Six companies have bought access to 1.1 GW of interstate network carrying capacity for importing electricity from the Russian Federation to Ukraine in December, according to information on the website of Ukrenergo. Thus, TAS Energy of Sergiy Tigipko bought 350 MW (24.6% more compared to the access capacity purchased in November). Ukrtorgenergy LLC acquired an additional 300 MW of capacity in December (Volodymyr Lytvynchuk is the ultimate beneficiary of the company founded in May 2019, while in mid-August the core business changed from electricity production to trade), which in November gained access to only 10 MW. The next largest one in terms of volume is ONK Group with 150 MW. At the November auction, this company failed to gain access to the section.
In turn, United Energy LLC (which has contracts for the supply of energy to the enterprises of Ihor Kolomoisky and the Surkis brothers) bought access to 100 MW in December (against 500 MW in November), and ETG LLC bought the same amount.
Access to the capacity for imports from Belarus was obtained by D Trading (Donbasenergo of Maksym Yefimov) and ERU Trading LLC (the Energy Resources of Ukraine group of companies) in the amount of 450 MW and 50 MW respectively.
D Trading also bought access to 404 MW for imports from Moldova and 85 MW from Hungary.
Kharkiv IT Cluster predicts a 25% increase in the IT industry in the region by the end of 2019. “According to the dynamics of the last two years, in 2019 we expect growth in the industry in the region by at least 25% compared with the results of 2018,” Kharkiv IT Cluster CEO Olha Shapoval said, commenting on the results of Kharkiv IT Research 2.0.
According to Kharkiv IT Research 2.0, the demand for experts in the field of information technology in 2019 also exceeds the supply: the companies’ need for specialists is 1.5 times higher than the number of graduates (Kharkiv universities annually graduate more than 2,000 young specialists only in specialized fields).
The authors of the study noted the growing popularity of non-formal education, as well as the creation of corporate training centers within companies that are ready to invest in youth training.
According to the study, by the end of 2018 the IT industry in the region had about 480 service and product companies, and the number of IT specialists exceeded 31,000 people.
In general, according to Kharkiv IT Research 2.0, the IT industry in Kharkiv in quantitative terms grew by 24%, and the total volume reached $962 million in 2018, ensuring a growth of 20%.
Transport enterprises of Ukraine increase cargo transportation by 9%
The transport enterprises of Ukraine in January-October 2019 increased cargo transportation by 8.8% compared to the same period in 2018, to 561.6 million tonnes, according to the State Statistics Service. According to its data, freight turnover of carriers for the specified period increased by 2.2%, to 282.3 billion tonne-kilometers.
According to statistical data, in January-October 2019 some 220.2 million tonnes of goods were transported by rail within the country and for export, which is 1.1% less than in January-October 2018.
Transportation of timber decreased by 59.4%, construction materials by 21%, scrap metal by 18%, coke by 9.3%, cement by 5.6%, coal by 4.2%, and ferrous metals by 3.4%.
At the same time, transportation of iron and manganese ore rose by 3.2%, oil and petroleum products by 0.1%, grain and cereal by 23.9%, chemical and mineral fertilizers by 32.9%.
In the total volume of cargo transportation by water, foreign traffic accounted for 41.5%. The volume of foreign cargo transportation decreased by 1.2%.
In January-October 2019, compared with January-October 2018, the volume of cargo transportation by pipelines increased. So, transportation of ammonia grew by 10.6%, gas by 0.6%. Ammonia transit was up by 11.1%, gas by 1.7%. Along with this, oil pumping and transit decreased by 1.9% and 4.3% respectively.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will pay an official visit to the Republic of Estonia on November 26, and the Republic of Lithuania on November 27.
“During the visit, negotiations are scheduled between the head of state and Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, as well as meetings with President of the Riigikogu (parliament) Henn Põlluaas and Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas,” the press service of the president of Ukraine said.
Also in Tallinn, the presidents of Ukraine and Estonia will take part in the Digital Forum.
During his visit to Lithuania, Zelensky will take part in the twelfth meeting of the Council of Presidents of Ukraine and Lithuania.
“During the visit, it is planned to hold separate negotiations between the head of state and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, Lithuanian Seimas Speaker Viktoras Pranckietis and Prime Minister of Lithuania Saulius Skvernelis,” it said.
Also in Vilnius, the presidents of Ukraine and Lithuania will take part in the Fifth Bilateral Economic Forum.
Quality standards should be introduced to develop Ayurveda and yoga in Ukraine, according to Ambassador of the Republic of India to Ukraine Partha Satpathy. Satpathy said that the standardization is need so that Ayurveda is recognized in the same way in India, Ukraine and other countries.
“The government of India pays attention to the implementation of quality and standardization. Quality applies to both Ayurvedic products and services so that the effectiveness of Ayurveda is 100%. The combination of these [standardization] principles will allow the effective distribution of Ayurveda in the world,” he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.
The ambassador said that the government of India intends to spread Ayurveda throughout the world and make it generally accepted. “Ayurveda is a very old tradition in India. According to statistics, it is practiced by approximately 70% of families in India. Therefore, our government is focusing on spreading Ayurveda around the world to make it generally accepted,” Satpathy said.
Satpathy said that in India, the business sector that promotes Ayurveda (natural medicines, Ayurvedic services, including various types of tourism: medical, anti-stress, spa) reaches $4 billion. “Ayurveda is so important because, according to our estimates, the level of this sector, when it comes to medicine and business, is about $4 billion, and this figure can grow to $10 billion by 2022,” the ambassador said.
However, he said that the Indian authorities are paying much attention to the promotion of yoga, as “yoga is more popular, and Indian practice is based on a combination of yoga and Ayurveda, which will achieve harmony in life.”
In turn, Board Chairman of the Ukrainian Association of Ayurveda-Yoga Kundan Sandwar said that by the middle of 2020, a Yoga Institute and an Ayurveda Institute would be created in Ukraine.
“Ayurveda and yoga are widespread in different countries. In Dubai, they created a yoga program in schools. There is a pilot in the U.K. There are many Ayurvedic centers in Europe. In Ukraine, there are about 30 Ayurveda and 150 yoga centers. Two institutions will be created by the middle of next year. One has already been created. This is the Ukrainian Institute of Yoga. We are waiting for accreditation, and there will be an Ayurveda Institute,” he said.
The Bolt taxi ride service (earlier Taxify) is launching the electric scooter ride service in Ukraine and by spring 2020 the service will be available in the text mode in the UNIT.City innovation park, Bolt Country Manager Taras Potichny said during the presentation of the new service in Kyiv on Thursday.
“We are the first in Ukraine to launch a service that is popular in many cities around the world. I am glad that we are changing the market, changing the look of the city, making it even more modern. Electric scooters really solve many problems. It often happens that moving around the city center by car is quite difficult, but driving a few kilometers on an electric scooter is easy, fast and brings pleasure,” Potichny said.
The cost of using electric scooters in Kyiv will be published after the full official launch of the project.
“The price has not yet been formed. In Eastern Europe, it amounts to 60-70% of the average check for the cost of a taxi. In Kyiv, it is UAH 100-110. Accordingly, the average trip on a scooter will cost UAH 60-70. The price will be formed from the opposite: EUR 1 usually costs the scooter unlocking itself, and one minute – UAH 1-2. This is the framework in which we will determine the price,” the country manager said.
At the same time, he added that for the test period the price will be significantly reduced, then it will be regulated depending on the demand of the service.
The Bolt fleet has Segway NineBolt ES4 electric scooters with a maximum speed of 25 km per hour and a range of 45 km.
To start using the service, you need to find a scooter, unlock it using the QR code in the application, get to your destination and leave it in any convenient and safe place. The service can only be used by persons 18 years or above: when registering an account, the user will have to indicate the date of birth.
“The rent price for an electric scooter will include the unlock price and the price per minute of use. For cases where it is planned to travel a lot and payment per minute is unprofitable for the client, Bolt will set the price for renting a scooter for the whole day. No matter how long you drive around the city, your card will not be charged more than the set price,” the company said.
Places where you can rent a scooter will be located in the city center, usually near transport hubs and the most visited points. You can see where the nearest scooter locations are in the same application as for ordering a car.
It is planned that in the evenings, Bolt employees will collect scooters around the city and put them on charge so that the next morning they can be found in familiar locations.
“We are proud that the first electric scooter rental point in Ukraine appeared in UNIT.City. This is fully consistent with our idea to build an eco-friendly city in a city,” UNIT.City CEO Dominique Piotet said.
According to Potichny, after a successful launch in Kyiv, the company plans to launch the service in other cities of Ukraine.
“We would love to expand further. There are many more tourist sites with fairly closed centers: the same Odesa or Lviv, where you cannot get around the center by car. First we test this on the streets of Kyiv and will gradually expand and develop in others cities,” he said.
Earlier Bolt launched a courier delivery service by a driver in Ukraine.
As reported, Тaxify was launched in Kyiv in 2016 under the franchise agreement. In June 2018, the company relaunched the project in Kyiv with own local team, promising to enter other large cities of Ukraine.
Early March 2019, Тaxify changed its name to Bolt.
