During a telephone conversation, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and President of Poland Andrzej Duda agreed to exchange visits and hold a number of events dedicated to the landmark anniversary dates of Ukrainian-Polish relations, the 30th anniversary of Poland’s recognition of Ukraine’s independence, the establishment of diplomatic relations and the signing of the Treaty on friendship and cooperation.“The sides exchanged views on the difficult situation that has developed on the Polish-Belarusian border. The head of the Ukrainian state informed about the security situation on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border and the measures that are being carried out and will be taken for its proper protection,” the presidential press service has said.Particular attention was paid to coordinating the positions of the parties in countering the Nord Stream 2 project. The interlocutors were unanimous in their assessments of Nord Stream 2 primarily as a security threat and confirmed their unwavering commitment to further opposition to the project.“This is in the interests of the energy security of Europe as a whole,” Zelensky said.It is noted that the heads of state paid special attention to promising projects of cooperation in the energy sector, in particular, to establish alternative routes for gas supplies.Zelensky briefed Duda about the development of the security situation in eastern Ukraine.
Public representatives, together with students, lecturers and the administration of International European University, planted about 900 pine trees at Holosiivskyi National Natural Park.
The organizers called this event #хвойна_туса (pine meet-up), which was supported by the Silpo supermarket chain and initiated by SD Platform NGO.
Our journalists talked to Kateryna Davydkova, the coordinator of environmental matters at SD Platform NGO, about the idea and further plans.
“I try to extensively involve the university community in ecologically vital initiatives. The idea originated from the importance to enrich our country with trees. It’s painful to watch mass deforestation and wood sales. By the way, coniferous forests destroy bacteria in our air and clean our lungs, especially after COVID-19. The #хвойна_туса initiative took place in Vinnytsia and twice in Kyiv. Our International European University regularly joins eco-initiatives and supports the environmental consciousness of young people. In general, around 900 pine trees were planted at Holosiivskyi National Natural Park. Forest officers held a workshop on the proper technique of tree planting and maintenance. Our lungs were filled with useful coniferous air. We believe that our pine trees will also produce phytoncides in a year, which are quite beneficial to human health,” Kateryna said.
It is a great pleasure that International European University promotes an eco-friendly lifestyle, as forests are the lungs of our planet, which have suffered a lot this year and which recovery is crucial to each citizen. Taking the responsibility for the planet and its future, being conscious and caring about environmental problems: it’s about the IEU family.
Activists and students are going to plant more trees in the spring.
Primary registrations of used cars imported from abroad in Ukraine in October exceeded 56,100 vehicles, which is 50% more than in the same month of 2020, and 3% more than in September this year, according to the Ukrautoprom association.“The larger number of registrations of imported used cars was recorded only in February 2019. Then, as now, the surge in registrations was associated with the end of the period of preferential legalization of cars with euro-number plates,” the association said on the website.As reported, preferential conditions for customs clearance will be valid until November 10, 2021 – 180 days from the date of their entry into force. For combatants, the deadline is 270 days, until February 8, 2022.According to the report, the share of used foreign cars of the total registration of passenger cars in October increased to 87.7%, i.e. new cars were registered 85.7% less.The most popular brand among the customs cleared used vehicles was Volkswagen with 10,500 registrations, Renault was second with 4,599 used cars, the third result is for Ford – 4,322 vehicles. Opel followed it in the list, the used cars of this brand were chosen by 4,290 Ukrainians, and Skoda closes the top five with 4,015 cars.In total, in January-October 2021, Ukrainian license plates received for 411,700 imported used cars – 47% more than a year earlier and almost five times more than the number of new passenger cars.In 2020, 353,400 used foreign passenger cars were registered in Ukraine, which is 4.1 times more than sales of new cars (85,500 units).
The share of illegal tobacco products in the Ukrainian market over the past five years has increased 18 times – from 1% in 2016 to 18.1% in August 2021 and reached a historical peak, its growth was caused by the increase in excise tax, which the government plans increase by 2025 to the EU level – EUR 90 for 1,000 cigarettes.Such data were released in a joint statement by the CEOs of the largest tobacco companies, adopted during a conference in Kyiv on Monday. The event was attended by Philip Morris Ukraine CEO Kostas Salvaras, BAT Ukraine CEO Kakhaber Benidze, JTI Ukraine CEO Paul Holloway and Imperial Tobacco Ukraine CEO Rastislav Cernak.“A year ago, when JTI launched information campaign on the illegal tobacco market, its share amounted to 6.9% of the Ukrainian market. A year later, this figure reached 18.1% – almost 300% growth in 12 months. This is more than UAH 14.4 billion of lost revenue to the budget of Ukraine,” Holloway said with reference to the preliminary results of the Kantar Ukraine research institute.According to industry representatives, the illegal tobacco market in Ukraine began to grow back in 2014, but this year it crossed a dangerous border: tax-free cigarettes have become readily available. This poses a problem for legal cigarette manufacturers losing market share to illegal cigarette manufacturers and smugglers.In addition, the total legal cigarette market is now estimated at 32.7 billion units, which is 18% less than in 2020, and over 40% less than its volume in 2018.To reduce the growth rate of the illegal tobacco market, the largest manufacturers propose to extend the period for reaching the European level of excise tax of EUR 90 per 1,000 cigarettes in Ukraine by five years – from 2025 to 2030, whereas now it is EUR 48.4 per 1,000 cigarettes.“There was an unprecedented rise in prices for any category of consumer goods, which significantly outstripped inflation, and became the main factor in the reduction of the legal market for tobacco products and the growth of illegal trade […] We propose to expand the schedule for increasing excise taxes on tobacco products until 2030, providing for an annual increase in rates at the level of 10% [instead of current 20%]. This will stabilize the situation in the tobacco market,” Cernak said.He also proposed to “freeze” the increase in the excise tax on heated tobacco products for three years, until 2024.“This approach will give the consumer more time to adjust to higher prices and deprive the illegal market of the potential for growth,” Cernak said in a statement.The unpredictability of regulation of the tobacco industry in Ukraine affects not only business income, but also its future investments, the Philip Morris Ukraine CEO said.“Three of our companies [from those present at the conference] are ready to consider the possibility of localizing production of tobacco-containing products for electric heating in Ukraine, if the state creates the appropriate conditions,” Salvaras said.According to the calculations of market participants, the localization in Ukraine of production of such products with reduced harm from smoking can bring the country more than UAH 6 billion of investments and about UAH 4 billion of additional income tax in three years.As reported with reference to the Kantar Ukraine study in May this year, in January-May, the share of counterfeits in the domestic cigarette market increased by 3.1 percentage points compared to the data for 2020, to 5.1%, the share of tobacco products marked as intended for export and illegally sold in Ukraine increased by 4.8 p.p., up to 7.6%. At the same time, the share of smuggled cigarettes decreased by 0.5 p.p., to 1.7%.
PrJSC Multiplex-Holding (Kyiv), which develops a network of Multiplex cinemas in Ukraine, reduced its net loss by 34.1% in January-September 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, to UAH 71.6 million.According to a company’s report, published in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission of Ukraine, company’s net income increased by 28.3%, to UAH 304.1 million.Gross profit in January-September 2021 increased 2.9 times, to UAH 12 million, while operating loss increased by 29.3%, to UAH 26.7 million.Uncovered loss increased by 64.9% and amounted to UAH 411.6 million. The company’s long-term liabilities for nine months decreased by 73.3%, to UAH 17.9 million, while the current ones increased by 31%, to UAH 1 billion.As reported, Multiplex-Holding over 2020 received UAH 187.6 million in net loss. Multiplex-Holding was founded in 2003. According to the data on the official website, the network has 28 cinemas.
Public representatives, together with students, lecturers and the administration of International European University, planted about 900 pine trees at Holosiivskyi National Natural Park.
The organizers called this event #хвойна_туса (pine meet-up), which was supported by the Silpo supermarket chain and initiated by SD Platform NGO.
Our journalists talked to Kateryna Davydkova, the coordinator of environmental matters at SD Platform NGO, about the idea and further plans.
“I try to extensively involve the university community in ecologically vital initiatives. The idea originated from the importance to enrich our country with trees. It’s painful to watch mass deforestation and wood sales. By the way, coniferous forests destroy bacteria in our air and clean our lungs, especially after COVID-19. The #хвойна_туса initiative took place in Vinnytsia and twice in Kyiv. Our International European University regularly joins eco-initiatives and supports the environmental consciousness of young people. In general, around 900 pine trees were planted at Holosiivskyi National Natural Park. Forest officers held a workshop on the proper technique of tree planting and maintenance. Our lungs were filled with useful coniferous air. We believe that our pine trees will also produce phytoncides in a year, which are quite beneficial to human health,” Kateryna said.
It is a great pleasure that International European University promotes an eco-friendly lifestyle, as forests are the lungs of our planet, which have suffered a lot this year and which recovery is crucial to each citizen. Taking the responsibility for the planet and its future, being conscious and caring about environmental problems: it’s about the IEU family.
Activists and students are going to plant more trees in the spring.
