Bali authorities in Indonesia want to restrict tourists’ access to the sacred Mount Batur due to their inappropriate behavior, which was complained about by religious leaders of the province, the Express newspaper reported.
“People should no longer be free to visit Bali’s sacred mountains, including Mount Batur. Many travelers go up there on motorcycles. I think this is too much,” the newspaper quoted Bali Governor Wayan Koster as saying.
According to him, religious leaders felt that the mountains should remain sacred and focused only on pilgrimage and religious rituals, so they recommend banning access for tourists there.
Balinese Hindus believe that any negative actions by tourists could damage the sacredness of the mountains.
Mount Batur is an active volcano and a popular tourist destination in Bali. It is one of the most sacred mountains on the island and is considered the home of the god Brahma.
It takes about two hours to climb Mount Batur and there are several restaurants and viewing platforms. After indecent visitors to the mountain, locals perform a ritual to cleanse the place of bad spirits every time.
PJSC “Ukrnafta” in 2023 plans to increase production of oil gas condensate by 6% compared to last year, the company’s director Sergiy Koretskyy said.
“We have set the task not just to keep the natural production decline, but to increase production already this year by 6%,” he wrote on his Facebook page, without specifying the expected volumes.
According to him, Ukrnafta plans to increase its drilling this year, an ambitious development strategy is being formulated, and goals for buying new licenses have been set.
Koretskyy noted that the company has passed compliance procedures of two state and one private bank, credit lines have already been opened for all three;
In addition, “Ukrnafta” is working on the return of multibillion hryvnia accounts receivable and expects that the optimization processes carried out in a short time will bring hundreds of millions of hryvnia savings in annual terms.
The budget for 2023 was formed with record targets for net profit, he said.
As reported, the Supreme Commanders of November 5, 2022 decided during martial law to withdraw to the state as the military property of the shares “Ukrnafta” (except for the controlling stake in NAK “Naftogaz of Ukraine”). Before the seizure, the structures of Ihor Kolomoyskyy and Hennadiy Boholyubov owned about 42% of Ukrnafta shares.
“Ukrnafta owns 85 special permits for production of hydrocarbons. On its balance sheet there are 1809 oil and 153 gas wells. The company owns 537 gasoline stations, of which 448 were operational at the beginning of February 2023. The rest were either damaged as a result of military operations or are located in the temporarily occupied territories.
IFAW International Fund for Animal Welfare signed a memorandum of cooperation with Save Pets of Ukraine
IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) is one of the largest animal welfare charities in the world, founded in 1969. In addition to rescuing and protecting wild animals, IFAW is known for its work in helping dogs and cats. That is why the foundation chose Save Pets of Ukraine as its partner in Ukraine, an initiative founded by Kormotech, a Ukrainian manufacturer of cat and dog food. Save Pets of Ukraine provides food, vaccines, and medicines to shelters and pet volunteers who take care of stray animals.
As part of the cooperation, Save Pets of Ukraine and IFAW will deliver food to four-legged animals affected by the war. The first deliveries are planned to shelters in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Lviv, Zhytomyr and Odesa regions.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Save Pets of Ukraine has provided more than 1 million kilograms of food and rescued about 250,000 pets across Ukraine. In January 2023, the initiative launched a pilot program of patronage for shelters. The project provides for treatment, vaccination, parasite treatment, sterilization, chipping, providing animals with passports, food, and other necessary items. The ultimate goal of the program is to place the animals in families. Currently, 57 animals from 4 shelters are under the patronage of the program. In the future, it is planned to expand the program to 50 shelters per year.
IFAW systematically helps animals in Ukraine suffering from the consequences of the full-scale invasion. During the first 6 months of the war, the Fund provided 63 grants totaling more than USD 1 million to organizations in Ukraine, which were aimed at helping more than 75,000 animals. In addition, with the assistance of IFAW, a program of free vaccination and chipping of 20 thousand animals was launched, as well as sterilization of 4 thousand animals in Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv and Odesa.
Also, thanks to the funding and support of the IFAW Foundation, 4 lion cubs and a small black panther affected by the war were rescued in Ukraine. First, the cubs were taken to Poland, and then the lion cubs went to the Wildcat Sanctuary in the United States, and the panther to the Wildlife Rescue Center in France.
IFAW
IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) is a global non-profit organization that helps animals, brings together experts and ordinary people, and works in more than 40 countries. The Fund rescues, rehabilitates and releases animals, as well as restores and protects their natural habitats.
Kormotech
Kormotech is a global family-owned company with Ukrainian roots that has been producing high-quality pet food since 2003. The rations are developed by its own R&D center in cooperation with European and American consultants. The company has production facilities in Ukraine and the EU, and successfully exports products of its own brands Optimeal, CLUB 4 PAWS, Woof!, Meow! and its partners’ own brands to 33 countries. The product range includes more than 650 items. Kormotech is a leader in Ukraine and is among the TOP-10 most dynamic and TOP-51 most powerful pet industry producers in the world according to Petfood Industry.
Save Pets of Ukraine
Save Pets of Ukraine is an all-Ukrainian initiative to provide comprehensive assistance to four-legged animals during the war. It was founded by Kormotech, a Ukrainian manufacturer of food for cats and dogs. The initiative is implemented in partnership with the NGO Element of Life, as well as the U-Hearts charity foundation, a partner in attracting assistance from the global community.
Save Pets of Ukraine has united dozens of non-profit and business organizations and private donors in the United States, England, Europe and Ukraine.
Currently, the initiative provides food for shelters and pet volunteers, medicines for veterinarians, and provides comprehensive support to shelters for cats and dogs. During the 9 months of its operation, our initiative has already helped 250,000 pets across Ukraine.
An overweight street cat named Gacek has become so popular among tourists in the Polish city of Szczecin that he has been given a separate tag on Google Maps marked as a “landmark,” according to Oddity Central.
“A black and white overweight street cat living in the Polish city of Szczecin received a rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars based on thousands of reviews on Google search engine and became the most popular tourist attraction in the city. Gacek also got a separate mark on Google Maps,” the portal writes.
As the publication specifies, Gacek has almost 2.6 thousand reviews on Google, more than any other attraction in Szczecin.
As the portal notes, Szczecin is a medieval city in northwestern Poland, where many tourists come to visit the Pomeranian Duke’s Castle and Jan Kasprowicz Park.
“However, all these sights pale in comparison to Gacek, who is also called a cat in a tuxedo because of his coloring. He first became publicly known in 2020 when a local news portal showed the cat in a video that went viral on social media,” writes Oddity Central.
According to a local resident, Gacek first appeared on Kaszubska Street in downtown Szczecin about 10 years ago. The locals liked him, many of whom fed him, so he soon turned from a skinny Gacek into a charming fatty.
Demand for office space in Europe recovered sharply last year, recovering from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which contributed to rental growth and partially compensated for the price correction associated with rising interest rates, according to a Cushman & Wakefield review.
According to the experts, in total 12.6 million square meters of office space was leased in Europe in 2022. The figure rose by 15% compared to the previous year, when many employees of companies worked remotely because of the pandemic.
Rents were up 6.2% in the fourth quarter of 2022 from a year earlier. This is the fastest year-over-year increase since mid-2008.
The strong demand for office space is due in part to companies looking to bring employees back to their offices after the removal of anti-covid restrictions.
“Tenants are focused on taking the best offices in their segment in the most attractive locations to attract and retain employees,” said Nigel Almond, director of data analytics at Cushman & Wakefield.
Companies also want to occupy offices in buildings that meet environmental standards, which have become more stringent, the expert said.
Analysts recorded an increase in activity in 23 out of 30 European markets of office buildings, which it monitors. Meanwhile, it was not active enough to compensate for the increase in the amount of available office space.
According to the company, the total available office space in Europe increased by 0.7% to 22.6 million square meters. The lowest level of availability was recorded in Luxembourg – 4,2%.
Ukraine in January this year reduced the export of titanium ores and concentrates in physical terms by 10.99 times compared to the same period last year – up to 2.066 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), exports of titanium ores and concentrates decreased 3.5 times in monetary terms – to $3.308 million.
At the same time, the main exports were shipped to Japan (72.22% in monetary terms), Egypt (13.94%) and Turkey (11.03%).
Ukraine in this period, as well as in January 2022, did not import these products.
As previously reported, in 2022, Ukraine reduced the export of titanium ore and concentrate in volume terms by 41.8% YoY – to 322.143 thousand tons, in monetary terms by 19.6% – to $130.144 million.
At the same time, the main export was carried out in the Czech Republic (47.91% in monetary terms), the U.S. (11.94%) and Romania (9.75%).
In 2022, Ukraine imported 196 tons of similar products from Senegal (70.41%) and Turkey (29.59%) for $115 thousand.
In Ukraine, the titaniferous ores are currently mined mainly at the United Mining and Chemical Company PJSC (UMCP), which controls Volnogorsk Mining and Metallurgical Works (VMMC, Dnepropetrovsk Region) and Irshansk Mining and Processing Works (IGOK, Zhitomir Region), as well as at Mezhdurechensk Mining and Processing LLC and Valki-Ilmenite LLC (both Irshansk, Zhitomir Region).
In addition, the production and commercial firm VELTA (Dnipro) has built a GOK at the Birzulovskoye deposit with a capacity of 240 thousand tons of ilmenite concentrate per year.
