The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) plans to gradually abolish the requirement for legal entities and individuals-entrepreneurs to purchase foreign currency only against obligations, in particular, from July 20, it will allow businesses to buy foreign currency within EUR 100,000 (in equivalent) per day without the presence of grounds and obligations and the submission of supporting documents to the bank.
According to the NBU press service on Thursday, the relevant changes were approved by regulator’s board decision No. 80 dated July 13.
“We have decided to cancel this requirement gradually. This will allow us to assess the impact of each such step on liberalization on the state of the market,” the NBU press service said, citing Deputy Governor of the NBU Yuriy Heletiy said.
According to the National Bank, the current easing will not have a significant impact on the functioning of the Ukrainian foreign exchange market, but it will expand the business opportunities for risk and liquidity management.
It is indicated that the next steps towards the complete removal of the requirement for the purchase of foreign exchange against obligations will be carried out after analyzing the situation in the domestic and foreign markets, the state of financial stability, and also subject to a favorable situation in the foreign exchange market.
Ukraine will be able to use loans from international financial organizations attracted by the government to improve energy efficiency through high quality projects, Ima Khrenova-Shimkina, the director of the project on promoting energy efficiency and implementing the EU energy efficiency directive in Ukraine, has said.
“Ukraine has already attracted loans, pays interest on them, has concluded all the necessary international agreements, and our government has fulfilled all its obligations. Projects from cities and regions must now be submitted in order to pour these funds into the Ukrainian economy. But this, unfortunately, is not happening because we do not have enough specialists and well-prepared projects,” she told the Interfax-Ukraine agency during the IV International Coal Conference at DTEK Academy in Kyiv.
At the same time, she pointed out that the funds raised can be used if projects appear that meet all the necessary criteria.
At the same time, the expert expressed hope that this will be facilitated by, in particular, the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development and the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine.
As reported, in October of this year, the state energy efficiency agency and the Ministry of Energy signed a memorandum with the German society for international cooperation GIZ, aimed at developing the field of energy efficiency in Ukraine.
Support from the German government and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland is provided to the Ukrainian side within the framework of a new international technical assistance project for promoting energy efficiency and implementing the EU energy efficiency directive in Ukraine, which is being implemented by GIZ. The project is planned to be completed within five years.
Over the past three years, NEFCO (Nordic Environment Finance Corporation, NEFCO) canceled energy efficiency projects in 18 Ukrainian cities due to bureaucratic obstacles, which is approximately 20% of the organization’s investments, and losses from unrealized projects are estimated at about EUR 35 million.
On July 15-18, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland Marcin Przydacz will pay a visit to Ukraine. Meetings with Deputy Minister Vasyl Bodnar at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Sybiha are scheduled. In addition, a meeting with the leadership of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission and acquaintance with the security situation in the frontline zone in Luhansk region, as well as a meeting with local Poles are planned. In the second part of the visit, Deputy Minister Marcin Przydacz will take part in the pilgrimage celebrations in Berdychiv, which will also be attended by the Secretary of State, Government Commissioner for the Polish Diaspora and Poles Abroad, Mr. Jan Dziedziczak, Secretary of State Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Jarosław Sellin.
The adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of the law, which provides for the reboot of the High Council of Justice (HCJ), will launch a real judicial reform in Ukraine, according to a statement posted on the website of the President’s Office on Wednesday.
According to the statement, relevant bill No. 5068, which was initiated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, provides for steps to ensure the independence of the judicial branch of government, namely the reboot of the HCJ, which is responsible for the selection and dismissal of judges. In the implementation of the judicial reform in Ukraine, the recommendations of Venice Commission’s experts, who provided their opinion on the draft law, were taken into account.
“This is without exaggeration a historic event for Ukraine. During the entire period of independence of our state, no government has carried out a real judicial reform giving nothing but promises. My goal is to restore trust and respect for the court. The servants of Themis will cease to be servants of the President, government, parliament or local authorities,” the President said.
Zelensky said that justice is one of the basic values of Ukrainians, but it cannot be ensured without an independent judiciary. In addition, domestic and foreign investors need a fair trial. The vote for the reform of the High Council of Justice laid the necessary foundation for effective changes in the judiciary.
The metallurgical industry will play a key role in achieving Ukraine’s carbon neutrality, according to representatives of the largest Ukrainian metallurgical companies speaking during the international forum “Decarbonization of the Steel Industry: a Challenge for Ukraine” taking place in Kyiv.
According to a press release from GMK Center, the ambitious plans of the EU and the United States to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 are putting pressure on Ukrainian metallurgical companies. To compete successfully on foreign markets, Ukrainian producers also need to have CO2 reduction targets and decarbonization strategies.
“Now Metinvest is developing a detailed roadmap to reduce CO2 emissions. We are very careful in working out each step that will eventually lead our production to carbon neutrality, because such a large-scale transformation should not harm the sustainability of our business. We hope to conclude partnerships today, which will allow us to follow the path of decarbonization,” CEO of Metinvest Group Yuriy Ryzhenkov said during the event.
During the forum, Metinvest signed two memorandums of cooperation for the implementation of joint projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One of them was signed with Primetals Technologies – an international company providing a full range of technologies, products and services for the metallurgical industry, the other – with K1-MET – a leading Austrian research center in metallurgy.
The press release notes that Ukraine actively declares its intention to follow the direction of decarbonization. In January 2020, the country presented the Green Energy Transition Concept, which sets a goal to achieve a carbon neutral economy by 2070.
In April 2021, the government presented the draft of the second Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris agreement. It assumes that Ukraine by 2030 will reduce CO2 emissions by 65% compared to 1990, in particular industrial enterprises – by 61%.
Since July 2020, some 1.3 million Ukrainian tourists have visited Egypt, among them about 30 cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease have been recorded during this period, Vice Minister for Tourism at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt Ghada Shalaby told reporters on Wednesday.
According to her, during the specified period, among Ukrainian tourists vacationing in Egypt, one or two deaths from COVID-19 were recorded.
Shalaby said that currently, in the main resort regions of Egypt – Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada, 400 beds have been prepared for tourists in hospitals, where they can be hospitalized in case of a severe course of COVID-19.
In these clinics, 120 lung ventilators are installed, to which patients can be connected if necessary.
According to Shalaby, if a foreign tourist needs to be hospitalized with COVID-19 in other regions, in particular in Cairo, local clinics are used, in which there is no shortage of places for tourists.
There are always places in clinics if necessary, she said.
Shalaby said that the treatment of tourists from COVID-19 is covered by insurance that tourists purchase.
Commenting on the issues of vaccination against COVID-19, Shalaby said that Egypt recognizes all vaccines registered in the world, including the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine and documents confirming the completion of the full vaccination course.
She did not rule out that over time, Egypt will be able to offer tourists the opportunity to vaccinate against COVID-19 on commercial terms.
Shalaby said that Egypt’s tourism workers are currently being actively vaccinated.
She said that those workers in the tourism industry who have not yet been vaccinated are transferred to those areas of work where there is no direct contact with tourists. Only vaccinated people work with tourists.
Shalaby said the authorities have now increased the allowed hotel occupancy rate from 50% to 70%. At the same time, she predicts that this figure is unlikely to be increased in the near future.
It is unlikely that 100% hotel occupancy will be accommodated, Shalaby said.
