The American pharmaceutical company Pfizer will continue humanitarian supplies of medicines to the Russian Federation, all the profits of the Russian branch will be directed to humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
“Pfizer will immediately donate all profits of our Russian subsidiary to causes that provide direct humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine. This will be in addition to all other recently announced donations from Pfizer to Ukraine. In addition, we will no longer initiate new clinical trials in Russia and will cease enrollment of new patients in our ongoing clinical trials in the country,” Pfizer said on its website on Monday.
The company also clarified that it will transfer all current clinical trials to alternative sites outside the Russian Federation, but will continue to provide the necessary medicines to patients already included in clinical trials.
“While Pfizer does not own or operate any manufacturing sites in Russia, we will terminate all planned investments with local suppliers to increase manufacturing capacity in the country,” the company said.
At the same time, the company notes that the voluntary suspension of drug supplies to the Russian Federation “would be a direct violation of the fundamental principle of patient priority.”
Ukraine’s GDP grew 3.4% in 2021 after falling 3.8% in 2020, the State Statistics Service said.
Nominal GDP was UAH 5.46 trillion and per capita GDP was UAH 131,940.
GDP was $200.09 billion at an average exchange rate of UAH 27.29/$1, and per capita GDP was $4,840.
The Q4 2021 GDP growth estimate was raised to 6.1% from the 5.9% given at the start of February.
The Statistics Service raised its Q2 and Q3 2021 estimates for the second time, to 6% from 5.7% and to 2.8% from 2.7%, respectively, the initial estimates being 5.4% and 2.4%. GDP fell 2.2% in Q1 2021.
The European Union coordinated the first MEDEVAC operation for transferring Ukrainian children with chronic diseases from Poland to Italy, the European Commission said in a statement.
“The operation was financially and operationally supported by the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and is part of the European solidarity mechanism for intra-EU medical transfers of refugees and displaced people,” it said.
The operation was carried out by an Italian medical team at the request of and in close cooperation with Poland.
French authorities have the necessary resources to accommodate up to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine on their territory, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Monday.
“Today, we can host up to 100,000 refugees. This has become possible thanks to the considerable efforts of the state and local authorities,” Le Figaro quoted him as saying.
“We continue to work on scenarios under which we can accept even more people,” the minister said.
The newspaper notes that about 13,500 Ukrainian refugees are currently registered in France.
The bravery of the Ukrainian leadership and people is immense, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tweeted after a conversation with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.
“The UK is doing all we can to support including defensive weapons and humanitarian aid,” Truss said.
The needs of Ukrainian farmers are met by 84% for the sowing season of 2022, by 55% in crop protection agents, by 78% in seed material, the most critical shortage of fuel for agricultural equipment, but the situation is already being resolved at the level of top officials.
This comment was given by Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Roman Leschenko to Interfax-Ukraine on Monday.
“The total need for fertilizers for sowing is covered by 84%, in crop protection agents – by 55%. This indicator is unsatisfactory, but not critical, because the lack can be compensated for by imports from the EU countries, which are ready to provide us with all the necessary support. Especially that the agronomic deadlines for the introduction of crop protection agents fall mainly in May. The most critical problem is with fuel, it is solved at the level of top officials of the state,” the minister said.
He recalled that the agrarians begin preparations for the sowing season in the autumn of the previous year, so before the war they were able to prepare the necessary resources for the sowing season in approximately the same volumes.
Leschenko said that the need for seed material in Ukraine is provided by 78%. The vast majority of the material is already in the warehouses of agricultural producers.
“As for food security, it is too early to give any assessments – everything will depend on the military situation in the state. Ukrainian farmers are very courageous and ready to work in difficult conditions to ensure food security. There are no optimal calendar dates for sowing, they depend on weather conditions. We have a cold spring, so the start of the sowing campaign has been somewhat postponed. The main period this year will be in April-May,” the minister said.
According to him, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy is in constant contact with large distributors and producers of seeds and crop protection agents, which are doing everything possible to provide food and prevent a food crisis.
