Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine against coronavirus (COVID-19) has been submitted for registration in Ukraine under the obligation for emergency medical use.
According to the Center for Public Health website, an application for registration was submitted to the State Expert Center of the Health Ministry on Monday, February 15.
On the same day, WHO approved the AstraZeneca emergency vaccine and gave the green light for use of this vaccine worldwide through the COVAX initiative. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has previously been approved for emergency use in the UK, European Union and India.
The vaccine will be purchased for public funds directly from manufacturers. It is expected that at least 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be supplied to Ukraine in February 2021.
As reported, Ukraine received information from COVAX on the supply of vaccines from the manufacturer Oxford/AstraZeneca in the amount of 2.2 to 3.7 million doses in the first or second quarter of 2021.
On February, 20 and 21 in Ancient Kyiv in the Principality of Kyivan Rus («Kyivan Rus Park») an interactive entertaining program «Sky Horses» will take place. The acquaintance with horses of ancient breeds, master-classes on horse care, Slavic games and round dances, tasty dishes from the bonfire will be waiting for the guests… And all of this in a real medieval city!
Having entered the gates of the Principality, the visitors will make a time travel for a thousand years ago and will find themselves in the capital of Kyivan Rus. The guests will get into the historical center of medieval Kyiv of the Xth century within the boundaries of the Dytynetz of Kyiv and Predhraddya.
Only in Ancient Kyiv you can see such masterpieces of medieval architecture as: the monumental defensive structure «Zaborola» (about 300 meters long), Mickle`s Gate (21 meters high), princely terems and tribunes, watchtowers, the estates of the Kyiv residents of the X-XIІth centuries and many more. The unique Christian church of the Хth century, the wooden Basyl`s church, has been recreated here.
On the territory of Ancient Kyiv, the guests will visit historical expositions of siege technique, shipbuilding and even medieval torture.
On February, 20 and 21, the residents of the Principality will warmly welcome dear guests at the entrance gate and will not let you get bored even for a minute. After all, they have prepared an unusual entertainment program, in which the main role will be assigned to the horses of rare ancient breeds.
The guests will be told about the origin of the breeds, their characteristics, about which outstanding historical personalities owned the representatives of that or other breed and even tell legends about them. The experienced instructors will hold open master-classes on horse training and care, where they will tell you how to care after these animals so that they are not only healthy and obedient, but also become true friends.
Every visitor will be able to approach the horses, palm them, make a bright photo session and even ride on a horseback or in a carriage.
Ancient equestrian martial arts traditional for Ukraine come to life in Ancient Kyiv: trick riding and horseback archery. All the willing ones can learn the ancient martial art of horseback archery by themselves, having enrolled in the school of horseback archers «Prince Volodymyr». It is very easy to become its participant: you need to address to the organizers in Ancient Kyiv or contact by phone. (044) 461-99-37 and (050) 385-20-35. From the very first lesson, you will start to comprehend the art of controlling a horse and precise bow shooting. Join the fighting traditions of our ancestors!
Also, the guests will be invited to take part in merry ancient Slavic amusements: mobile games, dance master-classes, flash mobs and round dances.
In Ancient Kyiv, everyone will find an activity to his liking. Walking along the old streets, you can learn a lot of new and interesting things about the life of our ancestors. Here you can see signs with inscriptions in Old Slavonic, try to read and understand them. Visiting the magician-fortune teller, you can touch the ancient secret knowledge over a cup of aromatic herbal tea. In the medieval shooting range you can learn how to toss axes at the target, and in the medieval shop – choose original handmade souvenirs. The fans of extreme sports will be delighted by the «Zmiy Gorynych» speed slide and the «Politaylo» rope descent.
You can warm up and recuperate in the warm Princely tavern. Here you can taste hot drinks and dishes prepared on an open fire, both according to medieval and modern recipes.
If you want to extend your journey into the Middle Ages for another day, you can stay overnight in comfortable rooms (by previous booking).
The program may change.
A visit to Ancient Kiev has to be in accordance with the requirements of the quarantine regime.
Ancient Kyiv is in a 34 minutes` travel from modern Kyiv – Kyiv region, Obukhiv district, vill. Kopachiv.
You can get by your own car or public transport. The schedule of route taxis can be found on the «Obukhivtrans» website or on the «Kyivan Rus Park» website in the «Contacts» section
The best way with your own car is through the town of Obukhiv, which is indicated on the Principality’s website in the «Contacts» section. GPS-navigators often indicate a worse road not through Obukhiv, it is not recommended to follow it due to weather conditions.
The ticket price: a full adult ticket – 200 UAH, for pensioners and students – 150 UAH, for schoolchildren – 80 UAH, for preschool children – for free.
Details on the website www.parkkyivrus.com
The Interfax subscribers can save money with the “openbusiness-20” promo code for a 20%-discount for a full price adult ticket to the Principality of Kyivan Rus:
– by previous order by tel.: +38 044 461-99-37, +38 050 385-20-35
– or at the cash desk at the entrance to the «Kyivan Rus Park».
The enterprise with foreign investment (FDI) McDonald’s Ukraine Ltd. (Kyiv), which is developing the U.S. fast food chain McDonald’s in Ukraine, plans to expand a pilot program for sorting waste in restaurant halls to the entire chain in Ukraine by the end of 2021.
According to the company’s press release, the pilot program was launched in September 2020 at 16 restaurants in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, Kharkiv and Kyiv region. Special sorting stations were installed in the restaurant halls to separate waste by type. The sorted waste was sent for recycling of raw materials.
According to the company, in four months of the pilot program, more than 80 tonnes of packaging were sorted and transferred for processing. In general, more than 2.6 million Ukrainians have joined the program.
In addition, earlier in September 2020, the company replaced plastic containers for salads with paper packaging, in June it replaced plastic cups for cold drinks with cellulose cups recyclable in Ukraine, the press service recalls.
“By 2025, McDonald’s globally plans to completely switch to the production of all packaging materials from renewable certified raw materials, as well as raw materials that can be reused. Thus, polyethylene and plastic can be used to make garbage bags, and other waste will get a second life after recycling,” the press service said.
The first McDonald’s in Ukraine was opened in Kyiv on May 24, 1997. The McDonald’s restaurant chain in Ukraine has 96 restaurants in 20 cities.
According to many nutritional experts, eating fast food can lead to health problems, watch an expert review of the topic on the Expert Club YouTube channel.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 16/02/21
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of February 16
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
Metinvest B.V. (the Netherlands), the parent company of the Metinvest international vertically integrated mining and metallurgical group, in 2020 increased its net profit by 54% compared to 2019, to $ 526 million from $ 341 million with a 2 percentage point increase in margin (p.p.), to 5% from 3%.
According to the audited consolidated financial results for 2020, published by the company, its revenue decreased by 3%, to $ 10.453 billion, EBITDA increased by 82%, to $ 2.204 billion, with a margin increase of 10 p.p., up to 21% from 11%.
The company’s total debt for 2020 decreased by 3% compared to 2019, to $ 2.937 billion from $ 3.032 billion, while the amount of cash tripled to $ 826 million from $ 274 million.
Net debt decreased by 23%, to $ 2.111 billion from $ 2.758 billion.
Capital investments decreased by 37%, to $ 663 million from $ 1.055 billion.
“Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic brought much of the global economy to a standstill. I am proud to report that Metinvest again proved able to navigate profound market challenges. We achieved higher margins and carried out key investment projects. We also protected our employees and communities while making progress on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda,” Yuriy Ryzhenkov, the Chief Executive Officer of Metinvest, said commenting on the results.
“Our number one priority as the pandemic emerged was to safeguard our employees and local communities. We took firm and immediate steps, implementing enhanced health protocols at all assets and switching administrative staff to work remotely. We also supplied test kits and oxygen equipment to local healthcare institutions,” he said.
“After ensuring the safety of our people, the next task in our COVID-19 response was to maintain uninterrupted production across our assets. We ultimately delivered strong operational results, reflecting the positive effect of investments implemented in recent years,” he noted.
“Anticipating a difficult external environment, the group took the decision to reduce CAPEX in 2020, while maintaining it at a decent level. Key projects completed include launching the new down coiler at Illich Steel Mill’s modernized hot strip mill and upgrading the beneficiation facilities at Central GOK. We are carrying out a planned review of the Technological Strategy 2030 to ensure that projects bring maximum benefits,” he added.
“At the same time, Metinvest’s focus on operational improvements to ensure global cost competitiveness yielded a total effect of $ 376 million in 2020. We increased the efficiency of raw material and energy consumption, improved equipment productivity, streamlined logistics, enhanced the product mix and more,” the director said.
