Ukraine’s state budget on Thursday received $1.215 billion in grant funds through the World Bank’s Multi-Donor Trust Fund: $1.2 billion from the U.S. and ;15 million from Finland.
“The grant funds are provided as part of the fifth additional funding under the project Supporting Public Expenditures for Sustainable Public Administration in Ukraine (PEACE in Ukraine). The purpose of the project is to partially compensate state budget expenditures, including social and humanitarian, not related to the sphere of security and defense,” the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday.
It specified that the attracted grant financing will be used for remuneration of state bodies’ employees and teaching staff, pension payments, as well as payments under certain programs of state social assistance (IDPs, people with disabilities, low-income families and payments of housing and communal subsidies).
The Finance Ministry added that in cooperation with Deloitte Consulting, which implements the USAID SOERA project, it is monitoring the use of direct budget support from the US government, and with PriceWaterhouseCoopers Ukraine, an auditing company, is reviewing the agreed procedures in order to determine the eligible state expenditures made by Ukraine in 2022.
It is indicated that the size of the PEACE in Ukraine program reached $16.5 billion and EUR1.4 billion (IBRD loans, MIGA loans, grants of the Multi-Donor Trust Fund).
Every year about 0.5% of land in Ukraine is sold, although at the time of the launch of the land market it was expected that this figure would be 3%, said the Minister of Agrarian Policy Nikolay Solskyy during the broadcast of telethon “United News”.
According to his information, the cost of land depends on the region.
“This has always been the case, and the war has become an additional argument for differentiation of this issue. Before the war, the lowest cost per hectare was in the west of Ukraine, and in the central and eastern was about the same level. Now the proportion has changed – the prices in the frontline regions are lower than in western and right-bank Ukraine,” he said.
Solsky stated that in 2022 land prices, if “pegged to the hryvnia to the dollar,” showed a drop. However, now the situation has leveled off and the cost of a hectare of land continues to rise. This trend, in his opinion, will be permanent.
According to him, in 2021, when the land market began to function, 150 thousand hectares of agricultural land was sold in Ukraine. In 2022 – a little more than 100 thousand hectares.
“The land market continues to function. It functions, from my point of view, predictably and effectively. It is also an incentive for a very active for the wartime establishment of businesses that depend on the land market, in particular, orchards and berries,” – said the Minister.
He underlined that during 20 years 23 thousands of hectares of gardens have been planted in Ukraine and since autumn 2022 2500 hectares of new modern gardens with irrigation, modern management systems and seedlings have been announced and already spent money. The open land market has contributed to this. Because people invest in land only when it is their property.
The Minister noted that the land for its owners is a sacred concept, “a hope for the future, and hope is sold in the last place. Therefore, land in Ukraine is sold in exceptional cases – or on major holidays, or when disaster strikes. The reason for such a decision can be the death of a shareholder due to age, after which his children or grandchildren decide to sell, or another serious reason occurs in the family. That is why the percentage of contracts of sale/purchase of land in the country is low.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy does not foresee the activation of the land market and predicts that there will not be any factors provoking the growth of sales in the future. Even rising prices won’t cause an increase in land sales, the minister assured.
He added that at the moment there is an increase in land sales in eastern Ukraine, particularly in the frontline areas, which is logical and understandable.
Speaking of land mined and contaminated by explosives, the minister said that “their fate is quite clear – to demine, prepare (for agricultural work – IF) and sow again.” “This is an obvious task for farmers, local authorities, land owners and the state,” Solsky concluded.
Harvesting of current crops in the Prometey Group started with winter barley. Areas with this crop are located mainly in Bashtanka district of Nikolaev region.
Harvesting has already been carried out on an area of 216 hectares, with an average barley yield of 78.5 centners per hectare.
“This year’s harvest has pleasantly surprised us – says agronomist-technologist Ilya Troitsky, – and although Bashtanka district is famous for barley, it is traditionally grown here, this season’s figures exceeded expectations”.
One day Prometey agrarian enterprises will start harvesting winter wheat.
The bill on the use of the English language provides for the use of English in the educational process for children of preschool age and the learning of English by children of senior preschool age in kindergartens from September 1, 2026.
Bill No. 9432 dated June 28 on the use of the English language in Ukraine determines that ensuring the mandatory use of English in the educational process for children of early, primary and secondary preschool age in preschool education institutions, as well as ensuring the mandatory learning of English by children of senior preschool age in kindergartens will be introduced from September 1, 2026.
It is also determined that during four years from the date of the end of martial law, the state will provide financial assistance to citizens of Ukraine for learning English as part of adult education.
As reported, on June 28, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted a bill to the Verkhovna Rada that defines English as the language of international communication in Ukraine, and also promotes the learning of English by citizens of Ukraine.
Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence arrived in Ukraine on Thursday, June 29, on an unannounced visit, reports NBC News.
Pence became the first Republican U.S. presidential candidate to meet with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky during the campaign.
“I believe America is the leader of the free world,” Pence told NBC News.
As part of his visit, Pence is visiting the de-occupied Moschun, Bucha and Irpen in the Kiev region.
“To come here just as a private citizen – to be able to see firsthand the heroism of the Ukrainian soldiers who held the defense in those woods, to see the heroism of the people here in Irpen who held back the Russian army, to see the families whose homes were literally shelled in the midst of the brazen and unprovoked Russian invasion – it only strengthens my resolve to contribute, to continue calling for American strong support for our Ukrainian friends and allies,” Pence said
President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky held a meeting with representatives of business, during which they discussed the topic of state reconstruction, the tax sphere, as well as the creation of a coordination tool.
“The meeting with representatives of business. A lot of pressing topics. Opportunities for the state to stimulate economic activity. The program “єOsel” and business participation. Recovery topics. Tax sphere and opportunities to reform it. Inspections. Law enforcement. Coordination and communication for the sake of problem solving. Useful business proposal to create a coordination tool,” Zelensky wrote in his Telegram channel on Thursday.
The president said that the main priority at the moment is the victory of Ukraine in the war.
“The main priority is always the strength of Ukraine. Thanks to everyone and everyone who adds strength to Ukraine, who keeps and creates new jobs, who strengthens our economy and helps develop our institutions,” Zelensky said.
According to the press service of the Ukrainian head of state, during the meeting Zelensky said that the priority in the reconstruction of Ukraine will be the participation of Ukrainian and foreign business, which worked and continues to work, especially during the war.
“But the doors will be open to many companies. We need hundreds and thousands of companies to come to us,” Zelensky said.
Also during the meeting, the parties agreed on joint efforts to reduce business problems from law enforcement agencies, as well as the prospect of forming a tax sphere and strengthening the effectiveness of bodies that should stimulate economic development and provide support for investments.
In turn, business representatives proposed the establishment of a coordination platform for communication on the protection of business rights and consideration of other issues. Zelensky supported this initiative and also offered to jointly decide on the format of the work.
“It is very important to create a platform on which we would constantly talk. Because we cannot accumulate problems for years: we simply will not be able to overcome them later,” the president stressed.
