Immunization of Ukrainians with the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Chinese company Sinovac (CoronaVac) will start on Tuesday, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said during a press briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday. “The Ministry of Health has completed all the processes of testing and laboratory control of the vaccine and today we are starting the process of vaccination with this vaccine,” he said.
Stepanov said that 215,000 doses of the vaccine have already been delivered to Ukraine, the remaining 1.7 million doses will be delivered in April-May.
According to him, the vaccine will be used for vaccinations of low-mobility groups of the population, social workers, teachers who will take part in the External Independent Evaluation (ZNO), Olympians, Paralympians who are preparing for the Tokyo Olympics, employees of the National Police, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, workers of critical infrastructure.
Stepanov said that 117,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine are expected to be delivered during the week as part of the COVAX initiative. This vaccine is planned to vaccinate citizens staying at boarding schools, homes for the elderly, as well as employees of these institutions.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will visit France on Friday, April 16, where he is to meet with President Emmanuel Macron, Le Figaro reported. It is noted that the visit is associated with an increase in tension in Ukraine due to the military buildup of the Russian Federation on its borders. The presidents of the two countries will meet during a working lunch at the Elysee Palace.
As reported, Zelensky may meet with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss escalation in Donbas and reforms in Ukraine.
“The main purpose of the visit is to meet with Macron tête-à-tête,” French Ambassador to Ukraine Etienne de Poncins said in an interview with KyivPost.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 14/04/21
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of April 14
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
The Ocean Shipyard (Mykolaiv) has begun work on the creation of a new design for the dry dock gate, which will reliably seal the dock and allow the regular use of the dry dock.
According to a company press release, the new gate consists of eight sections, each weighing about 100 tonnes. In general, more than 800 tonnes of steel will be used for its creation.
The Ocean dry dock is 355 meters long, 60 meters wide, 17.1 m deep. It is one of the largest in Europe and so far the only one available in Ukraine. The area of the front dock is 35,000 square meters. The dry dock is equipped with two gantry cranes with a lifting capacity of 320 tonnes each and four erecting cranes a lifting capacity of 80 tonnes each.
The press service said that the restoration of the dry dock will enable the Ocean shipyard to return to the heavy-duty shipbuilding market, as well as to repair ships up to 300 meters in length.
The completion of the restoration of the dry dock gate is planned in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Mykolaiv Shipyard Ocean LLC (before April 2011 Wadan Yards Okean, before December 2008 Damen Shipyard’s Okean, before February 2001 – Shipyard Ocean).
The shipyard was established in 1951. It is one of the three largest shipbuilding enterprises in Ukraine. The main activities are shipbuilding and ship repair. The plant has two technological lines for the construction of medium and large-tonnage vessels. The large-tonnage line is used for building tankers and container ships, while the medium-tonnage lines are used to build barges, pontoons and tugs.
Since 2019, the Ocean Shipyard not only completes shipbuilding and ship repair orders, but also manufactures metal structures for infrastructure projects. Among them are the bridge on Volodymyrska Hirka and the Shuliavsky overpass in Kyiv.
The owner of the plant is businessman from Mykolaiv Vasyl Kapatsyna.
The Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine has approved the hygiene requirements for the production and circulation of mineral and spring waters that meet the requirements of EU legislation on their exploitation and marketing, the ministry said in a press release on Tuesday. According to the report, order No. 741 was signed by Minister Ihor Petrashko on April 13.
The document also defines the methods of processing mineral and mine waters and the requirements for the equipment used in their production.
The order, in particular, regulates the labeling of mineral waters and, among other things, prohibits the use of the indication on the labelling attributing prophylactic or medicinal properties to water. These requirements shall not apply to waters which are medicinal products, as well as to waters consumed by people at source or natural exit to the surface.
According to the Economy Ministry, the order meets the requirements of Directive 2009/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2009 on the exploitation and marketing of natural mineral waters and will enter into force three months after the date of its official publication.
According to an explanatory note to the document, the implementation of the order will create uniform requirements for the production and circulation of natural mineral and spring waters, will have a positive impact on the health of the population and on the market environment in the circulation of this product.
“The order will introduce European requirements for natural mineral waters, remove barriers to investment in the production of such waters in Ukraine and create conditions for fair competition in the market,” Deputy Minister Serhiy Hluschenko said.
