The National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission of Ukraine (NEURC) at a meeting on Wednesday limited the available capacity for importing electricity to Ukraine from states that are not parties to the Energy Community (Russia, Belarus) to 0 MW until October 1, 2021. “We take this decision on the initiative of Energy Minister Herman Haluschenko, who made such a request to us. At the same time, we remember our experience and this winter, and remember the balance of interests, because we also think about consumers and about that, theoretically, the termination of imports as a market mechanism can lead to abuses and manipulations in the market,” Chairman of NEURC Valeriy Tarasiuk said.
He did not rule out that NEURC will most likely continue limiting the throughput of power lines between Ukraine and Russia and Belarus after October 1.
The regulator decided to cancel the results of annual auctions at which the capacity for 2021 was allocated in terms of interstate relations between Ukraine and states that are not parties to the Energy Community (Russia and Belarus). The regulator also instructed the transmission system operator to reimburse the auction winners for the funds paid for the capacities allocated at the annual auctions.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development have signed a grant agreement for EUR 7 million for the preparation and implementation of the Ukrainian Recovery Programme (URP), the press service of the Ministry has reported. “The signed grant of EUR 7 million contributes to the implementation of a new loan agreement – the Ukrainian Recovery Programme – in accordance with the leading international approaches and the interests of Ukrainian communities. Thanks to the URP, hospitals, schools, kindergartens, sports infrastructure and other key infrastructure in eastern Ukraine have already been restored,” Deputy Minister of Communities and Territories Development Ivan Lukeria.
The grant is provided under the EU Neighborhood Investment Platform (NIP) and complements the URP funding from the EIB.
According to the report, the URP funds will finance several hundred small and medium-sized projects at the municipal level, including the restoration of social infrastructure, improvement of utilities, repair of damaged administrative buildings. The implementation of the projects will improve conditions for 13 million Ukrainians.
“The new loan agreement from the EIB in the amount of EUR 340 million, which we signed last year, contributes to the large-scale reconstruction of social infrastructure in Ukraine. And the grant of EUR 7 million from the EU will help us to quickly implement the planned recovery,” Minister of Communities and Territories Development Oleksiy Chernyshov said.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) will resume flights on the Kyiv-Warsaw-Kyiv route from June 18, 2021, which were suspended due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the press service of the company said on Wednesday, these flights will be operated on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
Departures from Kyiv are planned at 09:55 (arrival at 10:30 local time), from Warsaw – at 14:05 (arrival at 16:35 local time).
Currently, flights from Kyiv to Warsaw are also operated by Wizz Air, Ryanair and LOT.
Italian coach Roberto De Zerbi will become the head coach of Football Club Shakhtar for the next two seasons, the club’s official website reported on Tuesday.
“On May 25, the Italian specialist arrived in Kyiv and met with the Shakhtar president Rinat Akhmetov. During his two-day visit, Roberto De Zerbi will get acquainted with the infrastructure in the capital of Ukraine – the Miners’ training complex in Sviatoshyno and the NSC Olimpiysky where the team play their home matches,” the message reads.
The Italian became the 34th head coach in the history of Shakhtar.
Roberto De Zerbi was born in Brescia on June 6, 1979
He started his player career in the Milan youth team. He also played for Monza (1998), Padova (1998-2000), Avellino (2000-2001; 2008-2009), Lecco (2001-2002), Foggia (2002-2004), Arezzo (2004-2005), Catania (2005-2006), Napoli (2006-2008; 2009-2010), Brescia (2008), Romanian CFR Cluj (2010-2012) and Trento (2013).
His worked as a coach in such football clubs as Darfo Boario (2013-2014), Foggia (2014–2016), Palermo (2016), Benevento (2017-2018), and Sassuolo (2018-2021).
STRUCTURE OF IMPORT OF SERVICES FOR 2020 (GRAPHICALLY)
The Belarusian airline Belavia has cancelled all flights to Ukraine until August 25, 2021, Belavia said in a statement on its website.
“Due to the ban of the Ukrainian authorities on Belavia flights, the airline is forced to cancel flights to/from Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, and Kharkiv from May 26 to August 25, 2021,” Belavia said.
On May 25, night flights to Kyiv and Odesa were also canceled, it said.
“Passengers who purchased tickets on the indicated dates will be able to refund their full price without penalties or change the date of departure during the validity period of the ticket,” the airline said.
Ukraine suspended air traffic with Belarus on May 26.
A Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius was forced to land at the Minsk airport while passing through Belarus’ airspace on May 23.
On President Alexander Lukashenko’s orders, Belarus scrambled a MiG-29 fighter jet to accompany it. The Ryanair plane was carrying Raman Pratasevich, former editor-in-chief of Nexta and editor of Belarus Golovnogo Mozga (Belarus of the Brain), Telegram channels that are both designated as extremist in Belarus, and his companion, Sofia Sapega, a Russian citizen and a student of European Humanities University in Vilnius. Both were detained by the Belarusian authorities.
The European Union and the United States have condemned the forced landing of the Ryanair plane in Minsk, demanding that Pratasevich be released.
Minsk, in turn, said that an email message about a bomb allegedly planted on the Ryanair plane en route from Athens to Vilnius had been signed by “Hamas soldiers.”
