The Embassy of Kyrgyzstan in Ukraine celebrated the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Region with a solemn event held at the National Library for Children in Kyiv. The central event was the summing up of the All-Ukrainian Children’s Drawing Contest dedicated to the works of Chingiz Aitmatov, timed to the 95th anniversary of the great writer.
The contest brought together more than 1.5 thousand children from all regions of Ukraine. Of these, 113 participants who passed the regional qualifiers were awarded prizes from the Embassy. The event was attended by more than 30 finalists and winners together with their parents, as well as representatives of the diplomatic corps, international organizations, political and public figures of Ukraine. Representatives of the Kyrgyz diaspora also took an active part.
Askar Aitmatov, President of the Aitmatov International Issyk-Kul Forum, addressed the participants with a special video message. As part of the celebrations, young artists who came to Kyiv received valuable gifts, and adults who made a significant contribution to the popularization of Turkic-language literature were awarded medals from the international organization TURKSOY and the Aitmatov Foundation.
The Embassy presented a unique almanac, which includes the best children’s works. The publication is planned to be handed over to educational institutions in Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and the European Union, contributing to the dissemination of the cultural heritage of Chingiz Aitmatov and strengthening ties between peoples.
During the event, the importance of cultural diplomacy as a powerful tool for strengthening friendly relations between countries was repeatedly emphasized. The event was well received by the Ukrainian media, becoming an example of successful interaction between the two nations through art and literature.
The contest was an important step in popularizing Turkic-language literature, including the works of Chingiz Aitmatov, in Ukraine. It also contributed to strengthening cultural ties between Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine by emphasizing the role of art in intercultural dialogue.
The event was held in compliance with all security measures appropriate to wartime conditions and demonstrated the importance of cultural cooperation in difficult times.
Ukrainian pensioners who receive payments to a bank account and reside in Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Portugal, Poland, must annually until December 31 send to the Pension Fund of Ukraine an officially certified document confirming the individual alive.
According to the website of the Pension Fund of Ukraine, pensioners receiving pension payments through the competent authority of the above states, with which Ukraine has concluded an agreement on the proportional principle, are identified in these bodies.
The report specifies that Ukraine has concluded a number of international treaties on social (pension) security, which regulate, in particular, the procedure for the payment of pensions to citizens who have left for permanent residence abroad. This means that each of the signatory states assigns and pays pensions for the insurance record acquired on its territory. The insurance experience acquired in the territory of another treaty state is taken into account only for determining the right to a pension.
Payment of such pensions is made quarterly by transfer to the personal accounts of pensioners opened in banks of the countries of residence or through the competent authority of the treaty State.
Samples of applications for confirmation of the person’s survivorship are available on the information page of the e-services web portal of the Pension Fund of Ukraine.
OKKO network has signed a new contract for the purchase of 30 tractor trucks from the Swedish manufacturer Scania with a total value of EUR 3.3 million.
“10 of these trucks have already been delivered to OKKO’s transport divisions, and another 20 units are expected to arrive in December,” the company said on its website on Friday.
At the beginning of 2024, the OKKO network has already purchased 22 SUPER R 460 truck tractors and 10 more Everlast tank semi-trailers. In total, in 2022-2024, about EUR 30 million was invested in the renewal of the fleet.
“Thus, over the past few years, OKKO’s fleet has been renewed by more than half,” the company said.
Currently, OKKO has more than 250 vehicles for the transportation of gasoline, diesel fuel, liquefied gas and bitumen. At the same time, the company donated some of the vehicles that were withdrawn from the fleet, but still suitable and additionally repaired, for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In particular, these are eight tractor-trailers and fuel tanker semi-trailers, as well as two air refueling semi-trailers.
OKKO filling stations network is a part of OKKO Group. It is one of the largest filling stations networks in Ukraine, with about 400 filling stations.
The founder and ultimate beneficiary of the group is Vitaliy Antonov.
As of December 6, Ukraine exported 18.855 mln tonnes of grains and pulses since the beginning of 2024-2025 marketing year, 480 thsd tonnes of which were shipped since the beginning of the month, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reported, citing the data of the State Customs Service.
According to the report, as of the same date last year, the total shipments amounted to 13.723 mln tons, including 626 thsd tonnes in December.
At the same time, in 2024-2025 marketing year, the exports of all major crops are significantly higher than last year. Thus, since the beginning of the current season, Ukraine has exported 9.078 mln tonnes of wheat (6.057 mln tonnes in 2023/24 MY), 1.865 mln tonnes of barley (889 thsd tonnes), 10.8 thsd tonnes of rye (0.9 thsd tonnes), and 7.6 mln tonnes of corn (6.642 mln tonnes).
The total export of Ukrainian flour since the beginning of the season as of December 6 is estimated at 32.8 thsd tonnes (in 2023/24 MY – 51.1 thsd tonnes), including 30 thsd tonnes of wheat (48.8 thsd tonnes).
On December 5, Ukrchemtransammonia (Kyiv) announced a tender for liability insurance for business entities that use high-risk facilities for damage that may be caused by emergencies.
According to the Prozorro electronic procurement system, the expected price of the tender is UAH 303,248 thousand.
The deadline for submitting an application is December 13.
A large-scale post-war program to rebuild Ukraine’s infrastructure should be based on FIDIC contracts, says Mykola Tymofeev, CEO of Ukraine’s largest infrastructure construction company, Avtomagistral-Pivden.
“International donors prefer FIDIC contracts because they provide for a clear division of responsibilities between the client and the contractor, prevention of corruption risks, transparent dispute resolution practices, and professional arbitration. The investor is confident that the financed contract will be implemented on time – there will be no legal conflicts or lengthy litigation,” he said during the FIDIC Users Conference in London.
FIDIC is the largest international organization in the field of construction consulting, which unites more than a million practicing consulting engineers in 104 countries. The main goal of FIDIC is to regulate the relationship between the client and the construction contractor through standard forms of contracts. Infrastructure construction contracts financed by the World Bank, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are executed under FIDIC model contracts.
The main topics of the conference in London included new practices for appointing dispute resolution boards, the use of AI technologies for tender preparation and project management, and reducing carbon emissions in construction projects. The event also included the awarding of the winners of the FIDIC Contract Users’ Awards 2024.
According to Mykola Tymofeev, Avtomagistral-Pivden is the only contractor from Ukraine invited to the conference. More than a decade ago, Avtomagistral-Pivden representatives became the first Ukrainian certified FIDIC consulting engineers. Currently, there are more than 20 such engineers in the company. FIDIC membership requires compliance with the FIDIC Charter on the norms of professional ethics and behavior of consulting engineers.
“The fact that we were invited to the conference is further evidence of the international recognition of our company, confirmation of the high professional level of our consulting engineers. “Avtomagistral-Pivden works under FIDIC contracts both in other countries and on international projects in Ukraine. But we are ready to implement all Ukrainian infrastructure projects under the same FIDIC rules to stop pressure and interference in our work from law enforcement agencies that do not exist in any other European country once and for all,” Tymofeev summarized.
He also noted that almost all of the experts with whom he spoke at the conference hope that next year our country will be able to launch a large-scale recovery program with international support. “Which, of course, should be based on FIDIC contracts,” Timofeev said.
Avtomagistral-Pivden LLC has been on the market since 2004. It designs and builds highways, bridges, interchanges, airfield complexes, and hydraulic structures. The company’s owner is listed in Opendatabot as Oleksandr Boyko. According to the financial results for 2023, the company’s net profit amounted to UAH 624.9 million, and revenue was UAH 8.215 billion.
