Ukraine’s international reserves as of 1 August 2021 stood at an equivalent of $28.951 billion, which is 2.1% more than as of early July 2021 ($27.358 billion), according to data from the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) published on Thursday.
“As of 1 August 2021, Ukraine’’s international reserves stood at an equivalent of $28,951.1 million, according to preliminary data. In July, international reserves increased by 2.1%, primarily due to the government’s placement of eurobonds and purchases by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) of foreign currency on the interbank FX market,” the NBU said.
The central bank said that international reserves in July were affected by the following factors: first, transactions related to public debt management. The government spent $416.9 million (in the equivalent) on servicing and repayment of public debt denominated in foreign currency, including $368.9 million in repayments on domestic government debt securities, while the rest of the funds went to meet the government’s other FX commitments.
FX inflows to the government amounted to $665.8 million (in the equivalent), of which $525.8 million (in the equivalent) came from a placement of eurobonds, and $140 million (in the equivalent) from domestic government debt securities.
Second, the NBU’s transactions in the FX interbank market also affected international reserves in July. During the first weeks of July, the interbank FX market was mostly balanced. On some days, however, mainly in the second half of the month, market supply exceeded demand, in part due to a pick-up in FX sales by a number of private and state-owned companies. This enabled the NBU to add $188 million to international reserves.
Third, the revaluation of financial instruments (due to changes in their market value and exchange rate fluctuations) affected international reserves. Last month, the value of these instruments increased by $156.5 million (in the equivalent).
International reserves now cover 4.1 months of future imports, sufficient for Ukraine to meet its commitments, and for the government and the NBU to make their current transactions.
In addition, the NBU said that Ukraine’s net international reserves (NIR) in June increased by $551 million, or 3.1%, to $18.528 billion.
Former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yevhen Marchuk died on Thursday morning, his wife Larysa Ivshyna said.
“Black day […] Yevhen Marchuk died […]. Heart stopped,” she said on her Facebook page.
Marchuk was 80 years old.
He was first acting head of the State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) from November 1991 to July 1994. Marchuk headed the Ukrainian government from March 1995 to May 1996, and from June 2003 to September 2004 he was the Minister of Defense.
He also had the rank of General of the Army of Ukraine.
Marchuk represented Ukraine in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) from November 2018 to May 2019.
International European University presented a VR room
Virtual reality starts evolving in education while an increasing number of universities is adopting this technology.
The analysis of global experience indicates the efficiency and potential of sensor nets and advanced technologies. International European University is always in tune with the times and improves its educational programs, helping students learn chosen disciplines using cutting-edge technological solutions.
Therefore, the university has introduced the VR room allowing students to explore places of destination worldwide without leaving a classroom. The multi-award-winning program platform encourages faster learning and teaching of medical sciences and anatomy on desktop, mobile and virtual devices.
Virtual reality technologies enhance the efficiency of study, making classes more exciting, which results in better educational motivation and students’ activity.
According to Nataliia Litvinova, Director of European Medical School, the implementation of different VR-based educational programs sparks greater interest of students in this form of classes and increases their enthusiasm while preparing for each class, learning theoretical materials that will be elaborated in the virtual environment.
“It is the best model among the existing ones. This VR headset is equipped with a manipulator that enables working without a computer, as it has its own device inside. Actually, this headset is used for games, fitness and other activities, but we apply it in education. Each license allows holding classes in a group consisting of 10 and more people, as well as conducting questioning, excluding a possibility to peep a correct answer and manipulate. Due to another license, we will be able to train 200 students at the same time and learn anatomy using any device. I’m so glad that in autumn, during license update, we could see the process on computer tomography, X-ray, ultrasound investigation. We can use it in clinical subjects and show students certain organs in virtual reality,” Nataliia Litvinova says.
Besides, educational programs based on virtual reality technologies are multi-purpose (similar programs for different subject areas require almost the same firmware kit) and easily integrated into the conventional teaching process. They allow replacing real objects with their simulating models and interactive simulators so that students can model different situations and find the best possible solutions.
To sum up, we can state that virtual reality is a perfect learning environment. Perception of a virtual model with high authenticity allows training future professionals in different specialties in a high-quality and quick manner. VR-based education allows teachers to give lectures, seminars and training sessions visually, show all aspects of real items or processes to students, which produces a great effect, improves the quality and speed of educational processes, as well as reduces their cost. Virtual reality technologies allow us to comprehensively use the fact that people obtain 80% of information from the world around by vision. Meanwhile, people remember 20% of what they see, 40% of what they see and hear, and 70% of what they see, hear and make. Thus, students are totally immersed into the educational process, receiving better motivation and succeeding in their study.
EDUCATION, IEU, INTERNATIONAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY, TECHNOLOGY, VIRTUAL REALITY, VR, НАВОЛОКІНА
Two Sandown-class mine countermeasures vessels Ramsey and Blyth, belonging to the Royal Navy of Great Britain, have officially completed their service in the British Navy and will soon be transferred to Ukraine, the Royal British Navy press service said on Wednesday.
“Both Sandown-class mine countermeasures vessels have served extensively during careers spanning 21 years and 175,000 miles for Ramsey, 185,000 miles over 20 years for Blyth, supporting operations in the Middle East, around the UK or on NATO duties in northern European and Mediterranean water,” the Royal British Navy said.
It notes that the vessels are being replaced by expanding Project Wilton drive to introduce autonomous or uncrewed boats and systems. Into minehunting.
“Blyth and Ramsey will enjoy a fresh lease of life in the Black Sea. Once further work is completed on the two vessels, they will be transferred to the Ukrainian Navy,” the British Navy said.
In Kyiv, at various stages of construction readiness, 32 business centers with a total GLA of almost 670,00 square meters (excluding large-scale facilities) are announced for opening in 2021-2022, Managing Partner of UTG Offices Volodymyr Heliuta has told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, according to the results of the first half of 2021, the total rental area of professional facilities in Kyiv is slightly more than 2 million square meters. In the structure of supply of space, class A accounts for 25%, B and C – 75%.
“About 52% of office space was commissioned before 2010 and today it is morally and technically outdated. Therefore, despite the permanent lockdowns, we see the interest of investors and developers in the office real estate market – frozen and postponed projects have been actively revived since the middle of 2020. Outdated shopping centers, hotel complexes, enterprises and factories are being reconstructed into office real estate,” Heliuta said.
For June 2021, the rental price per square meter a month in class A it was $20-25 excluding VAT, OPEX, utility bills and BOMA coefficients, in classes B and B + – $16-20.
The expert said that due to the release of a new proposal, vacancy is growing. Thus, in class A business centers it is 10%, in class B, B + business centers it is 10-15% with a tendency to increase.
Since the end of 2020, the tendency towards a decrease in rented space has continued. There is a growing trend towards renting turnkey office space, including fully equipped workspaces. Smaller and medium-sized tenants (especially those who are not ready to invest in renovation, improvement, furnishing of premises) are considering alternative options for changing offices.
“There is a high demand for open space offices without intricate renovations, within walking distance from the metro, in an area with developed infrastructure. In addition, one of the desired options for tenants is parking for bicycles and electric vehicles, as well as the opportunity to take a shower. Flexible office spaces adapted to a hybrid work format that allows employees to combine remote work from home with stay in the office are becoming the new norm,” Heliuta said.
According to him, the main consumer today is the representatives of the IT sector. “Adaptive offices are attractive for them: there are many projects and a team for 200 people – a large office is needed, few projects and the team has been reduced to 50 – a small one,” the expert said.
BUSINESS, BUSINESS CENTER, HOTEL, OFFICE CENTER, SHOPPING CENTER
The major shareholder and the head of the board of directors of KSG Agro agricultural holding, Serhiy Kasyanov, who owns it through Olbis Investments Ltd. (Panama), on August 2 sold one million shares (6.66%) of the group of companies to two legal entities with Polish jurisdiction, after the transaction the share of Olbis Investments Ltd. amounted to 57.96% of the charter capital.
The press service of the agricultural holding told Interfax-Ukraine about this transaction on August 4.
“The buyers were Polish companies together with beneficiaries in the European Union. Within a few days we will agree on all the formalities and will be ready to jointly inform the market about our future plans,” the press service quoted Kasyanov as commenting on the deal.
He explained that prior to the conclusion of the agreement, Olbis Investments Ltd. owned 9.7 million shares of KSG Agro S.A (Switzerland), the parent company of the Ukrainian agricultural holding, which accounted for 64.62% of its charter capital. Following the transaction, the Panamanian company owns 8.7 million shares of KSG Agro S.A (57.96%).
The press service of the agricultural holding emphasized that through this transaction, KSG Agro intends to attract investors to the development of meat processing facilities and to enter the markets for finished livestock products.
“The selling price of the shares has not been disclosed, but it is not lower than the market price and corresponds to the weighted average price of the holding’s shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) over the past few months. The buyers of the shares were two companies with Polish jurisdiction, whose names have not yet been disclosed,” the press service said.
Thus, according to the three-month dynamics of the value of shares of the agricultural holding presented on the WSE website, the investments attracted by it can roughly range from PLN 3.21 million ($ 834,000 at the current exchange rate) to PLN 4.49 million ($ 1.17 million).
