The Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) have agreed to work together to implement two school rehabilitation projects – ECHO4SCHOOLS-UA and “Rebuilding Schools in Ukraine,” the Press Service of the Ministry of Rehabilitation reported.
Within the framework of these projects, implemented with the assistance of First Lady Elena Zelenskaya, it is planned to repair and modernize more than 100 schools in 14 regions of Ukraine.
“Thanks to the partners from the UN Development Program and UNOPS for their cooperation and willingness to work promptly so that the start of the new school year for many Ukrainians was not disrupted. We only expect to deepen our cooperation. Restoring and equipping the educational infrastructure is one of the necessary conditions for the Ukrainians to return home,” the statement said.
“I would like to express special gratitude to the European Commission, which has allocated 100 million euros for the reconstruction and modernization of schools, including in the framework of the above projects,” the release quoted Deputy Prime Minister for the reconstruction of Ukraine – Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov.
The Deputy Prime Minister added that a special emphasis in both projects is placed on improving infrastructure security, in particular through the repair and necessary equipping of bomb shelters.
The project “ECHO4SCHOOLS-UA: Repair / modernization of schools in war-stricken regions” with a budget of about 14 million euros is implemented by UNDP and aims at carrying out current repairs of at least 50 schools in 10 regions of Ukraine. Now preparations are underway for tenders for the first repairs. In the future, there are plans to increase the number of schools being repaired to over a hundred.
The second project: “Reconstruction of schools in Ukraine” – is realized by UNOPS, its budget amounts to 20 million euros. It includes current repairs of schools in four regions: in Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernihiv.
It has already been selected and agreed upon 54 schools in need of rehabilitation. Documentation for tender procedures is already being prepared for 8 facilities. Thanks to the implementation of the project more than 20 thousand children will be able to start the new school year in decent conditions.
On Saturday, April 15, at 14:00, NTN will broadcast live from Jerusalem the descent of the Holy Fire in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Every year, on the eve of Easter, millions of people around the world watch this event with bated breath. Thousands of believers gather in Jerusalem on this day. On Holy Saturday, NTN viewers, together with pilgrims from different countries, will witness the miracle that became a symbol of Christ’s Resurrection.
In addition, the live broadcast of the descent of the Holy Fire will be available on the YouTube channel and Facebook page of the Witness project.
We congratulate everyone on the upcoming Easter! May the Holy Feast enter every home, fill our hearts with joy and grace, and give us all peace!
Kokhavynka Paper Mill (KBF, Lviv region), which produces sanitary paper products (TM Kokhavynka), increased its production by 39% in January-March this year compared to the same period in 2022, up to UAH 278.8 million, according to statistics from UkrPapir Association.
As reported, in January-February of this year, the growth of this indicator was 47% compared to the same period in 2022.
According to UkrPapir’s statistics provided to Interfax-Ukraine, in physical terms, production of the base paper for sanitary products increased by 6.4% to 10.34 thousand tons in the first quarter.
Including in March, its output increased by 10% by March 2022 (the factory practically did not stop production with the start of Russia’s full-scale aggression in Ukraine).
At the same time, the output of toilet paper in rolls in January-March increased by 9.2% (in January-February, the increase was 21.6%) to 33.48 million units, and KBF confidently retains the second place in terms of its output after Kyiv pulp and paper mill (56.54 million units), which reduced production of this product by 29% in January-February.
Kokhavynske Pulp and Paper Mill, which has been operating since 1939, produces the base paper for sanitary and hygiene products, as well as toilet paper and paper towels.
The paper machine capacity is 19 thousand tons per year, and the processing equipment capacity is 90 million rolls per year.
As reported, last year KBF produced products worth UAH 975.3 million, up 44.8% year-on-year.
Net profit, according to opendatabot, decreased by 12.7% to UAH 52.4 million, while revenue increased by 46.5% to UAH 978.9 million.
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) has fined state-owned enterprise Medical Procurement of Ukraine (MPU) UAH 1 million for failing to submit information to the committee.
According to the AMCU press release, such a decision was made by the AMCU administrative board on April 11.
The AMCU notes that the committee had twice sent a request for information to the state-owned enterprise, but the MZU did not provide a response “on the merits of the issues raised.
“This position of the state-owned enterprise created obstacles in performing the tasks assigned to the committee,” the antimonopoly agency stressed.
Ukraine in January-March this year, Ukraine reduced imports of aluminum ores and concentrate (bauxite) in physical terms by 99.98% compared to the same period last year – up to 202 tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), during this period, imports of bauxite in monetary terms decreased by 99.6% – to $164 thousand.
At the same time, imports were mainly from Guinea (100% of supplies in money terms).
Ukraine did not re-export bauxite in 1Q2023, like in 1Q2022.
As reported, Ukraine in 2022 decreased the import of aluminum ore and concentrate (bauxite) in volume terms by 81.5% compared to the previous year – up to 945.396 tons. Bauxite imports in monetary terms decreased by 79.6% to $48.166 million. Imports were mainly from Guinea (58.90% of supplies in monetary terms), Brazil (27.19%) and Ghana (7.48%).
Bauxite is an aluminum ore used as a raw material for the production of alumina, and from it, aluminum. They are also used as fluxes in steel industry.
Bauxite is imported into Ukraine by the Nikolaev Alumina Refinery (NGR), which before the war was affiliated with the United Company (UC) Russian Aluminum (RusAl, RF). Bauxite is used to produce alumina.
“RusAl in Ukraine also previously owned a stake in the Zaporozhye Aluminum Plant (ZALK), which stopped producing primary aluminum and alumina.
Ukraine did not export coke in January-March this year, as it did in December last year, whereas in January-March 2022 it exported 2.205 thousand tons.
According to the statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), Ukraine imported 12.245 thousand tons of coke and semi-coke in January-March 2023, which is 94.7% less than in January-March 2022.
In monetary terms, imports fell by 94.8% to $6.051 million.
Imports came mainly from Poland (76.85% of supplies in money terms), Hungary (13.68%) and Colombia (9.47%).
As earlier reported, in 2022, Ukraine reduced the export of coke and semi-coke in volume terms by 98% compared with the previous year – up to 3.856 tons, in monetary terms by 97.6% – to $1.011 million. The main export was carried out in Hungary (42.63% of supplies in monetary terms), Georgia (37.69%) and Turkey (17.41%).
Ukraine imported 359.192 thousand tons of coke and semi-coke in 2022, down 54.5% compared to 2021. In monetary terms, imports decreased by 50.3% to $174.499 million. Imports were mainly from Russia (43.43% of supplies in monetary terms, before the war), Poland (30.07%) and the Czech Republic (13.15%).
As a result of the war, a number of mines and coke plants found themselves in territories temporarily outside Ukrainian control.
