The Belarusian airline Belavia has cancelled all flights to Ukraine until August 25, 2021, Belavia said in a statement on its website.
“Due to the ban of the Ukrainian authorities on Belavia flights, the airline is forced to cancel flights to/from Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, and Kharkiv from May 26 to August 25, 2021,” Belavia said.
On May 25, night flights to Kyiv and Odesa were also canceled, it said.
“Passengers who purchased tickets on the indicated dates will be able to refund their full price without penalties or change the date of departure during the validity period of the ticket,” the airline said.
Ukraine suspended air traffic with Belarus on May 26.
A Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius was forced to land at the Minsk airport while passing through Belarus’ airspace on May 23.
On President Alexander Lukashenko’s orders, Belarus scrambled a MiG-29 fighter jet to accompany it. The Ryanair plane was carrying Raman Pratasevich, former editor-in-chief of Nexta and editor of Belarus Golovnogo Mozga (Belarus of the Brain), Telegram channels that are both designated as extremist in Belarus, and his companion, Sofia Sapega, a Russian citizen and a student of European Humanities University in Vilnius. Both were detained by the Belarusian authorities.
The European Union and the United States have condemned the forced landing of the Ryanair plane in Minsk, demanding that Pratasevich be released.
Minsk, in turn, said that an email message about a bomb allegedly planted on the Ryanair plane en route from Athens to Vilnius had been signed by “Hamas soldiers.”
The volume of sales of enterprises in the service sector of Ukraine in the first quarter of 2021 amounted to UAH 237.7 billion, which in comparable prices is 1% higher than the level of the fourth quarter of 2020, the State Statistics Service has said.
According to the report, the volume of services sold to the population amounted to 21% of the total volume of services rendered.
The State Statistics Service reminded that in the first quarter of 2020 the volume of sales of service enterprises grew by 23.1%.
The catch of fish and other aquatic biological resources by fisheries of Ukraine in January-April 2021 increased by 4.8% compared to January-April 2020, to 23,210 tonnes, of which ocean catch on the territory of other states increased by 11%, to 18,280 tonnes.
According to a press release of the State Fisheries Agency of Ukraine on Tuesday, during the specified period, the catch of fish and other aquatic biological resources increased in the reservoirs of the Dnipro River by 9%, to 988 tonnes, the Azov Sea – 827 tonnes (more by 48%), the Danube River – 325 tonnes (more by 70%), the Black Sea – 300 tonnes (more by 41%), and the Dnipro-Bug Canal – 174 tonnes (more by 22%).
The State Fisheries Agency said that industrial fisheries caught 497 tonnes of aquatic biological resources in the lower reaches of the Dniester River with the estuary and the Kuchurhan reservoir and 10 tonnes of aquatic biological resources were caught in the Black Sea estuaries.
The agency said that special fisheries combining elements of aquaculture and industrial fish catch operate in Ukrainian lakes and water reservoirs, which have caught 1,100 tonnes of aquatic biological resources in the first four months of 2021, which is 32.4% less than in the first four months of 2020.
Coke and chemical plants of Ukraine in January-April of this year imported 3.13 million tonnes of raw coking coal and coking coal concentrate, which is 1.9% more than in the same period last year.
According to the information report of the Ukrmetalurgprom association, the supply of Ukrainian coal mined during this period amounted to 1.27 million tonnes, which is 0.3% more than in the same period last year.
In general, in January-April 2021, Ukrainian coke and chemical plants received 4.4 million tonnes of coal for coking, which is 1.4% more compared to January-April 2020. At the same time, the share of imported coals in the total supply amounted to 71% versus 70.7% in January-April 2020.
Some 2.725 million tonnes of coke (101.3% versus January-April 2020) were supplied to Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises, including 2.683 million tonnes of Ukrainian origin (100.3%), and 42,000 tonnes of imported coke (2.8 times more than in January-April 2020). The share of imported coke in the total supply amounted to 1.54% versus 0.56% in January-April last year.
In addition, in January-April 2021, some 1.187 million tonnes of scrap metal were procured (130.1% compared to the same period in 2020), of which 1.1 million tonnes (122.1% compared to January-April 2020) were supplied to domestic consumers as imported. Exports of scrap metal in January-April 2021 amounted to 87,000 tonnes (750% compared to the same period in 2020).
It is noted that the provision of metallurgical enterprises with Ukrainian iron ore raw materials for the specified period was carried out in accordance with the needs of metallurgical production. The iron ore was not imported. Iron ore exports in January-April 2021 amounted to 14.21 million tonnes (92% compared to the same period in 2020).
According to the updated data of Ukrmetalurgprom, in January-April of this year, enterprises produced 11.037 million tonnes of sinter (107% versus January-April 2020), some 3.251 million tonnes of gross coke with moisture content 6% (101.1%), some 7.073 million tonnes of cast iron (109%), some 7.136 million tonnes of steel (107.2%), some 6.39 million tonnes of rolled products (107%), and 290,000 tonnes of pipe products (105.2%).
As of May 13, 2021, of the main operating production facilities 17 out of 21 blast furnaces, seven out of eight open-hearth furnaces, 12 out of 16 converters, five out of 15 electric furnaces and 15 out of 17 continuous casting machines were in operation.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection have agreed with the competent authority of the State of Kuwait on the form of an export veterinary certificate for the supply of milk and dairy products to this country, the state food service said in a press release on Tuesday.
“The Gulf region, in particular Kuwait, is of interest to many Ukrainian food producers. I am pleased to announce that today we have created additional opportunities for them to earn money in this market thanks to the joint work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the State Food Service. In the long term, this will also strengthen Ukraine’s position as a supplier of agricultural and food products to Kuwait,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
The form of this certificate is posted on the website of the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection.
“The work on opening new export markets is extremely important, since an increase in Ukrainian exports is a guarantee of the economic growth of our state,” Head of the service Vladyslava Mahaletska said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a bill to increase the number of servicemen in the Armed Forces by 11,000, and the relevant bill has been published on the website of the Verkhovna Rada.
“The bill proposes increasing at the legislative level the number of servicemen in the Ukrainian Armed Forces by 11,000 to ensure the functioning of a separate branch of the army, that is, the territorial defense forces, as well as the further development of the resistance system,” the explanatory note to the bill reads.
Thus, the president suggested approving the number of Armed Forces personnel in an amount not exceeding 261,000, including 215,000 military personnel.
According to the bill, during any special period, the size of the Ukrainian army is increased by the number of personnel called up for military service in pursuance of presidential orders on mobilization approved by the law.
Currently, the Ukrainian Armed Forces should not exceed 250,000 people, including 204,000 servicemen.
