Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine Tymofiy Mylovanov has denied plans of the government to liquidate state-owned enterprise (SOE) Ukrainian Intellectual Property Institute (Ukrpatent), and the creation of the National Intellectual Property Authority is planned only on the basis of SOE.
“No one will close Ukrpatent. If something is created, it will only be based on Ukrpatent,” Mylovanov said during a meeting with the staff of the enterprise upon their appeal to the ministry.
In its appeal, the company pointed to abuses and violations by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, in particular, the director of the intellectual property department Valeriy Zhaldak and his deputy Bohdan Paduchak.
According to the document, in particular, in May 2018, ex-Minister of Economic Development Stepan Kubiv by his decree established the state-run organization National Intellectual Property Office, which duplicates the functions of Ukrpatent, which contradicts Ukrainian and international legislation in the field of intellectual property protection and bilateral international treaties, the company said in the appeal. The creation of such an organization requires an appropriate government decree, and not a ministerial decree, the team said.
In addition, Ukrpatent transferred over UAH 36 million for the maintenance of the National Office, the state company said.
The parliament has registered a package of bills (No. 2255, 2255-1 and 2259), which provide for the establishment of the National Intellectual Property Authority as a legal entity under the management of the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture. At the same time, bill No. 2255 provides for the creation of the National Intellectual Property Authority on the basis of Ukrpatent.
Ukraine’s parliament on November 12 passed at first reading bill No. 2240 settling the issue of amber production, which envisages the introduction of unified licenses for exploration with the right to produce amber during the period of five years for the sites up to 10 ha sold at electronic auctions on the ProZorro platform.
A total of 342 MPs backed the document.
According to the bill, access to amber deposits will be regulated by establishing the right of land easements and the definition of separate Article 971 of the Land Code for the exploration and mining of amber deposits on disturbed lands.
In addition, the document introduces criminal liability for illegal mining and administrative liability for violation of mining requirements, as well as toughens liability for non-compliance with land reclamation requirements and the obligation to compensate for losses incurred.
According to the Ministry of Energy and Environment Protection, the bill also removes a number of duplicate and archaic approvals for amber deposits (in particular, mineral titles and permission to remove the fertile layer) and introduces the filing of all documents in electronic form through an electronic account.
Ukraine in January-October 2019 increased exports of titanium containing ore and concentrate in kind by 1.4% compared to January-October 2018, to 516,561 tonnes.
According to customs statistics released by the State Fiscal Service, over the period exports of titanium ore and concentrate in monetary terms increased by 19.1%, to $126.621 million.
Major exports were made to the Czech Republic (18.67% of deliveries in monetary terms), Russia (16.82%), and Egypt (16.57%).
Ukraine in January-October 2019 imported 711 tonnes of similar products worth $500,000 from Senegal and Vietnam, while in January-October 2018 it imported 15,797 tonnes of titanium ore and concentrate worth $3.088 million from Senegal.
As reported, Ukraine in 2018 increased exports of titanium containing ore and concentrate in kind by 2.7% compared to 2017, to 599,494 tonnes. Last year exports of titanium ore and concentrate in monetary terms increased by 19.5%, to $125.722 million. Major exports were made to the Czech Republic (19.41% of deliveries in monetary terms), Turkey (17.96%), and Russia (15.68%).
Ukraine in 2018 imported 15,874 tonnes of similar products worth $3.142 million from Senegal and Mozambique, while in 2017 it imported 202 tonnes of titanium ore and concentrate worth $143,000 from Senegal (87.41%), Finland (10.49%), and Iran (2.1%).
Vilnohirsk state mining and metallurgical combine (Dnipropetrovsk region), Irshansk state mining and processing combine (Zhytomyr region), Valki-Ilmenite and Mezhdurechensk Mining and Concentration Complexes (both are located in Irshansk, Zhytomyr region) are the main producers of titanium ore in Ukraine.
Dnipro-based Velta production and commercial firm built a mining and processing complex at the Birzulivske ilmenite deposit, which has a 240,000-tonne ilmenite concentrate capacity per year.
Holding company Velta Group Global Ltd. was registered in London in November 2011.
The voluntary restructuring of feed-in tariff in wind energy is possible subject to other market reforms, according to a letter from foreign developers of large wind farms, namely NBT, Windkraft Ukraine, LongWing Energy, Greenworx Holding and Akuo Energy, which was sent to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in late October.
According to the document, the restructuring may concern new wind farms or expansion of existing facilities, which will be commissioned on the basis of preliminary electricity sale and purchase contracts signed by the end of 2019, with the exception of projects or their stages being under construction or already having a financing agreement.
As an example, wind farm developers are considering a 5.0–7.5% reduction in the feed-in tariff rate for the wind farm project portfolio with a capacity of 1.9 GW compared to the feed-in tariff defined for wind farms for 2020–2022 in exchange for extension of the term of electricity sales contracts up to 15 years from the date putting wind farms into commercial operation.
At the same time, the authors of the letter oppose retrospective changes in the renewable energy market, drawing the head of state’s attention to the fact that the consequences of this option will be the loss of about $2.5 billion of direct investment, as well as the exit from the sector of foreign investors. According to the companies’ estimates, foreign investment in wind energy has already reached $1.2 billion, and an additional $2.5 billion is planned for the next three years.
In their opinion, the consequences of any retrospective changes to the previously approved by the law schemes for supporting wind energy incentives will be more significant than the problem of financing Guaranteed Buyer state enterprise.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he considers the investigation of the impact of ex-Vice President Joe Biden on the resignation of Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Shokin in 2016 to be his duty.
“As President, I have an ‘obligation’ to look into corruption, and Biden’s actions, on tape, about firing the prosecutor, and his son’s taking millions of dollars, with no knowledge or talent, from a Ukrainian energy company, and more millions taken from China,” he wrote on Twitter commenting on the investigation in the framework of the impeachment proceedings initiated by the Democrats.
Ukraine’s low cost SkyUp Airlines on March 30, 2020 will launch direct flights from Kyiv to Bari (Italy).
The press service of the airline reported that the flights will be performed twice a week – on Mondays and Fridays.
The cost of a one-way ticket without luggage starts from UAH 1,694.
SkyUp Airlines LLC was registered in Kyiv in June 2016. The founder is ACS-Ukraine LLC of Tetiana and Yuriy Alba, who also own JoinUp! tour operator.
