Metinvest Group, as part of Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front initiative, has built the country’s first underground hospital for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, in coordination with the Vostok Medical Forces, to provide primary medical care and stabilize the condition of warriors after being wounded on the front line, having invested more than UAH 20 million, the group said in a press release on Tuesday
In turn, the Defense Ministry in a statement on its website indicated that the hospital was the first in a large-scale project implemented by the ministry in coordination with the Medical Forces Vostok, and in total it provides for the construction of more than two dozen underground stabpoints.
It is specified that the first facility is located near the front line and is designed to provide medical assistance to Ukrainian defenders in the safest possible conditions. The hospital is built on the basis of six enlarged steel bunkers-“kryivoks” developed by Metinvest, each of which is 7.6 meters long and 2.5 meters in diameter. Ventilation, water supply, drainage and alternative power supply systems have been installed to ensure the functioning of the facility.
Additional security measures have been taken during the installation of the underground hospital, in particular, it is additionally equipped with high-power REB systems and alternative power sources.
“Such underground stabpoints are critically important for preserving the lives of our military… This is the first step in a large-scale project that will strengthen our medical infrastructure and allow to support defenders on the front line even more effectively,” emphasized Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
“Metinvest” specified that the staffing of the hospital corresponds to the level of field hospitals of the second echelon (Role/Echelon 2) in accordance with NATO standards, and the investment included the cost of not only the construction of the hospital, but also the completion of its equipment.
“A medical hospital at a depth of many meters underground is the most ambitious and complex project we have had to implement since the beginning of the full-scale invasion within the framework of Akhmetov’s Steel Front initiative,” said Metinvest’s Chief Operating Officer Oleksandr Mironenko.
It is noted that the steel underground hospital is not inferior to civilian hospitals in terms of medical equipment. In particular, Metinvest has equipped the hospital with oxygen concentrators, ventilator, cardiac monitors, defibrillators, operating equipment and lighting, sterilizers, patient heating systems, medical furniture for the total amount of more than UAH 7 million.
“This underground hospital is the best of stabilization points. It will allow to provide medical care to more than 100 patients per day, saving hundreds of lives of our heroes. I hope that the number of such facilities will grow,” said Roman Kuzev, acting commander of Medical Forces Vostok.
A new educational institution of the KAN Development educational network, Architectural and Engineering Collegium A+ (AIC+), opened in Kiev on Monday. The collegium is designed for 680 students, the company’s representatives said at the opening of AIC+. The area of the building is 13.1 thousand square meters, the total area of the training center is 3.30 hectares, of which 4 thousand sq. m. – shelter area. The training center is located on the territory of the residential neighborhood “Faina Town” in Kiev.
The company explained that the project is a conceptual educational complex that combines kindergarten, primary, secondary school, specialized lyceum and extracurricular activities in engineering, IT and architecture.
KAN added that $23 million was invested directly in the collegium, while the construction of each school shelter cost almost UAH 65 million.
As of today, KAN Development has invested over $100 million in educational institutions.
AIC+ became the 15th educational institution of the A+ network, where 3 thousand children study in full-day format and 700 teachers teach.
A+ activities began in 2005 at the initiative of Ivanna Nikonova. To date, the A+ educational network consists of three elementary school, two secondary schools, four kindergartens, three children’s clubs, a distance education center, a sports and music school and a wide range of extracurricular studios.
The market of new passenger cars has added 50-60% in 1.5 months amid the government’s initiative to introduce a 15% military tax on car buyers, according to AUTO-Consulting, an information and analytical group.
“It is safe to say that rumors of a 15% additional tax have activated about 4000+ buyers of new cars in 1.5 months. And this added 50-60% to the market. We can’t think of a more effective advertising campaign,” the group said in a statement on its website.
At the same time, in August, AUTO-Consulting recorded a 36 percent increase in sales by August 2023 and a 38 percent increase by July this year – up to 8.3 thousand units, and noted that such a number of cars have not been sold in Ukraine in a month for a long time.
“At the end of July, the beginning of the rush was already recorded, which brought a thousand additional cars to the car market,” the report recalls.
As reported, on July 18, the Cabinet of Ministers submitted to the Rada Bill No. 11416 on amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine, which, in particular, proposed to levy 15% of the military tax on car buyers, which was opposed by a number of car business representatives.
In late August, the finalized draft law no longer contained this provision.
AUTO-Consulting notes that not all dealers were ready for such a sharp jump in sales, but the market leader Toyota confidently kept its pace (up 44.5% compared to July), and Renault managed to move up to second place from third in July with a 76.2% increase in sales. BMW has consolidated its position in the top three, while Skoda, which took fourth place, almost doubled its sales.
“It is interesting that for the second month we have seen an abnormal number of electric vehicles – 16%, and some brands of ‘Chinese imports’ have already registered in the top ten,” the group’s analysts note.
At the same time, they suggest that some of these cars were indeed purchased, but a significant amount was simply registered by dealers to avoid the possible consequences of a 15% rise in price during the introduction of the military tax.
“Therefore, we will see the real volume of “electric trains” by the end of September, when the excitement around the new taxes will disappear,” they summarize.
AUTO-Consulting also emphasizes that not only the threat of the military tax has activated the car market – during the month there were large purchases by corporate clients, many cars were bought by the state, so this is a complex result.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food and grain market participants in addenda to the memorandum of understanding fixed in 2024/2025 marketing year the limit for export volume of 16.2 million tons of wheat and a mixture of wheat and rye (meslin) according to the code UKT VED 1001, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy reported.
“The purpose of signing the memorandum and its annex is to ensure food security, predictable, anticipated, flexible and stable grain export regime and sustainable functioning of the grain market in Ukraine,” the press service quoted Acting Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky as saying.
The parties also agreed on monthly monitoring of the volume of grain exports and, if necessary, adjustment of the limit export volume in January 2025.
As reported, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and grain market participants in July 2024 signed a memorandum of understanding for 2024/25 MY. The parties agreed to cooperate on coordination of balance characteristics of the grain market of Ukraine to ensure food security, stabilization of the grain market, projected grain exports and receipt of foreign exchange earnings.
Agrarians in all regions of Ukraine have started sowing winter crops for grain and are actively sowing rapeseed. As of the beginning of September, 484.1 thou hectares of winter crops have been sown, including 446.2 thou hectares of rapeseed and 37.9 thou hectares of grain, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reported.
According to the report, winter wheat has already been sown on 27.7 thousand hectares, winter barley – on 2.2 thousand hectares, winter rye – on 8 thousand hectares.
According to the Ministry, due to favorable weather conditions, rapeseed sowing has already been completed in Volyn, Sumy and Ternopil regions. Agrarians in Vinnytsia, Lviv and Chernivtsi regions have started sowing winter crops.
As of September 5, 699.7 thou hectares of winter crops were sown in Ukraine, including 654.9 thou hectares of rapeseed, 42.5 thou hectares of winter wheat, 1.2 thou hectares of winter barley, and 1.1 thou hectares of winter rye.
U.N. nuclear agency chief Rafael Grossi met Ukrainian energy officials on Tuesday before a planned visit to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, part of efforts to prevent a wartime nuclear catastrophe.
Grossi, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), arrived in Ukraine a week after visiting the Kursk nuclear power station in Russia and warning of the danger of a nuclear accident there.
On his latest visit to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Grossi met Energy Minister German Galushchenko, as well as Petro Kotin, head of state nuclear power company Energoatom, and Oleh Korikov, acting head of Ukraine’s State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate.
The IAEA was “fully committed to safety & security of (Ukrainian) nuclear sites, with (a) presence at each,” Grossi wrote on X alongside photos showing him and Ukrainian officials holding talks.
He said they were “exchanging (views) on our support to Ukraine’s NPPs (nuclear power plants) ahead of my ZNPP visit.”
Grossi said on X on Monday that he was on his way to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) “to continue our assistance & help prevent a nuclear accident.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he would meet Grossi after the IAEA chief visits the country’s nuclear plants.
The ZNPP in southeastern Ukraine, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, fell to Russian troops soon after Moscow’s full-scale invasion and is not operating now.
Both sides have frequently accused each other of shelling the plant. Moscow and Kyiv both deny the accusations.
Zelenskiy and Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof on Monday visited the city of Zaporizhzhia, which lies across the Dnipro River to the northeast of the plant.
Zelenskiy also said that at this stage of the war, it is not possible for Ukraine to take back control of the plant.
“It is safer for Ukraine to control the Zaporizhzhia plant, but so far, from the point of view of the battlefield, I do not see such possibilities, and those that probably exist, they are dangerous,” Zelenskiy said.
Russian news agencies reported on Monday that a high-voltage power supply line at the plant had automatically disconnected, but the plant’s needs are supplied by another line. There was no reason given for the automatic disconnection.
Ukraine said Russian attacks had damaged one of the two external overhead lines connecting the plant to the Ukrainian power grid on Monday. Russia did not immediately comment on this assertion.
Russia says the Kursk nuclear plant visited by Grossi last week has been repeatedly attacked by Ukrainian forces that are just 40 km (25 miles) away since Ukraine carved out a slice of Russian territory in a cross-border attack this month.
Grossi said after visiting the Kursk nuclear plant that it was extremely fragile because it had no protective dome and that the “danger or possibility of a nuclear accident has emerged near here.”
Ukraine’s foreign ministry on Thursday denounced what it said were Russian efforts to “accuse Ukraine of alleged provocations against nuclear safety”.
It said Russia had intensified a “disinformation campaign to distract attention from its own criminal acts at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.”
In a statement, it described such accusations as “cynical” following attacks on energy infrastructure that forced Ukraine to disconnect several nuclear power units from the grid last week.
