As of May 28, Ukrainian farmers planted 14.9 million hectares of spring crops, which is 96% of the forecast (15.5 million hectares), Minister of Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture Taras Vysotsky wrote on his Facebook page last week.
According to him, over the past week, the area with crops in the regions expanded by 275,000 hectares.
Thus, the areas with the main crops as of May 28 were the following: sunflower – 5.99 million ha; corn – 5.33 million ha; barley – 1.52 million ha; soybeans – 1.34 million ha, peas – 282,710 ha, sugar beets – 209,010 ha; spring wheat – 184,530 ha; peas – 282,710 ha; oats – 186,350 ha, buckwheat – 55,230 ha.
As reported, the sown area of major crops in 2020 will increase by 600,000 hectares compared with 2019 and will amount to 15.5 million hectares. In the structure of crops of the spring group, it is predicted that the proportion of corn and sunflower will increase, and that of barley, soy and sugar beets will decrease.
The Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture predicted that farmers will harvest 65-68 million tonnes of grain crops in 2020, compared to 75 million tonnes in 2019.
Kyiv is one of the ten best cities in the world with the development of sharing services, the rating was held in 52 cities, the press service of Kyiv City State Administration has reported.
“Kyiv entered the top ten cities with the best level of development of sharing services. The assessment was carried out according to the level of access to such services as Uber and Airbnb, electronic scooters, applications for sharing professional cars, the ability to rent a car from private owners, as well as the ability to access all the gyms of Kyiv from one mobile application,” the report said.
It is noted that the best sharing services are developed in Tallinn, Vilnius, Riga, Warsaw, Kyiv, Sao Paulo, Tbilisi and other cities. In general, the rating was carried out in 52 cities of the world.
“Now in the capital in the field of sharing services, among other things, the bike sharing investment project from Next Bike with 45 rental points is being implemented and a project to rent electric scooters is being prepared for implementation,” Kyiv City State Administration added.
First Ukrainian Apples Producers aggregation platform (USPA FRUIT) jointly with USAID Competitive Economy Program in Ukraine start a joint initiative entitled “the Fruits Expansion to the Countries of the Middle East and Africa,” under which Ukrainian fresh fruit producers will receive help to enter new markets. According to a press release of the USPA FRUIT platform, under the initiative trade and economic missions for companies-members of the platform to the Middle East and Africa will be organized. Ukrainian producers will also have access to market analytics, which in the future will help them conclude deals for the supply of fresh fruits (apples, cherries, blueberries), increase export sales and create new jobs.
“Establishing stable supplies will be preceded by a detailed study of the Middle East and Africa markets, which will help USPA FRUIT identify priority exports, develop and implement pricing and marketing policies for each country in the region, which in turn will create competitive entry and consolidation in these markets. Within the project, USPA FRUIT aggregation platform organizes trade and economic missions to Egypt, Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, what will help to establish program supplies of fresh fruits from Ukraine,” USPA FRUIT said.
Fresh fruits from the USPA FRUIT aggregation platform have been presented in the UAE market for three years already, but there are still many opportunities for development within the markets of the Middle East and Africa.
As part of the relaxation of quarantine measures, gyms and swimming pools will open in Ukraine on June 1, except for three regions that, according to the current epidemic situation, do not meet the criteria for further mitigation of quarantine.
The corresponding decree was issued by chief state sanitary doctor, Deputy Minister of Health of Ukraine Viktor Liashko.
According to the decree approving temporary recommendations on the organization of anti-epidemic measures in institutions of physical education and sports, all employees and visitors will undergo temperature screening, antiseptics should be installed at the entrance to the premises and in the hall.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has received credentials from Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Ukraine Toila Ataev, and expressed belief that both sides would take effective steps to further develop Ukrainian-Turkmen mutually beneficial cooperation.
“The two noted the interest of Ukraine and Turkmenistan in the intensification of political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation between the two countries. Special attention was paid to strengthening cooperation in the construction industry,” the presidential press service said on Friday.
Zelensky expressed hope that the distribution of COVID-19 would not interfere with plans to intensify bilateral dialogue, and conveyed an invitation to President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow to visit Ukraine.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal notes that Ukraine expects the IMF Executive Board to approve the first tranche of the agreed Stand-By Arrangement for the next 18 months on June 5.
“We have completed negotiations with the IMF, the president also had a telephone conversation with the IMF leader, and on June 5 we expect the signing of the agreement and the receipt of the first tranche. The program is for 18 months, a loan for 5 years, the amount is $5 billion. And this is a Stand-By Arrangement with rather simplified conditions, which will enable us to move calmly in overcoming the consequences of the coronavirus crisis that already exist,” he said on the air of the Savik Shuster Freedom of Speech program on Ukraine TV Channel.
Shmyhal pointed out that the first tranche from the IMF will be $1.9 billion, which Ukraine expects on June 5-6, another $1.6 billion will be in autumn, and $1.5 billion next year.
