According to forecasts of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine, the epidemic situation in the country should be stable during the holidays, but a new strain of Omicron coronavirus (COVID-19) may appear in Ukraine this week, NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danilov has said at a conference call chaired by President Volodymyr Zelensky. “According to NSDC forecasts, the epidemic situation in our country should be stable during the holidays. It is expected that a new strain of the Omicron coronavirus may appear in Ukraine this week. But the results of the first studies in countries where it has already been detected indicate a milder course disease,” the President’s Office of Ukraine said on its website.
It is noted that due to the approaching Christmas and New Year holidays, the relevant orders of the Ministry of Health and the chief state sanitary physician on anti-epidemic measures were adopted during the operation of the ski resorts.
According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, anti-epidemic measures have also been developed separately during major events.
The prime minister also said that now Vinnytsia region meets the criteria for leaving the “red” zone, therefore, the issue of its transfer to the “yellow” zone will be considered.
In turn, Health Minister Viktor Liashko said that today Ukraine has overcome the rate of 40% of vaccinated among the adult population: out of 14.1 million citizens, 12 million received two vaccinations against COVID-19.
However, according to him, a decrease in the rate of vaccination has been observed over the past two weeks.
In this context, President Zelensky noted the need to intensify vaccination and said that in January 2022 the list of goods and services that can be purchased for UAH 1,000 provided by the state to every Ukrainian who received a full course of vaccinations, will be expanded.
“From December 19, fully vaccinated Ukrainians will be credited with UAH 1,000. They will be able to spend these funds on the areas most affected by the pandemic – sign up for a gym, go to a cinema, a museum or a concert, buy a train or plane ticket, buy books. At the same time, listening to the wishes of our elderly citizens, for whom health support is important, in particular in a pandemic, it was decided to add medicines to the list of available goods,” the head of state said.
He believes that such a move will increase the number of vaccines against COVID-19 among the elderly, and will also contribute to the treatment and prevention of other diseases.
Currently, the Ministry of Digital Transformation is finalizing the technical capabilities so that the purchase of medicines for the funds provided for inoculation will become available from January 2022.
Spot prices for gas in Europe have topped $1350/1,000 cubic meters, their highest since early October, when prices surged to near an implausible $2,000/1,000 cubic meters. On Monday, the price of the closest (January) TTF futures on the ICE Futures exchange reached 116.395 euros per MWh, that is $1,358 per 1,000 cubic meters. In November, day-ahead contracts on the TTF traded at an average of $945, in December, at an average of $1,134/1,000 cubic meters. The average since the start of the year has reached $512.
Experts said that the latest spike in prices could be traced to a Sunday report by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung regarding the stance of Germany’s new foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The newspaper said that Baerbock, a representative of the Green Party, has always opposed the pipeline, but was compelled within coalition negotiations to accept the Social Democrats’ unwillingness to forgo the pipeline, which has already been completed. However, now that she has assumed the role of foreign minister, she is constantly being reminded about her previous stance.
The current level of gas reserves in European UGS facilities has already reached 62.83% of their maximum capacity as of Sunday morning, which is 17 percentage points below average figures over the past five years.
The European weather forecast for the current week envisages a new warming (much like in the same period of the previous year).
Wind generation in the past week (December 6 through December 12) accounted for 15.6% of the European energy balance after 18.5% in the preceding week (November 29 through December 5).
The Ukrainian subsidiary of Sberbank of Russia changed its name to JSC IR Bank (JSC International Reserve Bank), according to the unified public register of legal entities and sole proprietors. According to the Opendatabot, the bank was renamed on December 10.
As reported, Sberbank of Russia decided to change the name of its subsidiary Sberbank JSC (Kyiv) to JSC IR Bank, as evidenced by the decision of Sberbank of Russia on September 27, published on its website.
Earlier, with reference to the materials of the Ukrainian Patent Office, it was reported that Sberbank back in 2018-2019 filed applications for registration of the names of the International Reserve Bank (IRB) in Ukrainian, Russian and English, as well as related trademarks, with Ukrpatent.
In August 2021, the Supreme Court of Ukraine upheld the position of the state-owned Oschadbank (Kyiv) and prohibited the Ukrainian subsidiary of the largest Russian bank from using the Sberbank trademark in Ukraine.
Sberbank (earlier a subsidiary bank of Sberbank of Russia, before that it was bank NRB) was founded in 2001. Its sole owner is Sberbank of Russia.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of October 1, 2021, Sberbank ranked 10th in terms of total assets (UAH 58.397 billion) among 71 banks operating in Ukraine.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 13/12/21
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of December 13
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
On Friday, December 10, the European Investment Bank (EIB) allocated EUR 50 million of loans to Ukraine, which will be used to finance coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination program in the country, in particular, to purchase a sufficient amount of vaccines against COVID-19.
According to the EU Delegation to Ukraine press service on Friday, the loan will support the health system and increase Ukraine’s viability in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
“This financial transaction is part of Team Europe’s overall initiative to respond to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the EU Delegation to Ukraine said in a statement.
To make vaccines more affordable for Ukrainians and strengthen the country’s ability to respond to the COVID-19 crisis and overcome its devastating consequences, the EIB has repurposed part of the funds of the current financial agreement.
“This is the Ukraine Municipal Infrastructure Programme (UMIP), signed between the EIB and Ukraine in 2015 in the amount of EUR 400 million. The EIB has allocated EUR 50 million under this agreement to finance the COVID-19 response. The agreement on the repurposing of the EUR 50 million loan was ratified by Ukraine in October 2021,” the office said.
According to Head of the EIB Resident Representation in Ukraine Jean-Erik de Zagon, the EIB is pleased to support the efforts of the Ukrainian government in the fight against COVID-19.
The banker said that to raise funds more quickly, the EIB managed to amend the already approved and existing loan. EUR 50 million repurposed for this aim will be used for the prompt procurement of vaccines. This is a necessary step to tackle the health and economic challenges of COVID-19, and to ensure a better future.
The procurement of vaccines against COVID-19 for funds provided by the EIB will be conducted by Crown Agents, previously approved by the Ukrainian government.
