Ukraine in 2021 increased the export of rapeseeds in monetary terms by 67.8% compared to 2020 – to $1.69 billion, but reduced soybeans by 12%, to $610 million, according to the generalized statistics posted on the website of the State Customs Service.
Total exports of products from group No. 12 of the Ukrainian classification of goods for foreign economic activity “Seeds and fruits of oil plants; other seeds, fruits and grains; technical or medicinal plants; straw and fodder” last year increased by 32.2% compared to 2020 – to $2.44 billion.
During this period, Ukraine also exported flax seeds for $17.4 million (an increase of 2.3 times), oilseeds for sowing for $14.8 million (down 16.6%), oilseeds for medicine and perfumery for $20.6 million (up 12.3%).
The largest part of the revenue in this group of goods was generated by the export of rapeseeds (69.3%) and soybeans (25%).
In 2021, Ukraine increased imports of goods from group No. 12 by 16% compared to 2020 – up to $450 million. In particular, imports of sunflower seeds amounted to $244 million (down 40%), rapeseeds – $71.2 million (growth by 2 times), oil seeds for sowing – $58.9 million (up 7.6%), peanuts – $41.1 million (up 5.6%).
Thus, over the past year, Ukraine’s surplus from trade in goods of group No. 12 amounted to $1.99 billion, which is 36.5% more than in 2020.
Trade in these goods in 2021 became the sixth direction for Ukraine in terms of foreign exchange earnings after trading in ferrous metals (total sales of $13.96 billion), grains ($12.35 billion), ore ($7.13 billion), vegetable oils and fats and those of animal origin ($7.05 billion), electrical equipment and machinery ($3.09 billion).
The Pechersky District Court of Kyiv upheld a prosecutor’s petition regarding the seizure of the property of the fifth President of Ukraine, MP Petro Poroshenko, who is suspected of high treason and fostering terrorism by Ukrainian law enforcement officers. The ruling of the court was announced during the hearing on Thursday.
“The petition of the prosecutor for the seizure of property shall be satisfied,” the court said in the document.
The judge, announcing the ruling during the hearing, listed all the property and assets of the fifth president, which are being seized. They include, in particular, apartments belonging to Poroshenko in Vinnytsia and Kyiv, an estate in Kozyn, land plots, Poroshenko’s shares in a number of private companies.
“The ruling is subject to immediate execution by the investigating prosecutor. The ruling of the investigating judge can be challenged… in the court of appeal,” the judge said.
She also said the publication of the full text of the ruling is scheduled for 12:00 on January 14, 2022.
Ukrainian banks’ cash exchange rates on 06/01/22
Source: Interfax-Ukraine
On January, 7, 8 and 9, Ancient Kyiv in the Principality of Kyivan Rus («Kyivan Rus Park») invites you to celebrate Christmas in a big way as in the times of Kyivan Rus. Traditional medieval winter amusements, the real nativity scene, master-classes on carol singing, horse-trick and interactive musical performances, hot drinks and dishes from fire – these and much more waits for children and adults in the Principality of Kyivan Rus.
The best place to celebrate Christmas is Ancient Kyiv, located in the Kyiv region, in the village of Zastugna (Kopachiv). After all, only here you can plunge into the times of the birth of Christianity in our lands, touch the ancient traditions of Christmas celebrations and feel like the real inhabitants of Kyivan Rus.
At the entrance gates of the Principality, the guests are awaited by the real journey in a thousand years ago, in the times of Kyivan Rus. After all, here, on the basis of knowledge of modern science, Kyiv of the V-XIII centuries is being fully reproduced. The visitors will see the reconstructed masterpieces of medieval wooden architecture: the monumental fortification «Zaborola» (about 300 m long), the St. Michael’s Gate (21 m high), the estates of Kyiv residents, watchtowers, terems and tribunes, the wooden St. Basil’s Church of the Хth century. The atmosphere and the spirit of that glorious time are also being revived here.
During the three holiday days the guests of the Principality will get acquainted with the life of the real medieval city, lots of entertainment and a rich Christmas show with the participation of the horse-trick theatre and costumed characters, riding on a horseback and in a sleigh, medieval drinks and hot dishes prepared on fire, winter entertainment, the holiday photo location, master-classes, the New Year’s souvenir fair, flash mobs, games and the drawing of gifts.
At the gates of Ancient Kyiv, the guests will be greeted by the New Year’s characters and invited to the magical world of the Christmas «Winter Fairy Tale» with fun games, contests, New Year’s songs, fiery round dances and many ancient Slavic winter amusements. The inhabitants of the Principality will invite all the guests to take part in the merriment.
Only in Ancient Kyiv on January, 7, 8 and 9 the real Christmas nativity scene will come to life. There will be the Virgin Mary with the holy baby, shepherds, Volkhvs, and, of course, the struggle of good and evil and the victory of good in the finale. And the nativity scene will be in the unique ancient Slavic language. After the nativity scene there will be a master-class on learning and singing Christmas carols.
On the main stage of the Fairytale city the author’s interactive performance-musical, interesting and instructive for both children and adults, will take place. The uniqueness of the performance is that the ancient Slavic language spoken by our ancestors will be heard from the stage. It will be accompanied by fire special effects and horse-trick performances with the use of the medieval weapon. The spectators will be able not only to watch the performance, but also to take part in the fabulous extravaganza.
One of the wonders of Ancient Kyiv is the live collection of horses of rare historical breeds, gathered from all over the world in the Princely stable. Some of the breeds were bred over a thousand years ago. The representatives of some of these breeds can be seen nowhere else in Ukraine, as they were brought in a single number. Every visitor will be able to approach the horses, palm them, take pictures and ride on a horseback, in a sleigh or in a carriage.
In the Principality, the visitors will be able to walk the streets of the medieval city, shoot a bow in the medieval shooting range, mint a coin after the ancient technology. The lovers of extreme will find awaited by the Zmiy Horynych speed slide and the Politaylo rope descent with the routes of varying difficulty. In the Princely costume room the guests can put on the clothes of the Kyivan Rus times and arrange a colorful photo session in them. And then – visit the medieval shop and choose original souvenirs for memory.
You can warm up and regain strength in the Princely tavern. Here you can taste drinks and dishes prepared on open fire, both according to medieval and modern recipes.
For those who want to continue the holiday for one more day, it is possible to stay for the night in comfortable rooms, by pre-booking.
The world of amazing medieval adventures waits for children and adults in the Principality of Kyivan Rus!
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.
The ticket price: a full adult ticket – 250 Uah., for pensioners and students – 150 Uah., for schoolchildren – 100 Uah., for preschool children – for free.
Ancient Kyiv is in a 45-minutes’ drive from modern Kyiv – in the Kyiv region, Obukhiv district, 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.
Detailed information on the website www.parkkyivrus.com
Metinvest currently has planned its investment program at the level of $1.3-1.5 billion per year over the next three to four years, further investments will depend on how the company develops green metallurgy, Metinvest Group CEO Yuriy Ryzhenkov said in an interview with Metal Expert. According to him, the decarbonisation trend focuses on the steel industry. However, there are already well-studied low-carbon technologies, including direct reduced iron (DRI) in combination with electric arc furnaces (EAF). Metinvest’s efforts in decarbonization are related not only to climate, but also to renewal and entry into new markets (in terms of efficiency and product quality).
The updated technological strategy, which the company is continuing to develop, involves different scenarios, yet each of them includes the transition to low-carbon operations. As for CO2-related objectives, the company’s strategic goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 90% by 2050, using a step-by-step approach with key milestones in 2030 and 2040. The final phases of the strategy are expected to include the use of hydrogen.
“In the meantime, today, unfortunately, there is still no method for producing cheap hydrogen in our country or anywhere else in the world. That is why we have set this timeframe, in the hope that a method will be found to produce cost-effective hydrogen,” the top manager said.
The plans are to increase efficiency and automate existing processes using DRI technology and electric arc furnace production at one of the factories: either in Zaporizhia or in Mariupol. Initially, it is possible to launch a new complex using natural gas.
“At the moment, we are still discussing its location, because we are not the only shareholder in Zaporizhstal, and, so far, we don’t see the willingness of the other party to participate in the development of the plant. So, there is still a ‘fork in the road’ as to whether Zaporizhstal should be an electric steelmaking plant or a cast-iron mill,” Ryzhenkov said.
According to him, for assets in Zaporizhia and Mariupol, they have already sent out requests for technical and commercial offers to major equipment producers and they are waiting for the results. “I think we will complete the feasibility study in the first half of 2022, and probably, by the end of the year, we will need to make a decision about the site where we will build the first facility,” Ryzhenkov said.
At the same time, conventional technologies, in his opinion, will remain, since it is unrealistic to immediately switch to a completely new production cycle and new technologies. “Even in Europe, from what we see of the plans of our peers, there is a gradual transition, and conventional technologies will remain in place for quite a long time – until 2040-45. But we should not forget that steelmakers in Europe will receive government support and financial incentives to introduce new technologies, while in Ukraine, we are trying to involve the state in this issue, but we have yet to receive any support. Therefore, it will be more difficult for us to achieve this goal,” the top manager said.
The Group is working to improve the quality of its raw materials, both iron ore and coke, thereby increasing the efficiency of the blast furnaces. In addition, by improving the quality of iron ore products, the company is preparing its raw material base for the next step: DRI.
According to the CEO, in 2021, Metinvest recalculated its Scope 1 emissions according to the new Ukrainian methodology, which was recently brought in line with the European approach. In 2020, direct greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1) within the IFRS perimeter (i.e., excluding associates and joint ventures) amounted to 23.2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. In addition, the Group has calculated indirect greenhouse gas emissions for the first time (Scope 2). For 2020, they amounted to 2.7 million tonnes. The intensity of direct greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 from the Mariupol site was 2.4 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of crude steel produced.
“If we talk about the short-term outlook, our main investments will be directed at the production of high-quality raw materials at Northern Mining that can, in turn, be used further in green metallurgy, and they are estimated at almost $1 billion,” the CEO said, adding that one DRI module in combination with an EAF and casting costs at least EUR 1 billion. For the construction of a plant with a capacity of 4-4.5 million tonnes of electric steel, at least EUR 2 billion will be required.
“In order to change the technology completely, the estimated costs will be about $15-20 billion over the next decade. Here we need government support. But, today, there are not decarbonization programmes, or even any progress on developing them, in Ukraine. We aim to encourage the government to move in this direction,” the top manager said.
“We are now completing the calculations for the decarbonization roadmap and, I suppose, we will make it public in spring 2022. By the end of 2022, we expect to finalize our technological strategy… By 2050, we expect that our sinter production will be completely decommissioned, and we will switch to DRI with electric steel. By 2040, we intend, to a large extent, to substitute the old capacity with electric steel, but some will still remain in place,” Ryzhenkov said.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has adopted the provision on the organizational and technical model of cybersecurity developed by the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine, according to the service’s website. The organizational and technical model of cybersecurity is a set of measures, subjects and actions aimed at developing the capabilities of the national cybersecurity system in prompt response to cyberattacks and cyber incidents. This model creates conditions for minimizing possible negative consequences for information and communication systems.
“The organizational and technical model of cybersecurity not only denotes complex framework and different levels of infrastructure for protecting the country in cyberspace, but also at the sub-legal level defines the main stages of responding to cyber incidents. Both government agencies and the corporate sector and citizens will be involved in the development of this model,” Head of the State Special Communications Service Yuriy Schyhol said.
Such an integrated approach should increase the effectiveness of the national cybersecurity system and, in particular, allows both enterprises and government agencies to develop, implement and continually improve structurally identical and adapted to their own needs and capabilities plans for responding to cyber incidents and cyberattacks.
The organizational and technical model assumes three levels of integrated cyber defense infrastructures:organizational and managerial (the main subjects of the national cybersecurity system); technological (interaction of technological units: information exchange, monitoring, ensuring sustainable cyberspace security) and basic (secure information infrastructure and society).
The organizational and technical model of cybersecurity is aimed, inter alia, at reducing the vulnerability of information and communication systems and ensuring their cyber resilience; creating conditions for the development of public-private partnerships in cybersecurity; and also on the creation of an effective system of national response to cyber incidents, in particular on the development of industry response teams, synchronization and coordination of their actions. The State Special Communications Service said the introduction of an organizational and technical model of cybersecurity determines responsibility for the implementation of specific tasks of each subject of cybersecurity and makes it possible to form an effective system of resource support, including personnel.
