Bulgaria will be pleased to participate in the restoration of Ukraine, Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov has said.
“As for your proposal to Bulgaria to participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine, we will be more than happy to do so. We have many cities with many Bulgarian-speaking Ukrainians, and Bulgaria will be pleased to take a constructive part,” Petkov said at a press conference with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Thursday.
The head of government said Bulgaria can also help Ukraine with the help of the trans-Balkan gas pipeline.
“When we talk about energy security, Bulgaria can help Ukraine through the use of the trans-Balkan gas pipeline, through which we can supply gas from LNG terminals in Greece and Turkey to Ukraine, which will give both our countries a lower price and the possibility of deliveries,” he said.
In addition, Petkov said Bulgaria supports Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
“It is very important for Bulgaria that Ukraine sees a clear path to the EU. It is time for us to say that Ukraine belongs, is part of the European family, and we must give a clear sign and a clear path as soon as possible. You have a strong voice for Bulgaria when we meet with many European colleagues,” he said.
On Thursday evening, the US House of Representatives adopted a law on lend-lease and the protection of democracy in Ukraine, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said.
“Lend-lease for Ukraine has finally been opened. The law has been voted on. Thanks to our allies,” Yermak wrote on his Telegram channel on Thursday evening.
The text of the document refers to granting the US President expanded powers to transfer or lease defense assets to Ukraine to “protect the civilian population from Russian military invasion” and for other purposes.
“After the adoption of the act, the chairman of the White House is obliged within 60 days to establish accelerated procedures for the delivery of products. The Lend-Lease Act allows us to significantly speed up the supply of weapons, transport, food and aid from the United States. And all this will allow us to drive the Russian army out of our territories” , – wrote the head of the OP.
He noted that Lend-Lease “means the US confidence in Ukraine’s victory over Russia.”
“This will be an important victory for our indestructible people, who were able to unite the civilized world around them in the fight against the Russian evil,” Yermak summed up.
CONGRESS, LAW, LEND-LEASE, US
Civilian casualties from February 24, when Russia started the war against Ukraine, to 24:00 on April 27 amounted to 6,009 civilians (in the report the day before – 5,939), including 2,829 dead (2,787), reports the Office of the High Commissioner United Nations Human Rights Organization (OHCHR) on Thursday.
“OHCHR believes that the actual figures are much higher as information is delayed from some areas of heavy fighting and many reports are still awaiting confirmation,” the UN data document notes.
According to him, this applies, for example, to Mariupol (Donetsk region), Izyum (Kharkiv region) and Popasna (Luhansk region), where there are reports of numerous civilian casualties. They are subject to further verification and are not included in the above statistics.
“The majority of civilian deaths or injuries were caused by the use of explosive devices with a wide area of effect, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, as well as rocket and air strikes,” the report says.
According to confirmed UN data, 932 men, 626 women, 75 boys and 62 girls died, while the sex of 68 children and 1066 adults has not yet been determined.
Among the 3,180 wounded were 73 boys and 66 girls, as well as 164 children whose gender has not yet been determined.
Compared to Friday’s report, according to the UN, three children were killed and another was injured.
OHCHR indicates that in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as of midnight on April 28, there were 1,266 (1,229) dead and 1,172 (1,159) injured in government-controlled territory, and 88 (85) dead and 357 (353) injured in territory controlled by self-proclaimed “republics”.
In other regions of Ukraine under government control (in Kyiv, as well as in Zhytomyr, Zaporozhye, Kyiv, Sumy, Odessa, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Dnepropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Chernihiv regions), the UN recorded 1475 (1473) dead and 1651 (1640) wounded .
The daily summary traditionally states that the increase in the figures from the previous summary should not be attributed only to the cases on April 26, since during this period the Office verified a number of cases from previous days.
Since the end of February, Adonis Medical Group has not stopped working, and is currently resuming the work of clinics, Adonis general director Vitaliy Hyrin told Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that during this time the clinic branches in Podil and Sofiyivska Borschahivka, as well as emergency ambulances, worked around the clock.
In addition, from April 8, the maternity hospital of the network resumed work on the left bank.
“On May 9, we plan to open a maternity hospital on the right bank at the Shalimov branch. Currently, all branches are operating, except for the maternity hospital in Buzova, which was significantly damaged by shelling, as well as the branch in Bucha,” he said.
Hyrin noted a significant increase in the number of requests for medical help in recent years.
“In early March, there was a strong decline, but from mid-March and in April, the number of visits to Adonis clinics increased by 2.5 times and continues to grow,” he said.
According to Hyrin, the main specialties for patients are gynecology, pregnancy management, childbirth, prenatal and general ultrasound, sampling, pediatrics and therapy.
He also said that a significant number of Adonis patients are not located in Kyiv and are being consulted online.
Adonis is a network of private medical centers for adults and children founded over 20 years ago. It includes 12 branches in Kyiv and the region, including two own maternity hospitals and a stem cell laboratory.
In the branches of the clinic, doctors treat patients in 66 medical specialties.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on Thursday, for the fourth time since the beginning of the war, bought government war bonds. This time for UAH 10 billion while earlier the purchases were valued at UAH 20 billion, bringing its portfolio of these securities to UAH 70 billion, follows from a report on its website.
According to the report, this is the third buyout since the beginning of April, the total amount this month has reached UAH 50 billion.
As reported, the total volume of issuance of war bonds is up to UAH 400 billion.
At market auctions since March 1, their sales amounted to UAH 38.07 billion, $93.8 million and EUR 176.5 million.
Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko previously predicted a state budget deficit of $5-7 billion a month for April-May, compared with $2.7 billion in March.
Zaporizhia Ferroalloy Plant (ZFP) in January-March this year reduced its output by 13.2% compared to the same period last year, to 37,530 tonnes.
As the Ukrainian Association of Producers of Ferroalloys and Other Electrometallurgical Products (UkrFA) told Interfax-Ukraine, over the first three months of the year, ZFP reduced production of silicon manganese by 26.7%, to 13,890 tonnes, but increased ferrosilicon – by 4.2%, to 12,560 tonnes, and reduced ferromanganese – by 15.9%, to 9,700 tonnes.
The enterprise also increased production of metallic manganese by 97.1%, to 1,380 tonnes.
In March, the enterprise produced 2,640 tonnes of ferroalloys, while in February – 16,440 tonnes, and in January – 21,090 tonnes.
Zaporizhia Ferroalloy Plant is one of three Ukrainian manufacturers of these products. The share of the domestic market of its supplies is 30-35%. Products are exported to the CIS countries, the European Union, Asia and Africa.
