French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Russia’s decision to recognize the independence of the so-called “LPR” and “DPL,” calling for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council and targeted European sanctions, the Élysée Palace said in a communiqué. “Macron is demanding an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council as well as the adoption of targeted European sanctions,” French presidency said in a statement.
According to the communiqué, the decision to recognize the so-called “L/DNR” from the point of view of France, is “a clear and unilateral violation of Russia’s international commitments and a breach of Ukraine’s sovereignty.”
In January 2022, PJSC Ukrnafta increased oil and condensate production by 5.6% (by 6,900 tonnes) compared to the same period in 2021, to 130,500 tonnes, the company’s press service reported on Monday.
According to it, gas production increased by 3.6% (by 3.3 million cubic meters), to 94.5 million cubic meters.
In addition, production of liquefied gas in January 2022 at the company’s plants increased by 10% (by 990 tonnes) compared to January last year, to 10,870 tonnes.
Ukrnafta clarified that the increase in production is associated with efficient operation of the existing well stock and a reduction in equipment downtime. In addition, commissioned oil well No. 103 at the Verkhnomaslovetske field (Lviv region) had a positive effect on production activities.
“Ukrnafta is making efforts to increase hydrocarbon production, particularly of natural gas. This is an important task both in terms of supplying the domestic market with natural gas during high seasonal demand and for strengthening the country’s energy independence in the long term,” the company said.
Ukrnafta owns 85 special permits for production of hydrocarbons, and has 1,809 oil and 153 gas wells on its balance sheet. The company owns 537 filling stations.
NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy owns 50% plus 1 share of the largest oil producing company in the country, and a group of companies associated with the former shareholders of PrivatBank owns about 42% of the shares.
The German Foreign Ministry issued an updated information bulletin on Saturday, which urges citizens not to visit Ukraine unnecessarily.
“It is recommended to refrain from trips to Ukraine. German nationals are urgently requested to leave the country now,” the document says.
It is noted that “tension between Russia and Ukraine” due to the massive presence of Russian military forces near the Ukrainian border “is growing again.”
“A military confrontation is possible at any time,” the bulletin says.
The hotel operator Ribas Hotels Group (Odesa) has preliminary agreements with developers to expand the network of WOL apart-hotels by opening new facilities in Lviv, Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa in the next 2-3 years.
As Artur Lupashko, founder of Ribas Hotels Group, told Interfax-Ukraine, according to preliminary agreements with developers, WOL and WOL Black apart-hotels with a total area of more than 20,000 square meters will be implemented in Lviv.
“We also have preliminary agreements to launch WOL apart-hotels in Kyiv and Kharkiv in the next two or three years,” he said.
In addition, it is planned to carry out repair work in the Odesa complex of Aura apartments with the aim of launching an apart-hotel in 2023.
“In addition, two more projects in Kyiv, two projects in Lviv, projects in Uzhgorod, Poltava and Mykolaiv are at the stage of active negotiations with developers,” Lupashko shared his plans.
Ribas Hotels Group is also partnering with developer Asgard in the Duck’s Lake apartment project in Lviv, work on which will start this year.
KHARKIV, KYIV, LVIV, ODESA, RIBAS HOTELS
Last year, Ukraine increased the import of fish, crustaceans and shellfish by 28.6% compared to 2020, to $874 million, according to the website of the Institute for Agrarian Economics National Research Center on Monday.
According to the institute, Norway retained its status as the largest supplier of these products with a share of 35.2% ($307.6 million) of total imports. Norway has been holding a leading position in the import of fish and seafood to Ukraine for 15 years.
Other major suppliers of these products were Iceland with a market share of 13.2% ($113.6 million), the United States – 7.7% ($67.3), Canada – 5.6% ($49 million), Great Britain – 4.7% ($41.1 million) and Spain – 4.4% ($38.4 million). These six countries combined accounted for 71% of fish and seafood imports in 2021.
“Fish and seafood are traditionally in the top three main types of agricultural food imported to Ukraine. In 2021, the share of products of this group in the structure of foreign supplies of agricultural raw materials to Ukraine turned out to be the largest and amounted to about 11%,” expert Bohdan Dukhnitsky said.
The organization clarified that Ukraine buys mainly frozen, as well as fresh and chilled fish, fish fillets and crustaceans.
