Ukrainian athletes won two more medals at the Beijing 2022 Paralympics.
“The fifth day of the Winter Paralympic Games in Beijing brought Ukraine two medals. They were won in different classes of freestyle sprint skiing,” the National Olympic Committee said in a statement.
Oksana Shyshkova, performing among visually impaired athletes (guide Andriy Marchenko), has already won her second silver and fourth prize at this Paralympics.
Hryhoriy Vovchynsky has already collected a full set of medals in Beijing 2022, and he added bronze in cross-country skiing to gold and silver in biathlon.
In total, Ukraine’s national team has already won 19 medals: six gold, eight silver, five bronze, and ranks third in the medal standings, behind China and Canada.
The Board of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on 8 March 2022 decided to purchase war bonds for the amount of UAH 20 billion due to the need to finance the Armed Forces of Ukraine and for the duration of martial law.
“At the same time, the NBU will only provide limited financing for the critical expenses of the government. This will allow to minimize the risks of high inflation and disrupting macrofinancial stability and will facilitate quick return to market-driven operation of economy and financial markets after the war,” the central bank said on Tuesday.
This amount paid for war bonds constitutes approximately 1.3% of the total amount of Ukraine’s state budget expenditures for 2022.
The NBU said that the NBU is not a solo or even main sponsor of the government expenses.
“Despite the war, Ukrainian enterprises pay their taxes and large amounts are donated by people to support the Army. Our international partners also provide massive military, financial and humanitarian assistance,” the regulator said.
The central bank said that the NBU will take a separate decision if the further financing of critical expenses is required. It will take into account the military situation, social and economic standing of Ukraine, situation in financial markets and public finances, as well as other sources of budget financing.
“Lending to the government is a temporary measure taken by the NBU due to martial law. After the war is over and the economy is back to operating on market-driven principles, the NBU will return to its standard inflation-targeting regime with a floating exchange rate and will be reinstated the ban of financing the government,” the National Bank said.
The regulator said that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has amended the laws in order to allow these transactions between the NBU and government. Namely, it has decided temporarily for the duration of martial law to waive Article 54 of the Law of Ukraine on the National Bank of Ukraine that prohibits the NBU from granting loans to the state.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is considering providing $1.4 billion in emergency funding for Ukraine to help it respond to Russia’s invasion, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva announced on Tuesday.
“Today, we have sent to our Executive Board a proposal they will consider for approval tomorrow for $ 1.4 billion in support for Ukraine, to help it cope with the shock caused by this war,” the IMF said in a statement citing Georgieva.
She said that the IMF also disbursed $700 million to Ukraine in December and has provided a Special Drawing Rights allocation of $2.7 billion that was very handy to Ukraine at this moment.
The Japanese Self-Defense Force has sent bullet-proof vests and other non-lethal supplies in response to a request from Ukraine, NHK TV channel has reported.
The KC-767 transport aircraft left the Komaki Air Base in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, on Tuesday night for Poland, which shares a border with Ukraine. The items also include heavy winter clothes and emergency food supplies.
This is the first time the SDF has provided bullet-proof vests to another country.
According to the Ministry of Defense, Japan plans to deliver more equipment and supplies to Ukraine once they are ready, such as food, hygiene products, cameras, power generators, tents and winter clothing.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said it was “critical” for Japan and its national security to support Ukraine.
Consumer goods giant Unilever has said that the company continues to condemn the war in Ukraine, has stopped business operations in Ukraine and has suspended all imports and exports of our products into and out of Russia.
“We continue to condemn the war in Ukraine as a brutal and senseless act by the Russian state. Our business operations in Ukraine have stopped and we are now fully focused on ensuring the safety of our Ukrainian employees and their families, including helping with their evacuation where necessary, and providing additional financial support,” Unilever CEO Alan Jope said in a statement posted on the company’s website.
He said that the company has suspended all imports and exports of our products into and out of Russia, and we will stop all media and advertising spend.
“We will not invest any further capital into the country nor will we profit from our presence in Russia. We will continue to supply our everyday essential food and hygiene products made in Russia to people in the country. We will keep this under close review,” he said.
“We join calls for an end to this war and hope that peace, human rights, and the international rule of law will prevail,” he said.
Unilever brands include Lipton, Dove, Vaseline, Cif, Signal, Domestos, Rexona AXE, Chistaya Liniya, Barkhatnye Ruchki and Inmarko.
In Ukraine, the company has a tea factory in Hostomel near Kyiv, which is the scene of heavy fighting.
In Russia, it has ice cream plants in Tula Region and Omsk, tea, cosmetics and household cleaner production facilities in St. Petersburg, and a cosmetics factory in Yekaterinburg.
The mobile network operator Kyivstar has donated UAH 10 million to the Come Back Alive charity foundation.
As noted in the message of the operator, these funds will be used for the humanitarian needs of the military defending our country.
“We have decided to allocate funds to help the Ukrainian military. Also, the entire Kyivstar team is working and doing everything possible to keep Ukrainians in touch,” Kyivstar President Alexander Komarov said.
The mobile network operator has also created short number 88009 to support military personnel. Each Kyivstar prepaid subscriber can send an SMS to this number with any text and UAH 10 will be sent to the Come Back Alive Charitable Foundation for humanitarian needs.
