Ukrainian tour operator Join UP! has entered the markets of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Poland and Romania in 2022 amid war and a sharp decline in demand in Ukraine for its services, the company said in a statement Friday.
“Entering the new markets allowed us to retain a team in Ukraine. We also believe that our work in foreign markets will build confidence in Ukrainian travel brands, and after the war we will be able to significantly increase the flow of inbound tourism, which will have a positive impact on the country’s economy,” regional director of Join UP! Anton Savchenko said in the release.
As for Ukraine, the tour operator pointed out that the incomplete two pre-war months of last year accounted for 41% of total travel in 2022.
According to the release of the company, July, August and September were the busiest months of the military last year, but if you compare with similar months of last year, the total number of tours in these months fell by almost a third – to 48.6 thousand from 140.6 thousand.
In addition, as shown in the materials, the situation in the country has significantly affected the portrait of Ukrainian travelers in 2022: the number of women who traveled during the year was 4-5 times more than men. At the same time the tours are now booked more often for one person, and 77% of all travels are exclusively for adults.
In Join UP! also said that the average travel check of Ukrainians in 2022 increased by 23% compared to 2021, due to complicated logistics and rising costs of tourist services in the resort countries.
The company also said it offers transfers to Chisinau and Poland’s Rzeszow with departures to popular destinations.
“Now it is the capital of Moldova remains the most popular departure point for tourists traveling from Join UP. Since the beginning of the flights almost 51 thousand travelers traveled from there. However, the popularity of Rzeszów is also growing,” said Join UP!
A powerful earthquake in Turkey and Syria has severely damaged the Gaziantep fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as many archaeological sites in these countries, local media reported Monday.
Several bastions in the eastern, southern and southeastern parts of the fortress, located in the Turkish province of Gaziantep, were completely destroyed by the earthquake, in the walls of the other bastions were large cracks. The dome and the eastern wall of the mosque, built in the 17th century and located next to the fortress, also collapsed partially.
Fortifications on the site of the fortress first appeared in the Hittite period (1800 1180 BC). Then the fortifications were reconstructed in the II-III centuries AD under the Roman Empire and in the VI century AD under the Byzantine Empire.
In Syria, the citadel of Aleppo, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was damaged in an earthquake. The oldest fortifications of the citadel were built in the 10th century, and it was an important stronghold during the Crusades. In the 13th century the citadel developed into a rich town. Subsequently, the fortress was attacked by the Mongols in 1259 and in 1400 by the conqueror Tamerlane. In 1516 it was taken by the forces of the Ottoman Empire, and since then the military role of the citadel was diminishing.
Cracks also appeared in the walls of the National Museum of Aleppo. Many historic buildings in Aleppo and Hama provinces were damaged.
A powerful earthquake in Turkey and Syria and the aftershocks that followed caused numerous buildings to collapse in several provinces, and earth tremors felt in Lebanon, Jordan and Israel.
The Kiev City Council has approved changes to the Program of Social and Economic Development of Kiev in 2021-2023, directing the balance of unused subventions from the state budget in the amount of 256,4 million UAH for building Podolsky Bridge across the Dnieper.
According to the press service of the Kyiv City Council, the corresponding decision at the meeting on February 9 was supported by 75 deputies.
According to the message, unused means of subvention were intended for maintenance and development of highways.
In addition, 23.1 mln UAH of unused subvention for social and economic development of certain territories were aimed at capital construction and repair of infrastructure objects of the capital, including 5.4 mln UAH for reconstruction of the stadium of special school № 10.
Also 17.7 million UAH were sent for capital repairs: 5.2 million UAH for the square near the theater named after Ivan Franko, 6.9 million UAH and 3.7 million UAH for repairs of two kindergartens and one school in Darnitsky district, 1.9 million UAH for the repair of schools in Solomensky district of the capital.
Hong Kong authorities have decided to cancel the requirement for a coronavirus vaccination certificate for those arriving in the region, PCR tests are still required, according to the press service of China’s special district government.
“As of Feb. 6, the requirement for full vaccination for nonresidents of Hong Kong arriving from abroad is removed. Travelers do not need to be vaccinated and present a certificate of vaccination upon arrival in Hong Kong. Mandatory testing for coronavirus for those arriving from abroad remains in place,” the report said.
According to the government, the epidemic situation in Hong Kong remains stable despite an increase in the number of visitors.
Soccer clubs spent a total of more than $1.6 billion on player transfers in January, according to the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA)
According to the report, there were 4,387 international transfers in men’s soccer in January 2023. This is a record high since the launch of the transfer monitoring system in 2010.
Total club spending on transfer fees also set a new record, with $1.57 billion spent in January, about $230 million more than the previous record January window in 2018.
Leading the way are English clubs, who spent $898.6 million, 57.3 percent of total spending worldwide in January, followed by France ($131.9 million) by a considerable distance.
The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF) this year plans to complete the full privatization of the alcohol industry, which will hold online auctions for the sale of 26 distilleries across the country.
As reported on the IGF Facebook page on Thursday, for the 2.5 years since the de-monopolization of the alcohol industry there have been 39 successful auctions for the sale of distilleries, which added more than 2 billion UAH to the country’s budget, allowed to attract private investment and reduce illegal production.
“Did you know that not long ago Ukraine had a monopoly on alcohol production? We were one of only two countries in the world that had such a practice. However, in the summer of 2020, the state decided to de-monopolize the industry and began privatizing distilleries. “, – reminded the department.
According to him, before the start of privatization Ukraine spent about 200 million UAH a year for the maintenance of unprofitable factories. An even bigger problem was shadow production, which amounted to 55% in 2019.
The fund specified that in the 39 completed privatization auctions participated 133 entrepreneurs, as a result, due to competition, the value of the proposed assets increased by an average of 2.4 times.
“Not only alcohol producers are interested in buying distilleries. Pharmaceutical companies, producers of motor fuel and agricultural companies interested in processing their own products also take part in the auctions,” emphasized the FGI in its report.
As reported, in September-December 2022 the SPF held 12 auctions for the sale of distilleries. The auction winners offered more than 849 million hryvnias for these facilities, which is three times more than their total starting price. Thus, distilleries became one of the most popular destinations for investment in state property last year.
In December 2022, “Averbud Ltd.” (Chystyliv village, Ternopil region.) won the right to privatize part of the property of the state enterprise “Myshkovitsy Distillery” (Terebovlyansky district, Ternopil region.), namely the distillery in Chortkiv (Ternopil region.).
At the beginning of January 2023, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine allowed Timekol LLC (Kiev) to privatize Borschevsk distillery (Ternopil region), which is a part of the state enterprise Ukrspirt. The company won the right to buy the distillery for 17.7 million UAH at an online auction in October 2022.
In addition, on January 12, LLC “Es Oil” (Lviv) won the right to privatize Starobabskyi distillery with assets in five regions of Ukraine for 142 million UAH, and on February 6 LLC “Agroprompererobka” (Karbivka village, Vinnitsa region) won the auction for the privatization of Vashkovskiy distillery (Vashkivtsi Chernivtsi region) for 1.99 million UAH.
