At the end of June, Kyiv hosted a landmark event for all cigar and gourmet drink lovers – the 56th Cigar Gourmet Club Meeting. The event was organized by the Fortuna Cigar House in cooperation with the Experts Club. The meeting was held as part of a tradition launched in January 2015 in Odesa, and since then has been successfully held in major cities of Ukraine, including Lviv, Kharkiv and Dnipro.
This seminar was special due to the presentation of cigars from La Aurora Cigars, a company with a long history and producing products at the oldest operating factory in the Dominican Republic. La Aurora Cigars was founded in 1903 by Eduardo Leon Jimenez, who named his factory La Aurora in honor of the morning dawn. Today, the company is run by his grandson, Guillermo Leon Herbert, and is an important player in the market not only for cigars, but also for beer and cigarettes.
Two cigar lines were presented at the meeting:
Principes Claro Robusto is a sophisticated daily cigar with light Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade tobacco that combines sweet and woody notes.
La Aurora 107 Zeppelin is a cigar created in honor of the company’s 107th anniversary, with Nicaraguan and Dominican tobaccos aged for six years. It evolves from medium to full-bodied, revealing complex flavors of nutmeg, cinnamon and caramel.
The drinks for the event were selected by the sommelier of VINO & VINO stores Konstantin Yasko, who presented them to the visitors:
Oloroso Sherry, “Rio Viejo”, La Ina – an expressive sherry with deep notes of burnt oak, bitter chocolate and walnut.
REDBREAST whiskey, 12 years old, 40% – single malt Irish whiskey with a rich black currant flavor, sherry intonations and woody nuances.
SCAPA “GLANSA” whiskey 40% – aged in smoky whiskey barrels, with a fruity and spicy aroma of peach, pineapple and vanilla.
Warre’s Otima 20 Y.O. Port is a port wine with a refined flavor of dates, orange peel and oriental spices.
Each Cigar Gourmet Meeting is not only an opportunity to enjoy the best cigars and drinks, but also to learn more about their history and production. A special event was the presentation of Oksana Todorova’s new book “ENERGY OF STORETELLING. Stories, Archetypes, Trends in Business Communications” to those who listened attentively to the speakers’ presentations.
Thus, the joint event of the Fortuna Cigar House and Experts Club was a unique event that brought together people with a delicate taste and love for true values.
Tukimachi Sanoat Textile Group (TST Group, Uzbekistan) will establish five enterprises in Azerbaijan within the formation of a cotton cluster, the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan has reported.
Elchin Rzayev, head of the executive authority of Imishli district, and Rahib Isayev, head of Tukimachi Sanoat Textile Group, a subsidiary of Tukimachi Sanoat Textile in Azerbaijan, signed documents on Friday to implement the joint project. “The document envisages transfer of 5.826 thousand hectares of agricultural land on the territory of the agro-park located in Imishli district and managed by the Agency for Development of Economic Zones (structure of the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan) for long-term use to the Uzbek company,” the ministry said.
TST GROUP will initially invest AZN 28.7 million ($16.9 million at the current exchange rate) in the creation of cotton fields on the territory of the agro-park, in 2025-2029 will build a cotton processing plant, spinning, weaving and garment factories, as well as a cotton oil plant. “Cotton processing and oil production plants will be established on the territory of the agro park, while spinning, weaving and garment factories will be set up on the territory of the Mingachevir Industrial Park,” the ministry said.
“In general, investments in the project are estimated at AZN 92.5 million ($54.4 million at the current exchange rate), and its implementation will create 1,130 jobs. It is also planned to attract funds from the Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan Investment Fund for the realization of the project. This project will allow to create a cotton cluster in Azerbaijan,” the Ministry said.
As reported, in May 2024, one of the founders of TST Group held talks with representatives of the Agency for Development of Economic Zones of Azerbaijan, their main topic was the realization of previously reached agreements on granting TST Group a land plot near the town of Imishli. Then it was reported that the volume of investment in the textile cluster project is estimated at $52 million. The meeting also discussed plans for joint processing of Azerbaijani cotton with export of products to third countries.
TST Group is a family group of companies engaged in production and wholesale of fabrics in Uzbekistan. The group is one of the five major producers of fabrics in the country.
Partner banks of the state program of affordable mortgages “eHouse” have accredited 47 developers since the beginning of the year, bringing the total number of accredited developers to 67, the press service of PrJSC Ukrainian Financial Housing Company (Ukrfinzhytlo) reports.
According to the report, 11 developers joined the program in June. As a result, Ukrainians can now purchase housing under the program in 77 residential complexes in 15 regions of Ukraine.
Since the start of the eHouse program, Ukrainians have purchased 3,242 first-sale apartments, including 388 in newly constructed facilities.
The eHouse affordable mortgage lending program was launched in Ukraine in October 2022. Contract servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, employees of the security and defense sector, healthcare workers, teachers, and researchers can apply for a preferential mortgage at 3% per annum for up to 20 years with a down payment of 20% of the cost of housing.
Starting from August 1, 2023, war veterans, combatants, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and citizens who do not have their own housing larger than the standard area can apply for the eHouse program at a 7% discount.
Under the terms of the program, privileged categories of participants can purchase housing in a house under construction and houses not older than 10 years (in the capital and regional centers), while other participants can purchase housing in a house not older than three years or in a building under construction.
Ten partner banks participate in the program: state-owned Oschadbank, PrivatBank, Ukrgasbank, Ukreximbank, Sens Bank, as well as Globus Bank, Sky Bank and Credit Dnipro Bank, MTB Bank and TAScombank.
According to Ukrfinzhytl, as of July 12, loans were issued to 11,426 participants for UAH 18.1 billion.
Three phases of power cuts will be in effect in Ukraine on Monday from 00:00 to 16:00, with four phases simultaneously at other times.
“Tomorrow, on July 15, consumption restrictions will be in effect throughout the day. From 16:00 to 24:00, regional power distribution companies will apply four simultaneous cut-offs. At other times, three stages of blackouts will be in effect,” NPC Ukrenergo said in its telegram channel.
As the NPC explained in its social media, consumers in each region that are not included in the list of critical infrastructure facilities are divided into 6 queues or groups. The application of restrictions to three queues means that about half of the consumers will not have electricity at the same time. Four queues mean that up to 70% of consumers in each region will be cut off at the same time for a certain period. Information on the schedules of outages in each region should be found on the websites of regional power distribution companies or on their social media pages.
For his part, YASNO CEO Serhiy Kovalenko explained: “When the NPC gives a limit of one or two stages, there will be light in the light gray zones (“possible outage”), if the limit is three stages, then there may be no light in one of the stages in the light gray zones for 1-2 hours. During subsequent outages in the light gray slots, there will be no electricity in the other queue. When the limit is four queues, there will be no electricity throughout the entire light gray zone,” he wrote on Facebook.
Import changes in % to previous period in 2023-2024
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
On the eve of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, French Ambassador to Ukraine Gael Vecierre gathered Ukrainian athletes and para-athletes, as well as acting Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Matvei Bedny and presidents of the National Olympic Committee and the National Committee of Disabled People’s Sports Sushkevich at the French residence.
As the French Embassy in Ukraine notes on its Facebook page, since the beginning of the Russian aggression, Ukrainian athletes have been training in the most difficult conditions: under shelling, without electricity, with sirens dictating the rhythm of training, at sports bases affected by shelling, in exile. At least 450 Ukrainian athletes have lost their lives. But despite the military challenges, Ukrainians continue to fight, once again demonstrating their incomparable resilience and determination.
As part of its commitment to Ukraine and as the host country of the Games, France supports Ukrainian athletes in every possible way. In particular, the country has granted asylum to many of them and allocated EUR1 million for their training in France.
“I know that Ukrainian Olympians and Paralympians at the Games will be motivated by an extraordinary will to win – Will to Win is your aptly chosen slogan,” the Ambassador said, assuring that Ukrainian colors – yellow and blue – will be at the heart of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.
