The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has dismissed Chairman of the Parliament Dmytro Razumkov.
The relevant decision was supported by 284 MPs at the Thursday plenary session.
In particular, some 215 votes in support of this decision were given by the Servant of the People faction, while 20 ones by the Batkivschyna faction, six votes by Holos, the For the Future and Dovira factions gave 19 and 18 votes, respectively, six votes from non-factional MPs […]. The European Solidarity and Opposition Platform – For Life factions did not give a single vote for Razumkov’s resignation.
However, the Opposition Platform – For Life and European Solidarity factions gave 23 and 27 votes, respectively, against such a decision. Seven MPs from the Servant of the People faction, eight MPs from the Holos faction, one MP from the Batkivschyna faction and eight MPs from non-factional ones voted against.
From May to November 2019, Razumkov headed the Servant of the People political party, the first number on the list of which was in the early parliamentary elections in 2019. He held the post of the Ukrainian parliament’s chairman from August 29, 2019.
As reported, on September 30, head of the Servant of the People faction David Arakhamia sent a letter on behalf of the deputy faction to recall Razumkov from the post of chairman.
Gazprom is boosting gas pumping via Ukraine’s gas transmission system and is likely to exceed its contract obligations, but it will not be profitable to increase pumping even further, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting on the development of the energy sector.
“We are seeing all kinds of speculation on the topic of Ukraine’s gas transmission system, on supplies through it; I would also like to note that here now. Our contact obligations for supplies through Ukraine’s gas transmission system are 40 billion cubic meters of gas per year, and in 9M this year, Gazprom increased these supplies, this pumping, to be more precise, through the Ukrainian transmission system more than 8%. We can say with confidence that we will exceed our contract obligations for gas supplies through the territory of Ukraine. It is unprofitable for Gazprom to increase them further, because it is more expensive. Pumping through the new systems is significantly cheaper, by around $3 billion per year against corresponding supply volumes,” Putin said.
The concession tender for the port of Berdiansk may begin no earlier than the end of 2022, Anatoliy Timenko, Senior Project Manager of Maritime Reform at the Reform Support Team of the Ministry of Infrastructure, has said.
“Berdiansk port was a state initiative. The European delegation provided us with technical assistance in the form of a team of consultants who developed a pre-feasibility study for us. We had a large number of meetings and inconsistencies with them, everything dragged on. But I think we will already accept the latest version,” he told about the present progress of the project during the international exhibition NewPort in Kyiv on Wednesday.
According to him, by now a private company, which wants to develop a feasibility study, has already reached out to the department.
Speaking about other potential concession projects, Timenko said that the projects for the ports of Reni and Mariupol are not currently in an active phase.
“Mariupol and Reni – funding has not yet been found and there are no reasonable investors who would come up with an initiative,” he said.
Almost 81% of teachers in Ukraine have already received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, Minister of Education and Science Serhiy Shkarlet said.
“Today, 81% of school workers have already been vaccinated with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Over the past five days, the number of teachers vaccinated with the first dose in Lviv region has increased by 18%, by almost 14% in Dnipropetrovsk region,” Shkarlet wrote in his Telegram channel.
According to him, 67.9% of teachers passed the full vaccination cycle in Luhansk region, in Cherkasy region – 64%, in Poltava region – 62.8%, in the city of Kyiv – 62.6%, in Sumy region – 59.7%. At the same time, the minister says that Kherson, Rivne and Odesa regions have not yet demonstrated tangible progress in vaccination rates.
British-based Ferrexpo plc, which controls in Ukraine, in particular, Poltava and Yeristovo mining and processing plants, in January-September 2021 increased total production of pellets by 0.3% compared to the same period in 2020, to 8.158 million tonnes.
According to a press release from the company on Wednesday, total production, including pellets and salable concentrate, rose 3% to 8.393 million tonnes over the period.
At the same time, total production of pellets with 65% iron content amounted to 7.829 million tonnes (a decrease of 0.3%). Pellets with 62% iron content were not produced. Production of direct reduction (DR) pellets with 67% iron content amounted to 330,000 tonnes (up by 76%).
Over the nine months of 2021, the company also produced 234,000 tonnes of salable concentrate with 67% iron content, while in 2020 it did not produce salable concentrate.
In the third quarter of 2021, total pellet production fell 9% quarter on quarter (qoq), but increased 2% versus Q3 2020, to 2.596 million tonnes. In particular, 2.401 million tonnes of pellets with 65% iron content were produced (a decrease by 13% versus the second quarter of 2021 and by 5% versus the third quarter of last year), no pellets with 62% grade were produced, production of DR pellets with 67% iron content amounted to 195,000 tonnes (an increase of 130% compared to the previous quarter).
The company also produced 85,000 tonnes of salable concentrate with 67% iron content in the third quarter of 2021 (an increase of 0.2% compared to the second quarter).
Total production, including production of pellets and commercial concentrate, in the third quarter of this year decreased by 9% compared to the second quarter of 2021, but increased by 6% compared to the third quarter of 2020, to 2.680 million tonnes.
The press release explains that the 2% increase in iron ore pellet output in Q3 2021 versus Q3 2020 reflects strong production performance following pelletiser upgrade work completed in previous quarters. Production volumes are 9% lower on a quarter on quarter basis as a result of pelletiser upgrade work completed during the quarter, and planned pelletiser maintenance in September 2021.
In addition, upgrade work on the group’s fourth pelletiser line completed during September 2021.
Production of iron ore concentrate with a high iron content (65% and above) in the third quarter was in line with the previous quarter.
In addition, it clarifies that the proportion of direct reduction pellets with higher iron content (67% Fe) increased to 8% of total pellet production during the third quarter from 3% in the previous quarter, reflecting the group’s continuing expansion into this market.
In turn, continued production of commercial high grade concentrate (67% Fe) at 85,000 tonnes in the third quarter reflects the group’s recent investment in in its concentrate stockyard project.
Interim Group Chief Executive Officer Jim North pointed to the group’s continued progress towards improving product quality and output following the completion of the pelletizer upgrade.
“Through continued investment in the group’s concentrator and pelletiser facilities, we are creating a platform for future growth in product volumes, whilst simultaneously increasing the overall grade of our production,” North is cited in the press release.
Biosphere Corporation (Dnipro), the largest Ukrainian manufacturer of household and hygienic products, plans in 2022 to launch production of starch-based biopolymers, which will be completely decomposed, founder and CEO of Biosphere Andriy Zdesenko said at the 2021 International Mayors Summit in Kyiv.
“It will be in Dnipro, where we have a plant and a large production cluster. Our task is to make vertical integration,” he told Interfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of the summit, specifying that production of biodegradable bags started by the corporation in early 2020 is carried out from purchased raw materials.
Zdesenko at the summit noted the readiness of Biosphere to supply such biopackages from biopolymers to municipalities for pets. “Only 1% of the total number of owners constantly use packages and clean up after their pets,” the head of the corporation said.
Rostyslav Vovk, CEO and co-owner of Kormotech, a large Ukrainian producer of cat and dog food, added that the company is ready, together with Biosphere and municipalities, to implement projects to collect this waste in parks.
Zdesenko also noted that the corporation is aimed at direct cooperation with cities to build a circular economy “you give us garbage – and we give a finished product.”
“The idea is that we can receive sorted waste not through a network of intermediaries […] but directly from the city. So that we receive the sheeting, make large-size garbage bags out of it for municipal needs and deliver it to the city directly from the factory, also bypassing all the chains of intermediaries, at the most competitive price with the correct dimensions and technologies,” he explained.
According to him, he is conducting such negotiations with mayor of Lviv, “the most advanced city in terms of waste management,” Andriy Sadovy and mayor of Dnipro Borys Filatov.
Zdesenko pointed out: despite the development of the market, today high-quality waste in Ukraine is expensive and in short supply. According to him, a tonne of polyethylene waste of various grades in Poland, the Czech Republic or Lithuania costs about EUR 200, while in Ukraine, which is now practically deprived of the opportunity to import it from Europe due to EU restrictions, it is “EUR 350, or even EUR 400”.
“Buying this raw material, processing it, I, in fact, am not capable of producing a competitive product for export,” he said.
In this regard, Biosphere begins to involve a large number of international companies in the overall waste collection project, in particular, it started the first project with McDonald’s, and the project with PepsiCo is at the start.
Biosphere Corporation has been operating in Ukraine for over 20 years. Its products are presented in the markets of 30 countries in Europe and Asia. The product portfolio includes more than 2,000 items under 13 trademarks.
