Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov during the forum in Lugano (Switzerland) on Tuesday, July 5, presented a number of planned projects for the development of the country’s railway export infrastructure.
According to the information in the presentation that Kubrakov presented, in particular, among the projects: construction of new and modernization of existing railway lines (both 1435 and 1520 mm) in the direction of the border with the EU and the seaports of the Danube; modernization of rolling stock for freight traffic; modernization of equipment for changing the gauge.
The total cost of these projects is $1.5 billion.
The access of producers of mineral and mountain water to glass bottles for bottling water has become much more difficult due to the shortage of glass containers throughout Europe, it was caused by the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine and the subsequent reduction in its production in both countries.
In this situation, AT Market LLC (Kyiv), which is engaged in bottling high-mountain Carpathian water under the Voda UA brand, plans to start producing water in Tetrapak packaging next month, the owner and founder of the company, Dmitry Nikiforov, told Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.
“Now all the factories are standing, so many of our and some European manufacturers have stopped producing water in “glass”, and are limited only to plastic. We, for our part, understand that all our manufacturers will run out of bottles in the foreseeable future, and in early August we will offer the market an alternative to glass is Tetrapak eco-packaging with a volume of 0.33 liters,” Nikiforov said.
He recalled that the situation with the availability of glass containers for producers of mineral and high mountain waters remains difficult throughout Europe, because a significant part of the bottles were produced in Ukraine and Russia.
Earlier, Nikiforov said in an interview with the agency that AT Market can produce glass containers for bottling water under the Voda UA trademark only at the Vetropack plant in Gostomel (Kyiv region), since the necessary presses remained at the plant that was under Russian occupation for some time -forms. In May, the head of the company noted that the batch of bottles produced before the war on the order of AT Market was not damaged, and it could be picked up within a month.
“Unfortunately, the plant will not be launched in Gostomel. We bought the remaining bottles that survived, and that’s all for now,” Nikiforov stated.
At the same time, he stressed that the AT Market water bottling plant, located in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, is now working in two shifts.
Voda UA is a group of companies engaged in the extraction of Carpathian high-mountain waters under the trademarks Voda UA, “Goryanka”, “Karpatskaya dzherelna vysokogirna”.
DRINKING WATER, HORECA, MINERAL WATER, TETRAPAK, VODA UA, НИКИФОРОВ
Since July 5, Australia has marked tariffs on Ukrainian imports of goods, in addition to alcohol, fuel and tobacco, as a support package for a year, according to the website of the Australian Department of Trade and Tourism.
As indicated by the agency, we are talking about reducing tariffs from 5% to zero for a period of 12 months for a number of goods that are produced or produced in Ukraine. At the same time, it is clarified that duties equivalent to excises remain in force, for example, those that apply to fuel, alcohol and tobacco products.
According to the report, such measures from Australia and other states support the economy of Ukraine and expand its trading opportunities, and they are also important for Ukraine’s recovery in the near and long term.
According to the report, in 2021, Ukrainian exports to Australia amounted to $122 million.
A UNESCO technical delegation will visit Kyiv this week, said Assistant Director General of UNESCO for Priority Africa and External Relations Firmin Eduard Matoko.
“We are planning to send a technical mission to Kyiv with the government of Ukraine this week to further assess the needs and expectations of the Ukrainian authorities and determine the forms of our participation. UNESCO expresses its readiness, together with all partners, to provide technical support in our areas of competence and support the plan for the restoration and development of Ukraine “, Matoko said at a conference on the restoration of Ukraine in Lugano on Tuesday.
He noted that UNESCO regularly monitors the impact of the war on cultural sites, damage to educational institutions, and also the safety of journalists and media workers.
“We protect cultural heritage with satellite monitoring and equipment to protect and stabilize objects,” Matoko said.
According to him, UNESCO is also mobilizing support to ensure continuity of learning for all citizens of Ukraine, supporting online learning in and outside Ukraine, as well as the integration of refugees – students and teachers – into host countries.
He added that since the beginning of the war, UNESCO has been able to mobilize about $5 million for agreements with donor countries in these areas.
On July 4, an international conference for the restoration of Ukraine started in Lugano, Switzerland. Among the main decisions taken on the first day of the conference, one can single out the approval of a plan to provide Ukraine with macro-financial assistance in the amount of $750 billion. Of this total, from 150 to 250 billion is expected to be directed to the restoration of infrastructure and housing damaged as a result of hostilities.
At the same time, the mechanisms for the practical implementation of this project remain unclear in the context of the ongoing war and the need to adapt legislation to it and establish partnerships between the state and private companies. Portal Open4business turned to Igor Stakovychenko, an expert in the field of construction and real estate, for a comment.
In his opinion, the practical implementation of the project should be started now at all levels, since delaying the process can lead to negative consequences in the autumn-winter period.
“Mechanisms for allocating funds from the confiscated assets of the Russian Federation and its large businesses are already being implemented by individual countries. We, in turn, need to implement the conversion of these financial assets into specific infrastructure and construction projects by creating representative offices in donor countries and coordination centers in Ukraine,” said Ihor Stakovychenko.
The expert also stressed that the regional principle of recovery, now promoted by the country’s leadership, when a separate partner state is engaged in projects in a separate Ukrainian region, is the most effective at this stage.
In addition, Igor Stakovychenko suggested creating a system of decentralized funding for the implementation of individual projects at the local level.
“But we must not forget about our responsibility to our partners. It is necessary not only to minimize, but to completely exclude the possibility of misuse of foreign aid by local officials. To do this, it is necessary to create a separate trust fund for each individual restoration project, the activities of which will be as transparent and controlled as possible by both the Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities and the donor country,” Ihor Stakovychenko emphasized.
According to the expert, the basis for the creation of such funds should be existing budget programs, as well as amendments to the main financial document.
“In fact, now we can receive funds both in the form of direct assistance and in the form of investments from partners. Here it is important to successfully implement and present the first major restoration projects, which will help increase investment attractiveness even in the current conditions,” added Igor Stakovychenko.
CONSTRUCTION, EXPERT, FINANCE, MARKETS, REAL ESTATE, RESTORATION_OF_UKRAINE, TECHNOLOGY, ІГОР_СТАКОВИЧЕНКО, СТАКОВИЧЕНКО
Denmark will provide Ukraine with a financing package in the amount of EUR 13.5 million, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said.
“I am pleased to announce today that we will provide a financing package in the amount of EUR 13.5 million to support concrete measures before the start of winter,” he said on Tuesday during a conference on the restoration of Ukraine, which is being held in Lugano, Switzerland.
