President of the European Business Association (EBA) Tomas Fiala, his group of companies Dragon Capital and its employees contributed a total of UAH 22.6 million for charity and sponsorship purposes in 2018 to support Ukrainian projects for economic and social development, while in 2017 over UAH 10 million was sent for these purposes.
According to a press release of Dragon Capital issued last week, the Centre for Economic Strategy, an independent policy think tank, analytical platform VoxUkraine and its VoxCheck project, the New Leaders National Project, Anti-Corruption Action Centre, Transparency International and other NGOs working to support economic reforms, improve the business climate and help fight corruption in Ukraine together received close to UAH 12 million compared with UAH 6.1 million a year ago.
More than UAH 4.9 million was raised to finance the development of children’s hospital Ohmatdyt, help patients fighting cancer, buy a hemo-analyzer for the Western Ukrainian specialized children’s medical center (Lviv), support orphanages, repair a kindergarten, and sponsor the IWCK Charity Bazaar.
Last year Dragon Capital said in the report that the group contributed some UAH 1 million to Army SOS and IWCK Charity Bazaar. The group said that this year Dragon started to cooperate with Veteran Hub, Ukraine’s first open space for veterans of the war in eastern Ukraine and NGOs serving to protect their rights, as well as with other veteran associations in order to facilitate former soldiers’ social adaptation, particularly through employment.
According to the press release, over UAH 5.1 million went this year (UAH 3 million a year ago) to finance the Ukrainian Emerging Leaders Program at Stanford University, the Prometheus educational platform, the GoGlobal program aimed at promoting studies of foreign languages in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Academy of Leadership, etc.
According to the press release, Dragon Capital also donated UAH 0.6 million to support a public organization, whose mission is to preserve and promote the cultural, historical and archaeological heritage of Ukraine; the Lviv Media Forum, etc.
Dragon Capital group of companies, founded in 2000, is one of the largest in the Ukrainian investment market. Fiala said that in the past three years jointly with partners from the EU and the United States the group invested almost $500 million to Ukraine.
The European Union has called on Ukraine to lift the moratorium on the export of round timber, as well as introduce administrative and institutional reforms and ensure the functioning of an efficient and transparent administrative system. “The EU encouraged Ukraine to continue fighting vested interests in order to improve the business and investment climate and eliminate swiftly trade irritants, such as the wood export ban,” according to the statement following a meeting of the Council of the Ukraine-EU Association, held in Brussels.
“Particular focus should be on effective and timely implementation of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, and to further facilitate trade and eliminate technical barriers to trade, including as regards customs procedures, technical regulations, sanitary and phytosanitary systems as well as food safety reform, public procurement and the protection of intellectual property rights,” the report says.
“The Ukrainian side reaffirmed its commitments to technical regulation reform, notably the need to speed up adoption of sectoral and horizontal legislation, including in the area of market surveillance,” it says.
The EU pointed out that “Ukraine shall comply with all prerequisites set out in the AA/DCFTA including incorporating the relevant EU acquis into its legislation, making the administrative and institutional reforms and providing the efficient, effective and transparent administrative system, which are indispensable prior to starting ACAA [Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products] negotiations,” it said.
Kyivsky cardboard paper mill (Obukhiv, Kyiv region), a leader in Ukraine’s pulp and paper industry in terms of production and sales, produced goods worth UAH 5.16 billion in January-November 2018, which was 17.7% up year-over-year. Thus, production growth in January-November 2018 was retained compared to the same period last year, the UkrPapir association said. Corrugated packaging output grew by 8.8%, to 219.9 million square meters, which was the second highest result among producers of corrugated packaging in Ukraine after Rubizhne cardboard packaging mill in Luhansk region (with Trypilsky packaging plant).
Production of cardboard increased 2.9%, to 190,900 tonnes. Production of package cardboard alone grew by 11.4%, to 128,500 tonnes, while box cardboard output fell by 11%, to 62,400 tonnes.
Production of base paper (for sanitary products) stood at 73,500 tonnes, which is 6.4% up. Toilet paper output grew by 5.5%, to 393.8 million rolls.
Corrugated packaging output in total in Ukraine (including other producers) grew by 0.4% January through November 2018, to 879.1 million square meters, that of paper and cardboard increased by 4.3%, to 879,100 tonnes and toilet paper – by 7%, to 590.8 million rolls.
Kyivsky cardboard paper mill is one of the largest cardboard and paper producers in Europe. It employs almost 2,200 people. It sells produce to almost 700 companies in Ukraine, some CIS member states and the rest of the world.
Now new markets for Ukrainian products are opening today, and the compatibility of the poultry exports public supervision system is being assessed, and in 2019-2020 it is expected that markets of 24 states will open, the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumers’ Rights Protection has said. According to a report on the website of the authority, over the past two years, 21 countries have opened new markets for Ukrainian poultry products. In particular, the markets of 14 countries were opened for the export of poultry meat and products and the markets of seven countries for the export of eggs and egg products. As reported, in the middle of December 2018, Ukraine and Morocco agreed on a veterinary certificate for the export of Ukrainian egg products, and in November, Ukraine and Tunisia – for the export of Ukrainian poultry meat.
