The first 2 million doses of Moderna vaccine against the COVID-19 coronavirus, donated by the United States of America on the COVAX initiative, have arrived in Ukraine, UNICEF has reported.
“The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) delivered today 2,000,040 doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by the American company Moderna, to Ukraine. This batch of vaccines is donated by the U.S. Government through the global COVAX Facility,” the message reads.
As noted, this batch of COVID vaccine will be used to do vaccinations by mobile teams of organized and professional groups of the previous stages of vaccination.
“Our main goal is to protect as many Ukrainians against COVID-19 as possible. We are thankful to partners who stand with us. We are now accelerating vaccination roll-out, so everyone could have access to vaccines. I urge all Ukrainians who not yet got their shots to come and get vaccinated in the mass vaccination centers to protect their health,” said Viktor Liashko, Minister of Health of Ukraine
It is noted that Moderna is an mRNA vaccine. It requires special storage and transportation, which is provided by the United States Agency for International Development USAID.
The Solway Investment Group international investment group, owning Pobuzhsky Ferronickel Plant (PFP, Kirovohrad region), at the end of 2020, maintained its consolidated revenue at the level of 2019, $624.2 million.
According to the company’s report, its EBITDA was $167 million with a margin of 26.7% in 2020, the cost of production decreased by 6.3% yea year-over-year, to $438.9 million.
“Solway has a cash balance in excess of financial debt, and, as a result, the ratio of net debt to EBITDA at the end of 2020 is below zero,” the company said in a press release.
At the same time, it is noted: despite the problems due to the pandemic, the work of Solway remains stable and safe. They managed to prevent the closure of enterprises and avoid social and economic consequences in the regions of their activity. Continuous operation was maintained and some plants even exceeded production targets.
According to the statement, the group’s actions were based on two key priorities, protecting the health and safety of employees and local communities, and laying the foundations for sustainable development and long-term economic recovery.
Solway’s strategic vision creates circular economic returns and prioritizes long-term growth over short-term profits.
“We strive to reduce the impact of our production on the environment, to comprehensively assess its impact when planning investment projects. We effectively use natural resources, raw materials and energy locally,” the company said in the press release.
In 2020, Solway has been actively pursuing the issue of reducing its carbon footprint. One of the main assets of the group, PFP, has been implementing a project to rehabilitate gas processing plants for several years in order to reduce emissions by 99.9%. The advanced stage of the project was reached in 2020.
Belgium is removing entry restrictions previously imposed on Ukrainian citizens as part of countering the spread of COVID-19, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
“Belgium has opened up to all types of travel for Ukrainians according to the recommendation of the EU Council. The Foreign Ministry is working to increase travel opportunities this summer,” Kuleba wrote on his Twitter on Sunday.
Next week Turkey is ready to receive a Ukrainian delegation to finalize the technical aspects of the draft agreement on a free trade area (FTA) between the countries, Turkish Trade Minister Mehmet Muş said.
“Our delegations have already fruitfully worked on the agreement. And next week we are ready to host a delegation from Ukraine to finalize the technical aspects of the draft agreement,” the press service of the Economy Ministry of Ukraine said, citing Muş, following his videoconference with First Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Liubchenko on Monday.
The Turkish minister said the delegations should intensify their work and in the near future submit a draft agreement on an FTA between the two countries.
“We have several positions left where we must find a balance in our trade relations. It should be noted that during the negotiations with our Turkish colleagues we came to constructive and progressive solutions that will allow us to protect domestic markets where necessary and prepare an agreement, which will contribute to the deepening of trade relations and the development of the economies of our countries,” Liubchenko said.
According to the Economy Ministry, the videoconference was held following a phone conversation between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises are expected to increase steel production by 6% by the end of 2021 year-over-year, to 21.894 million tonnes.
According to the background documents of the Economy Ministry, which are available to Interfax-Ukraine, the production of general rolled products will increase by 5%, to 19.411 million tonnes, cast iron smelting by 6%, to 21.727 million tonnes.
The forecast is based on production indicators for January-June 2021, summarized by the Ukrmetallurgprom association, the ministry said.
At the same time, the agency’s source said that if the existing trends continue, the supply of scrap metal to metallurgical enterprises in 2021 will increase by 14%, to 3.31 million tonnes.
The output of pipes in 2021 may increase by 12%, to 957,000 tonnes, coke by 3%, to 9.927 million tonnes, firebricks by 9%, to 240,000 tonnes (119,000 tonnes were produced over six months of 2021, growth is 9%).
Sinter output may increase by 7%, to 34.207 million tonnes.
Over the past day, on July 16, more than 111,000 people were vaccinated against coronavirus in Ukraine, more than 4 million vaccinations have been made since the beginning of the vaccination campaign, the press service of the Ministry of Health said on Saturday.
“More than 4 million vaccinations have been carried out since the beginning of vaccination! Some 111,150 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 per day on July 16, 2021. One dose was received by 65,226 people, while 45,924 people were fully immunized,” the message published on the Telegram says.
