Benchmark oil prices are moderately rising on Friday morning after rising in the last hours of trading the day before.
The price of June futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange at 8:01 a.m. is $89.35 per barrel, which is $0.34 (0.38%) higher than at the close of the previous session. On Thursday, these contracts rose in price by $0.99 (1.1%) to $89.01 per barrel.
Quotations for June futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by this time increased by $0.29 (0.35%) to $83.86 per barrel. At the end of the previous session, the contract rose by $0.76 (0.9%) to $83.57 per barrel.
For most of the last session, oil was trading in the red, managing to break even at the very end of trading. Such fluctuations were caused by low trading volume, Manish Raj, managing director of Velandera Energy Partners, told MarketWatch. “Too many investors have played the downside, and now they are trying to close their positions,” he said.
A day earlier, the U.S. Department of Energy reported that commercial oil reserves in the country fell by 6.368 million barrels last week. The drop was the largest since January, and the decline was recorded for the first time in five weeks. Despite this, oil prices declined slightly on Wednesday.
“The bulls are probably very upset by the market’s reaction to the larger-than-expected drop in oil inventories,” analysts at brokerage Zaner said.
In 2023, Ukrposhta JSC increased its net income from sales by 12.2% compared to 2022 to UAH 11.58 billion, reducing its net loss by 36% to UAH 796.4 million, according to a report on the company’s official website on Thursday.
“Revenue growth is observed for all services, except for income from mailing, distribution of periodicals, payments, and a number of others,” the company said in a statement.
It is noted that against the backdrop of a 12.8% increase in the volume of written correspondence, revenues from the service decreased by 11% to UAH 1.5 billion.
The volume of distribution of periodicals decreased by 25.3%, and revenues from this type of activity fell by 40.6% to UAH 197.9 million due to falling demand for the service and delayed tariff revision, Ukrposhta noted.
In addition, the number of accepted utility payments decreased by 3.6%. The company explained this by migration of the population, destruction of utility infrastructure, and partly by the introduction of payment holidays.
According to the report, Ukrposhta’s revenue growth was driven by parcels, both domestic and international, as well as remittances. In 2023, the volume of domestic parcels increased by 34% to 50 million units, and revenues from the parcel delivery business reached UAH 1.7 billion.
Revenues from international postal operations (international parcels, small packages, EMS) amounted to UAH 2.7 billion. It is noted that the volume of international export shipments increased by 3.7% compared to 2022, while due to the growth of the exchange rate, revenues increased by 27.8%, Ukrposhta said.
In 2023, the company’s revenues from pensions and cash benefits increased by 4% to UAH 2.8 billion, while the number of pension payments decreased by 5.5%, which is significantly higher than the historical outflow rate, the report said.
According to the report, revenue from postal transfers increased by 88.7% to UAH 317.2 million, and from the sale of goods in branches by 2.8% to UAH 873.3 million.
It is reported that Ukrposhta has no arrears in payments to the budget and state trust funds. In 2023, the company paid UAH 2.99 billion in taxes, fees and mandatory payments, which is UAH 128.6 million more than in 2022.
The volume of Ukrposhta’s capital investments in 2023 amounted to UAH 526.7 million.
It is also noted that during 2023, the company fulfilled its financial obligations in a timely manner, including bond repayments of UAH 3.9 million, leasing of UAH 221.9 million, and loan servicing of UAH 231.9 million. As of the end of 2023, the company’s total debt amounted to UAH 1.73 billion, including UAH 1.008 billion in bank loans and UAH 170.2 million in financial leasing.
In 2023, the average number of Ukrposhta employees was 40.4 thousand, including 7.4 thousand postal operators and 12.5 thousand postmen. The average salary in 2023 was UAH 11.69 thousand. The company’s total labor costs in 2023 increased by 8.4% to UAH 5.97 billion.
The number of Ukrposhta’s stationary offices amounted to 4.69 thousand, and mobile offices – 1.86 thousand, the report says. Due to military operations, the company temporarily lost control of about 12% of its post offices, mainly in the occupied areas of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Mykola Solsky submitted a letter of resignation from the post of Minister of agrarian policy and food of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada will consider it at one of the next plenary sessions, said the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk.
“The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine received a statement from Mykola Solsky on resignation from the post of Minister of agrarian policy and food of Ukraine. The statement will be considered at one of the next plenary sessions,” he wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday.
The Ministry of agrarian policy and food in turn published a comment from Solskiy about the application submitted to the Parliament.
“Yes, I wrote a letter of resignation from the post of Minister. In such a situation, I believe it is the right step. The Verkhovna Rada will decide to accept my resignation – I will be grateful for such a decision, will decide that I should work further – I will continue to work”, – he explained.
As reported, on April 23, the NABU notified Solsky about suspicion in the possession of state land for 291 million UAH and an attempt to seize land for another 190 million UAH.
The Minister denied the accusations and stated that “the events, which, according to NABU, are reported in the suspicion to me, relate to the period 2017-2018, that is, at the time when I was a lawyer and was neither the Minister of agrarian policy and food of Ukraine, nor the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on agrarian and land policy”.
According to his information, the circumstances of seven years ago concern a dispute between state enterprises and individuals, in particular ATO military personnel, over lands granted to them in possession in accordance with the law.
On April 25, leading agrarian associations petitioned the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court to take Solskyy on bail, and also expressed confidence in the work of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.
The HACC heard the prosecution and defense sides during the trial on Thursday. SAP demanded for the current Minister of detention, and in case of a decision to release on bail two representatives of agrarian associations – chairman of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation Maria Didukh and deputy head of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Rada Denis Marchuk – to prohibit Solskiy communication with other suspects, travel from Kiev, obliged to wear an electronic bracelet and bail 200 million hryvnia.
According to the broadcast of the meeting, the court declared a break and will continue consideration of the motion SAP on Friday morning.
State enterprise “International Airport “Boryspil” (Kiev) on April 25 announced a tender for the purchase of services of compulsory insurance of civil liability of owners of land vehicles (OSAGO), reported in the system of electronic public procurement Prozorro.
As noted, the expected cost of the purchase of services is UAH 157 thousand.
Security of the tender offer is not required.
The deadline for submission of bids is May 3
Kyivstar’s Home Internet has the largest gigabit network among Ukrainian Internet providers. The company has invested more than UAH 44 million in Gigabit development during the full-scale invasion alone.
At the beginning of 2024, the number of Kyivstar fixed-line subscribers reached 1.15 million, and more than 70% of them have access to gigabit tariff plans.
Thanks to the rapid modernization of gigabit equipment, Kyivstar Home Internet subscribers can increase the speed from the standard 100 Mbit/s to 1 Gbit/s. In particular, this became possible in big cities: Kyiv, Dnipro, Lviv, Rivne, Khmelnytsky, Lutsk, Ternopil, and cities of regional significance: Bila Tserkva, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Netishyn, Drohobych, Mukachevo, Novovolynsk, Boryspil, etc.
“With the number of gadgets and users in Ukrainian homes constantly growing, increasing the standard speed from 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps is a hygienic improvement in the convenience of Internet access. That is why our focus in 2021 is to modernize our equipment in different cities of Ukraine for the qualitative development of Gigabit,” commented Sergiy Sukhoruk, Head of Fixed Line Communications at Kyivstar.
Subscribers can choose a tariff plan, and instead of the standard 100 Mbit/s speed, they can receive Internet at up to 1 Gbit/s. This allows users to download large files faster, connect more devices without sacrificing speed and watch videos on large screens in the best quality.
Before upgrading to a gigabit plan, users should make sure that their router is capable of supporting it. If it does not, they should replace it.
Gigabit speed from Kyivstar is available in most tariff plans of the Home Internet service. To test it, current subscribers can change their tariff to one that allows them to use speeds up to 1 Gbps, try it for 50 UAH/month or connect the appropriate Superfast. New Kyivstar fixed-line subscribers can use the Try Gigabit service and test gigabit speeds for free for the first 3 months.
For more information about Kyivstar’s gigabit speed, please follow the link.
In addition, Kyivstar continues to connect shelters across the country to the Internet free of charge. During the full-scale invasion, 1490 shelters were connected, and the company invested over UAH 700 thousand in this initiative. The company has also provided free Internet connection to 1550 modular houses for IDPs and will continue to do so upon request to wifi@kyivstar.net.
About Kyivstar:
Kyivstar is Ukraine’s largest electronic communications operator, serving about 24 million mobile subscribers and more than 1.1 million Home Internet subscribers as of December 2023. The company provides services using a wide range of mobile and fixed technologies, including 4G, Big Data, Cloud solutions, cybersecurity services, digital TV, etc. Kyivstar is developing new telecom technologies in Ukraine and plans to invest USD 600 million in this area over the next three years. The company helps Ukraine overcome the challenges of wartime and has allocated over UAH 1.8 billion over the past two years to support the Armed Forces, subscribers, and social projects. Kyivstar’s shareholder is the international VEON Group. The Group’s shares are listed on the NASDAQ (New York) and Euronext (Amsterdam) stock exchanges. Kyivstar has been operating in Ukraine for 26 years and is recognized as the largest taxpayer in the telecom market, the best employer and a socially responsible company. For more information: pr@kyivstar.net, www.kyivstar.ua
On April 24, the second edition of the European Festival: Ukrainian Spring”.
The first concert event of the festival was preceded by a reception hosted by the German Embassy in Sweden. The opening was attended by representatives of the Swedish government and parliament, ambassadors of foreign countries, as well as cultural and public figures.
“It is a real honor to organize this reception today, and support for Ukraine is very close to our hearts. Every day we think about the terrible ordeal, when the nights are filled with air raids and attacks and many troubles and difficulties. At the Ukrainian Festival, we are talking about how best to support Ukraine in its struggle to define its own history and defend its sovereign state in peace and freedom,” said Joachim Berthele, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany to Sweden, at the opening ceremony.
The festival is organized under the coordination of the Ukrainian Institute in Sweden by a number of diplomatic and cultural institutions from different countries working in Stockholm, as well as with the support of the European Commission and the European Union Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC).
The concept of the festival is to present Ukraine as an integral part of the common European cultural heritage.
“All our efforts should be aimed at supporting Ukraine. Every cultural event should draw attention to the terrible crime that Russia continues to commit on Ukrainian soil. Music cannot stop the aggressor, but it can be a weapon, and we need to be reminded every day to get it: Ukraine not only exists and has a voice, Ukraine is an integral natural part of Europe,” said Natalia Pasichnyk, director of the Ukrainian Institute in Sweden, pianist.
At the opening concert, she and the Calmus vocal ensemble from Leipzig presented a new vision of Johann Sebastian Bach’s world-famous work “The Well-Tempered Clavier” with religious texts and vocal arrangements.
“Natalia Pasichnyk is a co-author of Bach’s new musical work with the Calmus Ensemble from Leipzig. This is a world premiere on stage, and it is also the first performance for Calmus in Stockholm. So we are looking forward to a very special evening,” said Joakim Berthele before the concert.
Calmus vocalists emphasized that they believe that supporting attention to Ukraine through cultural events is important and effective.
“It definitely works when we keep reminding people about Ukraine at our concerts. From the very beginning of the full-scale invasion, we always sang Mykola Lysenko’s Prayer for Ukraine at our concerts – “God, Great, One”. We sang it to tell people: “There is a war in Europe!” We did this in the United States and everywhere we performed. I’m convinced that it definitely helps when we combine art and people’s awareness of what’s going on,” said Friedrich Brax, one of the members of Calmus Ensemble.
The organizers dedicated the first concert day to the memory of opera singer Vasyl Slipak. He was a soloist at the National Opera in Paris, went to defend Ukraine, and was killed by a Russian sniper near Bakhmut on June 29, 2016. Each day of the festival is dedicated to an artist-warrior who died at the front.
The festival will run until May 7, with the grand finale featuring a performance by world-renowned Latvian violinist and conductor Gidons Kremer and his Kremerata Baltica orchestra.
Photos and videos from the gala reception and concert: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NUlzjHORdW8qRGtyTC4bhyPl2wY8GfQo?usp=drive_link
The full program is available on the festival’s website: https://www.europeanspring.eu/program
