Dynamics of changes in population of Ukraine from 1991-2022
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmygal invited the International Finance Corporation (IFC) from the World Bank Group to join the reconstruction of Ukrainian cities.
“The head of the Ukrainian government spoke about the scale of destruction as a result of Russia’s criminal actions and expressed hope for the support of the International Finance Corporation in the issue of restoring the housing stock and social infrastructure,” the press service of the government said after a meeting between Shmyhal and the managing director and executive vice IFC President Makhtar Diop.
According to him, Ukraine plans to carry out the restoration on the principles of a green economy.
The prime minister also noted that he was counting on IFC assistance in financing the restoration of the transport infrastructure of Ukrainian cities, especially those most affected by the actions of the occupiers.
“We are interested in creating a financial platform for the IFC, which will finance more Ukrainian cities. Today, attracting foreign investment in the restoration of critical and social infrastructure is one of the most important issues on the agenda of Ukraine,” the head of government added.
In addition, Shmyhal focused on the need to extend public-private partnership projects after Ukraine’s victory. In particular, this concerns the implementation of concession projects at airports, railway stations, seaports, as well as public-private partnership projects in the road industry.
“The resilience of the people of Ukraine is outstanding. Consider IFC as a strong and strategic partner that will play its part in supporting the private sector,” Diop tweeted after the meeting.
During the sowing season-2022, Ukraine sowed 3.02 million hectares of land with the main agricultural crops, which is 20.1% of the 14.4 million hectares planned for the current season, the data on which were adjusted upward by 7.1% the day before (from 13.44 million hectares previously announced), the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food said on Friday.
According to data published on its website, over the past week from April 15 to April 21, the area under crops increased by 56%, from 1.94 million hectares to 3.02 million hectares.
It is clarified that by now the total area sown with spring barley is 802.2 thousand hectares (+59 thousand hectares per week), sunflower – 896 thousand hectares (+462.3 thousand hectares), spring wheat – 164.4 thousand hectares (+18 thousand hectares), peas – 107.2 thousand hectares (+6.7 thousand hectares), oats – 127 thousand hectares (+15.4 thousand hectares).
In addition, the sown area under potatoes is 366.2 thousand hectares (+236.9 thousand hectares), sugar beet – 155.6 thousand hectares (+45.3 thousand hectares), soybeans – 62 thousand hectares ( +41.1 thousand hectares), spring rapeseed – 16.4 thousand hectares (+4.8 thousand hectares), millet – 4.8 thousand hectares (+2 thousand hectares), buckwheat – 1 thousand hectares (+0.4 thousand ha).
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, Vinnitsa, Volyn, Transcarpathian, Kirovograd, Odessa, Poltava, Rivne, Ternopil and Khmelnytsky regions have completely completed the sowing of spring crops of the early group: wheat, barley and oats. Almost 70% of the projected areas have already been sown with these crops.
Also in 2021, winter crops were sown for the 2022 harvest on a total area of 7.7 million hectares, including 6.5 million hectares of winter wheat, 1 million hectares of barley and 0.16 million hectares of rye.
At the moment, agricultural enterprises have completed the first feeding of winter crops with nitrogen mineral fertilizers.
As reported, due to the military aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine this season, a reduction in the acreage of high-margin crops (sunflower and corn) is expected while increasing the acreage of crops that are easier to produce, but important in terms of food security – peas, barley and oats.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said on April 20 that Ukraine will sow approximately 14.2 million hectares of agricultural land this season, which is 80% of last year’s figure of 16.9 million hectares.
Earlier, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy estimated the sown area under spring crops in 2022 at 13.44 million hectares compared to 16.92 million hectares in 2021.
Rostislav Shurma, Deputy Head of the President’s Office, called Ukraine’s goal in 2022 to harvest at least 70% of last year’s volumes.
Indonesia will ban the export of palm oil from April 28 amid a shortage of this product in the country, the Nikkei newspaper reports.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Friday that the ban is in place indefinitely.
Such a decision, according to him, was made in order to “ensure a sufficient and affordable supply of edible vegetable oil in the country.”
Indonesia is the world’s largest producer and exporter of palm oil. The previous ban on the export of this product from the country was introduced at the end of January and lifted in March. The imposition of the ban sent palm oil prices skyrocketing to record highs.
A significant rise in prices was noted at the end of last year, and already this year the situation was aggravated by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which, according to experts, could limit the supply of vegetable oils on the world market.
Despite the fact that the supply of palm oil in Indonesia, which fell sharply at the beginning of the year, has now increased, prices remain high, which pushes up inflation in the country.
July palm oil futures on the Malaysian derivatives exchange rose 1.1% on Friday to 6,384 ringgits ($1,483.62) per ton.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi will lead a team of experts who will visit the Chernobyl nuclear power plant next week, according to a statement posted on the organization’s website on Friday.
“International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will lead an expert mission to Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) next week to step up assistance to prevent the danger of a nuclear accident during the current conflict in the country,” the statement said.
It is noted that a group of IAEA employees will arrive in Chernobyl on April 26 to deliver the necessary equipment and conduct radiological and other surveys of the area.
In March, Grossi visited the South Ukrainian NPP, where he discussed IAEA assistance to Ukraine with the Minister of Energy of Ukraine German Galushchenko, the head of the nuclear regulator of Ukraine Oleg Korikov, the head of the State Enterprise NNEGC Energoatom Petr Kotin and the general director of the South Ukrainian NPP Igor Polovich. Then he noted, that the personal presence of IAEA specialists on the ground would help prevent the risk of a nuclear accident in the face of Russian military aggression, It was noted that such an accident could lead to serious consequences in the field of health and the environment both in Ukraine and abroad.
At a meeting with Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Mathias Cormann, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal welcomed the intention of the OECD to open a regional office in Kyiv.
“I informed the OECD Secretary-General about the creation in Ukraine of a plan and a fund for the restoration of our state. We strive to change the country and the economic model, based on the best world standards. Our goal is based on the principles promoted by the Ukrainian people: a European future, a transparent state and an open economy,” Shmyhal said on his Telegram channel following the meeting.
The prime minister said it is important for Ukraine to use the best practices of the OECD and implement them in the near future.
“I welcomed the intention to open a regional office of the OECD in Kyiv, this is an excellent opportunity to strengthen and accelerate our cooperation,” Shmyhal said.
Shmyhal also said the ‘green’ economy is the basic principle of the new economic model of Ukraine.
“Russia has destroyed and continues to destroy our infrastructure. There is no point in returning to the old models, so we intend to restore it according to modern principles and the latest technologies,” he said.
In addition, the prime minister said that Ukraine intends to make corporatization even more efficient, and in this matter counts on active assistance from the OECD.
