State enterprise Forests of Ukraine, created as part of the reform of the state forestry sector, which united 158 forestry enterprises into one state specialized enterprise, will be transformed into a joint stock company with a 100% state stake.
The relevant bill will be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada in the second quarter of this year, the Minister of Environment Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strelets told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
“The enterprise (SE “Forests of Ukraine”) will be reorganized into the appropriate state joint stock company. The bill is being coordinated today in the central executive authorities, and I think that in the second quarter it will be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada,” Strelets said.
As reported, the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” was established to manage all state forestries in accordance with the State Forest Management Strategy of Ukraine until 2035. 158 forestry enterprises have been transferred to the company, and 24 regional offices have been enlarged to nine regional forestry and hunting departments.
Kyiv has restored in full operation of ground electric transport after a 56-day break due to a power supply shortage as a result of Russian strikes on the energy system, the Kyiv city military administration has said.
“Today, all electric transport in the capital has returned to its routes. There are now 286 vehicles on 46 trolleybus routes and 195 vehicles on 32 tram routes,” the KGVA said in a statement on its telegram channel on Friday.
“We have overcome a severe transport crisis. The restoration of stable life in Ukraine’s capital is another small but important step towards our future Victory,” said CGVA chief Sergey Popko, who was quoted in the report.
“The effective work of the city authorities, power engineers and repair crews has practically restored the stability of Kiev’s energy infrastructure. This has allowed the city to gradually return to the resumption of urban ground electric transport,” the statement said. According to KGVA, individual tram and trolleybus lines have alternately been launched in recent days.
On December 23, 2022, because of power shortage, work of ground electric transport of capital (trams and trolley buses) has been stopped. Buses operated on the routes of ground electric transport.
In total, the capital lived without electric transport for 56 days.
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih PJSC (AMKR, Dnipropetrovsk oblast) has cut production of metallurgical coke at its coke-chemical division by 68.1% in 2022 compared with the previous year – to 922 thousand tons.
A company representative told Interfax-Ukraine news agency that in December the company produced 41,000 tonnes of metallurgical coke.
At the same time in 2022 the gross coke output at AMKR amounted to 1.060 mln tonnes, including 47 thnd tonnes in December.
Coke production at ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih for 2021 increased by 9.2% to 2.890 million tonnes, including 250 thousand tonnes produced in December.
In 2022 the company supplied over 1.4 million tonnes of coal concentrate, including 469 thousand tonnes of domestically mined coal, 390 thousand tonnes from Russia (pre-war), 65 thousand tonnes from Kazakhstan, 54 thousand tonnes from Poland, 15 thousand tonnes from the Czech Republic, 218 thousand tonnes from the USA and 192 thousand tonnes from Australia. In December, the AMKR supplied 108,000 tons of coals, including 72,000 tons from domestic production, 21,000 tons from Poland, 11,000 tons from the United States and 4,000 tons from Australia.
As Ukrainian coke plants reported, in 2022 the production of gross coke with 6% moisture decreased by 59% compared to the previous year, to 3.91 million tons, including 3.354 million tons of metallurgical coke. In 2022, 4.594 million tonnes of coal concentrate were supplied to the domestic CCPs, including 3.158 million tonnes produced in Ukraine.
“ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is the largest producer of rolled steel in Ukraine. It specializes in the production of long products, in particular rebars and wire rod.
ArcelorMittal owns Ukraine’s largest mining and metallurgical plant, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, and a number of smaller companies, in particular ArcelorMittal Beryslav PJSC.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has arrived in Kiev and is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, the Dutch broadcaster NOS has reported.
According to the newspaper, in the morning, Rutte visited the Wall of Remembrance for those killed in Ukraine near Mykhaylivska Square and laid a wreath. The NOS report is illustrated with photos of the wreath-laying ceremony in Kiev.
Dutch Foreign Trade Minister Lissier Schreinemacher also arrived in the Ukrainian capital. According to the publication, after the meeting with Zelenskyy, Rutte and Schreinemacher will visit Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
The Ukrainian media also publish a photo with Rutte in winter Kyiv.
The last time Rutte visited Kiev was in July 2022.
The authorities of Amsterdam, meeting the wishes of the citizens, are tightening the rules for the use of drugs and alcohol on the streets, which have long attracted visitors with its freedom of morality.
In May, cannabis smoking will be banned outdoors in the Red Light District due to complaints from residents who are disturbed by the mess made by tourists. In addition, sex workers will begin to stop working and close their establishments at 3 a.m. Also from 2 am on Fridays and Saturdays restaurants and bars will be closed and from 1 am will be stopped to let new visitors in the quarters of the Old Town of Amsterdam.
So far, the sale of alcohol in the red-light district is prohibited from four in the morning from Thursday to Sunday. In addition the authorities will now require the owners of the stores at this time to remove alcohol from the windows, and in general from sight. It is already illegal to drink alcohol in most public places in Amsterdam.
Current Dutch law criminalizes the possession, production and sale of drugs. However, law enforcement authorities do allow cannabis to be sold in coffee shops, subject to strict rules. In particular, these establishments must not disturb public order and do not attract foreign drug dealers.
In addition, the Amsterdam city council will launch a campaign in the spring aimed at discouraging tourists from the city who come here specifically for alcohol, drugs and sex.
Foreign aid as of February 15 accounted for 68.8% of sources of financing of the state budget deficit since the beginning of this year, Roksolana Pidlasa, head of the Verkhovna Rada Budget Committee, told Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Friday.
“If we compare with last year, we see an increase in the share of foreign aid in the sources of financing. This is primarily due to the fact that, unlike last year, the National Bank does not redeem government bonds, therefore, emission funds are not attracted to cover the state budget deficit, “- said the head of the Committee.
Pidlasa specified that the state budget has already received UAH 171.9 billion from international partners. The biggest share is constituted by the macro-financial credit aid from the EU (EUR 3 billion) and grant aid from the USA ($1 billion).
“At the same time, the government continues to issue war bonds – debt obligations, which constitute about 31% of all sources of budget financing,” the MP added.
As reported, the state budget deficit of Ukraine in January 2023 due to a significant reduction in spending decreased to 72.3 billion UAH from 99 billion UAH in December, including for the general fund – to 78.9 billion UAH from 101.3 billion UAH.
Cash expenditures of state budget, according to operational data of State Treasury, in January fell to 193.7 billion UAH, including the general fund – to 183.6 billion UAH, or 80.6% of the estimates, while the general fund revenues amounted to 104.4 billion UAH, of which 36.6 billion UAH – grant international aid.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the actual state borrowings to the general fund of the state budget in January 2023 amounted to UAH 160.1 billion, or 54.7% of the plan, including UAH 41.4 billion from placement of government bonds, of which UAH 2.6 billion in foreign currency ($40.2 million and EUR29.4 million).
EUR 3 bln were financed from external sources due to the EU tranche of macrofinancial aid.
The state budget of Ukraine for 2023 was approved with a marginal deficit of UAH 1296.5 billion, including the general fund deficit of UAH 1124.6 billion.
