Some countries of the European Union may temporarily restrict entry for citizens of Ukraine due to the increase in the incidence of coronavirus (COVID-19) and the exclusion of our country from the so-called “green zone,” but at the moment such a decision has not yet been made, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleh Nikolenko has said.
“The European Union has not yet made a formal decision. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has previously reported that in the event of an increase in the incidence of COVID-19 in Ukraine, the EU may adopt a recommendation to exclude our state from the list of countries whose citizens can make non-essential trips to the European Union. Brussels reviews the list of countries every two weeks and adjusts it depending on the development of the epidemic situation,” he said on Facebook.
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the epidemic situation is worsening not only in Ukraine and in recent weeks the EU has already significantly reduced the list of countries in the “green zone,” and some EU countries have already started to strengthen quarantine measures for their citizens.
“It is important to understand that […] if a decision is made, the EU does not automatically establish new rules for crossing the border, but only provides recommendations to the EU member states. […] Up-to-date information on the conditions of entry of Ukrainian citizens to each individual country of the EU and other countries of the world is available on the interactive map of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine: https://tripadvisor.mfa.gov.ua. It is updated in real time,” Nikolenko said.
He said that one should not expect a complete closure of borders, as last year, and vaccination in the future will remain one of the key conditions for unhindered entry into most countries.
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson also said that if the EU decides to exclude Ukraine from the green zone, it does not cancel the visa-free travel, but only introduces temporary restrictions on tourist trips to counter the spread of COVID-19 infection. “The decision can also be later revised at the next update of the list in case the epidemic situation improves,” the representative of the foreign ministry said.
According to Nikolenko, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the embassies are actively working with foreign partners so that even in the difficult conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the circle of countries open to travel for Ukrainian citizens remains as wide as possible and further expands.
Unfinished houses and residential complexes have been a sensitive issue of the Ukrainian real estate market for several years. Big cities and their closest satellites are especially acutely aware of the situation.
Local authorities are often unable to respond quickly to the problem on their own. It is then that the engineering and technical personnel and the resources of powerful local developers get down to business.
We are talking about the development experience with succession with Serhiy Musiyenko, the managing partner of Comfort Life Development, one of the largest developers in Kyiv region.
Let’s start with the most difficult case. How did the process take place?
There are four such cases today. The first is the Pearl of Irpenskie Lipki large object. In 2012, another developer was under construction on the site adjacent to ours. Even at the initial stage, his project was stuck, but the apartments continued to be actively sold. We are talking about 8% of the construction readiness, in fact, about the concrete frame of six floors of one of four 12-storey sections.
Irpenskie Lipki 2 residential complex
An unscrupulous entrepreneur sent only half of the funds received to construction, leaving investors homeless.
Since the construction of the Irpenskie Lipki residential complex was underway, having lost hope, the deceived investors turned to us. The investors were advised to unite in a cooperative and put the problem object on the balance sheet.
After the completion of the procedure, Comfort Life specialists undertook the legal support of the cooperative. The main goal was the earliest possible acquisition of property rights for the deceived people. Only after that we were able to conclude new contracts with the owners for the completion of the residential complex, which had been in a “frozen” state for about three years. Today it bears the name “Irpenskie Lipki 2.”
How about the other three? Did you feel big differences?
Regarding Irpen, significant are the cases of the Parkovy residential complex, one of its sections, and the actual shift from the foundation stage of the Royal Park residential complex. In the case of the latter, the developer, sensing the difficulties, turned to us himself.
A separate conversation is about the well-known Gold City residential complex with a long-term construction term in Bucha. Prior to Comfort Life, several developers took turns taking up the complex for three years. As a result, turning to us, the first owner actively assisted, organized meetings with the mayor, working groups. Today, a large facility called Central Bucha is at the final stage of construction.
Central Bucha residential complex
It must be emphasized that in each case we made significant improvements. Redevelopment, large-scale improvement works were carried out.
Are you planning to expand your experience to other problem objects?
Honestly, we never tried to do this.
The problem of unfinished construction is the area of responsibility of local authorities. It is in its competence to prevent and solve such issues. At the same time, we understand the limitations of its tools. We try to lend a shoulder.
Indeed, sometimes we finish building after others. At one time, the company managed to pick up several sites in Kyiv region. At the same time, we undertook exclusively promising, economically profitable business projects. We immediately rejected proposals, seeing at least a minimal risk. Everything was calculated carefully.
Today, the authorities and developers continue to contact us, since we have a great positive experience – we always finish building objects. In turn, Comfort Life Development is primarily focused on existing construction.
Managing Partner of Comfort Life Development Serhiy Musiyenko
Ukraine in January-September of this year increased exports of coke and semi-coke in quantity terms by 6.3 times compared to the same period last year, to 184,827 tonnes.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service, in monetary terms, exports of coke and semi-coke increased 13.1 times over this period, to $39.587 million.
At the same time, the products were mainly exported to Kazakhstan (30.68% of supplies in monetary terms), Turkey (17.45%) and Algeria (16.67%).
Over nine months, Ukraine imported 479,897 tonnes of coke and semi-coke, which is 76.2% more compared to January-September 2020. In monetary terms, imports increased 3.2 times, to $185.362 million.
The products were mainly imported from Russia (62.86% of supplies in monetary terms), the Czech Republic (18.72%) and Poland (12.28%).
Schwarz Group is entering the Ukrainian market and will develop the Lidl food retail chain, the German edition Lebensmittel Zeitung reported, citing an internal letter from the company.
As follows from the internal letter from Schwarz, 47-year-old Adam Miszczyszyn will deal with Lidl’s entering Ukraine. The document on his appointment as Country Manager for Lidl in Ukraine was signed by Lidl CEO Gerd Chrzanowski and Procurement Director Tim Bork.
Schwarz Group, with 500,000 employees, is one of the world’s leading retail companies.
The company is headquartered in Neckarsulm, Germany. The main food retail brands are Lidl and Kaufland. The group also includes food production Schwarz Produktion and waste disposal, sorting and recycling company PreZero.
According to the official website of the company, it operates 12,900 stores in 33 countries, with revenues in 2020 of EUR125.3 billion, which is 9.6% higher than in 2019. Kaufland increased store sales by 7.5%, to EUR 25.5 billion, Lidl increased sales by 9.9%, to EUR96.3 billion, PreZero grew by 33.7% in 2020 and brought in about EUR 700 million from waste treatment.
DEVELOP, FOOD, LIDL, RETAIL CHAIN, SCHWARZ, UKRAINIAN MARKET
Export-import bank SAUDI Exim Bank (Saudi Arabia) will provide state-owned Ukreximbank (Kyiv) with $ 25 million in financing as the first stage of support for importers of Saudi goods, services and products in the Ukrainian and neighboring markets.
The framework agreement signed on October 13 during the Berne Union’s Annual General Meeting in Budapest (Hungary) is the first in the history of Ukreximbank to be signed with Saudi Arabian banks, the Ukrainian bank said.
“The beginning of our cooperation with SAUDI Exim Bank will give impetus for the further development of international cooperation between Ukraine and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, will contribute to the implementation of joint projects in various sectors of the economy and the strengthening of trade ties, which have been developing intensively in recent years,” deputy chairman of the bank’s board Oleksandr Schur said.
Earlier in August, SAUDI Exim Bank CEO Saad Alkhalb announced the approval of more than 80 funding requests for 9 billion Saudi riyals (about $ 2.4 billion) for more than 46 countries over the course of the year to fill funding gaps and reduce export risks for Saudi products in the world. All these decisions were made as part of the implementation of Saudi Vision 2030, which provides for reducing the dependence of the economy of Saudi Arabia on oil, according to the Ukraine in Arabic online edition.
According to the information on the official website, SAUDI Exim Bank was established in 2020 and is the state export agency of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The bank focuses on building capacity in high-growth industries, improving Saudi Arabia’s trade balance and strengthening the economy in non-oil industries, and provides exporters with the opportunity to promote the development and diversification of Saudi Arabia’s non-oil exports.
Source: Ukraine in Arabic
Leader of UDAR, Mayor of the Ukrainian capital Vitali Klitschko initiates the creation of district councils in Kyiv and calls on the deputies of Kyiv council to support the decision.
“I am initiating the consideration by Kyiv Council of the issue of creating district councils in Kyiv. Let me remind you that the district councils were taken from the people of Kyiv by the Yanukovych regime in 2010, and so far the basic local government in Kyiv has not been restored. Today politicians and high-level officials are trying to control Kyiv, although this should be done by the people of Kyiv. That is why the return of district councils is an increase in decentralization, which has been curtailed recently, and the European path of development of the capital,” Klitschko said on his Facebook page.
The mayor of the Ukrainian capital said the deputies of the district councils will be able to better represent the interests of Kyiv residents, will help to increase the transparency of the use of budget funds.
“Firstly, Kyiv is too big a city for the people of Kyiv to be able to personally know their deputy, to complain and convey ideas. Deputies of district councils will be in constant communication with their neighbors, will be able to respond more quickly to their problems. Secondly, more representation means more transparency. The introduction of district councils will allow the people of Kyiv to understand what and how the budget is spent in their area, and to influence it,” Klitschko said.
The UDAR leader said the creation of district councils will not be burdensome for the capital’s budget, the deputies will work on a voluntary basis.
