Yuliya Tymoshenko, leader of the Batkivschyna (Fatherland) party, has been taking the lead in the presidential ratings, with showman Volodymyr Zelensky coming second and the incumbent President Petro Poroshenko coming third, a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology has shown. According to the results of the poll that were announced at a press conference at the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency, if the presidential elections were to be held in November and the respondents could only choose from 37 candidates, then 11.9% (21.2% of those who have made up their minds) would vote for Tymoshenko, 8.2% (14.6%) – for showman Volodymyr Zelensky, 6.5% (11.6%) – for the incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, 6.2% (11%) – for the leader of the Opposition Platform — For Life Yuriy Boyko.
Also, 4.9% (8.7% of those who have made up their minds) would vote for the leader of the Radical Party Oleh Lyashko, 4.6% (8.2%) – for the leader of the Civil Position party Anatoliy Hrytsenko, and 2.1% (3.8%) would vote for the rockstar and civil activist Sviatoslav Vakarchuk.
At the same time, 27.6% of the people polled could not make their choice, 9.3% decided not to take part in the vote, and 4.7% would strike off all the candidates or destroy their ballot.
The poll was conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology from November 23 to December 3, 2018. A total of 2,000 people were polled in 110 towns across Ukraine except for Crimea and the occupied territories in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The statistical error of the sampling is no more than 3.3% for figures close to 50%, 2.8% for figures close to 25%, 2% for figures close to 10%, and 1.4% for figures close to 5%.
Lithuanian Railways has offered JSC Ukrzaliznytsia cooperation in a number of areas, including the development of international freight traffic, the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE) reported on its website. The company wants to continue developing cooperation with Ukrzaliznytsia.
“Lithuanians offer Ukrzaliznytsia to cooperate in many areas. In particular, the matter concerns joint participation in European and international tenders, production and renovation of rolling stock, and an efficient use of the railway fleet for Ukraine,” representative of Lithuanian Railways Paulius Grubinskas said after the fourth Ukrainian-Lithuanian Economic Forum held in Kyiv on December 7.
Thus, according to the Lithuanian side, freight traffic between Ukraine and Lithuania increased by 10% in 2018, while the Viking container train increased traffic by 40%.
“There is a big goal – Ukraine and Lithuania want to combine the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, while the Viking train can contribute. By the way, Scandinavian countries also express their interest in this,” the expert said.
Ukraine in January-November 2018 increased exports of poultry by 22.2%, to 303,890 tonnes, the State Fiscal Service reported on its website.
At the same time, according to the service, in monetary terms exports of these products increased by 32.8%, to $471.98 million.
Imports of poultry meat and offal for the 11 months of 2018 grew by 13.8%, to 121,670 tonnes, in monetary terms by 10.7%, to $48.42 million.
According to the service, export of pork in January-November 2018 decreased by 2.8 times compared with the corresponding period of 2017, to 1,650 tonnes. This product was delivered in the amount worth $3.55 million against $9.99 million in the 11 months of 2017.
During this period, imports of pork to Ukraine increased by 5.1 times, to 26,340 tonnes. Pork was imported to the country for $48.22 million against $9.15 million in January-November 2017.
Average retail prices for petrol and diesel fuel in Ukraine in the period from November 30 through December 7, 2018 fell by 1.99-2.81%, while prices of LPG by 4.24%, according to data from the A-95 Consulting Group (Kyiv).
As reported, in 2017, average retail prices for petrol in Ukraine increased 19.2-20.1% (UAH 4.61-4.76 per liter), and for diesel fuel 22.6% (UAH 4.84 per liter). At the same time, average prices for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), despite a sharp increase in August due to deficit, showed an increase of only 2.9% for the year (by UAH 0.36 per liter).
Changes in average retail fuel prices UAH per liter in Ukraine:
©Source: A-95 Consulting Company
Ukraine increased imports of coal and anthracite coal (HS code 2701) by 9.9%, or 1.719 million tonnes, in January-November 2018 year-over-year, to 19.095 million tonnes. Coal shipments over the period under review were estimated at $2.693 billion, which was 10.8% more than in January-November 2017 ($2.431 billion), Ukraine’s State Fiscal Service said.
In particular, coal bought from the Russian Federation (61.91% of all imports) was estimated at $1.667 billion, from the United States (29.94%) at $806.349 million, Canada (4.78%) at $128.608 million, and other countries (3.37%) at $90.865 million.
In addition, Ukraine in January-November 2018 exported 63,617 tonnes of coal and anthracite to the tune of $8.627 million, including to Russia ($4.597 million), Slovakia ($3.201 million), Moldova ($0.715 million), and other countries ($0.114 million).
As reported, Ukraine plans in 2018 to increase import of steam coal by 11.3% compared to 2017, to 5.669 million tonnes.
In particular, it plans to buy 4.882 million tonnes of coal from Russia (a rise of 29.6% from 2017), 664,000 tonnes from the United States (a rise of 47.7%), and 123,000 tonnes from South Africa (a fall of 83.8%).
In 2011, Ukraine’s coal and anthracite imports totaled $2.761 billion and exports $775.109 million, in 2012: $2.637 billion and $609.392 million, respectively. These indicators in 2013 were $1.974 billion and $737.009 million, respectively, in 2014: $1.773 billion and $521.017 million, in 2015: $1.632 billion and $53.651 million, in 2016: $1.467 billion and $44.762 million, and in 2017: $2.744 billion and $105.494 million, respectively.
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
