The incidence of human cases of monkeypox in African countries is on the rise, with nearly 4,000 cases recorded over the past week, the Associated Press reported Tuesday, citing the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to Jean Kasey, director general of the agency, the total number of infected cases since the beginning of the outbreak has risen to 22,800. He noted that 81 people died of the disease in Africa over the past seven days.
On August 14, WHO declared a public health emergency over the spread of monkeypox in several countries around the world.
Monkeypox is a rare infectious disease most prevalent in remote areas of Central and West Africa. Its symptoms include nausea, fever, rash, itching, and muscle pain. With a mild course, the disease usually goes away on its own and lasts from 14 to 21 days.
Earlier, the Experts Club information and think tank released a video with a detailed explanation of the origin of the disease and the prospects for its spread – https://youtu.be/YXYU6KcQTcQ?si=wEj2TQc3MPHGx0QY
The main owners of Ovostar agricultural holding have completed a squeeze-out, i.e. the forced purchase of 217,039 thousand or 3.617% of the remaining shares held by minority shareholders, and have concentrated 100% of the shares, and announced their intention to apply for delisting of the company’s shares from the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
According to Ovostar’s stock exchange announcement, Prime One Capital of the majority shareholders of the agricultural holding, CEO Boris Belikov and member of the Board of Directors Vitaliy Veresenko, became the owner of 66.16% of the shares following the squeeze-out, while the rest is owned by seven companies from Fairfax Financial Holding.
Ovostar Union is one of the leading producers of eggs and egg products in Ukraine. “In 2023, Ovostar increased its net profit by 7.4 times to $45 million, EBITDA by 4.5 times to $50.4 million, and revenue by 20% to $162.5 million.
In mid-June 2011, the group’s holding company, Ovostar Union N.V., conducted an IPO of 25% of its shares on the WSE at PLN62 per share ($22.78 at the then exchange rate) and raised $33.2 million.
The squeeze-out price was PLN70 per share (about $18.2).
At the end of May this year, Prime One Capital, which owned 65.93% of the shares at that time, announced that together with Fairfax Financial Holding it had accumulated 95.45% of the agricultural holding’s shares and was ready to buy out all 4.55% of the remaining minority shares. During the announced voluntary buyout at a price of PLN70 per share (about $17.5), they acquired another 56,027 shares, or 0.934%, and now own 96.383%.
Before the trading was halted on August 21, Ovostar shares were listed at PLN68.4 per share, and after the announcement of the Cypriot regulator’s approval of the squeeze-out in early August, the price dropped by 1.44%.
Deputies of the Chigirinsky city council granted permission to develop a land management project for allotment of land plots for permanent use by NAEK Energoatom, the company reported in Telegram.
The matter concerns the transfer of land plots with a total area of 38.1493 hectares in the village of Orbita in Cherkassy region, where it is planned to build four units using AP1000 technology.
“Energoatom” intends to revive Orbita, making it one of the most modern towns like Netyshyn, Yuzhnoukrainsk or Varash. The successful realization of these plans, of course, represents a significant investment in the post-war recovery and support for the energy security of the state,” – said the head of NAEK Petro Kotin.
As reported, the site for the construction of a power plant in this area of Cherkassy region was prepared in the 1960s, and the decision to build a nuclear power plant there was made in the mid-80s, but was never realized.
In accordance with the Energy Strategy until 2050, Energoatom plans to build units No. 3-4 with VVER-1000 technology and No. 5-6 with AP1000 technology at the Khmelnitsky NPP site.
In September 2021, Energoatom and Westinghouse signed a memorandum on the construction of five NPP power units in Ukraine. In June 2022, the companies signed agreements to increase the number of nuclear power units to be built using AP1000 technology in Ukraine from five to nine units and to establish a Westinghouse engineering and technical center in the country.
In July 2022, the companies signed a contract to develop an updated feasibility study for the construction of two AP1000 units at the Khmelnytsky NPP site.
In December 2023, Energoatom and Westinghouse signed a contract for the purchase of a reactor plant for Ukraine’s first nuclear power unit based on AP1000 technology.
“Corum Druzhkovka Machine-Building Plant (Corum DrMZ), a part of Corum Group (DTEK Energy), will repair three roadheaders for DTEK Energy miners in the first quarter of 2025, the company said.
“We have already received three new orders for the repair of KPD-22 roadheaders for Ternovskaya, Samarskaya and Geroyev Kosmosa mines,” the company’s Facebook page says.
The plant also reports that by the end of this year, it will complete the overhaul of two shearers for Belozerskaya mine and one for Zapadno-Donbasskaya mine.
“Corum DrMZ, relocated to Dnipro in 2022, manufactured 46 units of mining equipment in July this year to order for DTEK Energy mines, including a skip, a reloader, six suspension devices and 38 loading trolleys. The company also produced 20 unified wheelsets and 72.9 thousand spare parts and components.
According to Opendatabot, in 2023, the plant earned UAH 500 million in net profit, compared to a loss of UAH 453 million a year earlier, with net income increasing 2.7 times to UAH 1 billion 530 million.
Corum Group is a leading manufacturer of mining equipment in Ukraine. It is a part of DTEK Energy, the operating company responsible for coal mining and coal-fired power generation within Rinat Akhmetov’s DTEK energy holding.
In January-July, the machine builders produced, among other things, 9 new roadheaders and shearers.
JSC Malynskyi Stone Crushing Plant, PJSC Pinyazevytskyi Quarry, and JSC Korosten Quarry have been allowed to return to granite mining.
According to NADRA.INFO, on Tuesday, 27.08.2024, the relevant order of the First Deputy Head of the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine Volodymyr Buchko was published on the official website of the Service (download the order, appendix).
The renewal of the special permits became possible after a corrective decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, which removed the use rights granted to the above-mentioned companies from the sanctions imposed on the owners of the companies, Olena Kalpa and Ihor Naumets. It is worth noting that this decision of the National Security and Defense Council also prohibits the payment of dividends or other payments on corporate rights in favor of the sanctioned owners or their representatives.
As a reminder, in 2023-2024. the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine suspended a number of mining and prospecting special permits for the use of subsoil to Ukrainian companies on the grounds that the business owners had previously been sanctioned by the National Security and Defense Council. See the overview of the consequences here.
The Office of the President of Ukraine promised to organize the development of amendments to the legislation to unblock Ukrainian extractive companies. The European Business Association proposed to revise the sanctions policy in the field of subsoil use.
NADRA.INFO addressed the First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko and the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Vasyl Malyuk with an open appeal to adjust the sanctions mechanism to restore the activities of Ukrainian extractive companies. The SBU considered the appeal and took it into account.
The Ministry of Economy of Ukraine also supported the need to resolve the situation with special permits for subsoil use suspended due to the NSDC’s imposition of personal sanctions on the ultimate beneficial owners of subsoil users.
Eventually, on June 24, 2024, the NSDC amended the previous sanctions decisions against Vadym Novynskyi and Vadym Yermolaiev and imposed 10-year sanctions on Dmytro Firtash (the so-called first corrective decision of the NSDC). After that, the State Service of Geology and Subsoil renewed nine special permits. The NSDC’s corrective decision also provided for the revocation of a number of special permits, but as of August, the State Service of Geology and Subsoil had terminated the subsoil use rights of only Vadym Novynskyi’s companies (one of the sites had already been included in the strategic list). Motronivsky GOK and Trends System avoided revocation amid the ongoing procedure of alienation of special permits and court injunctions (for more details, see here, here, here, here).
Astrologers all over the world are preparing for a unique celestial phenomenon that will take place on August 28. On this day, the so-called Parade of Planets will take place – six planets will be located on the Earth’s sky on one side of the Sun and will be visible simultaneously in the morning sky.
Thus, on August 28, six planets and the Moon will line up in the morning sky – Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, and the Moon. All of them will be on the same side of the Sun in a sector of about 160 degrees. Saturn and Neptune will be the first to rise after 9 p.m. the night before, followed by Uranus, Jupiter, Mars, and the Moon after midnight. In clear weather, all six planets, except Neptune and Uranus, will be visible to the naked eye, although the visibility of Mercury will be less than an hour, it is located very low near the horizon and is lost in the bright sunlight. To see Neptune and Uranus, you need a telescope or powerful binoculars.
The next big parade of planets will take place on February 28, 2025. Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, and Jupiter and Mars will gather in the evening sky (to the east). This is the closest date when all seven planets will be on the same side of the Sun and visible in the sky at the same time (except for Saturn, Mercury and Neptune).
