Vkursi Zemli start-up for checking land plots, FlyAGData. Hardware application for optimizing agricultural expenses and Fruittorg service for selling vegetables and fruit became winners of a hackathon (competition for the selection of the best software), they will represent Ukraine at the EXPO 2022 exhibition in Dubai (UAE) on February 13-17, 2022.
The event, organized by the Ukrainian Startup Fund together with ISE Corporate Accelerator and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, took place last week in Kyiv, the Ukrainian Startup Fund’s press service reported on Monday evening.
The hackathon was joined by the agricultural holdings Kernel, Agrain, IMC, Continental Farmers Group, HD-group, GFS, as well as Trend and Hedge Club, USAID and the Ukrainian-Swiss Business Association, according to the results of which three startups were selected from 25 teams.
Vkursi Zemli is a land analytics service that allows you to receive information about land plots from state registers, conduct an audit of a land bank and check land plots when buying or lending.
According to the project’s website, it uses information from more than 20 state registers and information sources, including the public cadastral map of Ukraine, the State Register of Rights to Real Estate, the Register of Encumbrances over Movable Property, the Register of Court Decisions, tax registers, etc.
The Ukrainian Startup Fund clarified that FlyAGData.Hardware is an agro-startup that allows you to optimize the costs of agricultural production and the profitability of farms by collecting agronomic and engineering data from equipment in real time.
“The peculiarities of the technology are the ability to connect to equipment by different means and protocols; API integration with various popular systems for farm management software (FMS); in the event of a signal loss, the farmer does not lose the data, but will receive them as soon as the signal is restored,” the Fund said.
According to it, Fruittorg is an agrarian highly specialized marketplace for the sale of fruit and vegetables, which, through artificial intelligence algorithms, provides demand, forms planning, and ensures the safety of product quality in the fruit and vegetable sector.
The startup identifies optimized routes to minimize shipping costs and, for example, to reduce environmental impact.
The Ukrainian Startup Fund is a state fund founded at the initiative of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine for the development of technology startups in the early stages in order to increase their global competitiveness. The process of selecting startups for a grant is carried out on a competitive basis: companies are evaluated and selected by a board of independent investment experts.
The Verkhovna Rada has adopted at the first reading the draft law on the state budget for 2022.
The corresponding decision at a plenary session on Tuesday was supported by 273 deputies with the required 226 votes.
As reported, on October 20, the Verkhovna Rada began to consider the draft state budget for 2022 and adopted it as a basis, after which the parliament began discussing separate amendments of deputies.
The net profit of Citibank (Kyiv) in January-September 2021 amounted to UAH 1.225 billion, which is 18.5% more than in the same period in 2020 (UAH 1.03 billion), according to the quarterly reports released on the bank’s website.
According to the report, for the third quarter of 2021, the net profit of Citibank increased by 32.8% compared from the corresponding indicator of the previous year – to UAH 479.15 million.
The bank’s net interest income for the nine months of 2021 decreased by 3.3% compared to the comparable period (to UAH 1.03 billion), while net commission income increased by 7.5% (to UAH 195.3 million).
The bank’s assets over the specified period increased by 23% – to UAH 34.3 billion, in particular, cash and cash equivalents increased by 17% (UAH 10.14 billion), clients’ loans and debts increased by 2.2 times (to UAH 5.675 billion).
Citibank’s liabilities in January-September 2020 increased by 25.8%, to UAH 31.92 billion, including bank funds by 2.2 times, to UAH 330.1 million, and customer funds increased by 25.2%, to UAH 31.385 billion.
The bank’s equity capital during this period decreased by UAH 113 million – to UAH 2.368 billion, charter capital remained at the level of UAH 200 million.
Citibank was founded in 1998 and is a subsidiary bank of the American Citibank NA.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of September 1, 2021 Citibank ranked 14th in terms of total assets (UAH 34.494 billion) among 72 operating banks.
The lockdown in Kyiv will last at least a month, as the COVID-19 epidemic in the Ukrainian capital is yet to reach its peak, the press service for Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
“Everything depends on the pace of COVID-19 spread and the occupancy of hospital beds. But specialists have tentatively said that this increasingly challenging period may continue for at least a month,” Klitschko told the Ukraine 24 television channel.
However, if COVID-19 morbidity rates begin declining in two-three weeks and the city again falls under the orange zone criteria, the city’s emergency commission may agree to ease some restrictions, the mayor said.
“But, unfortunately, there is no such tendency today. And, as specialists, virologists and doctors have noted, we have yet to reach its peak. Therefore, I once again call on all residents to be careful, to comply with the key safety rules and to get vaccinated!” he said.
The city is currently coping with another COVID-19 peak, he said.
“We are supplying hospitals with all necessary equipment, medications and are paying bonuses to medics. More than 6,000 hospital beds have already been prepared in Kyiv. And we are continuing to increase their number. The hospitals are 70% full,” Klitschko said.
Kyiv has a stockpile of liquid oxygen, but the city authorities have signed preliminary contracts on its supply with different enterprises, he said.
However, problems may occur if the number of patients in need of oxygen support grows, he said.
“The situation is now difficult, but stable and is under control. What counts most is to prevent an explosive growth of infections, when the number of patients will exceed the number of hospital beds. This could lead to a collapse of the healthcare system,” the mayor said.
The intensive care units in Kyiv’s hospitals are almost full, but there are still some available beds, he said.
Gazprom (MOEX: GAZP) has declined to book additional transit capacity via Ukraine and Poland for Q1 2022, according to the results of booking auctions on GSA Platform and Regional Booking Platform.
Gazprom has been refraining from long-term bookings this year, preferring mostly monthly contracts.
Liberalization of the European gas market has resulted in the rejection of long-term transit agreements. Transparent auction bookings have replaced the long-term agreements in order to eliminate excess booking costs from the gas price. Consequently, those shipping gas are free to book only their required capacity amount, and for the time when the capacity would be necessary.
UKRAINE
Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine distributed the proposed capacity along two routes, with 9.8 million cubic meters per day offered at the Sudzha gas-measuring station, and an additional 5.2 million cubic meters per day offered at the Sokhranovka gas-measuring station, though they were unclaimed.
Gazprom has a long-term booking of Ukrainian capacities totaling 40 billion cubic meters, which is 109 million cubic meters per day.
POLAND
Gazprom also did not book any capacity via the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline for the first quarter of 2022. The 2,000-km Yamal-Europe gas pipeline has the capacity to pump up to 33 billion cubic meters per year. The EuRoPol Gaz joint venture owns Poland’s 683-km section of the pipeline, and the national gas transmission operator Gaz-System operates the pipeline. Gazprom’s long-term contract for transit via Poland ended a year ago, with capacity since then being allocated based on auction bookings. For the gas year from October 2020 to September 2021, Gazprom booked capacity at an annual auction. The company then booked part of the pipeline’s capacities at monthly auctions.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky discussed with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau the operation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the liberalization of the visa travel.
“During a meeting at COP26, I thanked Justin Trudeau for Canada’s continued support of Ukraine, our European integration and NATO membership aspirations. The effect of the Free Trade Agreement was positively assessed. Simplification of trips to Canada for Ukrainian citizens was discussed,” Zelensky said on Twitter on Monday.
