Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced that he has signed a decree expanding the list of Ukrainian individuals and business entities subjected to Russian restrictive measures. “The list of Ukrainian individuals and entities, which will be subjected to specific restrictive measures, has been expanded. I signed a relevant decree,” the prime minister said on Twitter. “This was done to protect the interests of the Russian state, Russian companies and citizens,” Medvedev said.
Starting from January 1, 2019, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry will be processing e-visas for nationals of 52 countries using an extended list of purposes for a visit to Ukraine. The department of the ministry’s consular service said in a post on Facebook that the list will include such purposes as business trips, private visits, tourist trips, trips for medical treatment, trips for carrying out activities in culture, science, education, and sports, as well as trips by foreign media journalists visiting Ukraine as part of their job.
The nationals of the following countries are entitled to apply for e-visas to Ukraine: Australia, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, Bhutan, Bolivia, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kiribati, Kuwait, Laos, Malaysia, the Maldives, the Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Oman, Palau, Peru, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Vanuatu,
The process of getting e-visas has remained as simple as possible. To obtain an e-visa, one needs to sign up at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s website at https://evisa.mfa.gov.ua/, fill out an application form there, upload a recent photograph and scanned copies of their documents (a passport, an invitation, etc.), and pay a consular fee online with a banking card. The issued e-visas will be sent to the applicants’ email addresses in a PDF format.
In order to be granted entry into Ukraine, foreign visitors will have to print out their granted e-visas and present them along with their valid passports to Ukrainian border guards upon arrival to Ukraine (e-visas are only valid for entry through international checkpoints on the Ukrainian state border).
E-visas are to be issued within nine working days. The consular fee is $85. The e-visas will be issued for a single trip lasting up to 30 days.
Ukraine has recorded 142 cases of the African swine fever (ASF) virus since the beginning of 2018. That is 13% fewer than in the previous year, the State Food Safety and Consumer Protection Service has said. According to the service’s press release, the disease was registered among domestic pigs – 93 cases, among wild animals – 37 cases. A dozen cases in dead animals near villages were also detected. “Against the general background of the positive dynamics in reducing the number of cases of ASF, there is concern about the increase in the number of infected animal corpses found on landfills and in forest belts. This year, there were a dozen cases,” the service said.
According to the ministry, as in the past year, most cases of the disease were noted during June-September (67 cases).
Last year, the disease was recorded in all regions of Ukraine, but this year, four regions reported no ASF cases: Ivano-Frankivsk, Kirovohrad, Lviv, and Kharkiv.
“The most positive dynamics in reducing the number of cases were observed in Poltava region (eight cases in 2018, 21 cases in 2017), Luhansk (four in 2018, 10 in 2017) and Vinnytsia (two in 2018, eight in 2017),” the service said.
President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine has signed the law on making amendments to the Budget Code (No 9084). A statement on the Verkhovna Rada’s website says the document was returned with the signature of the president on December 22. The amendments to the Budget Code were approved by the parliament at second reading on November 22. In particular, the changes allow for agricultural produces to use up to 20% of state funding they receive for purchasing special wagons for transportation of grains and equipment for producing bioethanol and electric energy out of biomasses.
At present, the Budget Code stipulates that 15% of state funding in 2018 and 20% of state funding in 2019 are to be used by agricultural producers to purchase farming equipment from local manufacturers. In the new edition of this norm, “20%” is replaced with “up to 20%.”
