UT Company, created by co-owners of EVA and Varus chains Valeriy Kiptyk and Ruslan Shostak, has won a tender of the State Logistics Operator (DOT) for the supply of food to military units in one of Ukraine’s regions, the press service of Terwin Group reports.
“Ukrainian Transparent Company has committed itself to supplying food to military units in one of Ukraine’s regions by offering the best conditions at the tender held by the State Logistics Service. This is a pilot project that will last for two months and will significantly save the state budget,” the press release says.
The company did not disclose the cost of the tender. According to Shostak, the company aims to help the state make the procurement process transparent and efficient.
“Our main task is to restore trust in the state and business pride in cooperation with the authorities. And I want to emphasize that we supply products directly from domestic manufacturers to soldiers without extra charges; we finance all administrative costs on our own, we do not add them to the price – this is our contribution,” Shostak was quoted as saying in the press release.
According to Forbes Ukraine, the supplies will be delivered to military units in Zaporizhzhia region.
As reported, in October 2023, 17 companies managed by Shostak, employing a total of 30,000 people, merged into TERWIN. These are Omega LLC, Rusch, Tervin Group, Tixid, Tavria Hub, Mizhtneva, Formsite, Digamma, Milton Group, Saltora Plus, Firm Ariant, Novoe Stroitelstvo 2017, Altair D, Apex H, Aspect D, Lattero, and the Ruslan Shostak Charitable Foundation. The total assets of the corporation are estimated at $1.6 billion. The total revenue of the companies in the pre-war period reached $2 billion, and in 2023 it was expected to reach $1.7 billion.
ARMED FORCES, EVA, FOOD, VARUS
Croatia has held the first meeting of the parliament elected in the April 17 elections. Gordan Jandrokovic was elected speaker, with 144 out of 151 deputies voting for his candidacy, the Croatian newspaper Jutarnji list reports. Gondar Jandroković represents the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Commonwealth) party and became the speaker of the Croatian parliament for the third time.
“It is an extraordinary honor to be trusted for the third time to fulfill the duties of the Croatian Parliament. We are living in a dangerous historical period: the war in Ukraine and the Middle East, we cannot avoid the fact that the neighborhood is also a potential source of instability, we are facing the challenges of climate change, disruptions in global supply chains,” Jandroković said.
After several weeks of negotiations, a coalition was formed in the parliament, which included the HDZ and the Fatherland Movement parties. Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said that the new government’s program of activities was being finalized.
At the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Croatian parliament and government expressed support for Ukraine, granting it EU candidate status and providing economic support.
Sources:
www.jutarnji.hr (https://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/plenkovic-komentirao-nove-ministre-susnjara-sam-tek-upoznao-ppd-pitao-sam-ga-vidjet-cemo-15461328)
Motor (Transport) Insurance Bureau of Ukraine (MTSBU) from 00:00 hours on May 20 increases tariffs for “Green Card” policies for vehicles traveling abroad by 3.2%.
Amounts of single insurance payments under contracts of international compulsory civil liability insurance of owners of land vehicles are established by the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of January 6, 2005 and are defined in euros.
As reported on the website of the ITSBU, for trips within the territory of the member countries of the international system of automobile insurance “Green Card” the cost of the policy from May 20 for 15 days for passenger cars increases to UAH 1,156 thousand (from UAH 1,120 thousand), for buses – to UAH 4,325 thousand (from UAH 4,190 thousand), for trucks – to UAH 2,474 thousand (UAH 2,397 thousand).
The cost of “Green Card” for one month for cars will be UAH 1,841 thousand (against UAH 1,783 thousand), buses – UAH 6,039 thousand (UAH 5,849 thousand), trucks – UAH 3,613 thousand (UAH 3,499 thousand).
Semi-annual and annual policies “Green Card” for cars will now cost respectively 9,636 thousand UAH and 12,849 thousand UAH (previously 9,334 thousand UAH and 12,446 thousand UAH), for trucks – 16,206 thousand UAH and 30,658 thousand UAH, for buses – 21,072 thousand UAH and 39,147 thousand UAH.
The cost of policies for trips to Azerbaijan and Moldova also increases by 3.2%. So for cars for 15 days it will amount to UAH 764 (previously – UAH 740), for one month – UAH 1,124 thousand (UAH 1,089 thousand), for six months – UAH 2,577 thousand (UAH 2,496 thousand), for a year – UAH 3,669 thousand (UAH 3,554 thousand).
The last change of tariffs was March 15, 2024 for cars increase by 11.8% for 15 days and 41.9% for a year, December 22, 2023 upward by 5.6%, September 29 downward by 3.4%, April 21, 2023 upward by 3.15%, December 30, 2022 upward by 3.1%.
As reported, the sum of “Green Card” policies have been realized since 2009 of two types: the whole of Europe and Moldova. Also from January 1, 2016 Ukrainian policies “Green Card” began to operate in the territory of Azerbaijan.
“Green Card” is a system of insurance protection for victims of road traffic accidents regardless of the country of their residence and the country of vehicle registration. It is distributed on the territory of 44 countries of Europe, Asia and Africa.
According to the decision of the General Assembly of the Council of the Bureau of the International Motor Insurance System “Green Card” adopted in Luxembourg in May 2004, Ukraine is a full member of this system since January 1, 2005.
UN economists have improved their forecast for global economic growth in 2024 to 2.7% from 2.4% expected in January.
In 2025, it will increase by 2.8%, while previously it was expected to be 2.7%.
The average growth rate of the global economy in the coming years is expected to remain below the 3.2% recorded on average in 2010-2019.
The revision of the estimate for the current year is mainly due to more positive changes in the economies of a number of large developed and developing countries, in particular Brazil, India, Russia and the United States, the organization’s report says.
According to UN estimates, the US economy will grow by 2.3% this year (1.4% was expected in January), the UK – by 0.8% (0.4%), China – by 4.8% (4.7%), Brazil – by 2.1% (1.6%), India – by 6.9% (6.2%), and Japan – by 1.2% (unchanged).
At the same time, the forecasts for the European Union and the euro area were revised downward – to 1% from 1.2% and to 0.8% from 1.1%, respectively.
“For both the European Union as a whole and the euro area, we expect a gradual recovery in economic activity in 2024-2025, after a noticeable stagnation in many European countries over the past year,” said Grigoriy Agabekyan of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
This should be facilitated by a slowdown in inflation (it is falling faster than expected in Europe due to a sharp decline in energy costs), income growth in real terms, and the expected easing of monetary policy.
“In fact, a number of central banks in Eastern Europe and the Swiss central bank have already cut their key interest rates, and as inflation returns to its target level, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England are also expected to begin their easing cycles this year. It is also expected that as global trade recovers, exports from European countries will increase,” the expert said.
“As for the somewhat more modest forecasts for the European Union compared to those presented in January, this revision is explained by the fact that against the background of continued sluggish industrial production, economic growth forecasts for a number of countries on the continent that depend on the manufacturing industry have been lowered. This list includes, in particular, Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. At the same time, Germany’s economy, which is the leading economy in the European Union, shrank by 0.3% in 2023, and in 2024 we assume a recovery of only 0.3%,” Agabekyan said.
The UN forecasts global trade growth of 3.2% in 2024 and 3.6% next year.
GDP growth in developed countries is expected to reach 1.6% in 2024 and 2025, and in developing countries – by 4.1% and 4.3%, respectively.
Earlier, Experts Club and Maksim Urakin released a video analysis of how the GDP of the world’s countries has changed in recent years, more detailed video analysis is available here – https://youtu.be/w5fF_GYyrIc?si=BsZmIUERHSBJrO_3
You can subscribe to the Experts Club YouTube channel here – https://www.youtube.com/@ExpertsClub
JSC Slavic Wallpapers – KFTB (Koryukivka, Chernihiv region), a leading Ukrainian wallpaper producer, produced 5.29 million standard pieces of wallpaper in January-April 2024, up 13.6% year-on-year.
According to statistics provided by UkrPapir Association to Interfax-Ukraine, the factory’s output growth rate for the first four months of the year was 21% compared to the same period last year: in January-March, the growth rate was 21%.
At the same time, the factory’s production volume in monetary terms increased by 14.8% to UAH 417.4 million over four months.
In April, the company produced 1.49 million conventional pieces of wallpaper, which is 2% less than in April-2023, but 6.3% more than in March this year.
The EBA has no data on wallpaper production in Ukraine in January-April 2024, as the State Statistics Service has stopped providing it.
As reported, in 2023, the factory increased its wallpaper production by 19% compared to 2022, to 16.2 million units, production increased by 38.2% to UAH 1 billion 249 million, and net profit increased almost eightfold to UAH 47.7 million.
Earlier, the company noted that as a result of Russian aggression, sales volumes, especially through retail channels, had significantly decreased.
JSC Slavic Wallpaper-KFTB is one of the largest European wallpaper factories. It produces more than 10 types of wallpaper from the economy segment (paper, duplex, acrylic) to premium wallpaper (vinyl, non-woven, hot stamped).
In addition, the factory produces its own latex, water-dispersion paint under the Latex brand.
On Thursday, May 16, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lekke Rasmussen announced a new EUR 750 million military aid package for Ukraine aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s air defense and artillery.
“I am pleased to announce a new package of military support for Ukraine worth EUR 750 million aimed at strengthening its air defense and artillery. Denmark is also exploring opportunities for investment in the Ukrainian defense industry,” the Foreign Ministry’s press service quoted Rasmussen as saying.
The Minister emphasized that Denmark firmly supports Ukraine and its people.