Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of June 19
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded corporate family rating (CFR) and probability of default rating (PDR) of Metinvest B.V. (Metinvest) to B2 from B3. Concurrently, the rating outlooks on Metinvest’s ratings were revised to stable from positive, Moody’s has said in a press release.
The stable outlook on Metinvest’s ratings is in line with the stable outlook on Ukraine’s sovereign rating, and reflects Moody’s expectation that the company will sustain strong operating and financial performance for their rating level and will maintain healthy liquidity.
Metinvest has fairly broad goals of reducing environmental footprint and introducing more efficient energy-saving technologies in order to meet the best global standards in this area. In 2019, Metinvest spent around $384 million (2018: $263 million) in environmental projects, including $155 million of capital spending.
“Being a vertically integrated company, Metinvest takes responsibility for the whole production chain and continues to improve the environmental footprint of its segments,” Moody’s said.
The corporate governance risks are mitigated by the fact that Metinvest demonstrates a good level of public information disclosure, including a track record of regular public reporting of audited consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS as well as quarterly operational reporting.
Metinvest Group is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies that manages every link of the value chain, from mining and processing iron ore and coal to making and selling semi-finished and finished steel products. It comprises steel and mining production facilities located in Ukraine, Europe and the United States, as well as a sales network covering all key global markets.
The Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Azerbaijan have agreed to prepare for the official visit of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to Ukraine before the end of 2020, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said.
“On June 17, another round of political consultations took place at the level of Deputy Foreign Ministers of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar and the Republic of Azerbaijan Khalaf Khalafov in the form of a videoconference, during which further cooperation was comprehensively discussed, including on supporting the territorial integrity of both states and certain aspects of the policy regarding the occupied territories,” the ministry said in a statement.
Thus, the diplomats emphasized the importance of maintaining the existing dynamics of political dialogue and agreed to concentrate efforts on preparing the official visit of Azerbaijani President Aliyev to Ukraine before the end of 2020.
“I’m sure that the official visit of the Azerbaijani leader to Ukraine will be a significant impetus for strengthening strategic partnerships and will allow serious advancing implementation of joint projects,” Bodnar said.
The parties agreed to intensify the work of ministries and departments to prepare joint initiatives, programs and documents, as well as hold meetings of bilateral working bodies.
Among other things, the parties discussed practical steps to implement projects in the political, trade, economic, energy, transport, cultural, humanitarian and military-technical fields.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky declares that Ukraine seeks full membership in the European Union.
“Eastern Partnership shouldn’t limit the ambitions of its partners. For some, political dialogue or strategic partnership with EU is enough, some seek integration with the common market on the basis of 4 freedoms, but Ukraine seeks full membership of the EU,” he wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
On June 18, the Eastern Partnership summit is held in video mode with the participation of the EU leadership, the heads of the Eastern Partnership states and the heads of all EU member states.
According to the presidential press service, the head of state reminded that from the beginning the goal of the initiative was to build the EU community with partners who share European values and principles. At the same time, the benefits of such an association should be enjoyed by all citizens of the countries – participants.
The president of Ukraine expressed confidence in the possibility of jointly overcoming the challenges of today, in particular the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, by deepening integration and increasing coordination between countries, rather than by political self-isolation and protectionism.
“This meeting is a great opportunity to discuss further cooperation to overcome the current crisis and overcome similar challenges in the future. We are facing very difficult tasks: to protect the lives and health of citizens, to restore people-to-people and business contacts, to bring the economy out of the crisis trajectory,” the president said.
The president also thanked the European Union for its support, in particular for the new EUR 1.2 billion macro-financial assistance program, which is important and timely.
In addition, according to Zelensky, Ukraine counts on cooperation with the EU in the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it is produced.
The head of state noted that Ukraine, for its part, also supported European partners. In particular, Ukrainian medics came to the aid of Italian colleagues, and Ukrainian planes delivered medical supplies to many EU countries.
“I am sure that the slogan Stronger Together is more relevant today than ever,” the president of Ukraine said.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will finance the reconstruction of the Dnipro-Mariupol and Dnipro-Kotovka roads in Dnipropetrovsk region, EBRD Senior Adviser for External Affairs Anton Usov said on his Facebook page. “The head of Dnipropetrovsk region, Oleksandr Bondarenko, and the EBRD Deputy Director in Ukraine, Mark Magaletsky, have signed an agreement to begin preparing a project for the reconstruction of roads in the region. The project cost is estimated at EUR 50 million,” he said.Procurement of goods and services for this project will be carried out in strict accordance with the rules of the EBRD after approval by the board of directors of the bank and signing the corresponding agreement.Usov said that work in this direction was launched in October 2019 in the context of the Re-Think investment forum, which was held in Mariupol (Donetsk region).
The Hungarian low cost airline Wizz Air intends in August 2020 to launch a flight from Dortmund (Germany) to Zaporizhia, due to the opening of an air carrier base in Dortmund. According to Wizz Air’s press service, flights will start on August 2 and will be operated on Wednesdays and Sundays. Ticket price is from UAH 729.
In addition, the airline launches flights from Dortmund to Alghero, Bari, Catania, Naples, Athens, Corfu, Heraklion, Rhodes, Santorini, Thessaloniki, Fuerteventura, Lisbon, Marrakesh, Podgorica, Reykjavik, and Suceava.
