The European Union has fully provided Ukraine with the first tranche in the amount of EUR1 billion of new emergency new macro-financial assistance, said the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
“These funds will help Ukraine meet its urgent financial needs in the wake of unprovoked and unjustified Russian aggression. The €1 billion will strengthen Ukraine at a critical juncture,” she wrote on Linkedin on Tuesday.
On the eve of the receipt of the first EUR500 million from this tranche in Ukraine, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal announced, adding that the second EUR500 million is expected on Tuesday, August 2.
As reported, the EU has previously approved the allocation of new emergency macrofinancial assistance to Ukraine for EUR9 billion, of which EUR1 billion has been allocated so far. The remaining EUR8 billion is expected to come in one tranche, but the final decision on them is being delayed.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on the eve appealed to French President Emmanuel Macron with a request to unblock macrofinancial assistance from the European Union.
Speaker of the House of Representatives of the US Congress Pelosi should land in Taiwan an hour earlier than the time previously published in various media (at 16:20 Kyiv time). Her delegation will consist of 40 people.
The visit of the Speaker of the House of Representatives may last until 5:00 pm Wednesday local time.
Earlier, a Boeing C-40C special flight carrying Nancy Pelosi arrived in Singapore on Sunday, according to Flightradar data.
Prior to this, the aircraft took off from the Hawaiian Islands, where it made an intermediate landing after flying from the continental United States.
Speaker of the House of Representatives of the US Congress Nancy Pelosi went on an official trip to Asia, during which she will visit Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, her press office said in an official statement. It is indicated that Pelosi led the American delegation, the purpose of which is to conduct negotiations on trade, security, climate change and the COVID-19 epidemic.
At the same time, the message does not mention the possibility of her visit to Taiwan, which she previously announced.
Tensions over a possible visit to Taiwan by Pelosi rose after Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a telephone conversation with US President Joe Biden on Thursday, said that the position of the Chinese leadership and the people of the country on the Taiwan issue is firm, and that “the United States must respect” the principle of one China.” He also warned Biden against “playing with fire” on Taiwan.
Previously, the YouTube channel “Club of Experts” called Pelosi’s possible visit to Taiwan a top event. For a more detailed analysis of upcoming events in Ukraine and the world, see the video review of the Expert Club channel at the link
The Central Bank of Malta and the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) have launched a program for Ukrainian refugees to exchange hryvnia for euros since August 1, the NBU press service reported.
According to the report, Ukrainians who have a certificate of protection from the International Protection Agency in Malta will be able to exchange up to UAH 10,000 for one person.
Banknotes from UAH 100 to UAH 1,000 are accepted for exchange.
As reported, the hryvnia cash exchange program has already been launched in Poland, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
Demand for new cars in July of this year increased by almost 26% compared to June, but decreased by 63% by July 2021 to 3,648 units, Ukravtoprom reports.
“The Ukrainian market for new cars continues to recover. A month after the abolition of exemptions for customs clearance of imports, the market grew by more than a quarter,” the association’s website says.
As reported, in June 2022, the initial registrations of new passenger cars increased by 14% compared to May.
According to the report, the most popular brand of the month, like a year ago, was Toyota with a drop in sales by 61% compared to July last year – to 596 cars.
The second result for Volkswagen is 316 units. (30% less), which a year earlier ranked 6th in the ranking with 452 cars.
The Chinese Chery broke into third place with 300 registrations, which is 27% less than a year earlier, but five steps higher in the ranking.
At the same time, Renault, which was second last year, took fourth place with an 80% drop in sales to 260 cars. Skoda closes the top five – 207 units. (-67%).
Chery Tiggo 4 became the bestseller of July, which was chosen by 239 buyers.
According to the association, in the first half of the year, 21.5 thousand new cars were registered in Ukraine for the first time – 63% less by January-June 2021.
The AUTO-Consulting information-analytical group published the statistics of sales of new passenger cars in July on its website, according to which almost 4,000 cars were sold in July, which is 28% more than in June, but 60% less than in July -2021.
Experts also note a breakthrough in the leaders of new players, in particular Chery.
“The Chinese brand took advantage of preferential customs clearance and managed to import a significant number of cars. And the most popular Chery Tiggo 4 car managed to bypass even Toyota RAV4,” AUTO-Consulting notes.
Analysts also record an increase in sales in the premium group – there are three players from this segment in the TOP July 10 at once: BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, which AUTO-Consulting has never recorded yet.
“The recovery in demand was a surprise for some operators who did not have time to rebuild the logistics of supplies, so some dealers were running out of cars. This is the reason for the drop in sales for certain brands, but overall sales have been growing for the fourth month, which gives reason for further optimism,” noted in the message.
As reported with reference to MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, the import of cars to Ukraine in July, the first month after the abolition of import benefits, decreased by almost 8 times compared to June, to 13,584 thousand units.
As reported, in 2021, the market for new passenger cars, according to Auto-Consulting, grew by 20% – to 103.65 thousand units, according to Ukravtoprom – by 21% to 103.3 thousand units.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine issued the first four orders for grants for laying gardens and growing berries for a total of UAH 16.8 million, grants will be received by Bonelet LLC (Odessa region), Garden Pereyaslav LLC (Kyiv region), “Organic Zahid-group” LLC (Lvov region) and farm “Zhitni Pole” (Ivano-Frankivsk region).
As reported on the agency’s website on Tuesday, over the past month, Oschadbank has processed applications from 61 agricultural enterprises, of which 40 have been submitted for further consideration by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy: 33 for the development of horticulture, 7 for greenhouses. The working groups of the ministry have already worked out 23 applications and have agreed on the provision of a grant for the four above. The Ministry is considering 1 more application for a grant for the creation or development of a greenhouse facility and 16 applications for a garden.
“In the conditions of war, the government is laying a reliable platform to support the economy, which will give impetus to the preservation and creation of jobs, the payment of taxes to the state treasury. The agro-industrial complex has always been a driver for the development of the Ukrainian economy, and today, during the constant challenges for our country, this industry can is ready to become the basis for the development of small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine,” the Ministry of Agrarian Policy quotes its head, Mykola Solsky.
According to him, grants for the development of greenhouses allow agricultural entrepreneurs to attract up to UAH 7 million in funding, and up to UAH 10 million for planting orchards. In general, the state will allocate UAH 16 billion for their financing.
The agency recalled that in June the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine launched a program of financial support for business under the government’s eWork program, through which entrepreneurs can receive government grants for training, creating and developing their own business. At the same time, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy oversees two areas related to the development of horticulture, growing berries, viticulture and greenhouses.
The agency clarified that it processes each application for funding within 10 business days after receiving a request from Oschadbank.
Under the terms of each program, the participant undertakes to operate for at least 5 years, pay taxes to the budget, and also create a certain number of jobs.
JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” transported 10.302 million tons of cargo in July, which is 9.2% more than in June this year.
“Domestic transportation, exports and imports have grown. Only transit has not grown, because it is practically non-existent. The transportation of most of our key cargoes has increased: grain, ore, coal, ferrous metals, diesel, building materials, etc. Vehicle transportation has dipped , coke, scrap metal, salt and oil,” Alexander Kamyshin, head of the railway company, wrote on his Telegram channel on the evening of August 1.
According to the data he provided, in July 2022 UZ transported 542 thousand tons of oil and oil products (an increase of 12.2%), 2.033 million tons of ore raw materials (+3.2%), 1.462 million tons of grain (+7.2% ) and 6.266 million tons of other cargoes (+11.6%).
“Yes, the growth is slow. We are doing everything possible for the constant growth of freight traffic, primarily export cargo. I hope that the unblocking of seaports for grain will help us increase grain exports faster,” Kamyshin said.
In domestic traffic, UZ transported 6.2 million tons in July, which is 10.5% more than in June this year.
3.4 million tons of cargo were transported for export, which is 8.7% more than a month earlier.
UZ also transported 598.8 thousand tons of imported cargo in July, which is 4.5 more than in June 2022.
