Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Taran signed agreements with Turkish companies on the transfer of technology and production of corvettes and unmanned attack aircraft systems for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on its website on Monday, the signing took place within the visit of the Turkish delegation to Ukraine, headed by President of Defence Industries of Turkey Ismail Demir.
According to Taran, first of all, this is about projects designed to radically enhance the combat capabilities of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to improve security in the area of the Black and Azov Seas.
The minister said these are the first in history foreign economic transactions for military goods concluded by the Defense Ministry of Ukraine.
The Defense Ministry said that in October, Taran and Demir signed a memorandum with the intention to start and implement joint projects for the construction of warships, unmanned aerial vehicles and all types of turbine engines.
The shareholders in Kernel, one of the largest Ukrainian agrarian groups, at the annual general meeting held on December 10 approved a dividend of $0.42 per share for FY 2020 (July-2019 – June-2020).
According to the company’s statement on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the general meeting delegated to the Board of Directors to set up record and payment dates to distribute the dividends.
Kernel’s share price at the close on Friday, November 11, was PLN 45.05 per share, up from PLN 39.35 when the plan to pay the dividend was announced on November 9. The total number of shares in circulation is 84.031 million. According to the annual report of the holding company of the Kernel Holding SA group, Kernel’s Board of Directors will offer to shareholders to approve the payment of a dividend of $0.25 per share.
In FY 2019, Kernel paid a dividend of $0.25 per share on April 30, 2020.
Kernel is a producer and exporter of sunflower oil.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved a list of lockdown restrictions that will have effect throughout Ukraine from December 19, 2020.
According to the press service of the government, from December 19, 2020, new restrictions will apply throughout Ukraine.
In particular, the new restrictions prohibit: holding mass events in educational institutions (performances, celebrations, concerts) with the participation of children from more than one group or class and in the presence of visitors; holding festive events, banquets, master classes, public events in entertainment and catering establishments; reception of visitors in museums, exhibitions, galleries, if there are more than one person per ten square meters; catering work from 23:00 to 07:00 (except for delivery and take-away orders). Settlement transactions are terminated after 22:00. On the night from December 31 to January 1, the work of restaurants and cafes will be allowed until 01:00.
As for religious events: indoors, subject to the presence of more than one person per five square meters; in the open air, provided that the distance of one and a half meters between those present is not observed.
In addition, the previous restrictions will apply. In particular, it is prohibited: to stay in public transport and public places without wearing a mask, as well as being on the street without identity documents; unauthorized leaving of the place of isolation or observation; holding mass cultural (including concerts), sports, social, advertising and other events in which more than 20 people take part and the distance of one and a half meters between the participants is not maintained (exception is official and professional sports events without spectators, examinations for notaries and measures necessary to ensure the work of the authorities); operation of cinemas and cultural institutions with more than 50% of seats in one hall; there are more passengers in passenger transport than the number of seats (except for the metro); holding discos, nightclubs and catering establishments with leisure organizations; accommodation in catering establishments for more than four adults at the table and when the distance between the tables is less than two meters.
The work of business entities in which employees are not provided with masks, and markings are not applied at a distance between clients of one and a half meters, and visitors do not have properly dressed personal protective equipment; border crossing by foreigners without insurance policy (with some exceptions); the activities of accommodation institutions (except for hotels, rehabilitation centers for people with disabilities, health resorts); visiting educational institutions by groups of more than 20 people, except for institutions of preschool, general secondary, extracurricular and specialized art education; visiting educational institutions in the case when more than 50% of students and staff of an educational institution are on self-isolation; carrying out planned hospitalization measures (except for palliative care, obstetrics, newborns, obstetrics, treatment of cancer patients, highly specialized (tertiary) medical care and other emergency medical care); work of gyms and fitness centers, if there is more than one person per 20 square meters; visiting points (places) of temporary detention of persons, points of temporary stay of foreigners and stateless persons, as well as points of accommodation of refugees; crossing the entry-exit checkpoint in the temporarily occupied territories of CADLO and Crimea by foreigners without an insurance policy (with some exceptions); visits by unauthorized persons to social security institutions in which certain categories of citizens are located (elderly people, war veterans, persons with disabilities, mental disorders, etc.).
Prices for construction and installation work in Ukraine in January-October 2020 increased by 2.6% compared to January-October 2019, the State Statistics Service (Derzhstat) reported.
According to the statistics department, since the beginning of the year, prices have increased in all construction segments. Thus, in residential construction, the growth was 4.3%, non-residential – 0.5%, and engineering – 3%.
In October 2020 to October 2019, the cost of construction work in residential construction increased by 5.6%, non-residential – by 3.6%, and engineering – by 10.2%.
In addition, the State Statistics Service reported that in October compared to September, the cost of construction of residential buildings increased by 0.1%, non-residential buildings and engineering structures – by 0.3%.
According to it, in 2019, prices for construction work in Ukraine increased by 6% compared to the previous year, while in 2018 – by 23%.
The indicators are given without taking into account the annexed territory of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, as well as part of the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the State Statistics Service notes.
St. Andrew’s Church has reopened in Kyiv after almost five years of restoration work, according to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.
“The St. Andrew’s Church Museum is reopened. The restoration of one of the most famous baroque monuments of Ukraine took place in three stages: strengthening the hill; restoration of the external facades; work on the interiors,” the Ministry of Culture reported on Facebook.
The ministry said also that from December 15, everyone will be able to see the unique iconostasis as it was at the time of the author of the project, the architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli.
As reported, on December 2, the press service of the Ministry of Culture announced the opening of St. Andrew’s Church online on January 12, the first service will be held in the church on December 13.
It is reported that the aim of the restoration was the desire to reveal the original solutions and vision of the architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, whose 320th birthday is celebrated this year.
By the end of 2020, Ukraine plans to attract a $170 million loan from the World Bank out of the $300 million provided, the Finance Ministry said on Monday.
“Today, on December 14, Ukraine and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development signed an agreement on the second additional financing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic for the Social Safety Nets Modernization Project,” the Ministry of Finance said in a message on the website.
“The main goal is social assistance and social services for low-income families, as well as assistance to those affected by the adverse economic impact of the pandemic,” the press service said, quoting Minister Serhiy Marchenko.
As the Ministry of Finance recalled, this is the second additional financing of the specified project, the total amount of the loan for it should be $750 million.
