The European Union has decided to prolong the economic sanctions against Russia, European Council President Charles Michel said on Friday.
“We have rolled over our economic sanctions against Russia: Moscow must do its part to ensure full implementation of Minsk Agreements,” he said on Twitter.
The American University Kyiv (AUK) in partnership with the Arizona State University (ASU) will open in Kyiv soon, representative of the UDAR Vitali Klitschko party Dmytro Bilotserkivets said on Facebook page.
“Our children, who want to get a Western education, but do not always have the opportunity to travel abroad, will soon have such an opportunity in Kyiv, which ranks first in innovation among the U.S. universities. The new university will be located in the building of the river station on the Postal Square,” Bilotserkivets said.
At the presentation of the new university, Kyiv Mayor Klitschko said the city fully supports this project.
“Education is the key to life. Many guys dream of getting an American education. From now they have the opportunity not to go to the United States for education, but to get it here in Ukraine. This is a great idea, a wonderful project that has the full support of Kyiv authorities,” the mayor said.
Bilotserkivets said a number of investors have been involved in the project, both from the U.S. and Ukrainian sides. The U.S. investors are represented by Kurt Volcker, who also took part in the presentation.
It is expected that after the restoration of the historic building, the university will accept its first students in the next academic year.
Germany allows entry into the country from June 25 for persons fully vaccinated against coronavirus (COVID-19) with vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency.
“Starting from June 25, 2021, entry from Ukraine to Germany for people fully vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 with vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will be possible again. Fully vaccinated persons will be able to re-enter Germany for the purpose of visiting friends, acquaintances and relatives, as well as for tourism purposes. Visa-free travel for Ukrainian citizens with biometric passports will be possible again,” the German Embassy in Ukraine said in a statement. It is noted that those persons who have received vaccinations with one of the vaccines indicated on the Paul-Ehrlich-Institute website will have the right to enter Germany, if at least 14 days have passed since the day of inoculation with the last required dose or vaccine that requires one dose.
“Currently, this only applies to vaccines recognized by the European Medicines Agency. The list of vaccines is also planned to be expanded and supplemented with other vaccines with similar protective standards as soon as the necessary tests are completed,” the embassy said.
It is noted that it is necessary to provide a European digital COVID certificate or an analogue of vaccination confirmation in digital or paper form, issued in German, English, French, Italian or Spanish.
“For people who have recovered from the disease, the vaccine can consist of only one dose of the vaccine. In order to confirm the full vaccination, people who have recovered must also be proved that they were sick with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus before vaccination. Confirmation of the fact of the disease must be a positive result of PCR test,” the embassy said.
In addition, persons under the age of 12 and who have not yet received COVID-19 vaccine may, if they have documented proof of the test (PCR or antigen test), enter Germany accompanied by one or both fully vaccinated parents. Persons who have not yet turned six years old do not need confirmation of testing.
The Kyiv City Information and Analytical Center for Medical Statistics has opened in the capital, which will ensure the functioning of a unified system for collecting, processing, storing and analyzing medical statistical information, the press service of the Kyiv city state administration said.
According to deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration Anna Starostenko, the Center for Medical Statistics was created by renaming the Kyiv City Center for Public Health and joining it with the City Scientific Information and Analytical Center for Medical Statistics.
“Accordingly, the institution started to ensure the circulation of medical statistical information, its functioning as a unified system for collecting, processing, storing and analyzing medical statistics in the capital,” she said, adding that this decision will also ensure uninterrupted funding of the institution.
“Funds to finance this city public health center from the state budget are provided only until July 1, 2021 – the center could be left without funding, and its employees – without wages as early as next month. At the same time, from July 1 to December 31, 2021, a subvention is provided by the state for the payment of current expenses for implementation of measures related to the collection, processing, storage and transmission of medical and statistical information by information and analytical centers of medical statistics,” Starostenko said.
The volume of the e-commerce market in Ukraine in 2020 grew by 41% and reached $4 billion, which is 8.8% of the total retail trade, follows from a study by Soul Partners, Baker Tilly Ukraine and Aequo with the support of USAID.
According to the study, the Ukrainian e-commerce market has tripled in the past five years and has the potential to double in the next five years.
According to the material, the share of e-commerce in Ukraine’s GDP is 2.6%. At the same time, Ukraine has a low level of spending on e-commerce per year in comparison with other countries – about $104, which is explained by the low purchasing power of the population.
The most developed sectors of e-commerce in Ukraine are electronics and clothing, but every year the share of electronics is decreasing due to the growth of other categories, the study notes.
Thus, the volume of e-commerce in clothing over 2020 amounted to $291 million, the share of online sales in the structure of retail trade in clothing was 6.8%. According to the forecast, this figure will reach 10% by 2023. The most visited online clothing stores in 2020 were Shafa (105.1 million visits), Klubok (35.1 million) and Kloomba (34.9%).
According to the research, food has become a relatively new category with a significant growth potential in the Ukrainian e-commerce market, which also includes ready-to-eat food delivery services. Thus, the volume of e-commerce in products last year amounted to UAH 150 million.
The volume of e-commerce of furniture in Ukraine last year amounted to $69 million and occupied 9.2% in the structure of retail trade. This category of trade is forecast to grow 1.7 times over the next three years. The most visited online stores last year were Jysk (18.2 million), Taburetka (8.6 million) and MebelOk (6.7 million).
Most of the purchases on the Internet are made by Ukrainians on marketplaces (63%), the rest – in specialized online stores. The largest marketplaces in Ukraine are Rozetka, Prom, Allo, Bigl and Epicentr.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the World Bank have signed an agreement worth $350 million, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said.
“The government and the World Bank signed an agreement worth $350 million. The funds will be used to develop the economy during the pandemic, provide social support to vulnerable groups and strengthen state institutions,” Shmyhal said on Telegram.
According to him, these funds will also help implement systemic projects for the fair development of the land market, continue the reform of the gas sector, and strengthen the credit market.
