Head of the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization Ali Abedzadeh called scientifically untenable the version of Western countries that the Ukrainian passenger plane crashed near Tehran this week was shot down by an Iranian missile. According to Press TV, he said this version as “illogical rumors.”
“So far what I can tell you is that the plane has not been hit by a missile, and we have to look for the cause of the fire,” he said.
He added what could be said was that the plane had not been hit by a missile and was likely on fire before it crashed.
The refinancing rate could be reduced to 8% per annum faster than the central bank previously forecasted if a favorable macroeconomic situation is retained, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Yakiv Smolii has stated. “This year, if the macroeconomic situation does not change dramatically, the refinancing rate could be 8%. We previously planned to lower it to such a level in 2021. But now we see prerequisites for the more rapid easing of monetary policy,” Smolii said in an interview on YouTube channel KRYM.
According to him, this year businesses could expect loan rates at the level of 10-12% per annum in hryvnias.
As reported, from December 13, 2019 the NBU lowered the refinancing rate to 13.5% per annum from 15.5% per annum.
Sugar production in Ukraine in the 2019/2020 marketing year (MY, September-August) decreased by 19% compared to the previous MY, to 1.48 million tonnes. According to the Ukrtsukor National Association of Sugar Producers, in total 33 sugar refineries were operating during the season, which processed 9.84 million tonnes of sugar beets, which is almost a third less than a year earlier.
“As we can see, a significant decrease in the amount of raw materials entailed a reduction in the operation of production capacities and, as a result, a decrease in sugar production in general,” the deputy chairman of the board of the association, Ruslana Yanenko, said.
According to her, such a result is quite predictable, because the global sugar surplus that has been observed over the past three years has also significantly affected the Ukrainian market – a 20% reduction in the area under sugar beets and a decrease in the amount of raw materials.
“In addition to the fact that nine processing plants did not start this year, the production season also decreased by almost a month, and this will certainly affect the cost of sugar production, because a sugar factory must work a minimum of 100 days to cover the launch costs,” she said.
The three leaders in sugar production in Ukraine remained Vinnytsia region with 331,900 tonnes, Khmelnytsky region with 192,800 tonnes, and Ternopil region with 186,400 tonnes.
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of January 10
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 10/01/20
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Belarus and Ukraine will hold the Third Forum of Regions in Grodno, and Belarus has begun the relevant preparations, the Belarusian government’s press service said in a statement. “Consistent with the Belarusian prime minister’s instruction No. 1R dated January 6, an organizing committee has been established to prepare for and to hold the Third Forum of Regions between Belarus and Ukraine in Grodno in 2020. It is headed by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Lyashenko,” the statement said. The organizing committee has been tasked with elaborating and approving the plan of preparations for the event before February 20.
The First Forum of Regions of Belarus and Ukraine took place in Gomel, Belarus, in October 2018, and the Second Forum of Regions was hosted by Zhytomyr, Ukraine, in October 2019. The parties signed commercial contracts with a total value of $140 million and $500 million, respectively.
