President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that he instructed the National Bank, deputies and officials to find an opportunity to guarantee 100% of deposits of Ukrainians in banks.
“This is a special task for the National Bank of Ukraine, for people’s deputies and our officials. I instructed to find such a legislative opportunity that the state would guarantee 100% of deposits in banks. 100%. Not part, as it is now, as usual, but in full. The entire deposit. In any bank of our state. So that people do not lose money and are not afraid of it under any circumstances. So I am waiting for specifics. A draft decision. And I hope that the Verkhovna Rada will not be slow in providing support. Because Ukrainians need it. Ukraine needs it,” he said in a video message on the night of Thursday.
In addition, according to him, “the Cabinet of Ministers will vote tomorrow for a large-scale reduction in regulations.”
“There were more than 600 permits and licenses for business, and about 20 remain mandatory. Only those that simply cannot be cancelled. Like, for example, the management of radioactive waste,” Zelensky said.
According to him, the government has already prepared a decision to expand the lending program for entrepreneurs on the basis of the Affordable Loans 5-7-9% program.
“Any business will be able to get a loan at 0% during martial law plus one month after the war. Then there will be a minimum rate of 5%. And the total amount of the loan can be up to UAH 60 million. To widen the circle of those businesses that can use our program “, the president said.
Washington hopes that China will exert the necessary influence on the Russian Federation in connection with the events in Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday.
“We believe China in particular has a responsibility to use its influence with President Putin and to defend the international rules and principles that it professes to support,” he said.
At the same time, Blinken recalled that the events in Ukraine will be one of the topics of a telephone conversation scheduled for Friday between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“President Biden will be speaking to President Xi tomorrow and will make clear that China will bear responsibility for any actions it takes to support Russia’s aggression, and we will not hesitate to impose costs,” Blinken said.
Later, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that the conversation between Biden and Xi Jinping would clarify China’s attitude towards the situation in Ukraine.
“This is an opportunity for President Biden to assess where President Xi stands,” she said.
On Friday, March 18, the number of Ukrainian citizens who arrived in Poland exceeded 2 million people, the Polish Border Guard Service reports.
“Today, that is, March 18, by 9:00 am, the number of refugees from Ukraine exceeded 2 million people. Mostly they are women with children,” the Twitter message says.
All federal states of Germany will provide quick assistance to Ukrainians who are fleeing the war, and its procedure will be simple, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.
“Overcoming this challenge is the common task of our entire state,” he tweeted on Wednesday evening.
Scholz thanked the many volunteers whose “tireless efforts allow us to help people fleeing the terrible war in Ukraine.”
The German chancellor also said that it is completely unacceptable when immigrants from Russia are insulted or even subjected to physical attack.
“Because this is Putin’s war. He, and only he, is responsible for this,” Scholz stressed.
The budget of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for the provision of humanitarian assistance in Ukraine has been increased to 250 million Swiss francs, the organization’s president, Peter Maurer, said.
“Some 75 million Swiss francs until February 24 (Russian invasion of Ukraine) per year was the approximate budget of the International Committee of the Red Cross for Ukraine. We asked our donors for 150 million Swiss francs. As a result, now our budget for Ukraine is 250 million Swiss francs. Then there are donors who are very generous in everything related to the situation in Ukraine, and this will allow us to expand our activities,” Maurer said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine and the Ukraine 24 TV Channel.
According to him, the ICRC’s humanitarian operation in Ukraine is the largest in the world in recent decades.
“Just for comparison: before the escalation in Ukraine, the largest Red Cross operations were carried out in Afghanistan, Syria. That is, with a budget of 180-190 million. Now Ukraine is our largest operation in the world,” he said.
Maurer also noted that the ICRC has already delivered 200 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Ukraine and is ready to start distributing it.
Among other types of support, he named the intention of the organization to locally purchase goods and receive services, to support the economy. The president of the humanitarian organization also said that he had agreed with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on the implementation of a cash support scheme for the country, similar to the one during the COVID-19 crisis.
Approximately 270,000 refugees from Ukraine have arrived in the Czech Republic, and the authorities are already running out of resources to accept everyone who wants to stay in the country without any problems, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Thursday.
“We have to admit that we are at the very edge when we can accept [these refugees] without problems,” the Associated Press (AP) quoted the prime minister as saying.
According to the agency, the majority of Ukrainian refugees are women and children.
AP notes that the Czech government is making efforts to issue long-term residence permits to refugees in the country, to ensure their access to health care and education. Also, a plan is being discussed at the parliament to allow refugees to be hired even without documents authorizing the performance of work.
