Presentation of the private aviation club, Ukrainian Aviation Club (UAC), took place on February 8 in Kyiv, Premier Palace Hotel. This is a professional community that includes international and Ukrainian airline companies, airports and other representatives of aviation and touristic business.
A new edition of the main aviation magazine of Ukraine – Boryspil Magazine, dedicated to the Arabian Gulf countries – was presented at the event. Oleksii Didigurov, the Founder of the Ukrainian Aviation Club, told about the development plan for 2022 and shared his ideas about new projects. Veronika Bulavytska, a Country Manager of Air Astana Airlines, informed about renewal and flight safety from Kyiv to Kazachstan. During the event, UAH 7,000 was collected from the sales of books by the UAC founder, Oleksii Didigurov, which were transferred to Sky People fund.
The representatives of the following companies visited the event:
the main Ukrainian airport – Boryspil, the Head of UkSATSE;
Wizz Air, ElAl, Air Astana, Air Arabia, Windrose Airlines Ukraine;
Ras Al Khaimah tourism office; the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, Touristic Department of the American Chamber of Commerce; Raisky and Insignia concierge services, aircraft maintenance companies and business aviation,
as well as companies related to flights and mass media.
The partners of the event were: Premier Palace, Qatari Embassy in Ukraine, Krayna. Dyka Voda Zakarpattia (Krayna. Wild Water of Transcarpathia).
Gifts of the following brands were awarded: Ras Al Khaima Tourism, Royal Thai Spa, EKIP-SPORT, Koshkin Dom, Avialiga.
All guests received 50% discount for a stay in Mola Mola Apart Hotel in Lviv.
Qatari Embassy in Ukraine treated the guests.
The next UAC meeting is to take place in March, in a private format, and will be devoted to marketing and PR experts in aviation and tourism.
AVIATION, BORYSPIL, PREMIER PALACE HOTEL, UKRAINIAN AVIATION CLUB
During a telephone conversation with U.S. President Joseph Biden on Sunday, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky invited him to pay a visit to Ukraine, according to the website of the Ukrainian head of state.
“I am convinced that your arrival in Kyiv in the coming days, which is decisive for stabilizing the situation, will be a powerful signal and will contribute to de-escalation,” Zelensky said.
During the conversation, they also talked about increasing the financial and energy stability of Ukraine against the backdrop of current challenges.
Zelensky said that the Ukrainian side understands all the current risks, ready for any development of the situation. “We will stop any escalation towards Ukraine. The capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, other cities of our state – Kharkiv and Lviv, Dnipro and Odesa – are safe and under reliable protection,” he said.
The President of Ukraine noted the steps taken by the U.S. and other partners that continue to provide effective support to Ukraine. “We expect that, among other things, it will help prevent the spread of panic,” Zelensky said.
He thanked Biden for U.S. support and noted the importance of providing effective security guarantees to Ukraine. “We are ready to discuss them in different formats,” Zelensky said, emphasizing that there can be no security in Europe without the security of Ukraine.
Ukraine has recorded 16,993 new cases of COVID-19, in addition to 9,338 recoveries and 142 deaths in the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian Health Ministry said on Monday.
“Over the past day, February 13, Ukraine has recorded 16,993 new cases of COVID-19, including 1,447 children and 252 medical workers, while 18,938 persons have been vaccinated for COVID-19, including 5,658 who received the first dose, 8,981 who received the second dose, 95 who received an additional dose, and 4,204 who received a booster shot. In the past 24 hours, 2,270 persons have been hospitalized, 142 have died, and 9,338 have recovered,” the ministry said on Telegram.
There were 24,518 new cases of COVID-19 in Ukraine the day before, on February 12, 38,212 new cases of the disease were detected per day, on February 11, some 41,229 new cases of COVID-19 were detected per day, on February 10, some 41,694 new cases of diseases were detected.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Ukraine has seen a total of 4,542,693 COVID-19 cases, including 3,788,395 recoveries and 102,950 deaths.
Ukraine is not planning to halt air traffic and is working to prevent risks for airline, the Ukrainian authorities said.
Reports about Ukraine closing its airspace are not true, the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure said in a statement on Sunday. The closure of airspace is Ukraine’s sovereign right; no such decision has been made, the ministry said.
“Today [on February 13], there was a working meeting in the Ministry of Infrastructure. Senior officials of the Office of the President of Ukraine, the State Aviation Service of Ukraine, state-owned enterprise UkSATSE, Boryspil International Airport and Ukrainian airlines attended the meeting dedicated to the situation on the air transport services market. A solution preventing any further exacerbation of the situation was elaborated at the meeting,” the ministry said.
A majority of airlines are continuing operations without any restrictions, it said.
“Some carriers face difficulties associated with fluctuations on insurance markets. The state, for its part, is ready to support air carriers and is planning to provide additional financial guarantees to support the aviation market,” it said.
Ukraine is currently in consultations with international partners, and the Ukrainian government is preparing relevant decisions, the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure said.
“The markets for insurance services, as well as capital markets, are vulnerable to the information space. We expect the situation to stabilize soon. In order to do that, the government, the President’s Office and our international partners are designing general decisions. If necessary, the state will ensure repatriation of all Ukrainian citizens from abroad,” Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said.
Later, Deputy Head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Tymoshenko confirmed that the sky over Ukraine remains open, and the authorities have not taken any decisions to close the airspace.
EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) also made no recommendations to restrict flights in Ukrainian airspace, he said on Facebook.
“Most airlines continue to operate without restrictions. What is happening? Some airlines are experiencing difficulties due to insurance markets. So that passengers do not experience the inconvenience associated with this, today, together with the Minister of Infrastructure, we met with the leadership of the State Aviation Service, UkSATSE, Boryspil airport and Ukrainian airlines,” the deputy head of the President’s Office wrote.
According to Tymoshenko, Ukraine is ready to support air carriers and the necessary government decisions will be initiated in the near future.
Earlier a source in the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure said that Ukraine had no plans to halt air traffic in its airspace at the level of the state, but airlines themselves could decide to suspend flights.
Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada member (European Solidarity) Oleksiy Honcharenko said earlier, citing his own sources, that air traffic could be halted in Ukraine on Monday afternoon following an insurance company’s decision to stop insuring civil aircraft.
The Council of the European Union approved on Friday the decision of the European Commission to provide additional macro-financial assistance worth EUR 1.2 billion to Ukraine.
“The current geopolitical tensions are having a severe economic impact on Ukraine. Member states are ready to provide EUR 1.2 billion macro-financial assistance. We decided to support the Commission’s proposal today, so that the financial help can reach Ukraine without delay,” President of the EU Council, French Minister for Economic Affairs, Finance and Recovery Bruno Le Maire said.
The decision will come into force after approval by the European Parliament, which should happen in the near future. The emergency macro-financial assistance is set to have a duration of 12 months and it would consist of two disbursements. The disbursement of the second tranche would be linked to the continuous satisfactory implementation of both an IMF programme and the policy measures agreed in the Memorandum of Understanding.
“Persistent security threats have triggered a substantial outflow of capital. Against the backdrop of the loss of access to international capital markets due to the heightened geopolitical uncertainty and its impact on the economic situation in Ukraine,” the EU Council press service said, justifying the urgency of providing additional assistance.
The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which entered into force on September 1, 2017, brings the Ukraine and the EU closer together. In addition to promoting deeper political ties, stronger economic links and the respect for common values, the agreement has provided a framework for pursuing an ambitious reform agenda, focused on the fight against corruption, an independent judicial system, the rule of law, and a better business climate.
Among other support instruments, between 2014 and 2021 the EU supported Ukraine through five consecutive Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) operations that totalled EUR 5 billion of loans.
On February 1, 2022, the Commission submitted a proposal for an additional 1.2 billion macro-financial assistance to Ukraine in the form of loans to strengthen stability.
The same amount of assistance, but from France, was announced by President Emmanuel Macron during a recent visit to Kyiv. He called it “state guarantees for financing Ukrainian projects of French companies” within the agreement reached back in May.
The White House calls on the Americans in Ukraine to leave the country within the next 24-48 hours, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said at a briefing on Friday.
“We are continuing to reduce the size of our embassy footprint in Kyiv. And I want to take a moment to echo what both President Biden and Secretary Blinken have already said: We encourage all American citizens who remain in Ukraine to depart immediately,” he said at a briefing at the White House.
“Any American in Ukraine should leave as soon as possible, and in any event, in the next 24 to 48 hours,” Sullivan said.
He added that Washington would not send troops to Ukraine to evacuate citizens.
“If you stay, you are assuming risk with no guarantee that there will be any other opportunity to leave and no prospect of a U.S. military evacuation in the event of a Russian invasion,” Sullivan said.
Earlier this week, a White House official said that the United States was not planning a mass evacuation of American citizens from Ukraine with the help of the military, and Pentagon spokesman John Kirby confirmed that the U.S. military deployed to Europe, if necessary, could help in the evacuation of American citizens without appearing on Ukrainian territory.
