The Synevo laboratory, part of the Swedish holding Medicover, has launched PCR tests that detect British and South African coronavirus (COVID-19) strains, including their currently known mutations.
According to Synevo’s press release, new PCR tests are carried out on new generation equipment and reagents from the U.S. company Abbott.
Investments in equipment for testing (two analyzers) amounted to more than EUR 200,000.
The tests detect the virus at the earliest stages of the disease, when the virus cells are still very little in the body, while other test systems will still give false negative results, although the person is already sick.
According to Synevo Development Director Mykola Butenko, new PCR tests allow detecting British and South African COVID-19 strains with the same accuracy as the previous COVID-19 strains.
In addition, new PCR tests, in addition to detecting COVID-19, can determine the viral load of SARS-CoV-2 on the body and the likely stage of the disease.
“We have received official confirmation from the head office of Abbott in the United States that new PCR tests detect two new strains of coronavirus: British and South African. These results were obtained by Abbott in clinical trials, and the reagents have already received international FDA accreditation,” Butenko said in a press release.
Synevo said that Abbott’s PCR tests are one of the most reliable in the world, their sensitivity is only 100 copies per 1 ml of biomaterial, while the sensitivity of other PCR tests for COVID-19 available on the Ukrainian market, from 400 copies and higher. This sensitivity allows almost completely eliminate false negative results.
Synevo is Ukraine’s largest network of medical laboratories, a division of the Swedish medical holding Medicover. The Synevo network consists of more than 300 laboratory centers operating in more than 115 cities throughout Ukraine, as well as seven laboratories in which more than 1,500 types of tests are performed.
Nika-Tera Sea Terminal (Sea Specialized Port Nika-Tera, Mykolaiv), part of Dmytro Firtash’ Group DF, handled 409 vessels and 7.38 million tonnes of cargo in 2020, which is 15% lower than in 2019.
According to the company’s website, the main types of cargo handled in the port are grain, legumes and oilseeds, as well as their processed products.
In 2020, the port started handling oil products and resumed handling fertilizers.
“The coronavirus [COVID-19] pandemic and the drop in crop yields are the main reasons for the 14% decrease in cargo handling. In 2020, grain was the main type of cargo handled in the port. At the same time, the crisis helped us open a new ‘window of opportunity’: we are talking about the restoration of volumes of mineral cargo and bitumen handlings,” CEO of Nika-Tera Alim Agakishiev commented on the results of the past year.
The structure of the company’s cargo turnover in 2020 looked as follows: grain, legumes and oilseeds, as well as their processed products accounted for 75% (some 5.55 million tonnes) of handling; open storage bulk cargo for 18% (some 1.3 million tonnes); liquid cargo for 4% (some 323,000 tonnes) and mineral fertilizers for 3% (some 194,000 tonnes).
In 2020, the port handled 409 vessels (versus 410 in 2019), while increasing the number of processed bulk carriers of the Panamax type (with a tonnage of about 65,000 tonnes) by 44% from 16 to 23 units.
In total, 63,114 rail cars and 65,910 vehicles were handled in the port.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the port was able to ensure 100% retention of the company’s personnel and large-scale assistance to the city’s healthcare sector in the fight against COVID-19.
“We believe in a gradual recovery of the market, economy and, accordingly, the volume of cargo turnover in 2021. However, much will depend on weather conditions and the yield of key crops in this marketing year,” Agakishiev said.
Grape processing in Ukraine in 2020 decreased by 38.8% compared to 2019, to 75,980 tonnes, according to the State Statistics Service.
According to its data, of the total number of grapes processed into winemaking materials, the enterprises directly grew 27.4%, or 20,800 tonnes, and the rest of the raw materials were purchased from households.
In Odesa region in 2020, some 56,400 tonnes of grapes were processed and in Mykolaiv region 15,400 tonnes, which is less than in 2019 by 32.4% and 26.7% respectively.
The main varieties of processed grapes remain Cabernet Sauvignon with 13% (less by 23.5% compared to 2019), Muscat with 10.4% (less by 5.4%), Chardonnay with 9.9% (less by 33.6%) and Aligote with 9.5% (less by 48.7%).
The service said that the production of winemaking materials in 2020 decreased by 41.2% compared to 2019, to 5.68 million decaliters. At the same time, the production of table wine decreased by 42.5%, to 3.58 million decaliters, champagne and sparkling wines by 28.2%, to 1.36 million decaliters, and the production of cognac fell by about 90.5%, to 230,000 decaliters.
The decline in grape processing was reported to be mainly caused by adverse weather conditions. Grape growers in Odesa region complained about the dry winter and spring of 2020 with insufficient rainfall.
According to the State Customs Service, exports of Ukrainian wine and grape must in 2020 increased in quantity terms by 88.7%, to 16,620 tonnes, and in monetary terms by 9.6% to $13.08 million.
At the same time, the export volumes were significantly lower than imports, which last year increased by 15.6% in quantity terms, to 64,430 tonnes, and in monetary terms by 22.1%, to $179.23 million.
Exports of vermouth and other grape wine in 2020 amounted to 460 tonnes for $1.09 million (less by 23.7% and 34.8% respectively), while their imports to 3,790 tonnes for $8.09 million (an increase in quantity terms by 1.4% and a decrease in monetary terms by 12.6%).
The conflict in Donbas is not and cannot turn into a frozen one, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde has said.
“I am categorically opposed to calling the conflict in Donbas or Crimea frozen […] As this will mean that you have surrendered and do not consider it possible to resolve it. And I believe that Donbas is definitely not frozen now. After all, the Trilateral Contact Group or the Normandy format is still in operation, trying to find a solution,” Linde said in an interview with Yevropeiska Pravda (European Truth) published on Wednesday.
She said that at the Normandy Four summit in Paris, there was an agreement on a new meeting of leaders under a number of conditions.
“Ukraine has fulfilled all the conditions. Russia, unfortunately, has not yet. Now everything depends on how the negotiations will continue, on how it will be agreed to fulfill these conditions,” Linde said.
According to her, there is still a positive result from the negotiations, this is a truce that has been going on since July 27. “And even despite the fact that now we see a worsening of the situation, that a Ukrainian serviceman died a week ago, the situation is still much better than it was a year ago. After all, in 2020, there were 34 victims in January and February alone,” the OSCE Chairperson said.
Linde said the priority of her chairmanship is to try to resolve the conflict, or at least take a step towards its solution, without departing from the principle of comprehensive security.
“And, we will, of course, continue to follow the principle of the integrity and unity of Ukraine, which includes the Ukrainian Crimea and Sevastopol. We will try to build on the achievements of the preliminary chairmanships in the OSCE, using both the Normandy format and the Trilateral Contact Group,” she said.
When asked whether the OSCE should become a participant in the Normandy format, Linde said it is not, since Normandy is already an established format. She said that it is always worth analyzing what is effective, what works. And the current Normandy format is just working.
“But the OSCE has concentrated its efforts in the Trilateral Contact Group, where our representative Heidi Grau does a very important job. And even if she is criticized in Ukraine, in fact she does a lot to get closer to resolving the conflict, and these efforts deserve support as well as the work of the SMM – the greatest mission of our organization,” she said.
KSG Agro agricultural holding increased the multicurrency credit line at TAScombank (Kyiv) from $12 million to $18.5 million, the company said in a report published on the website of the Warsaw Stock Exchange on Monday.
“We can use these lines for sowing and harvesting […] In addition, one of the goals of increasing the credit line is to refinance foreign exchange obligations and hedge currency risks,” Chairman of the Board of Directors of KSG Agro Serhiy Kasianov said.
He said that part of the funds is also planned to be used for further reconstruction and modernization of the pig breeding farm in the village of Nyva Trudova (Dnipropetrovsk region).
According to the report, hryvnia equivalent for the volume of the credit line is UAH 522 million, the term is three years. The interest rate was not disclosed.
As reported, in April 2020, KSG Agro increased the existing credit line at TAScombank by almost $4 million, to $12 million.
The vertically integrated holding KSG Agro is engaged in pig breeding and production, storage, processing and sale of grain and oilseeds.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA, Kyiv) is ready to transport vaccines.
“Since the beginning of 2021, the active stage of vaccination has begun all over the world, which will tend to increase throughout the current year. In order to ensure safe delivery of vaccines, UIA has prepared Boeing 737 and Boeing 767 aircraft to transport the vaccines as cargo,” the press service of UIA said on Monday.
The airline also expressed its readiness to transport the vaccine not only to Ukraine, but all over the world. At the same time, it is noted that given the peculiarities of compliance with the required temperature regimes, transportation of the vaccine by air is the fastest and most reliable method of delivery.
According to the company, since the implementation of quarantine measures, UIA has transported 870 tonnes of medical cargo.
