Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani during a telephone conversation with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba on Tuesday expressed North Macedonia’s solidarity with Ukraine amid the Russian escalation.
According to the MFA website, the head of the North Macedonian Foreign Ministry confirmed strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within internationally recognized borders, including Crimea as an integral part of Ukrainian territory.
Bujar Osmani confirmed his readiness to visit Ukraine in the second half of 2021 at the invitation of Kuleba.
The interlocutors also paid attention to the preparation of celebrations on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence.
Ukraine has passed the peak of the third coronavirus (COVID-19) wave, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said.
“The height of infections is now over. We saw nearly 13,500 fewer cases over the past week than we did the week before. The same happened to hospitalizations, which reduced by 3,500,” Stepanov said at a press briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday.
There are 12 regions in the red zone, the minister said, adding that the situation had been the most difficult in Kyiv (about 75% of hospital beds with oxygen supply are occupied), as well as Kyiv region (70%), Odesa region (73%), Sumy region (69.5%), Mykolaiv and Kharkiv regions.
The United States announced that it will provide $155 million in additional development funding to Ukraine through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to improve the lives of the Ukrainian people, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine said on Tuesday.
“The additional resources will be used to address key development challenges in Ukraine, including: support economic growth and improve health of Ukrainians some $34 million; enhance anti-corruption efforts some $14 million; counter Russian aggression some $63 million; strengthen democracy and governance some $44 million,” the embassy said in the statement.
The first article provides support of Ukraine’s recovery from coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic by improving essential health services; improvement of transparency and expansion of economic opportunities in energy, agriculture and finance to increase investor confidence, attract investment and improve economic investment in the agrarian sector.
Enhancing anti-corruption measures includes strengthening reforms and safeguard anti-corruption institutions to counter entrenched interests and ensure all of Ukraine’s resources benefit the Ukrainian people; reducing corrupt practices in the health sector and facilitate Ukraine’s purchases of vital medicines to reduce informal payments by patients and provide access to less expensive, quality medicines; supporting the continued development of online e-government platforms that simplify access to services and streamline how Ukrainians receive their pensions, unemployment benefits, and more.
Countering Russian aggression are planned to be used to human rights and ensure access to justice for the Ukrainians affected by Kremlin-backed aggression in the Crimea and Donbas; reduce Ukraine’s energy and economic dependence on Russia by advancing connections to Europe’s energy grid and strengthening businesses in the East; expand citizen access to high-quality, unbiased information to counter malign influence and disinformation, support European integration, and strengthen democratic processes.
Strengthening democracy and governance involves expanding judicial reform; strengthening consolidated communities and expand quality service provision to their residents to advance Ukraine’s decentralization reform efforts; encouraging youth leadership and innovation.
The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF) hopes for an increase in value during the expected July privatization tender of United Mining and Chemical Company, which controls Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (Dnipropetrovsk region) and Irshansk Mining and Processing Plant (Zhytomyr region), having previously determined the starting price of UAH 3.7 billion.
Head of the fund Dmytro Sennychenko said at a press conference that during the preparation of the company for privatization, a lot of work was done, noting that the preparation of large privatization objects lasts 9-11 months, together with professional advisers.
“The preparation work is coming to an end. The next step is the transfer to the Cabinet of Ministers, approval of the conditions of the starting price and other privatization conditions,” Sennychenko stated.
At the same time, he noted that the issue of removing the stamp “For official use” from the data on the reserves of minerals of this company has not yet been resolved: “the auction will take place in July, before that we hope to remove the stamp “For official use” from the reserves of the company.”
Deputy head of the SPF Taras Eleiko, in turn, expressed confidence that the cost of the company will increase during the auction.
“We believe that the price will be higher at the tender,” he said.
Artur Somov, the acting chairman of the board of United Mining and Chemical Company, added that the company’s management has improved the situation with the sale of products: if earlier 95% of supplies were controlled by two companies, now the supplies are diversified. The financial condition of the company also improved.
At the beginning of April this year, Petrosannan Company – a joint operating company of NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation – performed hydraulic fracturing work on pilot wells in the concession area in the Western Desert of the Arab Republic of Egypt, thanks to which oil production increased more than 20%, or 600 barrels per day. According to a press release from the Integrated Communications Department of NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy on Monday, provided that the achieved production volumes and current oil prices ($60 per barrel) are maintained, Naftogaz Group will thus receive additional income of $400,000 per month.
“Only the start of the current well stimulation campaign has allowed us to increase our oil production by 20%. We are planning to use this experience in the future, in particular, hydraulic fracturing of the wells, at other sites operated by Naftogaz Group in the Arab Republic of Egypt,” First Deputy Head of Naftogaz Serhiy Pereloma said.
Naftogaz Group implements hydrocarbon exploration and production projects in the Alam El Shawish East area in the Western Desert and South Wadi El Mahareeth and Wadi El Mahareeth areas in the Eastern Desert of Egypt.
The Adonis medical group intends to preserve and develop the direction associated with medical tourism, the group’s development director Vitaliy Hyrin has said.
“This is a very promising and for me this is the most interesting direction in business development. We work with platforms and agencies. We have a representative office in various countries. This is a large area of our business,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to Hyrin, Adonis’ revenues from medical tourism prior to the COVID-19 epidemic accounted for about a third of the group’s total income.
“At the times prior to COVID-19 pandemic, it was about 35%. When COVID-19 pandemic began, we tried to maintain this direction, pushing it at the expense of other businesses,” he said.
