Ukraine seeks to take part in several projects in Egypt, in particular projects on modernization of a steel works and reconstruction of a coke-oven battery for a company, Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Economic Development and Trade Stepan Kubiv has said. “Ukraine is ready to undertake several projects in Egypt. The first one is modernization of Helwan steel works worth some $200 million and reconstruction of a coke-oven battery for El Nasr for Coke & Chemicals worth some $80 million,” Kubiv wrote on his Facebook page after a meeting with the minster for state-owned companies of Egypt who visited Ukraine with the purpose of attracting Ukrainian specialists to construction and modernization of Egyptian state-owned enterprises.
Kubiv also said that last year goods flow between Ukraine and Egypt reached almost $2 billion, and trade with services grew by 62% in 2017 compared with 2016.
BATTERY, COKE-OVEN, EGYPT, MODERNIZATION, PROJECTS, RECONSTRUCTION, STEEL WORKS
Subscribers of the largest Ukrainian mobile communications operator Kyivstar speak 589 minutes on average on cell phones, and average voice calls in the European Union (EU) amount to 200 minutes a month, President of Kyivstar Peter Chernyshov wrote on his Facebook page. He said that Ukrainians on average use mobile phone more and pay less.
“According to GSMА Intelligence, in 2017, subscribers in the EU used 200 minutes a month on average. The average revenue per user (ARPU) was UAH 267 ($13.72). Each subscriber of the Kyivstar network used 589 minutes a month on average with ARPU of UAH 49 ($1.8),” Chernyshov said.
He also said that a Frenchman or a Portuguese used near 3 gigabytes of data traffic a month in 2017, and a Ukrainian used 1 gigabyte. The president of Kyivstar believes that after the full launch of 4G communication in Ukraine the situation would change and Ukrainians would use mobile Internet more actively.
The occupancy of the most popular hotels in Kyiv for the period of the UEFA Champions League final reaches 100%, while prices exceed the usual tariffs by 5-10 times, experts polled by Interfax-Ukraine believe. “Almost all the hotels (more than 90%) have been booked for the period of the UEFA Champions League that will take place in Kyiv on May 26. Most of them have a minimum period of booking for the duration of the match, usually three or five days. The price of rooms depends on the location of the hotel. Prices for rooms in hotels in the center of the city are 5-10 times higher than the standard rate,” Natalia Chistiakova, the director of the valuation and consulting department at Colliers International (Ukraine), said.
According to her, the most popular objects are three-, four- and five-star hotels in the central part of the city. Tariffs for rooms decrease with distance from the Olympiysky sports complex.
In particular, according to Park Inn by Radisson Kyiv Troyitska hotel, located near the sports complex, all the rooms in the object have already been booked. At the same time, the hotel offers guests the option of including in the waiting list and after May 4 receive an answer whether there are any vacant rooms. “Given the mistakes of the previous years when carrying out the events of this level, hoteliers, more often, book rooms on a prepayment of not less than 70%,” the expert said.
The participation of international companies in the management of Ukraine’s gas transportation system (GTS) can improve its competitiveness, German Ambassador to Ukraine Ernst Reichel has stated. “Specifically, on the gas transmission system, we do believe that the participation and investment of foreign companies could play a big, positive role in order to make the gas transmission system more competitive. We are entering a phase where it is likely that there will be more competition for the Ukrainian gas transmission system, and so it needs initiatives to make it more viable and cost effective. International investment and participation in the management can play a major role. Also the European Commission is making proposals in this direction,” he said in a joint interview with French Ambassador Isabelle Dumont to Interfax-Ukraine.
Dumont, in turn, noted that the compulsory conditions for significant investments on the part of European companies in Ukraine’s GTS are clear and transparent working conditions and a favorable business climate.
“In principle, everything is possible. What will make them go or not go will be confidence in Ukrainian institutions, confidence in the business climate, confidence in any privatization offered, transparency and the understanding of what is on the table,” she said.
New containment facility at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant is planned to be put into operation this December, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said. “A new safe confinement is planned to be put into operation in December… Installation of equipment and systems is currently being completed there,” the president said at Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant on Thursday.
