The borders of 124 countries of the world are open to Ukrainian citizens, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
“As of today, the borders of 124 countries of the world are open for the citizens of Ukraine. This summer is much freer in terms of travel than the past. Among the popular tourist destinations, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Cyprus, Cuba, the Maldives, the United Arab Emirates, the Seychelles, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Croatia, Montenegro are already open,” Kuleba said in an online briefing on Wednesday.
He urged citizens to observe safety measures while traveling, first of all, to be vaccinated and to adhere to all entry rules. Kuleba also recalled that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has created a popular resource for Ukrainians tripadvisor.mfa.gov.ua, where all information is promptly updated, and one can get the most accurate data on the conditions of entry or transit.
“Today, in total, 26 European countries are open. This includes the EU and the UK. We will continue to work on opening countries for Ukrainians, this will absolutely remain our priority,” the minister assured.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine is ready for a new wave of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the coming autumn, no worse than European countries.
“We are ready in the autumn [for a new wave of COVID-19], which was not regarding hospitals, beds, the number of ambulances, the salaries of doctors who receive 300% and fight COVID-19, with oxygen. We are ready, I think, in this case, at the level of other European countries. And definitely not worse,” Zelensky told journalists at the Ukraine 30. Decentralization All-Ukrainian Forum.
He said “the infrastructure was not built in Ukraine, as in some countries, so it was necessary to build quickly and in sufficient quantity.”
“We have 90,000 open beds for patients with coronavirus, of which the filling is from 10,000 to 50,000,” Zelensky said.
The president also said that “miscalculations in preparing medicine for the coronavirus epidemic existed all over the world.”
Krakovets-Lviv-Brody-Rivne and Stryi-Mukachevo may become the first toll roads in Ukraine, but the decision on expediency will be made upon completion of the feasibility study of these projects, Deputy Infrastructure Minister for European Integration Hanna Yurchenko told reporters on Wednesday.
According to her, today there are not so many directions in Ukraine where there can be a toll road, which would be a payback project, due to the level of traffic. This is exclusively about the construction of new concession roads, which will duplicate the existing free routes.
To date, Ukravtodor has received two private initiatives to prepare two new concession projects. Classics of the genre, when it is a road in an open field. It will most likely be paid. The first is the Krakovets-Lviv-Brody-Rivne route (the initiator is Avtomagistral-Yug) – more than 200 km of completely new construction, the alternative road to Kyiv-Chop and M-10 Lviv-Krakovets,” Yurchenko said.
According to her, the second private initiative is the Stryi-Mukachevo road (initiated by Onur). “Today, in principle, it is not a problem to get from Lviv to Zakarpattia region, but because of the passes and buildings on the existing direction, it is technically impossible to expand the road to four lanes. Therefore, the option of building a new road, which will pass slightly east of the existing Kyiv-Chop road, is being considered. If now we usually get from Lviv to Zakarpattia region in 2.5 hours, and even longer in winter, then the new road should reduce travel time by 60%,” Yurchenko said.
The deputy minister added that according to the ministry’s estimates, the feasibility study for Krakovets-Lviv-Brody-Rivne will be completed by the new year, the feasibility study for Stryi-Mukachevo a little later. The decision on the feasibility of each project will be made by Ukravtodor, and then coordinated with the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Finance.
“They can hypothetically be paid, but this will be confirmed after the feasibility study. Then we will be sure whether it is worth charging a fee, whether it will be generated at all, be self-sufficient,” Yurchenko said.
The state-owned enterprise Artyomsol (Donetsk region) in January-June 2021 saw UAH 11.9 million in net profit versus UAH 19.4 million in net loss in January-June 2020, the growth was driven by an increase in salt production by 70%, to 782,000 tonnes, the enterprise has reported on its website on Wednesday.
“An increase in production and financial indicators is the success of the entire team and a sign of the enterprise’s recovery from the crisis of past years. Our plans are aimed at continuing work to improve production efficiency, reduce production costs, increase the profitability of the enterprise and increase the social protection of workers,” the report said, citing Head of Artyomsol Viktoria Lutsenko.
In the first half of 2021, Artyomsol produced and shipped 782,000 tonnes of salt to consumers, which is almost 70% more than in 2020, as well as 5% more than the company’s internal targets.
According to the company, the export of salt over the specified period amounted to 37% of the total production – 291,000 tonnes, the volume of supplies increased to Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. At the same time, shipments of salt across Ukraine in the first half of 2021 increased by 34% compared to the same period in 2020, to 491,000 tonnes.
In addition, in 2021, Artyomsol opened an excursion route Secrets of the Underground Salt World, and in the near future, it is planned to open a second tourist facility.
Artyomsol is one of the largest enterprises for the extraction and sale of sodium chloride (NaCl) in Central and Eastern Europe. The production facilities of Artyomsol are located in Soledar, Donetsk region.
In Ukraine this year, more than one thousand infrastructure projects are being implemented as part of the initiatives of the Office of the President and the Cabinet of Ministers, Deputy Head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Tymoshenko has said.
“This year, within the framework of various initiatives of both the Office of the President and the Cabinet of Ministers, more than one thousand infrastructure projects are being implemented throughout Ukraine within the framework of the Big Construction, Big Restoration programs, new programs Healthy Ukraine, Active Parks and so on,” Tymoshenko said at the Ukraine 30. Decentralization Forum.
According to him, this is not only about roads, but also about schools, kindergartens, sports facilities, which are implemented at the expense of state funds and funds of regional authorities.
“To talk about what we are doing, I think the best example will be what will happen at the end of the year, when we see how we have implemented these projects. Many of them are already being commissioned – by the example of objects that are to be launched on the 30th anniversary of independence, i.e. each region will hand over large significant objects. And this autumn, we will start the season for the commissioning of facilities – schools, hospitals, etc.,” he added.
In Ivano-Frankivsk region, a sports light-engine plane fell on a private residential building, killing four people, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
“On July 28 at about 13.40 near the village of Sheparivtsi, Kolomyia district, a light-engine sports plane crashed onto a private residential building, followed by burning, as a result of which four people died,” the service said.
It notes that the fire that started after the plane crashed was successfully contained at 13.58. Ten people and three units of the service’s equipment were involved in extinguishing.
