US President Joe Biden has signed the National Defense Authorization Act, which provides a record $886 billion for defense needs in fiscal year 2024, the White House said in a statement on Friday, December 22.
“The law authorizes appropriations for the fiscal year primarily for the Department of Defense, national security programs of the Department of Energy, the Department of State, and the intelligence community. The law provides the critical authority we need to build the armed forces needed to deter future conflicts, and supports the service members, their spouses and families who carry out this mission every day,” the statement said.
As reported, on December 14, the US Senate approved a $886 billion defense bill, according to which a new position of special inspector general is to be created to monitor the use of military aid by Ukraine.
It was also reported that the Senate version of the budget included $300 million for Ukraine.
Net sales of dollars by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) increased to $977.3 million last week from $862.5 million a week earlier, the last time the NBU sold more in the first week of the transition to managed exchange rate flexibility in early October.
In the first half of the week, according to the central bank, purchases of foreign currency by bank clients grew, reaching $475 million on Wednesday and exceeding sales by $260 million.
As a result, the NBU on Wednesday weakened the hryvnia by 0.6%, or 23 kopecks, and in total for the first three days of the week – by 1.4%, or 53 kopecks.
On Thursday, however, the depreciation was very slight, and on Friday the NBU even strengthened the exchange rate by 4 kopecks to 37.5525 UAH/$1.
Overall, since November 26, when the national currency began to weaken, the dollar has risen by 4.3%, or UAH 1.54. At the same time, due to the strengthening of the hryvnia in the first time after the National Bank switched to a managed flexibility regime on October 3, the dollar rose by 2.7%, or 98 kopecks, against the fixed exchange rate that had been in effect for more than 14 months.
On Friday, the dollar also fell slightly on the cash market – by 11 kopecks, to about 38.10 UAH/$1.
As reported, the National Bank’s net sales in November fell to $2.46 billion from $3.34 billion in October and $2.69 billion in September. However, the reduction in external financing to $2.04 billion led to a decrease in international reserves for the fourth consecutive month – by 0.5%, or $187.8 million, to $38 billion 785.2 million.
Since October 2023, the number of Diia.City residents has increased by 24 to more than 760 companies, according to a Facebook post by the Ministry of Digital Development on Friday.
“Businesses continue to choose Ukraine for development. More than 760 residents have joined the unique legal and tax space Diia.City,” the post reads.
It is noted that among the newcomers who joined Diia.City is Roboneers, a Ukrainian manufacturer of situational awareness systems and ground robotic systems. Robots produced by this company can follow military units on the battlefield and carry equipment. Nibulon, the leader in grain exports in Ukraine, has also joined Diia.City.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation added that the IT division of Nibulon Digital, which is currently working on e-document flow and an efficient farming system, has joined the special legal and tax regime.
The new residents include Itera, one of the most experienced Scandinavian technology companies specializing in communications and providing solutions in almost 20 countries; Melexis R&D, an international high-tech company that produces analog-to-digital chips for automotive electronics; and TAF Drones, a military-tech company that produces FPV drones, batteries, and other technologies for the Ukrainian army. As specified, in September, the company shipped 6 thousand FPV drones to the Armed Forces, and in November – more than 10 thousand.
In addition, DevLight, a Ukrainian mobile app developer, and CodeIT, a Kharkiv-based software company, have become residents of Diia.City.
According to the Ministry of Digital Transformation, at the end of October, the number of Diia.City residents reached 736.
The ministry reminds that the benefits of Diia.City include 5% personal income tax, 22% unified social tax, and 1.5% military duty on the minimum wage. In addition, the resident status of Diia.City gives an advantage when booking employees, reducing the number of required criteria that a company must meet to two out of six.
Scientists at the D.K. Zabolotny Institute of Microbiology and Virology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine are creating probiotic preparations for fermenting vegetables. The D.K. Zabolotny Institute of Microbiology and Virology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine is developing probiotic preparations for fermenting vegetables based on strains of the lactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus plantarum, the website of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine reported on Tuesday.
At the forum “Innovative Approaches to Industrial and Craft Production: Challenges and Opportunities,” the Institute’s scientists presented fermented beverages based on vegetable juices. Vegetable juices are a source of vitamins and many other nutrients. Fermentation with the lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillus plantarum not only extends the shelf life, but also enriches vegetable juice with biologically active metabolites, reduces carbohydrate content and gives the juice functional properties.
Scientists at the Department of Industrial Microorganism Physiology have produced a beetroot drink – beetroot juice fermented with selected strains of lactic acid bacteria. It is sweet and sour in taste (with a faint beet flavor), contains less carbohydrates and more of certain amino acids, as well as lactic and other organic acids, vitamins B, PP, C, E, minerals, betanin and pectin.
Long-term studies of the biological activity of beetroot juice and clinical trials on volunteers have shown that drinking 50 ml of beetroot juice for two weeks had a positive effect on overall health, improving the functioning of the digestive tract and circulatory system. A positive effect after drinking the juice is observed in dysbiosis, gastritis, hypertension, myocardial dystrophy, hypovitaminosis C and B in wartime and postwar. Today, the Institute’s scientists continue to work on this product: they have improved the composition of the bacterial starter and are studying its biological activity in depth.
fermenting, microbiologists, probiotic preparations, VEGETABLES
Ukraine’s state budget has received about $950 million from Japan as part of World Bank projects for recovery and social protection, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday.
“The financing consists of a $52.4 million grant from Japan under the Housing Opportunities for People’s Empowerment (HOPE) project and a $900 million loan from the Japanese government through the Investing in Social Protection for Improved Reach, Resilience, and Efficiency (INSPIRE) project,” the release said.
According to the release, the funds will be used to reimburse the state budget of Ukraine for urgent and priority needs, in particular in the field of recovery and social assistance.
The INSPIRE project is funded by a $1.2 billion loan from the World Bank’s Trust Fund for the Provision of Necessary Credit Support to Ukraine (ADVANCE Ukraine), with support from the Government of Japan, and aims to provide social protection to vulnerable populations during and after the war, improve access to social assistance and social services, and strengthen the adaptability of the social support system to effectively respond to current and future challenges.
The HOPE project aims to restore infrastructure in the combat-affected areas, de-occupied and affected regions of Ukraine. Funds will also be provided to homeowners for repairs in multi-family and private homes that have sustained moderate damage and do not require major repairs. The project will support policy reforms at the national level to improve recovery outcomes and alignment with Ukraine’s European integration goals.
On December 19, Finance Minister Sergiy Marchenko said that since the beginning of this year, Ukraine has managed to attract more than $39 billion in external financing, compared to $32.1 billion for the entire last year, and by the end of the year this amount will reach about $42.3 billion.
In particular, on December 20, Ukraine received a grant of EUR 150 million from the EU, and on Thursday – EUR 1.5 billion of the last tranche of the EU’s macro-financial assistance this year.
Motor (Transport) Insurance Bureau of Ukraine (MTSBU) has made 6.763 thousand payments from the Victims Protection Fund (VPF) in January-November 2023, which is 33.2% more than in the same period of 2022. According to the MTSBU report on its website, the total amount of such payments increased by 44.6% to UAH 393.7 million compared to January-November.
The largest volume of payments – UAH 269.5 mln, or 68.5% in terms of the amount and 4.3 thousand in terms of the number of payments for damage caused by the perpetrators of road accidents who do not have a valid CMTPL insurance policy. Compared to the corresponding period of 2022, the number of such payments increased by 33%, the amount – by 89.1%.
This trend is increasing due to the socio-economic consequences of the war.
For drivers of privileged categories from the FZP during the reporting period, almost 1.1 thousand payments were made for the amount of UAH 72.9 million, which is 28.8% more in number and 46.7% more in amount than in the same period of 2022.
In January-November 2023 the MTSBU paid UAH 12,1 mln on liabilities of insurance companies that have ceased their activity and recognized as bankrupt.
For the liabilities of companies that have ceased to operate in the MTPL insurance market, but recognized bankrupt in accordance with the procedure established by law, payments were made at the expense of the guarantee contributions of such insurers in the amount of UAH 34.4 million available in the MTSBU FZP.
The MTSBU also notes that the minimum regulatory payments for accidents caused by an unidentified vehicle (such cases are paid only on the fact of threat to life and health) remain UAH 4.4 mln, and those caused by cars that were seized as a result of unlawful actions – UAH 0.22 mln.
Motor (Transport) Insurance Bureau of Ukraine, Victims Protection Fund, МТСБУ
