Japan on August 2 lifted the ban on the export of Ukrainian poultry and eggs, introduced in December 2020 in connection with the spread of pathogenic avian influenza in Ukraine, according to a Wednesday posting on the website of the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection.
“We are not only creating new export opportunities for Ukrainian companies, but also restoring access to foreign markets that were closed for one reason or another. Such closure decisions are usually made quickly, and it takes a long effort to convince partners to reopen the market. I am glad that we managed to convince the Japanese partners of the safety of Ukrainian products, and from now on Ukrainian companies can again export their products,” the authority said, citing Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba.
The authority said that the Ukrainian side informed its Japanese partners in detail about the measures taken in Ukraine to combat outbreaks of avian influenza.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 04/08/21
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of August 04
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
Odesa seaport in July received a positive financial result from economic activities at the level of UAH 1.3 million.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Infrastructure, the reasons for the company’s profitability are the introduction of a balanced tariff policy, attracting new customers, reducing the company’s expenses and modernizing equipment.
The department notes that the previous periods were unprofitable for the company. In particular, a loss of UAH 9.4 million was recorded in June. Over the past six months, the total loss of the enterprise amounted to UAH 29 million.
“For the first time in the past six months, Odesa port will profit from its activities. The indicator for June in the amount of UAH 4 million is the largest since July last year. The successful result was demonstrated despite the fact that, in general, July was the month with the lowest number of ship calls since the beginning of 2021,” the ministry said.
In January-June 2021, Odesa seaport handled 10.402 million tonnes of cargo, which is 13.6% less than in the same period in 2020. In 2020, the seaport handled 23.37 million tonnes of cargo, which is 7.8% less than in 2019.
The Swiss authorities have lifted restriction on entry of Ukrainian citizens into the country.
“The restriction on entry into Switzerland has been lifted for citizens of Ukraine since August 2,” the online resource of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reports.
It is noted that in order to enter Switzerland, Ukrainians must present a certificate of a full vaccination course (if 14 days have passed since the last dose), a negative PCR test result (must be done a maximum of 72 hours before entry), a negative rapid antigen test result (must be done a maximum of 48 hours before entry) or confirmation that you have had coronavirus in the last six months and have recovered.
At the same time, only a certificate of vaccination with drugs recognized in Switzerland is taken into account, in particular, Pfizer/BioNTech (BNT162b2/Comirnaty/Tozinameran), Moderna (mRNA-1273/Spikevax/COVID-19 vaccine Moderna), AstraZeneca (AZD1222 Vaxzevria/C, Janssen/Johnson & Johnson (Ad26.COV2.S), Sinopharm/BIBP (SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine (Vero Cell)), Sinovac (CoronaVac).
“For persons who arrived in Switzerland from regions with dangerous variants of the virus and who have been in these regions for more than ten days, and who are not vaccinated or cannot prove that they have had COVID-19 in the last six months, a ten-day quarantine is provided,” the Foreign Ministry said.
Ukraine may receive a $700 million tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in September, the adviser to the President of Ukraine on economic issues, Oleh Ustenko, has said.
“The President of the country had a more than successful telephone conversation with Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva. The IMF mission is going to Ukraine. In addition, Ukraine has implemented all the preconditions of the IMF. We expect that a new tranche of about $700 million will be received from the IMF rather quickly,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
“I suppose that now we are moving according to the following scenario: in September – the mission, at once the issue of Ukraine is brought up to a meeting of the IMF Board of Directors, and in September I expect that we will receive a new tranche,” the president’s adviser added.
At the same time, Ustenko does not rule out the possibility of extending the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA).
“We have made serious progress, and this was noted. So I do not rule out that the SBA may be extended,” he said.
