In January-June of this year, Ukrainian mining companies increased exports of iron ore in physical terms by 2.2 times compared to the same period last year, to 18 million 315.164 thousand tons.
According to the statistics released by the State Customs Service on Tuesday, foreign exchange earnings from iron ore exports increased by 78.8% to $1 billion 602.255 million over the period.
Iron ore was exported mainly to China (38.66% of supplies in monetary terms), Slovakia (16.46%) and Poland (15.83%).
In January-June 2024, Ukraine imported iron ore worth $151 thousand in the total amount of 330 tons, while in January-June 2023 it imported iron ore worth $42 thousand in the total amount of 68 tons. Imports this year were carried out from the Netherlands (47.02%), Italy (19.87%) and Norway (18.54%).
As reported, in 2023, Ukraine decreased exports of iron ore in physical terms by 26% compared to 2022 – to 17 million 753.165 thousand tons, foreign exchange earnings from iron ore exports amounted to $1 billion 766.906 million (down 39.3%). Iron ore was exported mainly to Slovakia (28.39% of supplies in monetary terms), the Czech Republic (19.74%) and Poland (19.56%).
Last year, Ukraine imported iron ore worth $135 thousand in the total amount of 250 tons. During this period, imports were made from Norway (34.81%), Italy (28.89%) and the Netherlands (28.89%). While in 2022, iron ore was imported for $65 thousand in a total volume of 101 tons.
Farmers in all regions of Ukraine have already harvested 9.5 million tons of new crops from 2.785 million hectares, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reported on Friday.
According to the press service, 5.7 million tons of wheat were harvested from 1.508 million hectares at a yield of 33.8 c/ha, 2.4 million tons of barley from 642.3 thousand hectares at a yield of 38.9 c/ha, 260.9 thousand tons of peas from 127.3 thousand hectares at a yield of 20.3 c/ha.
Ukraine also continues harvesting oilseeds. In particular, 1.085 mln tons of rapeseed have been harvested from 499.6 thou hectares with a yield of 15.3 c/ha and 0.3 thou tons of soybeans from 0.2 thou hectares with a yield of 19.3 c/ha.
At the same time, the TOP-3 in terms of grain harvesting rates includes farmers of Mykolaiv region – 484.1 thou hectares, Odesa region – 464.5 thou hectares, and Dnipropetrovs’k region – 319.4 thou hectares.
Ivano-Frankivsk region is the leader in terms of yields with 66.6 c/ha.
In the Kherson region, farmers have started harvesting millet, with 50 hectares threshed and 50 tons of seeds harvested.
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine has granted Kovalska Real Estate LLC permission to acquire a stake in the authorized capital of Kudryavsky Administrative and Warehouse Complex LLC, the agency’s website reports.
The Ministry made the decision on Thursday.
According to the report, Kovalska Real Estate LLC received permission to acquire a stake in ASC Kudryavsky, which ensures that the company’s supreme management body exceeds 50% of the votes.
According to Opendatabot, the owners of Kudryavsky JSIC are Atlas Mutual Fund (50%) and AMC Ukrainian Investment Society (50%), with Bohdan Serotiuk and Yuriy Sokolnytsky listed as the ultimate beneficiaries.
Kovalska Real Estate LLC is part of the Kovalska group and is engaged in residential construction. Its portfolio includes more than 20 completed residential projects.
As reported, in 2021, Kovalska Group announced its intention to revitalize the territory of the Kyiv Distillery in the Shevchenkivskyi district of Kyiv at 16A Kudriavska Street. The plant covers an area of about 2 hectares. Its buildings built in 1896 are recognized as an architectural monument of local significance, and the facade is under protection.
Kovalska Industrial and Construction Group has been operating in the Ukrainian construction market since 1956. It unites more than 20 enterprises in the field of raw materials extraction, production and construction. Its products are represented by the brands Concrete by Kovalska, Avenue, and Siltek. Kovalska’s enterprises operate in Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Lviv, and Chernihiv regions. The aerated concrete plant in Kherson region has not been operating since the beginning of the occupation.
In Ukraine, in 2024/25 marketing year (MY, July 2024 – June 2025), the harvest of seeds of major oilseeds will amount to 22.5 mln tonnes, up 3.8% compared to the previous season and higher than the forecast of 21.686 mln tonnes by the State Statistics Service, the industry association Ukroliyaprom said.
According to the industry association’s forecast, sunflower and soybean production is expected to grow this season, while the gross harvest of rapeseed may decline.
The largest increase in 2023/24 MY is expected for soybeans – 5.1 mln tonnes, up 7.5% compared to last year’s figure of 4.743 mln tonnes.
This growth is due to the increase in the planted area by 7.4% to 1.97 mln ha, while the oilseed yield will remain at the level of the previous season and amount to 25.9 c/ha, the experts explained.
According to the analysts’ forecast, the sunflower production in 2024 is expected to reach 13 mln tonnes, up 2% compared to 12.76 mln tonnes in the previous year. The yield of the oilseed will not change and will amount to 24.5 c/ha, while its area will expand to 5.3 mln hectares (+2%).
Ukroliyaprom forecasts the rapeseed harvest at 4.1 mln tonnes, which is 2% lower than in 2023/24 (4.184 mln tonnes). The projected decline in production will be due to a 4.3% decrease in oilseeds acreage to 1.37 mln ha, while rapeseed yield will remain at the level of last year and amount to 29.2 c/ha.
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution Thursday demanding that Russia urgently withdraw its military and personnel from Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and immediately return the facility to Ukraine.
The resolution also reiterates the assembly’s demands for Russia to immediately “cease its aggression against Ukraine” and withdraw all troops, and again reaffirms the 193-member world body’s commitment to Ukraine’s “sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.”
The resolution was approved by a vote of 99-9 with 60 countries abstaining and 25 countries not voting.
Russia was joined by Belarus, Cuba, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua, Syria, Burundi and North Korea in opposing the resolution. China, India, South Africa and many Middle Eastern countries were among those abstaining.
The resolution expresses “grave concern over the precarious nuclear safety and security situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.” It says returning the plant to Ukraine’s full control will ensure its safety and security and enable the International Atomic Energy Agency “to conduct safe, efficient and effective safeguards.”
Fears of a nuclear catastrophe have been at the forefront since Russian troops occupied the plant shortly after invading Ukraine in February 2022. Zaporizhzhia, which has six nuclear reactors, sits in Russian-controlled territory in southeastern Ukraine near the front lines and has been continually caught in crossfire.
Read More: Ukraine Is Preparing for Russia to Sabotage Europe’s Biggest Nuclear Plant
The IAEA has repeatedly expressed alarm about cuts to Zaporizhzhia’s electricity, which is crucial for the plant’s operation, and the plants’ supply issues. Without attributing blame, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi told the U.N. Security Council on April 15 that his agency had confirmed three attacks against Zaporizhzhia since April 7.
Both Ukraine and Russia have regularly accused the other of attacking the plant, and the accusations continued on Thursday.
Ukraine’s U.N. ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya introduced the resolution, telling the General Assembly that Russia “continues to violate key principles of technological and physical nuclear security” and continues to attack the plant.
Ukraine and neighboring countries suffered “the disastrous consequences” of the nuclear explosion at the Chernobyl plant in 1986, he said, but the repercussions of a possible incident at Zaporizhzhia “which has been deliberately turned into a key component for the military strategy of Russia would be even more catastrophic.”
Kyslytsya warned that “if we simply stand with our arms crossed, that good luck will not last forever, and an incident will be inevitable.”
“Nuclear security and protection depend on our ability to adopt a strong and common stance on the inadmissibility of the continued occupation and militarization of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” the Ukrainian ambassador said.
Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky accused Ukraine and its Western supporters of trying to push through the resolution with the real goal of getting the General Assembly’s “blessing” for the outcome of last month’s Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland and “sneaking in political elements.”
In the conference communique, nearly 80 countries called for the “territorial integrity” of Ukraine to be the basis for any peace agreement to end the war. It also said Zaporizhzhia and other nuclear plants must remain under Ukrainian control in line with IAEA principles.
Polyansky accused the communique’s supporters of trying “to promote the false Western narrative about the source of threats to nuclear facilities in Ukraine.” He claimed that the only threat to nuclear facilities in Ukraine today is from Kyiv’s “regular, reckless attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” its related infrastructure, and the nearby city where plant employees and their families live.
https://time.com/6997689/un-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-power-plant-russia-ukraine/
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that the government is committed to providing up to CAD 389 million ($285 million at current exchange rates) to improve the training of Ukrainian F-16 pilots through the Air Force Coalition within the framework of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
According to a statement on the Canadian Prime Minister’s website, Trudeau promised to provide further assistance so that Ukraine can continue to defend its freedom.
In particular, the Canadian support includes the allocation of up to CAD 389 million to improve the training of F-16 pilots.
“These funds, allocated as part of previously announced military funding, will support pilot training in the Ukrainian armed forces, as well as provide critical equipment to ensure the safe operation of the F-16 in Ukraine,” the statement said.
According to the press service, this will be a multi-year contribution to the Air Force Capability Coalition (up to $389 million over five years). This support builds on more than $75 million provided to the Air Force Coalition for maintenance instructors in Denmark, aircraft and pilot instructor training in France, critical equipment and ammunition for the F-16, and English language training at the Canadian Forces Language School.
“These activities are a multi-year program that will be carried out using previously allocated funding announced in February 2024,” the statement said.
The prime minister’s office also recalled the allocation of an additional CAD 500 million for military assistance to Ukraine announced earlier at the NATO summit as part of NATO’s promise of long-term security assistance to Ukraine. This includes almost $444 million to National Defence Canada to cover the cost of military equipment, assistance and training for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as more than $56 million for the NATO Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP) trust fund for Ukraine to help rebuild Ukraine’s security and defense sector and facilitate Ukraine’s transition to full interoperability with NATO. Canadian funding through CAP also provides equipment for women in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
“These additional funds are in addition to Canada’s existing military assistance to Ukraine totaling $1.1 billion this year,” the statement said.
