Biosphere Corporation (Dnipro), the largest Ukrainian manufacturer of household and hygienic products, plans in 2022 to launch production of starch-based biopolymers, which will be completely decomposed, founder and CEO of Biosphere Andriy Zdesenko said at the 2021 International Mayors Summit in Kyiv.
“It will be in Dnipro, where we have a plant and a large production cluster. Our task is to make vertical integration,” he told Interfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of the summit, specifying that production of biodegradable bags started by the corporation in early 2020 is carried out from purchased raw materials.
Zdesenko at the summit noted the readiness of Biosphere to supply such biopackages from biopolymers to municipalities for pets. “Only 1% of the total number of owners constantly use packages and clean up after their pets,” the head of the corporation said.
Rostyslav Vovk, CEO and co-owner of Kormotech, a large Ukrainian producer of cat and dog food, added that the company is ready, together with Biosphere and municipalities, to implement projects to collect this waste in parks.
Zdesenko also noted that the corporation is aimed at direct cooperation with cities to build a circular economy “you give us garbage – and we give a finished product.”
“The idea is that we can receive sorted waste not through a network of intermediaries […] but directly from the city. So that we receive the sheeting, make large-size garbage bags out of it for municipal needs and deliver it to the city directly from the factory, also bypassing all the chains of intermediaries, at the most competitive price with the correct dimensions and technologies,” he explained.
According to him, he is conducting such negotiations with mayor of Lviv, “the most advanced city in terms of waste management,” Andriy Sadovy and mayor of Dnipro Borys Filatov.
Zdesenko pointed out: despite the development of the market, today high-quality waste in Ukraine is expensive and in short supply. According to him, a tonne of polyethylene waste of various grades in Poland, the Czech Republic or Lithuania costs about EUR 200, while in Ukraine, which is now practically deprived of the opportunity to import it from Europe due to EU restrictions, it is “EUR 350, or even EUR 400”.
“Buying this raw material, processing it, I, in fact, am not capable of producing a competitive product for export,” he said.
In this regard, Biosphere begins to involve a large number of international companies in the overall waste collection project, in particular, it started the first project with McDonald’s, and the project with PepsiCo is at the start.
Biosphere Corporation has been operating in Ukraine for over 20 years. Its products are presented in the markets of 30 countries in Europe and Asia. The product portfolio includes more than 2,000 items under 13 trademarks.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 06/10/21
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of October 06
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
Employers cannot fire an employee who is not vaccinated against COVID-19 until the Ministry of Health approves a list of professions for which such vaccination is mandatory, lawyers interviewed by Interfax-Ukraine have said.
Iryna Shaposhnikova, a lawyer at the Asters law firm, said that the law on protection of the Population from infectious diseases establishes a list of six mandatory preventive vaccinations, while vaccination against COVID-19 is not on this list, so it is exclusively voluntary.
At the same time, the lawyer said that this law provides that employees of certain professions, industries and organizations are subject to mandatory preventive vaccinations if their activities can lead to infection of other employees or the spread of such diseases. Thus, in addition to the list of mandatory vaccinations for all, there may be others if the work carries the risk of spreading infectious diseases.
For her part, Natalia Shvets, a counselor at the law firm Ario Law Firm, said that “the ideal option for both parties to an employment relationship is to find a comfortable compromise in advance. For example, agree on remote work or a weekly report on the PCR test.”
“In Ukraine, labor relations are regulated by the Labor Code, which clearly indicates the procedure and grounds for dismissing an employee from work. There is no norm on the possibility of dismissing for refusing to get a vaccine,” she said.
At the same time, Shvets drew attention to the fact that according to the law, “citizens have the right to safe working conditions, including the absence of the risk of infection.”
“The Cabinet can establish quarantine-restrictive measures to prevent the spread of infection. And an employee can be fired for violation of labor discipline. This includes non-performance or improper performance of labor duties,” she said.
For their part, the experts of the Omerta Law Firm said that currently there is no requirement that may oblige employers to provide their employees with the opportunity to vaccinate. However, on the initiative of the owner or an authorized body, the employment contract can be terminated if an employee is found to be inconsistent with the job position or work performed due to health conditions.
“Such a dismissal can only be carried out on the basis of evidence that due to the state of health, the employee cannot properly perform the assigned work duties. The dismissal of an employee on this basis is not a disciplinary measure, because vaccination against coronavirus is voluntary for all groups of the population,” the lawyers said.
Omerta experts said that the employer has no legal basis to force employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and to bring them to disciplinary responsibility for refusing such vaccination.
In turn, Kyrylo Kozak, a partner of the KPD Consulting law firm and a member of the council of the labor law committee of the Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA), reminded that the list of professions for which a periodic medical examination is required, includes the categories of workers who, due to their job responsibilities, come into contact with a large number of people or whose activities are associated with the risk of spreading diseases (services, catering, etc.).
The lawyer advises an employee, if such a decision is granted, to make a decision on vaccination if there are no valid reasons for refusing to be vaccinated. If the specified decision is not provided, then the employer will have to provide a written request asking to clarify the grounds for vaccination and the relationship of vaccination with the position held.
At the same time, lawyers interviewed by Interfax-Ukraine do not consider the employers’ requirements for so-called “health books,” which would indicate such vaccination, as an effective mechanism to stimulate vaccination against COVID-19. In particular, Shaposhnikova said that not all workers need a health book (the official name is “personal medical book”), and the Cabinet of Ministers established a list of industries whose workers are required to have such a document – the medical, food, educational spheres, etc.
At the same time, the lawyer considers it illegal to attempt to oblige employees to have health certificates, which will indicate vaccination against COVID-19, since the legislation defines an exhaustive list of diseases for vaccination, and COVID-19 is not included in this list.
“To date, there are no direct legislative mechanisms using which an employer can oblige an employee to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Therefore, the only method is clarification, persuasion and finding understanding, consensus. Any coercion (fine, suspension, dismissal, etc.) will be illegal,” the lawyer said.
LIST PROFESSIONS, MANDATORY VACCINATION, UNVACCINATED EMPLOYEE
Employers cannot fire an employee who is not vaccinated against COVID-19 until the Ministry of Health approves a list of professions for which such vaccination is mandatory, lawyers interviewed by Interfax-Ukraine have said. Iryna Shaposhnikova, a lawyer at the Asters law firm, said that the law on protection of the Population from infectious diseases establishes a list of six mandatory preventive vaccinations, while vaccination against COVID-19 is not on this list, so it is exclusively voluntary.
At the same time, the lawyer said that this law provides that employees of certain professions, industries and organizations are subject to mandatory preventive vaccinations if their activities can lead to infection of other employees or the spread of such diseases. Thus, in addition to the list of mandatory vaccinations for all, there may be others if the work carries the risk of spreading infectious diseases.
For her part, Natalia Shvets, a counselor at the law firm Ario Law Firm, said that “the ideal option for both parties to an employment relationship is to find a comfortable compromise in advance. For example, agree on remote work or a weekly report on the PCR test.”
“In Ukraine, labor relations are regulated by the Labor Code, which clearly indicates the procedure and grounds for dismissing an employee from work. There is no norm on the possibility of dismissing for refusing to get a vaccine,” she said.
At the same time, Shvets drew attention to the fact that according to the law, “citizens have the right to safe working conditions, including the absence of the risk of infection.”
“The Cabinet can establish quarantine-restrictive measures to prevent the spread of infection. And an employee can be fired for violation of labor discipline. This includes non-performance or improper performance of labor duties,” she said.
For their part, the experts of the Omerta Law Firm said that currently there is no requirement that may oblige employers to provide their employees with the opportunity to vaccinate. However, on the initiative of the owner or an authorized body, the employment contract can be terminated if an employee is found to be inconsistent with the job position or work performed due to health conditions.
“Such a dismissal can only be carried out on the basis of evidence that due to the state of health, the employee cannot properly perform the assigned work duties. The dismissal of an employee on this basis is not a disciplinary measure, because vaccination against coronavirus is voluntary for all groups of the population,” the lawyers said.
Omerta experts said that the employer has no legal basis to force employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and to bring them to disciplinary responsibility for refusing such vaccination.
In turn, Kyrylo Kozak, a partner of the KPD Consulting law firm and a member of the council of the labor law committee of the Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA), reminded that the list of professions for which a periodic medical examination is required, includes the categories of workers who, due to their job responsibilities, come into contact with a large number of people or whose activities are associated with the risk of spreading diseases (services, catering, etc.).
The lawyer advises an employee, if such a decision is granted, to make a decision on vaccination if there are no valid reasons for refusing to be vaccinated. If the specified decision is not provided, then the employer will have to provide a written request asking to clarify the grounds for vaccination and the relationship of vaccination with the position held.
At the same time, lawyers interviewed by Interfax-Ukraine do not consider the employers’ requirements for so-called “health books,” which would indicate such vaccination, as an effective mechanism to stimulate vaccination against COVID-19. In particular, Shaposhnikova said that not all workers need a health book (the official name is “personal medical book”), and the Cabinet of Ministers established a list of industries whose workers are required to have such a document – the medical, food, educational spheres, etc.
At the same time, the lawyer considers it illegal to attempt to oblige employees to have health certificates, which will indicate vaccination against COVID-19, since the legislation defines an exhaustive list of diseases for vaccination, and COVID-19 is not included in this list.
“To date, there are no direct legislative mechanisms using which an employer can oblige an employee to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Therefore, the only method is clarification, persuasion and finding understanding, consensus. Any coercion (fine, suspension, dismissal, etc.) will be illegal,” the lawyer said.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Israeli President Isaac Herzog met in Kyiv to discuss cooperation in trade, science and technology, and medicine, the Ukrainian government’s press service said on Tuesday.
Shmyhal told Herzog of the projects to create and upgrade irrigation systems in southern Ukraine and invited Israeli companies to take part in their implementation, the service said.
Science and technology is one of the promising areas of cooperation between the two countries, the prime minister said.
Also, Ukraine is keen on sharing experience and to study the Israeli government’s support for the development of new technologies, commercialization of scientific research, creation of startups, and encouragement of investment in scientific research, he said.
“We are also interested in broadening our cooperation on information and latest technologies and implementing joint promising projects in this sphere,” Shmyhal said.
With regard to medical and pharmaceutical cooperation, he said: “Given the significant experience gained by Israel in this sphere, Ukraine is interested in sharing information on psychological rehabilitation of war veterans and combatants, introducing cooperation in the sphere of providing the disabled with rehabilitation services.”
For his part, Herzog reaffirmed his readiness to cooperate on new technologies, adding that the new government of Israel is ready to intensify cooperation with Ukraine in a variety of sectors, the press service said.
