Foreign ministers of Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania – the countries that founded the Lublin Triangle format – agreed to meet in Ukraine in the fall, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
“We are already working on the content of our new partnership, making plans and believe that the Triangle should become an important element in the configuration of forces in Central Europe and in Europe as a whole. I can inform you that we have reached an agreement with my Polish and Lithuanian colleagues on that the next meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Lublin Triangle will be held in Ukraine this fall. We are committed to maintaining a dynamic dialogue and the dynamic development of our new format,” he said at an online briefing on Friday.Kuleba recalled that the Lublin Triangle is the first international format that Ukraine has been creating in its Western vector since independence, since 1991.
“Usually, when it comes to different European formats and structures, we join or seek to join the existing structures. Here we are already taking a leadership position and, together with partners, create new mechanisms that meet our regional and European interests,” the minister explained.As reported, Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine have established the Lublin Triangle format. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that that format would become an important element in strengthening Central Europe and Ukraine, as a full member of the European and Euro-Atlantic family of nations.
The likelihood of cooperation between the State Agency for Roads of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) and Alitalia in the development of road infrastructure and “smart roads” was discussed by Minister of Infrastructure Vladyslav Krykliy and Italian Ambassador to Ukraine Davide La Cecilia in Kyiv on Friday.
“The minister briefed the ambassador on a number of important investment projects that are planned in the industry, in particular, in the construction of highways, bridges, concessions of seaports and railway stations. The parties also discussed possible cooperation between Ukravtodor and Alitalia in the development of road infrastructure and ‘smart roads.’ In addition, they noted the importance of developing airports and container trains,” the ministry said in a message on its website.
Krykliy also stressed the interest of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine in the resumption of the work of the Ukrainian-Italian Council for Economic, Industrial and Financial Cooperation with the aim of enhancing relations in the field of transport and infrastructure.
He positively noted the long-term and mutually beneficial relations between Ukraine and Italy in the field of aviation and confirmed his readiness to act on the principle of reciprocity, positively considering all requests from air carriers that will be appointed by the Italian side.
In addition, the parties discussed further cooperation between the two countries in road traffic.
At a meeting on Thursday, July 30, Head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak said that, on behalf of President Volodymyr Zelensky, the President’s Office, together with the National Olympic Committee, work on the issue of the IOC head’s arrival in Ukraine, and believes that this would be a good opportunity to show the country’s preparation to become one of participants of competition to host the Olympic Games.
“Minister of Youth and Sports Vadym Gutsait reported that NOC President Serhiy Bubka is working on the issue of Ukraine’s participation in the competition for the Olympic Games in 2028 or 2030. He also said that as a former participant in the Olympic Games he supports the implementation of the project, which will give a significant impetus for the development of mass sports and sports of the highest achievements, in particular its winter sports,” the press service of the President’s Office said on Thursday, July 30.
The meeting participants discussed a project to create in Ukraine a high-mountain all-season sports and tourist cluster “Borzhava”. It was presented by Gernot Leitner, a representative of Austrian ski industry, a long-term participant in the preparation of Summer and Winter Olympic Games, the beneficial owner of Borzhava Asset.
He said that the coronavirus pandemic in the world has created such conditions when each state undertakes to develop domestic resources. In his opinion, Ukraine has unique resources and nature, and the location of the future cluster – mountainous Borzhava with its location and transport links will contribute to the development of tourism potential of the entire region.
Leitner hopes that this meeting will become a key one for the development of the project, the signing of a memorandum, which sets out all the steps that must be taken by the state, communities and investors, and its implementation.
“The sooner you are ready to submit a detailed project, deadlines, estimates to the president – the better. We are ready to assist at all levels. As soon as these two stages are passed, after processing the memorandum by lawyers, we will be ready to sign it,” Yermak said.
The position of good prospects for Ukraine from the implementation of the project was supported by the Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture Ihor Petrashko, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Roman Abramovsky. Petrashko said that the mechanisms of public-private partnership and “investment nanny” can be used for this. In turn, Abramovsky stressed the importance of preserving natural environment in the place of the cluster.
Canadian company Black Iron, which is implementing the investment project to create a new iron ore production facility in Kryvy Rih (Dnipropetrovsk region), has announced its decision to accelerate the expiry date of the common share purchase warrants dated March 29, 2019 and April 5, 2019.
The company said in its press release on July 30 that the warrants were issued in connection with a private placement of units, with each share purchase warrant being exercisable into one additional common share of the company at a price of $0.09 per share until March 29, 2022 and April 5, 2022, as applicable.
“The Warrants are subject to the right of the Company to accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants if the Company’s common shares close at or above $0.15 per share for more than 10 consecutive trading days on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the “Acceleration Event”). The Company is entitled to accelerate the expiry of the Warrants to that date that is 30 business days from the date of issuance of a news release announcing the exercise of the acceleration right,” it said.
Black Iron also noted that the press release constitutes notice to the holders of warrants that the Acceleration Event has occurred and the company has elected to accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants. This notice only affects the warrants dated March 29, 2019 and April 5, 2019 and not any other warrants the company has issued.
In addition, it is reported that Black Iron’s management have recently initiated discussions with institutional investors on a royalty that could contribute materially to the funding required for project construction and are receiving strong interest.
“Negotiation of a Heads of Agreement on the commercial terms to be included in a binding contract for a high potential $60 million investment in exchange for being awarded the construction contract for the Shymanivske project have concluded positively with one company and are well advanced with a second. Further details on this will be disclosed in due course noting that a binding contract would only be entered into with only one of these two companies, should the parties reach an agreement, who will then lead the future planned construction of the project,” the company said.
The Deposit Guarantee Fund sold the head office of insolvent Delta Bank in Kyiv to Valmi Invest LLC for UAH 66.65 million.
According to the results of auctions posted in the ProZorro.Sale system, the auctions was held according to the Dutch model with a lower price. The initial price of the office was UAH 156.27 million, the guarantee payment was 10%.
Five more companies participated in the auction apart from Valmi Invest, three of them placed their stakes.
Delta Bank’s office in Kyiv has an area of 3,883 square meters and is located on the first through fourth floors of the multi-storey building at 38 Druzhby Narodiv Boulevard near the subway. It is equipped with office furniture and equipment.
The state company for import and export of military and special purpose products and services, Ukrspecexport, which is a part of the Ukroboronprom State Concern, received revenue in the amount of UAH 1.53 billion in the first half of 2020, which is 36.6% more than over the same period in 2019, according to the company’s statement in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission.
According to the report, Ukrspecexport saw a 2.2-fold increase in net profit, to UAH 148.95 million, over the first six months of 2020.
According to previously published report, the company’s revenue increased by 57.3%, to UAH 672.06 million, in Q2, 2020 as compared to the same period last year, while its net profit reduced by 64.3%, to UAH 14.51 million.
Ukrspecexport’s debt in advanced payments, which dropped from UAH 3.96 billion to UAH 1.96 billion in 2019, reduced to UAH 1.27 billion in H1, 2020. In general, current obligations and collaterals reduced from UAH 4.87 billion to UAH 4.55 billion, and there were no long-term liabilities.
In H1, 2020, the company had 432 employees, the same as at the beginning of the year. The total amount of salaries expense reduced by 4.7%, to UAH 136.53 million (on average, UAH 52,700 per employee per month).
In 2019, Ukrspecexport’s net profit dropped by 13.5%, to UAH 200.59 million, while its revenue increased by 2.3 times, to UAH 3.449 billion.
