U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (Democratic Party), Chris Murphy (Democratic Party) and Rob Portman (Republican Party) have pledged bipartisan support to Ukraine.
At a briefing following a meeting with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Wednesday, Shaheen said the senators paid this visit to express their bipartisan support to the people of Ukraine, independence and the progress that Ukraine has made in reforms, and they had a very effective meeting with the President of Ukraine.
According to her, their meeting with the president started with a briefing from people from the area of combat operation about the current situation there.
Shaheen said the senators have a very clear picture of the challenges that Ukraine’s troops and everyone on the front face. This will help them so that when the senators return to the United States, they talk about the continuing need to support Ukraine’s efforts.
Senator Rob Portman said they discussed with the president the importance of strengthening relations between Ukraine and the United States, providing even more effective military assistance so that Ukraine can defend itself.
Portman said they also talked about other assistance that the United States can provide, namely, in the area of economy, reform and countering Russian disinformation.
Senator Chris Murphy (Democratic Party, Conneticut) said that many have been done in Ukraine in a short period of time, but many serious challenges are still facing Ukraine. He said that the three senators will persuade colleagues in the Senate of the need to continue providing security assistance to Ukraine.
Murphy also said that ongoing reforms are also important to the U.S.-Ukrainian partnership. The senators spoke with President Zelensky about some specific reforms, namely reforming the SBU, guaranteeing NABU independence and continuing corporate governance reform.
Senator Shaheen said that Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Taran briefed the senators about Ukraine’s needs for weapons, and assured that she would inform Congress and the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden about them.
She also said that today the senators met with the Ukrainian defense minister, he was very specific about Ukraine’s weapons needs. The senators will convey this message to Congress and the administration in Washington, and they promised to continue supporting Ukraine’s security.
The volume of construction work performed in Ukraine in January-April 2021 decreased 5.3% compared to the same period in 2020.
According to the State Statistics Service, in January-April 2021, the volume of construction work completed amounted to UAH 39.8 billion.
According to the statistics authority, in April 2021 the seasonally adjusted index of construction products amounted to 111.3% compared to the previous month, adjusted for the effect of calendar days compared to April 2020 it was 110.2%.
The State Statistics Service reported that in April 2021 compared to April 2020, an increase in the volume of construction work was observed in all segments of construction: in residential construction by 40.1%, nonresidential – by 4.5%, and engineering – by 2.5%.
The share of new construction of the total volume of completed construction work was 42.7%, the share of repair was 29.1%, and reconstruction and technical re-equipment was 28.2%.
An increase in the volume of construction work in January-April 2021 compared to January-April 2020 was recorded in Khmelnytsky (by 30.1%, to UAH 1 billion), Ternopil (by 32%, to UAH 766.1 million), Rivne ( by 25.9%, to UAH 754.5 million), Volyn (by 11.4%, to UAH 489 million), Kharkiv (by 9.4%, to UAH 4.5 billion), Donetsk (by 8.1%, to UAH 1.4 billion), Kyiv (by 5.2%, to UAH 2.6 billion) and Odesa (by 0.1%, to UAH 3 billion) regions.
In other regions, there was a decrease in construction volumes. The most significant drop was seen in Chernivtsi (by 50%), Kherson (by 32.9%) and Vinnytsia (by 30.3%) regions.
The statistics are given without taking into account the temporarily occupied Crimea and the temporarily occupied areas in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
As reported, the volume of construction work performed in Ukraine in 2020 increased 4% compared to 2019.
Ukrainian metal companies in January-May 2021 increased earnings from exports of ferrous metals by 49.1% compared to the same period last year, to $4.92 billion.
According to the statistics released by the State Customs Service, in May, earnings from exports of ferrous metals amounted to $1.19 billion.
Ukraine boosted imports of similar products by 16.3% in January-May 2021, to $440 million. In May, this figure was $115.04 million.
In addition, Ukraine increased exports of metal products by 18.9% in the first five months of 2021, to $421.03 million. In May, their export amounted to $99.21 million.
During this period, imports of metal products increased by 22.2%, to $383.15 million. In May, they were imported for $93.12 million.
As reported, in 2020, Ukrainian metal companies reduced earnings from exports of ferrous metals by 12% compared to the previous year, to $7.690 billion. At the same time, Ukraine in 2020 reduced imports of similar products by 17%, to $1.040 billion.
Not a single tree will be destroyed during the construction of the “presidential university” on the territory of the state Expocentre of Ukraine (VDNH, Kyiv), Minister of Education and Science Serhiy Shkarlet said.
“There will be no construction in the park there, not a single tree to be destroyed,” he said at a press conference during the “Ukraine 30. Education and Science” All-Ukrainian Forum on Tuesday, June 1.
The minister said that the construction of the new university is fully in line with the concept of VDNH development.
As reported, on May 31, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on the creation of the presidential University of Information and Cybersecurity.
According to the Minister of Education and Science Serhiy Shkarlet, the construction of the presidential University on the territory of the state Expocentre of Ukraine (VDNH, Kyiv), will cost UAH 7.2 billion in three years.
MINISTER OF EDUCATION, PRESIDENT ZELENSKY, PRESIDENTIAL UNIVERSITY, VDNH
Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises increased the production of general rolled products, according to recent data, by 7.9% in January-May this year compared to the same period last year, to 8,016 million tonnes.
According to the report of the Ukrmetalurgprom association, in the first five months of the year steel production grew by 8.3%, to 8.986 million tonnes, while cast iron output increased 9.1%, to 8.903 million tonnes.
In May, 1.626 million tonnes of rolled metal, 1.85 million tonnes of steel, and 1.83 million tonnes of cast iron were produced.
As reported, in 2020, Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises increased the production of general rolled products by 0.7% compared to the previous year, to 18.344 million tonnes, reduced steel output by 1.4%, to 20.549 million tonnes and increased cast iron production by 1.5%, to 20.358 million tonnes.
