PatentBot, a chatbot of the trademark registrar, has launched to the CIS market. Users from all over the world can check a trademark in Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan for free search and submit an application 24/7, the whole process takes up to 10 minutes.
The startup is actively expanding the markets:
“Our global goal is to become an international patent office and any user, no matter where he is physically located, has the opportunity to register trademark worldwide in just a few minutes,”
Natalia Vladimirova, CEO of PatentBot.
PatentBot was launched in the USA and Ukraine in 2017 and in April 2018 bot became available in the European Union, China and in the Middle East in test mode. During these 2 years, more than 1,500 applications for the TM were submitted with the bot and tens of thousands of free searches by name were conducted.
Ukraine in January-June 2019 imported 7,000 tonnes of cucumbers and 55,000 tonnes of tomatoes, which is respectively 38% and 15% more than in the same period of 2018, according to the website of the Ukrainian Horticultural Association. According to the association, the import of both cucumbers and tomatoes in the six months was a record high for the last decade.
The association noted that the export of greenhouse vegetables continues declining. Thus, the supply of tomatoes abroad since the beginning of the year amounted to a mere 970 tonnes, which is three times less than last season. The export of cucumbers also almost halved compared with 2018 and amounted to 1,300 tonnes.
“This trend in the cucumber and tomato markets is explained by the fact that Ukraine has been focused on the Russian market for a very long time, which after the worsening of the political situation between the countries became inaccessible to us. Moreover, domestic producers find it difficult to compete in the domestic market with Turkish products, because the cost of gas and electricity in Turkey is much lower than in Ukraine. Now, Ukrainian producers of greenhouse vegetables require import quotas and the introduction of trade duties for imported products,” Yekateryna Zvereva, the director for development at the association, said.
The loss of the Russian market forced greenhouse owners to seek new sales markets and expand the range of products.
“Today, the main importers of Ukrainian tomatoes and cucumbers are Belarus and Poland, the countries that re-export these products,” the report says.
Tino Zeiske, who previously held the position of Global Director for Talent Management and Recruitment at Metro AG (headquartered in Dusseldorf, Germany), has been appointed new CEO of METRO Cash & Carry Ukraine LLC (Metro C&C, Kyiv).
“Tino Zeiske will be the new CEO of METRO Cash & Carry Ukraine from October 1, 2019, or earlier, depending on the time frame for obtaining a work permit,” the retailer’s press service said.
Olivier Langlet, who has held the post of CEO at METRO Cash and Carry Ukraine, since April 2019, has been appointed CEO of MAKRO Cash & Carry (the Czech Republic) within Metro AG, it said.
“From October 1, 2019, Olivier will be fully responsible for the activities of MAKRO, the Czech Republic,” it said.
METRO Cash & Carry Ukraine was founded in 2003. It consists of 23 METRO shopping centers in the largest cities of Ukraine, namely Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Poltava, Lviv, Rivne, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Kryvy Rih, Mariupol, Zaporizhia, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Odesa and Mykolaiv, and also two wholesale outlets in Ternopil and Lutsk.
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of july 23
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
National bank of ukraine’s official rates as of 24/07/19
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
The Motor (Transport) Insurance Bureau of Ukraine (MTIBU) in January-June 2019 paid UAH 54.6 million to the owners of uninsured vehicles (which caused a road accident, without having a valid OSAGO policy), which is 2.1% less than in the same period a year earlier.
According to the bureau, the share of such payments in the total number was almost 47.6% (1,568 payments), in the total amount of payments some 57.9%.
The MTIBU also reports that in the first half of the year it made 3,297 payments from guarantee funds, which is 3.3 more than in the six months of 2018, for a total amount of over UAH 94.3 million (17.7% more).
Another significant item of payments is payments for drivers of preferential categories, whose share in January-June 2019 was 15% in terms of quantity and 15.5% in terms of the amount of payments. During the first half of 2019, the MTIBU made 494 payments for such drivers for a total of almost UAH 14.7 million. Compared to the first half of 2018, the number of payments remained almost unchanged (0.4% more), the amount rose by 7.7%.
