KYIV. May 16 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Tourist flow to the capital of Ukraine in May 2017 has increased by 15-20% compared to May 2016, CEO of Join UP! tour operator Dmytro Seroukhov has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“Compared to May 2016 this year tourist flow to Kyiv grew by 15-20%. A slight increase is explained by the increased accommodation fees in Kyiv hotels this season,” he said.
Beinside travel agency told Interfax-Ukraine that the largest flow of foreign tourists to Kyiv was seen during the semi-final and the final of the Eurovision 2017 song contest.
The company said that Kyiv hotels in advance increased the room prices. In some of them growth was 10-15%.
“On average one tourist in Kyiv spent from EUR 100 a day. The sum includes accommodation, food, sightseeing tours, purchase of souvenirs and other things,” Beinside said.
According to the company, most of foreign tourists who arrived to the song contest preferred accommodating in the hotels located close to the place where the contest took place – Tourist, Bratislava and Adria hotels. Some of the tourists preferred staying downtown – in Radisson Blu, Ukraine and Khreschatyk hotels.
“Along with the contest, tourists who arrived from the European Union, the United States and even China ordered general sightseeing tours, ballooning and complex restaurant tours where they can learn about Ukrainian cuisine,” Beinside said.
The company said that due to bad weather tourists failed to balloon or paraglide.
KYIV. May 16 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine intends to hold a tender and ensure introduction of 4G communications technology in Ukraine in 2017.
The relevant provisions are available in the presentation of a draft plan of measures for digital development in Ukraine in 2017, which Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman posted on his Facebook page.
The draft plan says it is planned by the end of the fourth quarter to introduce the 4G mobile communications technology in Ukraine, ensuring the holding of a tender for distribution of radio frequency resources for 4G in the bands of 188 MHz and 2,600 MHz.
It is also planned by the end of 2017 with the participation of representatives of providers to develop a plan of measures for the development and use of broadband Internet access, taking into account the overcoming of digital inequality, creation of special funds and mechanisms for overcoming it and stimulation of public-private partnership in this area.
It is proposed by the end of the third quarter to develop a plan of measures to stimulate and support the introduction of the blockchain technology in the public sector and the basic sectors of industry in Ukraine.
KYIV. May 16 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine deputy Serhiy Taruta is sure of the necessity to preserve the ship building potential of Mykolaiv and criticized the recommendation of Mykolaiv’s mayor to tear down the building housing the state enterprise Shipyard named after 61 Communards, the Osnova Party press service has said.
“It’s important to create a good business climate in order for real investors to come. But without the assistance of the authorities this will not happen. City managers probably think that it’s easier to tear down a shipbuilding factory than to build a trade pavilion in its place. It is easier than to look for possibilities for preserving the highly technological infrastructure,” Taruta said during the party’s tour in Mykolaiv.
“This approach has no future. This is why the city needs a managerial approach, a strategic and an industry specific investor. I use all these possibilities in order to solve problems,” he said.
Osnova Party head Andriy Nikolayenko said, “Mykolaiv is a very strong region with a good technical school. It needs a serious investment stimulus. A reshuffle of municipal chiefs would help.”
Taruta emphasized the importance of taking measured and intelligent decisions by city authorities, especially now, because the production infrastructure of the city is being replaced by provision of port services.
KYIV. May 16 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Chinese telecommunications company Xinwei Group plans by 2018 to install 2,300 base stations providing high-speed Internet coverage throughout Ukraine.
“Xinwei has installed 150 base stations providing high-speed Internet coverage in Kyiv region since 2016. The company plans by 2018 to install another 2,300 base stations throughout Ukraine,” First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development and Trade Stepan Kubiv wrote on his Facebook page.
According to the website of Xinwei Group in Ukraine, the company together with the Ukrainian telecommunications operator Prosat is implementing a project to create a network of mobile broadband multimedia communications of national scale.
As reported, in September 2014 PJSC Datagroup agreed with Xinwei Corporation on attracting investments in the development of projects in the field of telecommunications and high technologies, including 4G standard use.
The international Chinese company Xinwei Group is one of the world’s leaders in the field of communications. The company’s technologies are used in the field of security, aerospace communications, oil production, electricity, water management, transport and others.
The Kyiv office of Xinwei was opened in 2014.
KYIV. May 16 (Interfax-Ukraine) – China’s Skyrizon and Ukraine’s Motor Sich are planning to build a plant in Chongqing (the central part of China) at which they will produce and service aircraft engines under Ukrainian technologies, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Stepan Kubiv has said.
“The company plans to invest $250 million in upgrading the Ukrainian production and design facilities of Motor Sich,” he wrote on his Facebook page following a visit to China.
PJSC Motor Sich is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of aircraft engines, as well as industrial gas turbines. It delivers products to more than 100 countries.
In January-March 2017 the consolidated net profit of Motor Sich, in accordance with IFRS, amounted to UAH 1.457 billion, which is 4.8 times more than in the same period in 2016 (UAH 304.67 million), net income grew by 63.4%, to UAH 3.431 billion.
KYIV. May 16 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine and Israel want to extend bilateral economic cooperation and are working on signing the Free Trade Area (FTA) Agreement by the end of this year, Ukrainian and Israeli prime ministers, Volodymyr Groysman and Benjamin Netanyahu, said.
“I am glad that the general trade in commodities has been growing over the past few months, we are working together to create a free trade area between the countries,” the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine quoted Groysman as saying after a meeting with the Israeli prime minister.
Groysman said he hoped the relevant negotiations will finish by the end of 2017.
In addition, the Ukrainian prime minister called on the Israeli counterpart to consider additionally the possibility of liberalizing access to the Israeli market for agricultural products, especially cereals, dairy products, fish, meat, honey, vegetable oil, vegetables and industrial products.
In turn, Netanyahu stressed that Israel is interested in speeding up the talks on the establishment of the FTA with Ukraine. “We want to speed up the negotiations on the signing of an agreement on a free trade area, develop commerce, trade, tourism, economic exchanges between our countries,” the Cabinet’s press service quoted Netanyahu as saying.
Groysman also reported on the steps taken by the government to improve the investment climate in Ukraine and urged Israeli companies to invest in Ukraine. He invited representatives of the Israeli business to take part in the privatization of state-owned companies in Ukraine.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in a telephone conversation with the prime minister of Israel also expressed the hope the negotiations on concluding the FTA agreement will be completed by end of 2017.
