In the de-occupied communities of Kharkiv region “Ukrposhta” resumes issuing pensions, stationary and mobile offices work.
“One post office can serve up to 6 settlements, and one mobile office – up to 14”, – quotes the OVA press service director of the Kharkiv directorate of JSC “Ukrposhta” Yuriy Savchenko.
According to him, next week it is planned to resume the work of the stationary department of “Ukrposhta” in Volchansk. Such departments are already working in Balakleya, Izyum, Kupiansk, etc.
In total, “Ukrposhta” resumed work in 61% of the liberated settlements in the region.
At the same time, in some communities travel is still prohibited for security reasons.
“Beyond Volchansk to the northeastern direction there is a road, where we do not yet have access. Also, they do not allow access to the Dvurechanskaya community. However, we are given access to the Kupyansk community, which is located on the eastern bank. We plan to extend the period of payment until November 30, because it is necessary to issue pensions to citizens who have not received them for several months,” – Savchenko said.
Almost 730 thousand people are registered in Kharkov region and 166 thousand of them are registered in the de-occupied territories.
According to Victor Achkasov, the head of the Main department of the Pension fund in Kharkov region, Pension fund service centers restored the work in the liberated Balakleya, Izyum, Barvenkov, Shevchenko, Kupyansk, Velyky Burluk, Volchansk and Dergachy. In Borovaya and Dvurechnaya, the service centers are not working yet.
All-Ukrainian electronics and home appliance chain Foxtrot opened the brand’s first representative office in liberated Kherson on Saturday, the retailer’s press service said.
“We are glad to be among the first to tell the residents and guests of Kherson again: welcome to Foxtrot! We thank VSU for their heroism and our colleagues for their readiness to start work as soon as possible,” the press service quoted Foxtrot CEO Alexei Zozula as saying.
Store on Ushakov Ave., 26 will work as a point of issue and processing of Internet orders from 11:00 to 15:00 daily. Over time, the plan is to resume full operation with merchandise and an expanded list of services. Also operates free delivery of online purchases from Foxtrot.ua partners – in the operating offices and post offices of Novaya Post.
Till February 24 Foxtrot network was represented in Kherson by two stores. One of them, located in Fabrika shopping mall, was damaged as a result of hostile shelling of the mall in early March. The second retailer suspended its work, refusing to work under the occupation regime. Immediately after the liberation of Kherson, the business began preparations for a return to get up and running as quickly as possible.
“Foxtrot” is one of the largest retail chains in terms of the number of stores and sales of electronics and home appliances in Ukraine. As of the beginning of 2022 the brand is omni-channel (offline and online trade), covers 170 stores in 90 oblast and rayon centers of Ukraine and online-shop Foxtrot.UA.
Foxtrot brand is developed by Foxtrot group of companies, co-founders – Valery Makovetsky and Gennady Vykhodtsev.
In recent months, the state concern Ukroboronprom has established the production of ammunition of “Soviet” caliber 122 and 152 millimeters, as well as mines of caliber 120 millimeters.
“Means of destruction have been successfully tested and are produced according to NATO technology. It is not the first month. It is dispersed at various facilities, including partner countries,” the concern said in a press release on Friday.
“Ukroboronprom stresses that the ammunition it produces should reduce the dependence of Ukrainian artillery on supplies from abroad, where stocks of Soviet caliber shells and mines are gradually running out.
The concern also reported that it is continuing its reform to transform Ukroboronprom into a modern high-tech defense company. As of today, more than two dozen state defense enterprises have been transformed into business companies, with the concern itself next in line, the release said.
“The reform will increase the transparency of the state defense sector, attract even more investment, transfer technology, create more joint ventures, including with NATO countries, and help secure the defense industry from corruption risks,” Ukroboronprom said.
It said it will jointly produce and develop heavy weapons and military equipment with companies from at least six NATO member states: Poland, the Czech Republic, France, Denmark and several more, the agreements with which do not provide for the disclosure of any data.
“We create joint defense enterprises, build closed-cycle ammunition production lines, jointly produce armored vehicles and multiple-launch rocket systems and develop new high-tech weapons. To do this, we use both existing facilities and newly created ones in safe locations,” Ukroboronprom stressed.
The concern added that in order to accelerate the development of existing international defense projects and the emergence of new ones, it agreed on further coordination with the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Groups of fans from around the world are arriving in Qatar, where the FIFA World Cup will begin on Sunday, Middle Eastern media reported. Fans gather in the streets of Doha, singing songs, dancing and preparing for the start of the tournament. Fans are traditionally dressed in the colors of their teams, with Dutch fans in bright orange jerseys already strolling around the city, as well as large numbers of Mexican fans in sombreros and Brazilians in yellow shirts and with national flags.
Qatar is expected to host 1.2 million fans during the tournament.
Earlier on Friday, 48 hours before the start of the tournament, the International Football Federation (FIFA) said that after discussions with Qatar’s authorities it had decided not to sell alcoholic beverages in the eight soccer stadiums that will host matches of the 2022 World Cup. However, it is allowed to sell alcoholic beverages at Fan Festival events, other fan venues and licensed venues. Budweiser non-alcoholic beer will remain available at the stadiums.
Budweiser is one of the main sponsors of FIFA, and therefore only beers of this brand can be sold at FIFA World Cups. Western media reports that Budweiser’s sponsorship amounts to $75 million.
Western media note that the company is working on an agreement to turn one of the luxury hotels in downtown Doha into its own theme park, where a bottle of beer will be sold for at least $15.
Meanwhile, sales of Qatar’s popular drink, Karak, a spicy tea with milk and spices, have soared in the country. Its price is less than $0.30.
Initially, Qatar authorities allowed the sale of alcohol near stadiums, but asked to make the points of sale not too noticeable.
The FIFA World Cup will be held from November 20 to December 18 in Qatar. For the first time in history, the tournament will be held in the Middle East.
The first match will be held on Sunday. On the field will be the players of Qatar, which hosts the World Cup, and Ecuador.
In Ukraine, all matches will be available for viewing on Suspilnogo platforms. World Cup matches will be broadcasted on Suspіlne Sport site (live broadcasts, match records and highlights), local Suspіlne TV channels (live and delayed broadcasts) and Radio Luch (radio broadcasts of matches).
The United States, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing up to $20 million to the Grain from Ukraine initiative announced by President Vladimir Zelensky at the G20 Summit earlier this week to help feed people around the world, USAID said in a release Friday.
“USAID will provide support through the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) to facilitate the delivery of additional shipments of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” the release said.
The U.S. agency recalls that before Putin’s invasion, Ukraine was one of WFP’s largest grain suppliers and the fourth largest commercial exporter of wheat in the world.
Today’s announcement builds on WFP’s existing $173 million support to date to buy Ukrainian grain to feed people in countries facing the most severe food crises, including Ethiopia, Yemen, and Afghanistan. Thanks to U.S. funding, 210,000 tons of food was purchased, enough to feed an estimated 12.6 million people for one month.
All told, since the start of Putin’s war against Ukraine in February, the U.S. has provided more than $11 billion to combat the global food crisis, including nearly $8.6 billion in humanitarian aid, the release indicated.
According to it, USAID also continues to help Ukrainian farmers who risk their lives to feed the world through the Agricultural Sustainability Initiative-Ukraine (AGRI-Ukraine). The initiative focuses on four areas that are critical to supporting Ukraine’s agricultural exports and its contribution to global food security: providing critical resources for farmers; improving export logistics and infrastructure; improving farmers’ access to finance; and addressing the needs of drying, storing, and processing crops. USAID has invested $100 million in the initiative, and the agency seeks to raise at least $150 million in additional funding from other donors, foundations and the private sector.
Moderate to light snow is expected in western regions of Ukraine on Saturday, November 19, according to the Ukrhydrometeocenter.
Temperatures in the west of the country will be 2-7° frost at night, 0-5° frost during the day, in Transcarpathia from 1° frost to 4° heat.
In northern, central and eastern regions, moderate to heavy snow at night, turning to rain during the day in central and eastern regions, with some sleet and glazed frost.
The temperature at night is 1-6° below freezing, during the day – from 2° below freezing to 3° above freezing (in the east of the country – 5-10° above freezing); in Kirovograd and Dnipropetrovsk regions at night is about 0°, during the day – 7-12° above freezing.
Moderate to heavy rains at night in the southern part of the country. The temperature at night will be 2-7° warm, during the daytime 9-14°, in the Crimea up to 16°.
Throughout Ukraine, except in the south, there is ice on roads. Winds mostly northwest, 7-12 m / s, in the east and southeast regions during the day gusts of 15-20 m / s.
November 19 in Kiev, heavy to moderate snowfall, sleet and snowdrift during the night, roads are icy. The wind is mostly north-west, 7-12 m/s. The temperature at night is 2-4° below zero, while during the day it’s about 0°.
According to the Central Geophysical Observatory of Boris Sreznevsky, the highest daytime temperature in Kiev on November 19 was +14.4°C in 1926, the lowest night-time temperature was -17.6°C in 1902.
On Sunday, November 20, snow in Ukraine at times, rain in the south of the country, no precipitation on the left bank. It is icy everywhere except the southern regions. The wind is mostly east, 7-12 m/s.
The temperature at night is 3-8°C cold, in the eastern and southern regions about 0°C; during the day – from 3°C frost to 2°C warm, in Transcarpathia and the east of the country – 1-6°C, in the southern regions – 8-13°C, in the Crimea – 14-19°C.
November 20, no precipitation at night and snow during the day in Kiev. There is freezing snow on roads. Wind eastward, 7-12 m/s. The temperature at night is 5-7° frost, and during the day – 0-2° frost.
