Norway allocates another €5.6 million to support nuclear safety and decommissioning activities
With the ratification of the framework agreement of the International Cooperation Account for Chornobyl (ICA) by the Ukrainian Parliament, the international community and Ukraine are ready to enter a new stage of cooperation on long-term nuclear safety and decommissioning, with a special focus on the Chornobyl NPP. In June 2024, the Rada approved the relevant law, which paves the way for a wider range of nuclear safety activities to be managed by the RSC.
To reaffirm its unwavering support for international efforts for decommissioning and nuclear remediation in Ukraine, at a recent meeting of the PFDR Donor Assembly, Norway announced an additional €5.6 million contribution to the PFDR.
Donors also agreed on the next tranche of funding for projects to improve the safety of spent fuel storage and optimize liquid radioactive waste management at the Chornobyl NPP.
Balthasar Lindauer, Director of the EBRD Nuclear Safety Department, said: “Russia’s military occupation of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone (ChEZ) in March 2022 has not only damaged the infrastructure at the site, but also left a challenging operational legacy for one of the most vulnerable nuclear power plants in the world. The EBRD has a long-standing commitment to supporting the decommissioning and safety of Chornobyl, and we are determined to ensure that the significant progress made over the years through international cooperation is not lost. The ratification of the framework agreement, additional donor support and commitments to a new tranche of projects are an important statement of this renewed international support for safety at Chornobyl.”
The RMCS was established in November 2020 by the EBRD at the request of the Government of Ukraine. It was established as a multilateral fund to support the development of a comprehensive plan for Chornobyl. After the occupation of the ChEZ at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the RMSF’s scope of tasks was expanded to support the restoration of safety in the ChEZ, as well as broader nuclear safety measures throughout Ukraine.
AGREEMENT, CHORNOBYL, international cooperation, VERKHOVNA RADA
Ukrzaliznytsia JSC (UZ) has changed the opening time of online sales for international trains to reduce the load on the application, the company’s press service reports.
“We are changing the opening time of online sales for international trains to stabilize the slightly overloaded application,” the press service said in a statement on Wednesday.
It is noted that from Thursday, ticket sales in the Polish direction (Przemyśl, Dorohusk, Chełm, Warsaw) will start at 09:00, with a sales period of 20 days before the departure date.
Slovak and Austrian direction – from 08:00, 20 days in advance. Ticket sales for trains to Moldova will start at 08:00, with a sales depth of 30 days.
“All sales start simultaneously on the Ukrzaliznytsia website and in the app. The opening of sales for all domestic flights will remain at 08:00,” UZ said.
The company explained that prior to these changes, ticket sales for all international trains opened at 8 am, except for the Kyiv-Warsaw train, which started selling tickets at 9:00 am.
“The changes will help reduce peak loads on our systems and, accordingly, make the use of the (…) application even more convenient and faster,” UZ assured.
UZ also reported that it has begun a gradual transfer of ticket sales to the new website https://booking-new.uz.gov.ua. International tickets will no longer be available on the old website.
The consumer sentiment index (CSI) of Ukrainians in June fell by 8 points to 64.5 points (on a scale from zero to 200), which is the lowest level of this indicator since February 24, 2022, according to a monthly survey by InfoSapiens agency.
According to a publication by the Center for Economic Strategy (CES) on Wednesday, among the components of the HPI, the economic expectations index fell more in June, to 73.6 points from 83.9 points, while the current situation index dropped to 50.9 points from 55.9 points.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country, the CPI fell to a minimum of 70.2 points in February 2024, while the index reached its maximum value in March 2022 and May 2023 – about 92 points.
Export of agricultural products during the marketing year, mln tons
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
JSC “Ukrposhta” in January-March 2024 increased income by 10.1% year-on-year to UAH 3.05 billion, reducing net loss 2.1 times to UAH 190.3 million.
“Net income from the sale of products (goods, works, services) For the first quarter of 2024 is UAH 3.05 billion, which is UAH 340.2 million or 10.0% less against the plan and UAH 280.4 million or 10.1% more against actual data for the first quarter of 2023,” the company said on its website on Wednesday.
Non-fulfillment of the income plan is due to the fact that the company was not able to provide services in full on the territories where hostilities are conducted and on temporarily occupied territories. At the same time, for a number of basic services there is an increase in sales volumes, which allowed to ensure the growth of income compared to the same period last year, indicated in JSC “Ukrposhta”.
EBITDA of the company in the I quarter of 2024 amounted to 83.7 million UAH.
“Ukrposhta” in the first quarter of 2024 received domestic and international shipments in the amount of 24.1 million units of written correspondence, 12.4 million parcels. Also, paid 3.5 million transfers and 9.5 million pensions and cash benefits;
1.2 thousand titles of periodicals of Ukraine were distributed by subscription and retail, which amounts to 16.7 million units, including 14.3 million units by subscription and 2.4 million units by retail.
Ukrposhta JSC had 5.57 thousand stationary outlets and 1.86 thousand mobile outlets. The average number of full-time employees as of the first quarter of 2024 is 34.258 thousand people, including postal operators – 7.053 thousand, postmen – 7.974 people.
The average salary of a full-time employee of Ukrposhta in the I quarter of 2024 13.799 thousand UAH.
Estimated number of population in regions of Ukraine based on number of active mobile sim cards (mln)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
