Wildberries, Russia’s biggest online retailer, has launched in Ukraine.
The company said customers could currently order goods at wildberries.ua or with the iOS mobile app. An Android app will follow soon.
Wildberries now operates in eight countries: Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. It launched in Poland in January 2020 and in Slovakia in May.
Wildberries owner and CEO Tatyana Bakalchuk said in June that the company might start sales in another 10 countries this year. It plans to boost turnover outside Russia to 200 billion rubles in the next five years.
“The online store in Ukraine is the latest step in our international strategy. Our customers will receive access to a wide range of goods and tens of thousands of brands. We see a lot of potential in the country, where online shopping is becoming more popular and e-commerce continues to grow rapidly,” Vyacheslav Ivashshenko, Wildberries development director, was quoted as saying in a press release.
A range of 3 million goods and 32,000 brands will be available in Ukraine: clothing, footwear and accessories, toys, sporting goods, stationery, pet supplies, household and gardening products, with plans to expand this.
Goods will be delivered in Ukraine with the help of logistics partners. Customers will be able to receive goods at 8,000 pickup points or by courier.
Wildberries has a range of more than 5 million SKU. Sales rose 2.2-fold in Q2 2020 to 103.4 billion rubles.
Firefly Aerospace Inc., a U.S. rocket and space technology company owned by Ukrainian businessman Max Polyakov, has successfully performed pre-flight tests of its first Alpha rocket.
The four Reaver engines performed 35 seconds of thrust vector control maneuvers, challenging the flame deflectors to constrain all that Reaver power, the company’s press service said.
Firefly Aerospace Inc. said that this test was a major step in Firefly’s march to its first flight.
The launch of the rocket will be not only a big milestone for the company, but for the entire Noosphere, Polyakov said. He said that the company is building a large space vertical, which includes many companies, and it will soon be ready to provide the full range of services in the space industry – from launching payloads and manufacturing satellites, to control systems and data analysis.
In his opinion, the launch of this rocket will be an important event for Ukraine.
It will show, first of all, to the young generation that Ukraine is capable of producing an intellectual product, that space is not a dream, but a reality, he said. Polyakov said that he has invested a lot of efforts and funds in the development of science in Ukraine, and the company has already launched seven engineering schools and is planning to develop this sphere. He expressed the hope that the launch of Alpha rocket will motivate students.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal says that Ukraine is interested in deepening bilateral relations with Bulgaria and expects to consolidate efforts in this direction.
“The parties discussed issues of strengthening economic cooperation, military and technical cooperation, development of the transport and tourism industry,” the government’s press service said following a meeting between Shmyhal and Deputy Prime Minister for Judicial Reform, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva.
The prime minister said that in 2019 the trade turnover between the countries exceeded $1 billion, therefore, in order to overcome the negative consequences of the pandemic and restore the volume of bilateral trade, it is worth joining efforts.
Shmyhal said that one of the important instruments of bilateral cooperation in the economic sector is the Joint Ukrainian-Bulgarian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation.
“Unfortunately, the last time the commission was held ten years ago, and we must restore its work. The regular meetings of the commission will further increase the volume of bilateral trade and investment cooperation between our states,” the prime minister said.
Shmyhal and Zaharieva agreed to hold the Ukrainian-Bulgarian business forum in Sofia in 2021, and a meeting of the Joint Ukrainian-Bulgarian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation is to be held within the forum.
In addition, during the meeting, the parties discussed the prospects for the development of the transport and tourism industry, which have been affected by the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) disease.
Due to that, Shmyhal and Zaharieva agreed to create a joint intergovernmental working group on tourism development.
For his part, the prime minister noted the importance of launching an international checkpoint across the state border for ferry, passenger and freight traffic between the settlements of Orlivka (Ukraine) and Isaccea (Romania).
“This will help to increase the tourist flow and expand business contacts between our states and will improve direct road communication. It is also necessary to make efforts to sign an agreement, simplify the conditions for the carriage of goods in direct international railway ferry service port ‘Chornomorsk-Varna’ ferry complex,” he said.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is ready to provide funds to Ukraine to implement energy and energy saving projects if the risk factors can be controlled, Head of the EIB Resident Representation for Ukraine Jean-Erik de Zagon said.
He said that the EIB is ready to provide the funds if the Ukrainian government can convince the bank of the economic viability of the potential projects. .
He said at the 11th Energy Day organized by the European-Ukrainian Energy Agency on Thursday.
At the same time, the Head of the EIB Resident Representation in Ukraine said that the bank sees many opportunities for cooperation with the government of Ukraine, specifying that “the EIB in Ukraine has a portfolio totaling EUR 6.5 bln. It includes many project in energy sector, social and economic infrastructure, transport and connectivity, local private sector development, and innovation. ”
At the same time, according to de Zagon, with regard to international projects on energy efficiency, Europe highly values a clearly defined time frame for achieving climate change.
Speaking about projects that may be of interest to the bank in the future, he pointed out among the others the need to develop bioenergy. As for the diversification of projects, it is likely that biomass will deserve new attention. It is one of the decarbonization tools. It is challenging, but this is the need to process those resources that are raw materials for renewable energy in Ukraine, de Zagon said.
He also focused on that Ukraine has a good existing gas transmission system (GST). It offers a vast potential where development is most necessary by ensuring that the transmission system is supportive of renewable energy (like transport of hydrogen) the EIB representative said.
At the same time, he explained what donors pay attention to when making decisions on financing certain projects and what Ukraine needs to take into account and do in order to receive international funding. This is about the need to balance positions on the energy market and promote legislative initiatives so that legislation of Ukraine met European requirements and standards, he said.
As for the National Action Plan, the EIB is pleased to cooperate with the government of Ukraine in its implementation, de Zagon said.
The agricultural holding Myronivsky Hliboproduct (MHP) plans to open 350 stores of the Miasomarket format in Kyiv city and the region in five years.
“In the next five years, 350 Miasomarket outlets should open in Kyiv city and the region. We also have a clear understanding of how many stores we want to open in five years in the regions – the number of outlets varies from 40, depending on the concentration of the population,” the head of the department for work with franchisees of the agricultural holding MHP Dmytro Morozov told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, in addition to the Miasomarket and Nasha Ryaba conventional stores, the company is now developing franchising formats such as the Chef’s Secrets gastronomic studio and shawarma points of sale, as well as sandwich shops “Kho perekusit?” (TM Bashchinskiy), which is the format that MHP develops independently.
“Investments of partners in the Myasomarkets project start at $25,000, for other formats, in particular Döner Market, we are now finalizing the size of investments,” Morozov said.
He also announced the official opening of the first point for the sale of shawarma in Kyiv, in the Osokorky residential area, on September 23.
The head of the department for work with franchisees of MHP said that the points will have different formats, both street food and with the possibility of seating inside the facility.
“As the project develops, we will add other formats of street food. We see for ourselves at least two more formats that will sell shawarma,” he said.
The official opening of the first point of the Chef’s Secrets gastro studio is scheduled for September 24. However, as Morozov specified, it has been operating in test mode since June.
Asked whether MHP plans to implement such projects abroad, Morozov said that now this initiative is at the stage of preliminary assessment of the need.
“The holding has divisions in other countries with which this issue has been discussed, but there are no concrete plans yet. We have shown how we launch Miasomarket stores in Ukraine, what is the essence of the concept, the value for the end consumer and business in general. Now it is a discovery stage, the stage of preliminary assessment of the need for such a project,” he said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and Deputy Head of the Cabinet of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov held a video conference and discussed prospects for cooperation in the field of IT, the development of transport links and the future visit of the Ukrainian minister to Ashgabat, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has reported.
“Relations between our countries have always developed in a friendly and constructive manner. I want the pace and tone of the dialog to be maintained and developed. Turkmenistan occupies a special place on our world map. We are ready to move forward politically and economically,” the press service of the ministry said, citing Kuleba as saying.
Meredov invited the Ukrainian minister to visit Ashgabat. The head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry proposed to hold a meeting of Ukrainian and Turkmen companies as part of the visit.
The minister of foreign affairs of Turkmenistan commended the extra sophisticated high-tech infrastructure projects that Ukrainian companies have successfully implemented in Turkmenistan. The interlocutors noted the need to develop this interaction, as well as look for new areas of mutually beneficial cooperation, in particular in the field of IT.
Also, the foreign ministers discussed further cooperation and mutual support of initiatives within the framework of international organizations. Kuleba congratulated Turkmenistan on acquiring observer status in the WTO.
The ministers agreed to hold a meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Ukrainian-Turkmen Commission on Economic, Cultural and Humanitarian Cooperation as soon as possible.
The parties also discussed the steps required to restore direct flights between Ukraine and Turkmenistan, as well as the interaction of maritime authorities. The importance of developing alternative transport corridors was noted.
The ministers stressed the need to further encourage Turkmen students to study in Ukraine, the development of medical tourism and health improvement in Ukraine, the need to intensify interaction in the field of culture.
During the video conference, Kuleba and Meredov signed the Cooperation Program between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan for 2020-2021.
