“Nova Poshta has launched a service for sending parcels between European countries where it has a Nova Post office.
The service is available in all countries where the company operates, except for Moldova, Romania, and the United Kingdom, the press service of Nova Poshta reported on Friday.
“Our mission is to make delivery easy for life and business. That is why we are not only expanding our network, but also expanding the range of services. From now on, Nova Post unites not only the EU with Ukraine, but also European countries with each other, providing fast, easy and safe delivery within two days,” commented Volodymyr Popereshnyuk, co-owner of Nova Poshta.
“Nova Poshta” customers from European countries can send documents, parcels or cargo up to 100 kg to other foreign branches of the company. The shipments are delivered to the branch, to the address, to a post office or to a parcel delivery point. The cost of delivery depends on the weight of the shipment and the distance between the countries. If you send a 2 kg parcel from Poland to Germany, the price at a Nova Post office will be PLN43, and to Spain – PLN65. Ordering a courier service will cost PLN10 in addition to the cost, the press service of Nova Poshta said.
It is noted that digital tools are also available for international shipments: a multilingual website, a mobile application, and a business account.
Earlier, Nova Poshta opened the first two Nova Post branches in the UK, and on the eve of April 30 – in Spain.
“Nova Poshta has more than 35 thousand points of service for sending and receiving parcels in Europe, of which 90 are its own Nova Post offices in 13 countries: Estonia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Germany, Slovakia, Italy, Hungary, Moldova, Spain and the UK.
SKY Bank, a partner bank of the state program for affordable lending, has accredited DIM residential complexes under construction – houses No. 4 and No. 6 in LUCKY LAND residential complex and house No. 3 in Metropolis residential complex in Kyiv – for participation in the eHouse program, the developer’s press service reports.
“JSC SKY BANK welcomes the beginning of cooperation with the leading developer of the capital’s real estate market and continues to implement the strategic mission of the state preferential mortgage lending program “eOselya”, making it affordable for citizens to buy housing at the construction stage,” Volodymyr Chornenkyi, Retail Business Director, Member of the Management Board of JSC SKY BANK, said in the release.
Oleksandr Nasikovsky, Managing Partner of DIM, said that DIM regularly receives inquiries from clients about the possibility of buying an apartment under the eOselya state program.
“Everyone should have a home – we are convinced of this. Since the beginning of the year, we have commissioned more than 1,000 apartments and are actively working to develop comfortable conditions for our clients to purchase housing, in particular, we are working with the state program of affordable housing loans,” said Nasikovsky.
Lucky Land (6 Berkovetska St.) is a comfort-class residential complex designed as a multifunctional neighborhood with developed infrastructure. It includes 23 buildings with a height of 13-14 floors, a total of 5183 apartments, with a guest parking lot for 2.5 thousand and an underground parking lot for 356 cars. Under the eOselya program, mortgages are available for one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with an area of 41 sq. m. in building No. 3, which has already received a certificate of completion, and buildings No. 4 and No. 6, which are scheduled for commissioning in the third and fourth quarters of this year.
You can also buy an apartment under the eOselya program in the building No. 3 of the Metropolis residential complex under construction (1 Ak. Zabolotnoho St.), which is scheduled to be commissioned in the third quarter.
Apartments in the completed residential complex “Novyi Avtograf” (26, Knyazya Romana Mstyslavycha (General Zhmachenko) str.) are also available under the “eOselya” program.
As reported, the eOselya affordable mortgage lending program was launched in Ukraine in October 2022. Contract servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, employees of the security and defense sector, medical workers, teachers, and researchers can apply for a preferential mortgage at 3% per annum for up to 20 years with a down payment of 20% of the cost of housing.
Starting from August 1, 2023, war veterans, combatants, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and citizens who do not have their own housing larger than the standard area can apply for the eHouse program at a 7% discount.
Eight partner banks are integrated into this program: Oschadbank, PrivatBank, Ukrgasbank, Globus Bank, Sky Bank, Ukreximbank, SENS and Bank Credit Dnipro. You can apply for participation in the program in the Diia mobile application.
As of April 30, the volume of loans issued under the eHouse program reached UAH 14.9 billion, with loans issued to 9,613 families. At the same time, 2.9% of the apartments were purchased on the primary market, 71.7% on the secondary market, and 25.4% from developers.
DIM Group was founded in 2014 and consists of six companies covering all stages of construction. To date, 12 buildings in six residential complexes with a total residential area of over 218 thousand square meters have been commissioned. Six comfort+ and business class residential complexes are under construction: “New Autograph, Metropolis, Park Lake City, Lucky Land, A136 Highlight Tower, Olegiv Podil.
The reference exchange rate of the hryvnia to the US dollar on the interbank foreign exchange market as of 12:00 a.m. on May 24, 2024.
Reference hryvnia to US dollar exchange rate (UAH/$) 39.8825 40.0752 0.48
Source: NBU
In 2023, the number of Americans who use marijuana on a daily basis exceeded the number of those who drink alcohol daily, the Associated Press reports, citing a study by Carnegie Mellon University.
About 17.7 million people consumed marijuana daily or almost daily the year before last, compared to 14.7 million who drink alcohol with the same frequency, the study said. For comparison, in 1992, less than 1 million Americans used marijuana almost daily.
“A good 40% of marijuana users use it daily or almost daily. This pattern of consumption is more closely associated with tobacco than alcohol,” said Jonathan Caulkins, a researcher at the university.
He emphasized that the data is based on surveys, and respondents may have been more willing to admit to daily marijuana use due to the fact that it is becoming more socially acceptable in the United States.
While marijuana is legal in most states for medical or recreational use, it is still prohibited at the federal level.
Studies show that frequent use increases the likelihood of becoming addicted to marijuana or developing cannabinoid psychosis, said David Gorelick, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Ukraine is negotiating to maximise possible imports of electricity from European Union countries to compensate for the generation capacity destroyed by the Russian attacks, Ukrainian energy minister said on Friday.
Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector have intensified since March, resulting in significant damage and blackouts in many regions.
The attacks have caused more than $1 billion of damage to the sector, leading to the loss of 8,000 MWh of generating capacity from the energy system, the government says.
Currently, Ukraine can import from the EU states no more than 1,700 Mwh of electricity simultaneously.
“We’re negotiating. Our task is to maximise this figure,” Energy Minister German Galushchenko told parliament.
“Technically, we can receive (import) more than 2,000 Mwh, even 2,400 Mwh. I’m sure a decision will be made,” he added.
Volodymyr Kudrytskiy, the head of Ukraine’s national power grid operator Ukrenergo, told Ukraine’s Telegraf that 1,700 Mwh is “the ceiling for now”.
“Everything will depend on how quickly our European colleagues – energy system operators of neighbouring countries – will be able to implement projects to expand the capacity of their grids,” Kudrytskiy said.
He said that European grid companies need time and money to reinforce some of their substations, install additional transformers or build new transmission lines.
“We think 3,500 to 4,000 Mwh of interstate interconnector capacity is something we can have in the horizon of five years,” Kudrytskiy noted.
IMPORTS
Energy minister Galushchenko did not say exactly how much imports are being discussed now, but Maxim Timchenko, the head of Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, said earlier this month that an increase to 2,200 Mwh could significantly improve the situation.
DTEK has lost about 90% of its power generation capacity due to Russian missile attacks in recent months.
DTEK data showed that Ukraine consumed around 13,000 Mwh before the attacks as of March 17 but after a series of Russian attacks on the energy system, consumption fell to 9,100 Mwh.
Due to power shortages, Ukrainian power grid operator Ukrenergo has been forced to introduce regular shutdowns of industrial consumers and households and maintain high import rates.
Problems with power generation can have a “potentially negative impact” on industry, especially the largest electricity consumers, the economy ministry said this week.
Drop from £1,690 driven by fall in wholesale gas prices but household bills still substantially higher than three years ago.
The energy price cap in Great Britain will fall 7% to the equivalent of £1,568 a year this summer after a drop in wholesale gas prices.
Set by the energy regulator, Ofgem, the cap reflects the average annual dual-fuel bill for 29m households and takes effect from July until the end of September.
The cap, which is set quarterly, will fall by £122 in July from its current level of £1,690, easing the pressure on household finances.
Although that represents a fillip for hard-pressed consumers, it still leaves bills far above the £1,154 cap in the summer of 2021, before the energy crisis. Wholesale gas prices began to rise sharply in 2021 and escalated after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
Bills have since eased from their peak in 2023 – when the cap reached £4,279 but the government subsidised bills to keep them at £2,500 – but remain above pre-crisis levels, meaning millions of households are expected to remain in fuel poverty.
Jess Ralston, an energy analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said: “Households are still struggling with bills that are hundreds of pounds higher than pre-crisis levels, and estimates suggest bills may rise again as we head into winter.
“Whatever colour the next government is, we’ll be heading into a winter still heavily dependent on volatile gas markets, going backwards on our energy independence. The cost of living, driven in part by energy bills, and the UK’s energy security may well be key election issues – so how the parties choose to tackle them will likely be in the spotlight.”
The price cap is expected to rise slightly in October before falling again in January 2025, according to analysis by the consultancy Cornwall Insight. It had forecast July’s cap would be £1,574 a year.
