45% of Ukrainians consider their vacation in 2024 to be untimely, while 36% plan to spend time with family or friends in Ukraine or abroad.
This is evidenced by the results of an online survey conducted by Rakuten Viber on April 26 among more than 36 thousand users.
At the same time, it is reported that in 2023, during a similar survey, 68% of respondents called the vacation untimely, and the percentage of those wishing to rest has increased over the year.
“25% are planning a vacation in Ukraine (in 2023 – 10%), another 11% want to go abroad (in 2023 – 6%). Every fifth respondent (19%) plans to take a few days off during the year (16% in 2023),” the press release on the survey results says.
In January-March 2024, Ukrgasvydobuvannya JSC increased gas production by 12% compared to the same period in 2023, Naftogaz reports on its website without specifying the final figure.
“This is the result of the launch of new productive wells, as well as effective work with the old stock. Our goal is to maintain this trend and reach production growth by the end of the year,” Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyshev said in a statement.
According to him, traditionally, the highest production rates are in the east of the country, but in the west and central regions, the plan was also exceeded.
“Every gas production department of Ukrgasvydobuvannya, despite the shelling and sometimes even the lack of electricity supply, is meeting the gas production targets for this year. At the same time, there are risks, we understand that there may be shelling. However, the company will do everything possible to continue to meet the country’s needs,” added the company’s CEO Oleh Tolmachov.
As reported, in 2022, UGV produced 12.5 bcm of natural gas (commercial), which is 3% less than in 2021. At the end of 2023, the company’s commercial gas production amounted to 13.224 billion cubic meters, which is 0.679 billion cubic meters more than in 2022.
NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine owns 100% of Ukrgasvydobuvannya shares.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Australia, Richard Marles, has announced another $100 million package of military assistance to Ukraine.
“Australia will stay with Ukraine for as long as it takes for Ukraine to win this war. To this end, we are today announcing another $100 million package of assistance to Ukraine. $50 million of this amount will be spent on short-range air defense systems, another $30 million will be spent on the purchase of drones, as Australia is part of the Drone Coalition with the UK and Latvia. The remainder will be used to purchase support equipment, from inflatable boats to helmets and boots,” Marles said at a joint briefing with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Lviv on Saturday.
He added that Australia was also able to provide Ukraine with air-to-ground munitions.
The United Arab Emirates and Ukraine concluded an economic agreement aimed at increasing their bilateral trade, which has fallen sharply from its pre-war level.
Non-oil trade between the two countries reached $386 million last year, down from more than $800 million before the Kremlin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Thani Al-Zeyoudi, the UAE’s minister of state for foreign trade, said in an interview. The fall in trade is not specific to the Gulf nation, and similar trends with Ukraine since the start of the war can be seen across the globe, he said.
The agreement finalizes a trade pact that was announced two years ago, and is part of the UAE’s goal of growing its non-oil foreign trade with multiple nations. The deal aims to alleviate or remove tariffs on some products, and strengthen supply chains to the wider region for major exports such as grains, machinery and metals, according to a statement on the agreement released Monday.
Kyiv estimates the accord may boost Ukraine’s gross domestic product by 0.1% in the medium- to long-term, the Economy Ministry said in a statement on its website.
“Ukraine is a bridge for our exports to Europe, and an important source for our imports related to food security,” Al-Zeyoudi said in the statement. The agreement “will provide Ukrainian companies and entrepreneurs with a new platform that allows them to expand towards growth markets in Asia and Africa through the UAE.”
Al-Zeyoudi said the pact would “play an active role in revitalizing the Ukrainian economy, and would provide new opportunities for the business communities of the two friendly countries.”
“It is not a classic free trade agreement, it is comprehensive, and it includes goods, services, investments, digital trade, and so on,” Ukrainian Economic Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said. The ministry said it expects exports of metals and vegetable oil to rise as a result of the deal.
Joint investment between the two countries reached $360 million in 2022 across several sectors including logistics and infrastructure, travel and tourism, and technology, according to the statement.
The energy-rich UAE has been signing similar pacts with several countries it is targeting for trade growth such as India, Israel and Turkey. In 2021, the Gulf country said it planned to deepen its trade ties in fast-growing economies by drawing $150 billion in foreign investments.
The UAE has maintained ties with both Ukraine and Russia since the start of the Kremlin’s invasion. The Gulf nation’s business capital Dubai has been a destination for both Russians and Ukrainians.
All checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Polish border were unblocked on Sunday night, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solsky said.
“We express our gratitude to the Polish Ministry for their constructive work on unblocking the border, as well as to the industry associations of both countries. The ongoing negotiations were not easy, but the main thing is that we have a result,” the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy quoted him as saying at the online talks on Monday.
According to the report, negotiations between the ministries and associations will continue. The parties agreed to exchange monthly figures on the transit of agricultural products to monitor the situation.
The next meeting of the agriculture ministers of Ukraine and Poland is scheduled for May 7. They will discuss the terms of cooperation between the agricultural sectors of the two countries in the summer.
Viola von Cramon, Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Deputy Chair of the EP Delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee (EPA), Germany, Green Group/European Free Alliance, has suggested that Ukraine should include opposition representatives in its executive bodies.
In an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine, the MEP stated that holding presidential elections in Ukraine is impossible due to the war waged by the Russian Federation. In this regard, she expressed support for the inclusion of opposition representatives in the Ukrainian executive branch.
“Yes, this is what I consider necessary. I think we should have made this a precondition at the very beginning (of providing financial assistance to Ukraine)… You saw how Netanyahu (Israeli Prime Minister) created a military cabinet from the very beginning, 24 hours after the attack (by the Hamas terrorist organization on Israel). He made sure to include everyone and that everyone spoke with one voice. The same could be expected from Ukraine,” she said.
At the same time, the MEP did not rule out that this condition could be specified when providing further financial support. “I would say that the US, the EU, Germany and other donors may require this. I think we need to make sure that all participants in the political arena receive the same attention, the same access, and the same financial review. This way, they know what money is coming and going and why certain decisions are made. I am in favor of involving the opposition more in the decision-making process at the executive level,” she argued.
In addition, the agency’s interlocutor, stating the impossibility of holding elections throughout Ukraine, allowed the discussion of holding local elections in the non-occupied territories. “The Constitution (of Ukraine) does not allow holding elections during the war. But perhaps we could discuss or think about local elections in those territories, in those regions that are not occupied. But I am not sure that this is being discussed, and it is not for me, as a European, to talk about it,” von Cramon said.
The MEP also commented on cases when members of the Verkhovna Rada were denied permission to sign business trips outside the country. “Yes, we are very well aware of this and we are fighting for the rights of my colleagues. This is not normal. But it’s not just the opposition. Interestingly, after one of the votes, people who did not vote for a certain law faced the same appeal. So it’s not just the opposition. In fact, this is used as a political tool against those MPs who did not follow the presidential line, and this is a problem,” von Cramon said.
She believes that the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, “does not decide anything,” and that the decisions are made by “the Secretary General of the Rada (Vyacheslav Shtuchnyi), appointed by the President’s Office.” “You have an elected speaker of the Ukrainian Rada chamber, but you also have a secretary general appointed by the President’s Office who makes all the decisions, earns a lot of money – 13 thousand euros – and is not obliged to disclose (declare) his assets and his income. This is what really worries me,” the European politician said.
Von Cramon also believes that the Verkhovna Rada could allow journalists to cover its work again. “I think it would be fair to leave the doors (of the parliament) open and give a place to journalists who are interested in reporting directly on the debate to feel the spirit, the dynamics of the debate, but I don’t think I have anything to say about that,” the MEP said.
At the same time, she is convinced that the press in Ukraine is “free,” although “there are certain restrictions and, of course, a lot of subcensorship.” “It’s more like what you think: “If I publish this, if I criticize this, it might end up in Putin’s hands or help Putin discredit Ukraine,” and of course that’s not in the interest of most journalists. But I wouldn’t say that there are any, let’s say, red lines that cannot be crossed,” von Cramon explained her opinion.
At the same time, she also believes that “there is a tendency in the Presidential Office not to give a voice to the opposition and critics.” “With this marathon (the United News telethon), they have actually included all journalists and ensured that the pluralism of the media landscape has virtually disappeared. This unity does not reflect the diversity of the political landscape, and this can be criticized. I criticize it. But I would not say that there is no free and objective media,” stated the MEP.
