests with hot drinks and tasty dishes from fire.
Those who want to continue their rest can stay for the night in comfortable rooms (by previous booking).
Visiting Ancient Kyiv takes place in compliance with the requirements of the quarantine regime.
Ancient Kyiv opens at 10:00. The program starts at 13:30. The program may change.
Ancient Kyiv is located in a 45-minutes` drive from modern Kyiv – Kyiv region, Obukhiv district, the vill. Zastugna (Kopachiv).
You can get by your own car or by public transport. The schedule of route taxis check on the «Obukhivtrans» website or on the «Kyivan Rus Park» website in the «Contacts» section.
The ticket price: a full adult ticket –a promotional price – 200 Uah. instead of 250 Uah., for pensioners and students – 150 Uah., for schoolchildren – 100 Uah., for preschool children – for free.
Details on the website www.parkkyivrus.com
The Interfax subscribers can save money with the “openbusiness-20” promo code for a 20%-discount for a full price adult ticket to the Principality of Kyivan Rus:
– by previous order by tel.: +38 044 461-99-37, +38 050 385-20-35
– or at the cash desk at the entrance to the «Kyivan Rus Park».
The Ukrainian parliament needs to resolve an issue of uncertainty in biotechnological activities and production of agricultural products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) at the legislative level, if the country chooses a course towards the liberalization of such products, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is ready to help it.
“This is an initiative of Americans themselves. In Ukraine, there is uncertainty with GMOs and biotechnologies. That is, we have a law, but there are no by-laws, and this, in fact, creates a legal vacuum in this area. On the other hand, we have partially grown GMO crops – soy and rapeseed. So there needs to be some order. It is necessary to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to GMOs,” Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy Mykola Solsky said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, the USDA has offered its assistance to Ukraine if the parliament decides to liberalize the issue of GMO production in the country.
“Progress in this direction was planned even before the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, for three days we arranged a meeting at the USDA with specialists leading all these programs,” Solsky specified the details of the trip of the Ukrainian delegation to the United States at the end of November 2021.
Solsky also said that about 80% of meat in the EU countries is produced from animals raised on GMO-containing feed, while GMO-containing fruits and vegetables are practically non-existent due to lack of demand.
“In Europe, there is no special philosophy about this. Americans do practical things that bring more money. It’s later, if the technology is so cheap that it can be used for eggplants, they will do it too. Therefore, GMO corn and GMO soybeans are the most consumed now – main carbohydrate and main protein, from which its development began. Now they are already working on GMO wheat,” the head of the committee said.
As reported, in August 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers supported the submission to the Verkhovna Rada of a draft law on state regulation of genetic engineering activities and control over the circulation of products with GMOs, this initiative is aimed at conducting a comprehensive review of existing legislation in the field of handling GMO products, and also allows to implement in Ukrainian legislation the normative acts in force in the EU.
