OTI Holding, which includes the Ukrainian tour operator Coral Travel, intends to create the OTI Hotels & Resorts International hotel chain as part of the reorganization of the hotel business. Director of Coral Travel Tetiana Prokopenko told Interfax-Ukraine that by the beginning of the summer season 2020, the network will include more than 20 hotels, and by the end of the year it will expand to 30 hotels in the resorts of Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia.
According to Prokopenko, the network will be developed via renting or buying hotels, taking them into management, and also through franchising – work under an agreement on holding standards related to service, staff training, guest relations, food, drinks, branding, active leisure, sports, animation, children’s events and sanitary standards.
OTI Hotels & Resorts International will include hotels of various levels. They will operate under the new Seven Seas Resorts & Hotels brand, as well as under the well-established brands Otium Hotels and Xanadu Resort.
In addition, Coral Travel plans to expand the flight program from Kyiv and the regions in the 2020 season, as well as increase its own product list in the most popular directions – Turkey, Egypt, Greece and Spain.
The tour operator also plans the further development of its own two franchise networks, Coral Travel travel agency and Coral Elite Service travel agency. By the end of 2020, the latter would have 350 offices in 90 cities of Ukraine.
CORAL TRAVEL, EGYPT, HOTEL CHAIN, OTI HOLDING, TUNISIA, TURKEY
The grant support of the European Union (EU) for the development of agriculture and small-sized farms in Ukraine envisages EUR 26 million, including EUR 10 million will be sent to implement the land reform. According to the documents to the agreement, which are available at Interfax-Ukraine, it is planned to allocate EUR 8 million for reform in the field of rural development, and EUR 7.5 million for support of small farms. The remaining EUR 0.5 million is planned to be spent on audit, inspection expenses and information interaction, as well as ensuring publicity.
Support for land reform under the agreement will be carried out under the indirect management of the World Bank.
The implementation period of the agreement is 108 months from the date of its entry into force.
As reported, the government of Ukraine and the European Commission signed an agreement on support for the development of agriculture and small farming in Ukraine in the amount of EUR 26 million in Brussels on January 28.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 29/01/20
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
The deficit of Ukraine’s state budget for 2019 was UAH 78.05 billion with the ceiling set in the national budget being UAH 91.13 billion, while in 2018 the deficit of the national budget was UAH 59.25 billion with the ceiling of UAH 94.1 billion. According to the updated information posted by the State Treasury Service of Ukraine on its website, the deficit of the general fund was UAH 68.85 billion with the ceiling being UAH 69.62 billion.
In the early days of this year, the Ministry of Finance, citing recent data from the State Treasury Service, reported on the deficit of the national budget last year in the amount of UAH 72.4 billion, or 1.8% of GDP.
The 2019 state budget deficit was almost entirely funded by borrowings, as revenues from privatization amounted to only UAH 550 million, i.e. 3.2% of the initial budget assignment.
In accordance with the updated data of the State Treasury Service, the national budget receipts for 2019 increased 7.6%, to UAH 998.28 billion, including growth of 5.5% for the general fund, to UAH 879.83 billion.
Compared with the indicators laid down in the law on the national budget, the receipts target was met by 99.1%, including 96.9% for the general fund.
Last year, national budget expenditures amounted to UAH 1.073 trillion, which is 8.7% more than the expenses of the national budget 2018, including growth of 8.4% for the general fund, to UAH 952.98 billion.
Compared with the indicators laid down in the law on the national budget, the expenditure target was met by 98.2%, including 96.9% for the general fund.
The national budget of Ukraine for 2020 was approved with receipts of UAH 1.095 trillion, including UAH 975.17 billion for the general fund, and expenditure of UAH 1.182 trillion, including UAH 1.052 trillion for the general fund. The ceiling for the deficit is set at UAH 94.3 billion, or 2.09% of forecast GDP.