The deficit of Ukraine’s foreign trade in goods over January-August 2021 decreased by 33.9% compared to the same period in 2020, to $1.731 billion from $2.619 billion, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine reported on Wednesday.
According to its data, exports of goods from Ukraine over the specified period increased by 35.6% compared to the same period in 2020, to $41.788 billion, and imports – by 30.1%, to $43.519 billion.
The State Statistics Service clarified that in August, compared with July 2021, the seasonally adjusted volume of exports increased by 1.9%, to $6.008 billion, imports – by 0.6%, to $6.089 billion.
The seasonally adjusted foreign trade balance in August 2021 was negative and amounted to $80 million, which is better than the previous month ($156 million).
The coverage of imports by exports in eight months of this year amounted to 0.96% (over the same period in 2020 – 0.92%).
The State Statistics Service specified that foreign trade operations were carried out with partners from 231 countries of the world.
The Ministry of Finance reported on the payment of UAH 565.3 million as a reward to the Ukrainian prize-winners of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, another UAH 6.4 million is provided for awards to 25 Olympians, who took fourth or sixth places at the games, and their coaches.
“Expenditures for rewarding the achievements of the Olympians and Paralympians of the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games were fully funded and amount to UAH 565.3 million,” the ministry said on its website.
Cash awards for gold medals are $125,000, for silver medals $80,000 and for bronze medals $55,000. Also, UAH 200,000, UAH 140,000 and UAH 100,000 will be paid to the athletes who took the fourth, fifth and sixth places, respectively, as well as their coaches.
“UAH 6.4 million will be allocated from the state budget for this,” the ministry added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit the UK at the end of October, and a strategic dialogue meeting is planned during the visit, Ukrainian Ambassador to UK Vadym Prystaiko has said.
“In the near future, we expect a delegation led by the president (Volodymyr Zelensky). At the end of this month,” Prystaiko said in an interview with Dom TV channel.
He noted that a meeting is planned during the visit, at which a strategic dialogue will take place.
On October 7-8, the Kyiv International Economic Forum (KIEF) was held at the Parkovy Exhibition and Convention Center. Over 1,500 participants attended the event, during which 25-panel discussions took place. Over 120 speakers from leading international organizations and private companies, in particular the European Investment Bank, BlackRock Investment Institute, WTO, EBRD, OECD, Club of Rome, World Economic Forum, McKinsey & Company, and others, shared their vision of the future of the global economy.
The initiator of the Forum was the UFuture holding company, headed by the entrepreneur Vasуl Khmelnytsky. KIEF is a platform for the formation of a strategy for the economic development of Ukraine. The Forum is focused on organizing a dialogue between experts, business, and government, borrowing the best world experience, creating a roadmap for development, and facilitating the conversion of ideas into real actions.
In his opinion, Ukraine has significant prospects in the world market. A powerful agricultural sector creates prospects for the development of modern production in FoodTech. The government and businesses must invest more in the processing of raw materials and the creation of finished products, which creates additional jobs and contributes to overall economic growth.
According to the founder of KIEF, there is a problem with the development of the infrastructure of startups, now in Ukraine. Despite the availability of high-quality technical education, university graduates do not have a proper business education. For this, the state must create an ecosystem for the development of startups.
Vasуl Khmelnytsky noted the positive changes in the state’s approach to the development of small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine. A positive example is the «5-7-9» lending program, which made it easier for entrepreneurs to access capital. However, according to the entrepreneur, the state has a lot to do. Thus, the share of SMEs in the structure of the Ukrainian economy is 1.5%, while in the world it is 3-4% on average. For the development of entrepreneurship, the state must conduct educational work, in particular, starting from school.
General Director of the Forum Yurii Pyvovarov noted that the country’s reputation is important for leaders of business, and the country itself. The world should understand that it is comfortable to live, work, invest, develop business here. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a long-term strategy for the development of the image of Ukraine, and KIEF has been making a great contribution to the development of this reputation for the eighth year.
“There are three major trends to be an economically successful country. First: money goes into innovations and ideas. Here we have a chance. It is necessary to develop the infrastructure of incubators, start-ups, and the state to support promising projects. The second trend is climate. There is a lot of money going there, new, more environmentally friendly production facilities are being built. The third trend is the development of production. The pandemic has shown that there are logistical difficulties in transporting from China to Europe. There is a window of opportunity in Ukraine, but it is small. Work is underway to develop production, in particular, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a draft law on the development of industrial parks. But this requires more effort,” said Pivovarov.
During the forum, the issue of investment in developing countries, their risk, and profitability were raised. If earlier it was more profitable than investing in developed countries, in the last decade the trend has reversed. And we need to understand whether Ukraine in such conditions can be attractive for foreign and domestic investors. Among the advantages of Ukraine, the speakers named low competition, which creates the preconditions for a quick return on investment and getting large profits. Another plus is that Ukraine is striving to join the European Union. This choice means harmonization of legislation and regulation with the European one, predictability, and building a level playing field. Experts named IT, infrastructure, agriculture, banking, fintech, e-commerce, and big data as the most attractive in terms of investment.
During the panel “Can Developing Markets Fuel Global Recovery?” panelists noted that the digital trend is growing all over the world, and the covid only contributes to this. Beata Harasim, the senior investment strategist at BlackRock Investment Institute, said many countries are underfunded to move to green energy. Emerging markets need additional support from wealthy countries. “Covid has helped reinforce several trends, one of which is the transition to zero carbon emissions. Countries whose economies are based on exhaustible resources should pay more and more attention to renewable energy sources,” said Beata Harasim.
One of the discussions was: “Financing the Future: Money for Sustainable Development”. Speaking during the meeting, EBRD Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus Matteo Patrone said that in order to achieve the sustainable development goals set by 2030, it is necessary to invest about $30 trillion, at least $1 trillion annually. The private sector should also make a contribution because the state does not have the necessary resources. The $27 trillion invested in low and negative yield bonds could be reinvested to achieve sustainable development goals, he said. He believes that the time for such investments is not lost yet. “In Ukraine and many others, there is a deviation from the goals of sustainable development. Approximately $1 billion of investments in Ukraine are under threat, ”said Patrone.
Ann Cairns, the Executive Vice-Chair of Mastercard, spoke at the panel “Economy of the 21st Century: An Era of Changes and Opportunities”. She said that Mastercard has seen a change in online shopping in the past 10 months, more than in the last 5 years. People started spending more locally, which is understandable due to widespread lockdowns. Almost a billion people received payments from their governments around the world during the period of covid. The corona crisis has intensified digitalization: we see the development of artificial intelligence and the introduction of digital currencies, as well as a huge development in the financial sector.
And Vice Prime Minister – Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov noted that during the pandemic, technology companies developed most of all, those that are convenient: Uber, Booking and the like. They have transformed established business models. According to the speaker, states should turn into technology companies, be fast, convenient, and develop those areas where there is no business component. And the best way for Ukraine is to become the most comfortable country in the world, and this is possible thanks to technology. Digitalization has made a leap in our country, not only thanks to the pandemic but also because of a change in consumer culture and a change of government. Fedorov believes that Ukraine has made digitalization a certain pop culture, which is why we are on the right path, where convenience is a competitive advantage in the struggle for development.
KIEF remains a permanent discussion platform for developing strategic decisions for the Ukrainian establishment, business, and society. The organizers predict that next year the Forum will be even larger and expand the geography of its participants.
On October, 14-17 near Kyiv, in the «Kyivan Rus Park» a large-scale and spectacular celebration of Pokrova and the Defenders and Defendersses of Ukraine Day will take place.
The wonderful medieval architecture and, in addition, an entertaining program, museums, master-classes and amusements will be waiting for the guests of Ancient Kyiv.
The action will start with the solemn parade of the flags of the Kyivan Rus princes, horse lava and the appearance of the Kyivan prince Volodymyr the Great himself. The guests will be invited to take part in the solemn procession to the st. Basyl’s church, the reconstructed wooden temple of the Х century.
The program will continue with theatrical stagings on the Kyivan Rus theme, the performances of the horse-trick theatre, and demonstrative fights of the princely druzhinniks and also the competitions of the horseback archers.
Till the very evening the guests will be surprised with the medieval amusements. The guests will get a chance not only to observe the action but to take part in it by participating in merry games and competitions, games and fiery round dances.
The event will be carried out in accordance with the quarantine measures.
Ancient Kyiv opens at 10:00. The program starts at 14:00.
The ticket price: a full adult ticket – 250 UAH, for pensioners and students – 150 UAH, for schoolchildren – 100 UAH, for preschool children – for free.
Ancient Kyiv in the «Kyivan Rus Park» is located in Kyiv region, Obukhiv district, the vill. Kopachiv.
Details on the website www.parkkyivrus.com
The Interfax subscribers can save money with the “openbusiness-20” promo code for a 20%-discount for a full price adult ticket to the Principality of Kyivan Rus:
– by previous order by tel.: +38 044 461-99-37, +38 050 385-20-35
– or at the cash desk at the entrance to the «Kyivan Rus Park».
The cinema hall of the SWEET.TV national online cinema is supplemented with more than 100 films from Disney, Paramount and Sony. The service has direct contracts with film studios and regularly updates the film library with novelties, exclusive and extremely popular movies.
At the beginning of October, the SWEET.TV cinema was supplemented with more than 100 films. Among them are comedies, action films, thrillers, horror movies, those based on real events, and, of course, cartoons for children of all ages and the whole family.
Among the additions: “Mulan” (2020), the full trilogy “Cars”, “Jurassic World”, “Watchmen”, “Allied”, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2”, “John Carter:”, “The Green Mile”, “Shrek”, “10 Cloverfield Lane”, “Tron: Legacy.”
The full list of movies can be found at the link.
It should be noted that the SWEET.TV cinema hall has a complete trilogy of the cartoon “Cars”. Ukrainian dubbing for the cartoon is considered extremely popular. It became the first film to be released in Ukrainian cinemas with Ukrainian dubbing.
In the “Cars” cartoon, Ukrainians also for the first time heard an example of successful adaptation of dubbing to the Ukrainian identity. The most striking example is a combine harvester named Valera. For the dubbing team, the localization of names was a controversial issue, but “Valera” still appeared in the final version and became popular.
In total, the service has another 10,000+ movies and 260+ TV channels, including HD and 4K, including 29 movies, where movies of various genres are broadcast 24/7.
It will be recalled that SWEET.TV creates exclusive Ukrainian-language dubbing and voice acting for Hollywood films, cartoons and TV series that were not previously featured in the Hollywood Ukraine project. During the year of the project’s existence, 180+ films and 850+ trailers received a new audio track.
Recently, the first two films “Spider-Man” starring Tobey Maguire received a Ukrainian sound.
For new subscribers, the national online cinema provides free access for 7 days. More details – at the link.
