The shortage of fuel resulting from the destruction of the Kremenchuk Oil Refinery and a number of tank farms by the aggressor can be mitigated by the arrival of additional volumes on the market, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko said on Wednesday at a meeting of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.
“We have passed a number of government decisions that allow us to send the volumes available in the country to the market. This is 70,000 tonnes of gasoline and about 40,000 tonnes of diesel and it should reduce the deficit,” she said, adding that operators also contracted certain volumes in Europe.
Svyrydenko said that market operators now have 22,500 tonnes of gasoline and 41,400 tonnes of diesel fuel in their balances.
She also said that there is excess demand on the oil products market, which may be caused by panic among the population due to a temporary shortage of fuel.
The press service of the Office of the President said that the government is constantly cooperating with market operators to understand the needs and find ways to eliminate the shortage.
As reported, the shortage of fuel in Ukraine arose due to the cessation of its supplies from the traditional markets of Belarus and the Russian Federation and the blocking of sea supplies, massive attacks by the Russian aggressor on the market infrastructure, in particular, the destruction of the Kremenchuk oil refinery, as well as due to the government-imposed marginal prices for gasoline and diesel fuel.
The Foreign Disaster Response Fund (AKF) of the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will allocate EUR41.96 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine as part of the “Neighbors in Need” fundraising campaign in connection with the humanitarian catastrophe in the country as a result of Russia’s brutal war of aggression .
According to the Austrian Foreign Ministry, the decision was made by the government on June 4, this will be the largest payment from the AKF in history.
According to the release, due to the serious consequences of the war in Ukraine, which are felt far beyond the region, another EUR4 million will go to the World Food Program (WFP) for important work in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Libya.
“By a decision taken today by the Council of Ministers, the federal government is fulfilling its March pledge by doubling all donations for Ukraine received by Easter Monday as part of the ORF Neighbors in Need campaign,” Chancellor Carl Nehammer said in a statement.
He emphasized that Austria considers it its humanitarian duty to help alleviate the suffering of people in Ukraine, and recalled that since the beginning of the war, the country has already provided a number of emergency services, including the provision of EUR 17.5 million from the Foreign Assistance Fund and the supply of civilian ambulances, helmets, protective vests and fuel.
“It is very clear: we are on the side of the Ukrainian people. With EUR42 million, we want to provide quick and unbureaucratic assistance to Neighbors in Need. Together we can better support everyone who especially needs our help and solidarity,” said Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler thanking all donors.
According to the release, at least EUR15 million of the funds allocated by the government should be used to finance projects aimed at alleviating humanitarian hardships, especially for women and children, and at least EUR5 million should be allocated to organizations to work in Moldova, which has been particularly affected by the flow of refugees from Ukraine.
This increases the Austrian aid provided to Ukraine and other particularly affected countries since the start of the war of aggression with Russia, to a total of more than EUR80 million.
The situation in Ukraine “has devastated food supplies, disrupted the energy and financial systems of developing countries,” UN Secretary General António Guterres said.
“In fact, there is no real solution to the problem of global food security, unless the agricultural producer Ukraine, as well as food and fertilizer producers Russia and Belarus, are returned to the world market,” Western media quote the words of the UN Secretary General during his trip to Nigeria.
Guterres added that he was determined to promote dialogue on this issue.
The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine is working on the organization of centers for the national multi-subject test in the countries of the European Union and the UK.
“Now we are working on organizing the work of national multi-subject test centers abroad. Minister Serhiy Shkarlet made a relevant request to his colleagues in European countries,” the ministry’s press service said in a statement.
It is noted there is already a preliminary agreement on two centers in Germany, two in Italy and six in Poland, since most Ukrainian children are in this country.
CENTERS, EDUCATION MINISTRY, EU, MULTI-SUBJECT TEST, ORGANIZATION, UK
The UK is handing over another batch of mobile power generators to Ukraine, Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Haluschenko and British Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said on their Twitter pages on Wednesday.
“Thanks to mobile generators we will ensure a stable power supply to important facilities, despite yet more damages caused by Russian shellings,” Haluschenko wrote.
“More mobile generators heading to Ukraine. The UK is donating 570 generators to ensure hospitals, phone masts, shelters and water pumping stations can continue to operate in the face of continued Russian attack,” Kwasi Kwarteng said on Twitter.
The UK handed over the first part of the 570 generators – almost 200 – to Ukraine in April. They already serve as backup power sources for reliable power supply to various social and infrastructure facilities in case of damage to electrical equipment and networks
Analysts at Alfa-Bank Ukraine expect a reduction in the grain harvest in 2022 to 56 million tons, which will be the lowest figure in the last 10 years and will mean a decrease of 34% to a record figure for 2021.
“Even this historically small harvest will provide a significant resource of grain for export. Now available transport channels do not make it possible to ship such volumes of marketable products abroad,” commented the head of the analytical department Alexei Blinov in the bank’s report.
It is indicated that the assessment of the future harvest is based on calculations of the sown area in the zone of occupation or active hostilities, as well as the current dynamics of the sown area in the territories controlled by Ukraine. Analysts at Alfa-Bank Ukraine also expect some reduction in yields due to lack of fertilizers and plant protection products.
“The key to Ukraine’s agricultural exports, and this is the food security of the world, should be the lifting of the blockade of Ukrainian seaports,” Blinov stressed.
