The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine has received $118 million on a non-refundable basis from Japan under the World Bank’s Health Enhancement and Life Saving (HEAL Ukraine) and Housing Repair for People’s Empowerment (HOPE) projects.
“The raised funds under the HEAL and HOPE projects will help the government to provide its citizens with adequate assistance, in particular, to expand the range of medical services and access to them, as well as to ensure overcoming the consequences caused by Russia’s armed aggression, to restore the housing infrastructure of Ukraine,” Minister Serhiy Marchenko was quoted as saying in the release of the Ministry of Finance on Monday.
It is specified that the attracted grant funding consists of $70 million under the HEAL Ukraine project, aimed at supporting the state budget as a reimbursement of incurred expenses under the Medical Guarantee Program, and $48.2 million – under the HOPE project, the funds of which are used to reimburse state budget expenditures used for compensatory payments to homeowners for repairs in apartment buildings and private houses in need of minor and medium repairs.
As reported, Ukraine received a record $8.9bn in international financial aid in March after only $1.2bn cumulatively in the first two months.
Due to the low external support, international reserves fell by 3.8%, or $1.47 billion, to $37.05 billion in February, after falling by 4.9%, or $1.98 billion hryvnia, in January.
The National Bank had forecast that the latest external inflows would allow international reserves to recover substantially. In January, it lowered their forecast for the end of 2024 to $40.4 billion from $44.7 billion.
HEAL Ukraine, HEALTHCARE, JAPAN, life preservation, Ministry of Finance of Ukraine
On Monday, April 1, most regions of Ukraine will be covered with dust from the Sahara, and the sky will be cloudy, the Ukrainian Weather Center reports.
“The heat wave from the western Mediterranean, which has brought us abnormally high temperatures in recent days, has also brought dust from the Sahara (this is clearly visible on the EUMETSAT satellite image). Residents of the western region could observe it yesterday, and today it will spread to most regions of Ukraine,” the post on Facebook reads.
The Ukrhydrometeorological Center urges to close windows, as the dust can be harmful to the elderly and children, as well as to people with respiratory diseases.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has amended the plan of on-site inspections on financial monitoring, compliance with currency and sanctions legislation for 2024, the regulator’s website reports.
Lombard Finance PE with the participation of ITM Market LLC and I-Company LLC was excluded from the plan of on-site inspections due to the revocation of the license to operate and Inter-Realty PE and Company was included.
According to the plan, on-site inspections of banks are scheduled for 2024: in the first quarter – JSC CB PrivatBank, JSC RVS Bank, in the second quarter – JSC OTP Bank, JSC Bank Credit Dnipro, in the third quarter – JSC Crystalbank, JSC JSB Radabank, in the fourth quarter – PJSC Bank Vostok.
Non-banking institutions: in the first quarter – FC Mont Blanc Finance LLC, FC Wei For Pei LLC, in the second quarter – Lombard Doncredit LLC Inter Realty and Company, OTP Leasing LLC, in the third quarter – Nadezhda Insurance Company, NovaPay LLC, in the fourth quarter – Credit Union, Avance Credit LLC, Ultra Alliance Insurance Company.
The report emphasizes that the plan of on-site inspections was drawn up on the basis of a risk-oriented approach, including taking into account the results of the risk assessment of banks and non-bank institutions.
Benchmark crude oil prices continue to rise after a steady increase in the first quarter.
Market participants are looking forward to the meeting of the OPEC+ Ministerial Monitoring Committee later this week.
Quotations for June futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 8:05 a.m. ET amounted to $87.25 per barrel, which is $0.25 (0.3%) higher than the level at the close of the previous trading. By this time, the price of May futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) had risen by $0.28 (0.3%) to $83.44 per barrel.
The NYMEX and ICE Futures were closed on Friday, March 29, due to Good Friday.
In March, Brent rose by 4.6% and WTI by 6.3%, with the rise recorded for the third month in a row. In the first quarter, prices rose by 13.6% and 16.1%, respectively, according to Dow Jones Market data.
In 2023, Ukraine became one of the top three exporters of chocolate to the European Union, supplying 22 thousand tons of the product, Eurostat reported. According to its data, Ukraine accounted for 13% of EU chocolate imports.
Only Switzerland (62 thousand tons, 36% share) and the United Kingdom (61 thousand tons, 36% share) supplied chocolate to the EU.
At the same time, the EU countries supplied 867 thousand tons of chocolate and chocolate bars to foreign markets.
Germany was the largest exporter, with 221 thousand tons, accounting for 26% of the total. The second place was taken by the Netherlands with 123 thousand tons and 14% respectively, and the third place was taken by Poland with 115 thousand tons and 13%. Belgium, known for its sweets, exported 96 thousand tons (11%).
The five largest export partners outside the EU included: The United Kingdom, which bought 315 thousand tons of chocolate from the EU (36%); the United States – 72 thousand tons (8%); Russia – 65 thousand tons (7%); Canada – 31 thousand tons (4%); Australia – 27 thousand tons (3%).
Finnish company Posiva Solutions has developed a concept for the construction of a deep disposal facility for the decommissioned Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP) in Lithuania, the plant said in a statement.
According to INPP Director General Linas Baužys, quoted in the statement, this is an important stage in the construction of deep burial facility.
“This month we started public consultations with municipalities. From now on, as we continue them, we will have an idea of how the future radioactive waste burial ground will physically look like and what specific measures will be taken to ensure its safety,” Baužis said.
The burial site will be several hundred meters deep. It will be an engineering structure designed to safely isolate radioactive waste. It is planned to be operational in 2068 and its location will be approved by 2047. The concept will be adjusted depending on the progress of the project development.
INPP signed a contract with a Finnish company for the amount of 262 thousand euros in January 2022. According to calculations made at that time, only the construction of of the burial ground will cost 1 billion euros, its use – another 900 million euros.
As reported, INPP was shut down on December 31, 2009, the term of work to stop its operation – until 2038. Lithuania pledged to close the plant upon joining the European Union, which co-finances these works.
The plant is equipped with the world’s most powerful Russian RBMK reactors, built in the 1980s. Work on dismantling the RBMKs is expected to start in 2028. INPP will issue separate tenders for this work.
Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, LITHUANIA, Posiva Solutions, RADIOACTIVE WASTE
