The Council of the European Union has approved a proposal of the European Commission to provide EUR 1.2 billion of micro-financial assistance to help Ukraine to cope with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The respective decision was taken on May 20 under the written procedure during sitting of the EU Council.
It is expected that after this Kyiv and Brussels will begin negotiations regarding the future Memorandum, which should specify the conditions for the allocation of the second tranche. Further, the Memorandum should be ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, after which Ukraine will receive the first tranche in the amount of EUR 600 million, which is unconditional. The horizontal condition for obtaining macro-financial assistance is mandatory cooperation with the IMF.
On May 15, European Parliament backed the commission’s proposal.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 20/05/20
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
The Reform Support Team of the State Automobile Roads Agency of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) is designing a project on road pricing for foreign trucks with the maximum loaded weight of 12 tonnes and more.
An expert of the Reform Support Team at Ukravtodor told Interfax-Ukraine, they plan to charge fees only on vehicles of foreign carriers with the maximum loaded weight of 12 tonnes or more, which carry out transit traffic through Ukraine.
The project is planned to be implemented on the basis of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).
According to the calculations of the Ukravtodor’s Reform Support Team, the implementation of the GNSS system on international roads will make it possible to receive additional revenues of UAH 8.9 billion to the Road Fund annually.
The payback of the project will be about one year, and profitability will be about 80%.
The launch of GNSS on international roads will make it possible to implement complete control over passenger traffic and special equipment (garbage trucks), as well as the transportation of dangerous, valuable or special cargoes.
With the help of this system, it is possible to levy fares for crossing bridges, tunnels and cities, parking; control movement and automatic formation of the route for large-size vehicles, as well as bring the transportation market to the transparent plane.
This will also help implement Directive 1999/62/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 1999 on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures.
Minister of Health of Ukraine Maksym Stepanov claims that protective suits for medical workers have been delivered to the country and the process of their delivery to the regions will begin on Wednesday.
“Of course, the suits have arrived. Tomorrow, the process of their delivery to the regions will start, namely to those medical institutions that need it … First of all, it is western Ukraine,” Stepanov said on Tuesday night on Ukraine 24 television channel, commenting statements by deputies that the purchased suits for the protection of Ukrainian doctors from COVID-19 had not been delivered to Ukraine.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said that a trend in number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the country is optimistic, however one should not be careless about the infection. The president’s press service said that on Tuesday, during a regular meeting on the prevention of the spread of COVID-19 in Ukraine, the head of state was informed that the number of new COVID-19 cases in Ukraine in the past 24 hours was 260 and 356 patients have recovered.
“The coronavirus epidemic has forced us all to make new decisions and accept new living conditions. All countries in the world have revised their approaches. Today’s trend in the number of those who fell ill and those who recovered inspires hope that we have passed the first challenges with dignity. However, this does not mean that we should be careless with coronavirus infection. We will do everything to guarantee the safety of Ukrainians,” Zelensky said.
Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine Oleksiy Chernyshov informed the president that so far almost all regions have paid 300% bonuses to medical workers who worked with COVID-19 patients in March. Three regions will resolve this issue in the coming days.
Also, some regions have already started paying bonuses for April, and by the end of the week the Cabinet of Ministers expects a significant increase in the number of agreements with the National Health Service, which is necessary to make these payments.
Main reasons for mortality of the Ukraine’s population in Jan-Feb 2020
