Ukraine exported 9.1 million tons of goods in February 2023 compared to 7.89 million tons in January, in monetary terms it rose to $3.32 billion from $3.1 billion, wrote Deputy Minister of Economy – Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka in Facebook.
“But less than the peak military September (9.6 million tons) and, of course, still a long way to 12.8 million tons in February 2022 … Since September there is a trend of slow decline in the value of exports: 4.1 – 3.8 – 3.8 – 3.48 – 3.1 – 3.32 billion dollars. The reasons are clear – the slowdown of the grain corridor and the price correction on the world market,” he added.
He said the value of imports in February was $5.03 billion.
“However, this is good news, because imports in war conditions is the reliability of supply of everything we need: fuel, pharmacy, generators and everything we need to endure. It is also fertilizers for the sowing season,” noted Kachka, without specifying the data for January.
He recalled that in general 2022 set a clear strategy in trade: to ensure security of supply in imports, restore logistics capabilities for exports and reduce the trade deficit through services.
The Ukrainian trade representative pointed out that last year merchandise exports totaled $44.1 billion and imports $55.2 billion, services exports $9.1 billion and imports $3.0 billion.
Kachka specified that the top ten most exported goods in February 2023 in descending order of value formed corn (code 1005) – $699.3 million, sunflower oil (1512) – $419.3 million, wheat (1001) – $322, 9 million, soybeans (1201) – $128.69 million, iron ore (2601) – $125.5 million, insulated wires (8544) – $82.9 million, sunflower meal (2306) – $75.4 million, pig iron (7201) – $65.03 million, poultry (0207) – $58.76 million and sunflower seeds (1206) – $58.69 million.
In the second ten, seamless pipes (7304) – $56.88 million, barley (1003) – $43.9 million, semi-finished iron products (7207) – $36.1 million, sugar (1701) – $34.1 million, ferroalloys (7202) – $33, 6 million, furniture (9403) – $32.38 million, rapeseed (1205) – $32.37 million, lumber (4407) – $31.4 million, soybean meal (2304) – $28.9 million and seating furniture (9401) – $24.9 million.
Finally in the third top ten are electric water heaters (8516) – $24.3 million, soybean oil (1507) – $24.1 million, plywood (4408) – $19.9 million, drugs (3004) – $19.1 million, hot rolled steel (7208) – $16.04 million joinery products (4418) – $15.8 million, juices (2009) – $15.5 million, confectionery, bakery products (1905) – $13.7 million, crates and boxes (4415) – $13.1 million and confectionery sugar products (1704) – $12.9 million.
The Kyiv City Clinical Oncology Center purchased medical equipment worth a total of UAH 30 million in 2022, the acting director of the oncology center Alexander Klusov said.
“In total, we purchased equipment worth 30 million UAH,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
Klusov said that, in particular, “with the personal support of Mayor Vitaly Klitschko, the health department of the KSCA purchased two modern powerful linear gas pedals for radiotherapy for the cancer center in 2022.”
“Thus, we already have five linear gas pedals. In order to install this equipment, two bunkers had to be renovated. Construction work is underway to renovate the bunkers to install this high-tech equipment, which is scheduled to be completed in early May,” he said.
Klusov said there are plans to create a radiology center at the oncology center in 2023.
“We are planning to create one of the most powerful radiological clinics in Ukraine, which will work at full capacity in 2023. The launch of the radiology center will increase the number of patients by almost 75% and reduce the waiting period from one month to one week,” Klusov emphasized.
As previously reported, the Kyiv City Clinical Oncology Center will admit about 30 thousand patients in 2022.
Kyiv City Clinical Oncology Center is one of the largest oncology clinics in Ukraine. Its acting director, Oleksandr Klyusov, remained at his workplace from the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion, joined the terrorist defense, and did not leave the cancer center for two months, setting up the clinic’s work in wartime. As a result of the Russian missile attack, more than 100 windows were smashed and three entrance groups were damaged. None of the staff and patients of the cancer center were injured. Major General Kyrylo Budanov thanked Klyusov’s DIU unit for their assistance.
The head of the oncology center told Interfax-Ukraine about the clinic’s work in 2022 and its development plans for 2023.
Text: Anna Levchenko
– Did you purchase any equipment in 2022?
– In total, we purchased equipment worth UAH 30 million. In particular, with the personal support of Mayor Vitali Klitschko, the Health Department of the Kyiv City State Administration purchased two modern, powerful linear accelerators for radiation therapy for the cancer center in 2022. Thus, we already have five linear accelerators. In order to install this equipment, it was necessary to repair two bunkers with a complete redesign of the ventilation system. Construction work is currently underway to reconstruct the bunker facilities to install this high-tech equipment, which is expected to be completed in early May. We plan to create one of the most powerful radiology clinics in Ukraine on the basis of our cancer center, which will start operating at full capacity in 2023. After that, we will start commissioning, which will last for another three months. This is a large-scale project with the participation of the IAEA and SNRIU. The launch of the radiology center will increase the number of patients by almost 75% and reduce the waiting period from one month to one week. This will significantly strengthen cancer care for the population of the capital. In addition, in 2022, we installed a modern computed tomography scanner at the cancer center, which diagnosed the first patient in July.
– Is there an opportunity to develop the clinic now?
– Of course, in 2022, as we restored our performance, we carried out repairs and opened new departments. In particular, we opened the Department of Outpatient Surgery and Interventional Diagnostics, which actually allows us to diagnose and treat patients as a day hospital. We already had several departments that operate on this principle, including the chemotherapy department and the daytime therapeutic hospital. Now we have opened an eight-bed outpatient surgery unit, a modern department with two operating rooms.
In addition, we have repaired another shelter under the polyclinic building. Now, in the event of an air raid, we can continue to operate in the shelter, where doctors, administrators, and receptionists go down and continue to see patients.
– How did the clinic operate in 2022 in the face of active invasion and war? Did you close your doors?
– We did not close and were one of the first to almost restore the pre-war number of patients treated. Last year, we treated about 32 thousand patients, which is only 6 thousand less than in 2021, which has the appropriate objective reasons and is actually comparable to how the institution worked two years ago. It is clear that since the beginning of the active invasion, we have switched to outpatient diagnostic and treatment services and continued inpatient treatment of seriously ill patients who needed inpatient care. The number of patients did not decrease significantly, as it is now in many medical institutions. Today we have about 750-800 patients a day. We can say that we reached the pre-war level in July.
From the very beginning, we paid special attention to children with cancer who were treated in the pediatric oncology department, and in mid-2022 we managed to restore it in full. Leading pediatric oncologists of the department conduct appointments, perform surgical interventions and chemotherapy courses.
– Has the geography of your patients changed? Where do they come from?
– The number of out-of-town patients has slightly decreased. For the second year in a row, under the Medical Guarantee Program (MGP), we have been working on the principle of extraterritoriality, so citizens from any region of Ukraine can seek medical care. However, their number has slightly decreased. On the other hand, there are now IDP patients who have the same status as Kyiv residents. We understand migration processes and try to provide medical care to everyone who needs it.
– In 2022, you were working under the UMG program. How did this program perform in such a difficult and unexpected environment? Did you have enough money?
– It was enough for us. Today, our institution’s contract with the NHSU is worth UAH 455 million. I and the entire staff of the cancer center are ardent supporters of the reform, and we were the most prepared for its implementation, being among the first to sign a contract with the NHSU in 2020. Having worked in the reform for three years, I can state that the reform allows specialized medical institutions not only to work but also to develop. That is, there is enough money. We even buy diagnostic and treatment equipment, and our salaries are among the highest among medical institutions in Kyiv. Of course, we have the opportunity to use funds from two budget programs: the state and local budgets of the Kyiv City State Administration, in particular, to buy chemotherapy drugs. And this is a very serious help, because the purchase of such drugs requires significant resources.
– What are the clinic’s needs for chemotherapy drugs? How much money does the cancer center need for this area?
– Last year, UAH 147 million worth of drugs were procured for chemotherapy under the local budget program “Health of Kyivites,” about UAH 50 million under the state program for oncology treatment, and UAH 10 million at the expense of the cancer center. Although the need for chemotherapy drugs to treat cancer patients according to modern treatment protocols using targeted therapy and oncoimmunotherapy is over UAH 2 billion.
– How many medicines have you received as part of the humanitarian aid?
– Quite a lot, although it is much less than we procure. I will hardly be mistaken if I say that we have received almost UAH 10 million worth of humanitarian aid.
– What packages do you have contracts with the NHSU for?
– In 2022, we had contracts with the NHSU for 15 cancer care packages. These include chemotherapy and inpatient oncology treatment, two packages of surgical treatment of oncological diseases, a radiology package, and diagnostics of oncological diseases. However, about 75% of our budget is formed by radiology and chemotherapy, and as for diagnostics, it includes mammography, endoscopic and other examination methods.
In 2023, two more packages were added to these packages: outpatient surgical treatment and education and training.
However, I want to emphasize that our main task is to provide patients with 100% of medicines. In 2022, we were in a transitional period of healthcare reform, and there were problems that had to be solved. But the war exacerbated everything, and along with the benefits of the reform, problems became apparent. For example, today we do not have a 100% supply of medicines. And no matter how much we increase the volume of procurement with our own funds, we will not solve the problem, because all over the world, expensive treatment is provided through government support and insurance.
– How much do you lack?
– But, again, if we are talking about modern protocols, many of them involve the use of immunotherapy and targeted therapy, which is expensive. Unfortunately, the budget lacks funds for this area.
In general, we are about 90% provided with first-line chemotherapy drugs, and 75-80% provided with hormone therapy drugs. Unfortunately, there is not enough money for more modern drugs. In addition, we constantly face the problem of irregular deliveries. Unfortunately, the delivery schedule is not always consistent. It often happens that the stocks are not enough to cover the need until the next delivery. I understand that this is due to logistics and the war, and all of this leaves its mark. But besides this, there are problems with the supply of a certain group of drugs. There are drugs that are not available in Ukraine at all due to various circumstances. I don’t want to blame everything on the war, but it affects many things.
– How do you get out of this situation?
– We have been working on this problem since last summer. We are constantly procuring medicines at the expense of the clinic. As I mentioned, last year we procured almost UAH 10 million worth of medicines at our own expense.
– What other plans do you have for 2023?
– The launch of linear accelerators is quite a large-scale project. But we also want to install MRI, equipment that will provide new opportunities for diagnosing certain localizations of malignant tumors. This year, an automated system for filling chemotherapy drugs should start working. We have already installed the equipment and are waiting for the software and keys. But because of the war, everything is being delayed a bit. Everything is ready on our side, and foreign specialists are going to launch the system. They have already visited us, I met them and accompanied them through Chisinau. The logistics were not easy, but we hope that we will be able to launch the project remotely. Now we are waiting for the company that supplied us with the equipment to purchase a certain amount of consumables.
We also have an idea to launch a laboratory center, on the basis of which we can later create a reference laboratory. This will allow us to get a second opinion and attract additional funding.
– Global plans. How do you assess the team’s ability to implement them?
– Of course, the key to success lies in the well-coordinated work of our team. We have a very decent and competent team, not only in terms of treatment, but also in management. I cannot but mention my deputies, with whom we have worked both in peacetime and since the beginning of the war. Thanks to the well-coordinated work of the team during the active phase of hostilities, when our clinic, which is located in one of the strategic areas, was practically under fire, the cancer center did not stop its work for a single day.
I cannot but mention my deputy for outpatient work, Dmytro Osynskyi, and the head of the consultative clinic, Volodymyr Bazas. Together with them, since the beginning of the war, we have been able to organize a consultative and diagnostic center with doctors on duty, set up round-the-clock hotlines, which received more than 500 patients a day.
In the acute phase of hostilities, the priority methods of diagnosing and treating cancer were day care, therapeutic and surgical outpatient care, which at the next stage was transformed into the organization and creation of an outpatient surgery and interventional diagnostics hospital.
We realize that after our victory we will have to work hard. Many predict a surge in cancer incidence. There will be a lot of neglected cases, because during the war people seek diagnostics less often and postpone treatment. No one knows now whether these will be new cases or whether we will be dealing with the result of delayed diagnosis. But I am sure that the Kyiv City Clinical Oncology Center will be ready to provide medical care to patients at the highest and most modern level.
Ukrainian nuclear power plants will be able to fully switch to fuel from the American company Westinghouse by the end of 2023, Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko said.
“We have quite optimistic forecasts and confirmation that our cooperation with Westinghouse will enable us to implement this process (provision of American fuel – ER) already by the end of this year,” the minister said on the air of national TV marathon “United News” on Thursday, referring to his visit to the American partners’ fuel fabrication plant.
At that he noted that Ukrainian specialists present at the plant “are doing a lot to produce the corresponding fuel as soon as possible in order to replace the Russian fuel.
Answering the presenter’s question about the prospects of nuclear fuel production in Ukraine, the head of the Ministry of Energy said: “We also have relevant agreements with Westinghouse to build a nuclear fuel production plant in Ukraine. There is no doubt that this will be done.
Along with this Galushchenko paid attention to the fact that the whole Europe is now very urgent to stop using Russian nuclear fuel.
“During our meetings with ministers of power of EU and USA we discussed in details that it is important to ensure fuel production in necessary amount as soon as possible in order to replace Russian fuel in European market”, – he explained, adding that it is impossible to quickly find nuclear fuel substitute, unlike, for example, for gas, because it is produced in certain amount, and increase of amount requires time.
At the same time the minister emphasized that the Russians have almost a monopoly position on the market of fuel for VVER-440 units.
“The Minister stressed that the Russian Federation is nearly a monopolist on the market of VVER-440 power units, therefore we are working to ensure that Westinghouse starts producing assemblies for these units this year which will help to get rid of strong dependence on Rosatom in this area.
As reported, in early March 2022, after a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Energoatom completely abandoned the purchase of Russian nuclear fuel.
On June 2, at the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant, Energoatom and the US Westinghouse signed an agreement to supply nuclear fuel to all Ukrainian nuclear power plants with 15 power units (currently 7 power units are loaded with this fuel – ER).
Before this in the very beginning of 2022 Peter Kotin, President of Energoatom, in his comments to Interfax-Ukraine noted that it would take Westinghouse about two years to be ready to cover the fuel demand of the NAEK for 13 existing VVER-1000 units, for which time the nuclear power plants have enough fuel.
Asked about the timing of Westinghouse fuel deliveries for the two VVER-440s at the Rivne NPP, Kotin indicated that the first batch of American fuel for VVER-440s will be delivered in 2025.
Then in a March 2022 interview with Interfax-Ukraine, Kotin explained that there were no questions about fuel for VVER-1000, while more effort was needed for fuel for VVER-440 so that Westinghouse would have time to provide supplies next year, which is 2023.
At the same time, Kotin noted that Energoatom is also optimizing fuel delivery schedules so that the U.S. partners can meet the fuel demand. According to him, due to the reduced consumption of electricity during the war, which resulted in reduced production, the units will be able to work longer on the fuel already brought in.
As part of the cooperation, Energoatom and Westinghouse launched a training program for Ukrainian nuclear specialists in the United States, under which more than 60 specialists and nuclear graduates will study the AP1000® technology.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced collaboration with three major Ukrainian agricultural holdings to develop their grain export and storage infrastructure for a total project investment of $44 million.
According to CNN’s website, the three companies are large Ukrainian agricultural producers Kernel, Nibulon and Grain Alliance.
It is specified that the cooperation with the companies will help increase Ukraine’s capacity to ship over 3 million tons of grain to foreign markets per year. Investments will be used to develop the infrastructure of agricultural products storage and expansion of elevators.
“This announcement is part of a deliberate effort by the Biden administration to develop Ukraine’s economy and mitigate the global food security crisis that escalated after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” the publication specified in the report.
As earlier reported, before the war Kernel was the world’s number one producer and exporter of sunflower oil (about 7% of world production) and was the largest producer and seller of bottled sunflower oil in Ukraine. The company was also engaged in cultivation and sale of other agricultural products.
In FY2022 (July-2021 – June-2022), the holding posted a net loss of $41 mln versus $506 mln net profit in the previous FY. Its revenue decreased by 5% to $5.332 bln, and EBITDA decreased by 3.7 times to $220 mln.
Nibulon, one of the largest grain market operators in Ukraine, on April 15, 2022 received the permit from Izmail city council (Odessa region) for the construction of the terminal for handling grain cargoes on the land plot with the total area of 20 hectares.
“Nibulon” was established in 1991. Before Russian military invasion grain trader had 27 transshipment terminals and complexes to receive the crops, the capacities for one-time storage of 2,25 mln. tons of agroindustrial complex products, fleet of 83 vessels (including 23 tugs), and also owned Nikolaev shipyard.
“Nibulon” before the war worked 82 thousand hectares of land in 12 regions of Ukraine and exported agricultural products to more than 70 countries.
The grain trader exported maximum 5.64 million tons of agricultural products in 2021, reaching record volumes of deliveries to foreign markets in August – 0.7 million tons, the fourth quarter – 1.88 million tons and in the second half of the year – 3.71 million tons.
Grain Alliance Agro Holding in spring 2022 purchased a grain logistics hub near the border of Ukraine and Slovakia to deliver agricultural products by land bypassing Ukrainian ports, the throughput capacity of which was significantly reduced due to the full-scale Russian military invasion. The transshipment capacity of the grain terminal in Černá nad Tysou (Slovakia) will be up to 400,000 tons per year.
Before the war, Grain Alliance farmed 57,000 hectares in Kyiv, Poltava, Chernigov and Cherkassy regions, grew more than 300,000 tons of grains and oilseeds a year, and owned more than a thousand head of cattle.
Agroholding has six granaries in Ukraine with a total capacity of over 260 thousand tons.
The founders of Harvest Moon East LLC (Baryshevka village, Kyiv region) and BZK Grain Alliance (Sweden) established a joint company, Grain Alliance, in 2009.
Turkey’s Good Party (IP) leader Meral Akshener has announced that she is leaving the six-party opposition bloc over disagreement over a presidential candidate, the Daily Sabah reported Friday.
“We worked tirelessly to make the voice of the people heard in the opposition, to convey the expectations of the people to the opposition. At yesterday’s meeting, five parties nominated Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, while we proposed Mansur Yavas and Ekrem Imamoğlu. Unfortunately, our proposal was rejected,” Akshener said. According to her, in this way the bloc proved that it “does not reflect the will of the people in its decisions,” and therefore the IP is leaving it.
At the same time, Akshener noted that her party will continue to oppose the ruling Justice and Development Party, whose leader is Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
She also called on her candidates, Yavas and Imamoglu, who are mayors of Ankara and Istanbul respectively, “to continue to fulfill their tasks” and try to win the elections.
For his part, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, head of the Republican People’s Party, who was nominated by the majority in the bloc, said there was no cause for concern.
“Don’t worry, everything will fall into place,” he said.
In January, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections would be held on May 14.
The elections were originally scheduled for June 18, but Erdogan has repeatedly said the vote could take place earlier. His party has pointed out that the elections in June will coincide with the high tourist season, so it would be better to postpone them.
Pre-election polls show that the battle in both the presidential and parliamentary elections will be fierce.
Western media call the upcoming elections “the biggest test” for Erdogan in 20 years. At the same time, reports note that the opposition’s inability to decide on a single candidate could significantly weaken its position and give Erdoğan an additional chance of victory.
