Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman hopes that the parliament would approve at second reading the bill on the national budget of Ukraine for 2019 before December 1, 2018. “Now it is being finalized for second reading together with the Ukrainian parliament. I hope that, and it must be done so, by December 1 Ukraine will receive a balanced, realistic national budget,” he said at a government meeting on Wednesday.
As reported, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff and Ukraine have reached an agreement on economic policies for a new 14-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA), which will replace the arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), approved in March 2015 and set to expire in March 2019.
The agreement is subject to approval by the fund’s management and approval by its board of directors. The board’s meeting is expected to take place at the end of the year after the Verkhovna Rada adopts the national budget for 2019 in accordance with the recommendations of the IMF and the increase in gas and heating tariffs for households, reflecting market trends while maintaining support for low-income consumers.
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
The transport enterprises of Ukraine in January-September 2018 reduced carriage of goods by 1.1% compared to January-September 2017, to 462.5 million tonnes.
According to the State Statistics Service, freight turnover for this period decreased by 2.6%, to 247.9 billion tonne-kilometers. According to statistical data, in January-September 2018 railways transported inside the country and for exports 199.1 million tonnes of cargo, which is 3.5% less than in January-September 2017.
Transportation of coal decreased by 4.4%, oil and petroleum products by 11.8%, grain and cereals by 14%, cement by 3.9%, construction materials by 8.8%, timber by 9.6%, coke by 2.8%, ferrous metals by 1.3%. At the same time, transportation of chemical and mineral fertilizers increased by 2.3%, iron and manganese ore by 3.5%, and scrap metal by 0.3%.
The volume of cargo pumping through pipelines in January-September 2018 compared with January-September 2017 fell by 4.4%, to 80.5 million tonnes.
SkyUp airline will launch regular flights from Kyiv to Tbilisi (Georgia) from December 27 this year, to Sofia (Bulgaria) from December 28, to Poprad (Slovakia) and Barcelona (Spain) from December 29.
“The first good news from SkyUp,” Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan said on Facebook.
Tickets for flights to Tbilisi, Poprad and Barcelona in the booking system on the airline’s website are available until the end of March 2019, and to Sofia only until mid-January.
Flights to Tbilisi will be performed on Thursdays and Sundays (the minimum cost is from UAH 1,508), to the Tatras on Sundays and partially Thursdays (from UAH 954), to Barcelona on Wednesdays and Saturdays (from UAH 1,508), and to Sofia on Fridays (from UAH 1,329).
SkyUp Airline LLC was registered in Kyiv in June 2016. The founder of SkyUp was ACS-Ukraine LLC belonging to Tetiana Alba and Yuriy Alba, who also own JoinUp! tour operator.
The company began charter flights from the end of May 2018.
From mid-September, USPA FRUIT started shipping Ukrainian Royal Gala and Golden apples of the 2018 harvest to the countries of the Persian Gulf, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.
Considering the first large-scale campaign of exporting apples from Ukraine by sea, USPA FRUIT paid special attention to the quality of exported apples. So, all the apples passed control during harvesting, post-harvest application and applying special regyme of cooling for long term storage. The firmness of all the apples that are exported is at least 7 kg / cm2, which is sufficient for successful transportation and subsequent sale to the final consumer.
USPA FRUIT quality auditors checked each unit of apple packaging, which is especially important for deliveries to the countries of the Persian Gulf and Asia, in order to ensure the weight of each package according to the standard of 18 kg per box, net weight.
Ukrainian apples are valued by new consumers for the special taste and aroma that is provided by the special climate and black soil of Ukraine, which makes it possible to grow an apple using considerably less chemical treatments. Significant differences during twenty-four hours temperatures, which depends on the region but often excceed 20 ° C between day and night, make it possible to obtain an intensive red color in a natural way, which is in most cases 70% +, and thanks to long day and total amount of temperatures also to make an apple very sweet without the use of special chemicals. Such apples are selected by USPA FRUIT for the most demanding of their customers.
The main export of apples from Ukraine, traditionally, was carried out by road, so the USPA FRUIT company was especially attentive to meeting the schedule for delivering ships to the port and building a port logistics system, since the company exports all apples under CIF conditions in order to provide maximum service to its customers, guaranteeing the quality of apples at the port of destination and delivery in time.
Starting from October 10, Ukrainian apples began to arrive to the ports of the Persian Gulf and to the shelves of the largest retail chains. Quality control of apples, ensuring their quality packaging and the conditions of their delivery during transportation, made it possible to completely avoid customer complaints about the quality and packaging of apples, and the demanding Arab consumer fully appreciate the unique taste and aroma of Ukrainian apples, that means the export must go on.
