National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom and France’s Technetics Group have signed a memorandum of cooperation in the nuclear and energy sphere.
The press service of Energoatom reported that the agreement was signed on June 19, 2019 in Brussels.
During the talks, the parties pointed out their interest in establishing direct business relations between the enterprises and reached arrangements on this issue. Representatives of Energoatom notified the Technetics Group about their interest in purchasing spare parts for pipeline fittings and pneumatic power drives made by the French company.
The Technetics Group is part of the EnPro Industries group of companies. It is a large supplier of engineered industrial products, sealing solutions for nuclear energy, heat energy, semiconductor, aerospace and biomedical industries.
At the end of June, President of Energoatom Yuriy Nedashkovsky, together with CEOs of the leaders of the nuclear industry of the European Union signed a joint manifesto on preventing climate change and maintaining the economic efficiency of the EU energy industry.
Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov has met with Minister of National Defense of Canada Harjit Sajjan to discuss the issue of military cooperation between the countries, as well as the purchase of new technology, the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported. “The interaction of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard of Ukraine with the Canadian armed forces and the purchase of new equipment were discussed with the Minister of Defense of Canada,” Avakov said at the 3rd International Ukraine Reform Conference in Ukraine in Toronto.
The parties also discussed security issues in Ukraine, in particular, during the extraordinary parliamentary elections on July 21.
“Today, the issue of security is not only a question of the boundary line of the conflict or the contact line. This is the issue of security in society, the mood of people. Therefore, the mechanism of democratic elections that we now provide is a key component of security,” Avakov said.
The BlaBlaCar carpooling service has named Ukraine among top three countries in terms of the service development pace: in January-June 2019, the Ukrainian community of BlaBlaCar passed the five billion mark, the press service of the service has reported. According to the company’s information, the service community in the world reached 75 million users in 22 countries (3.4 million on average per country).
The company said that over the past two years, activity on the BlaBlaCar platform in Ukraine has grown by more than 150%, and daily dozens of thousands of people make trips.
“At peak times (Christmas, Easter holidays), over one million free places are published on the platform. Of these, 80% are trips across Ukraine, 20% are international (Poland, Germany, Czech Republic and other countries),” the company’s press service reported, noting that the service was the second among the platforms in Ukraine, where you can book a trip from a city to a city.
According to the company, the rapid growth of the platform was influenced by the increase in passenger traffic in million-plus cities (Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv and Lviv).
“Monthly service records more than 45,000 unique places of departure and arrival throughout Ukraine, which connect more than 90% of the country’s settlements. This is especially important for small towns and villages where there is no direct bus or train connection and which are far from major transportation hubs and highways,” BlaBlaCar said.
According to Zero Empty Seats, a global study into the environmental impact of carpooling, in 2018, carpooling saved more than 1.6 million tonnes of CO2 a year, including 245,000 tonnes in Ukraine.
The company plans to continue improving the product in Ukraine, and focusing on creating a marketplace for long-distance road trips.
“Combining the proposals of fellow travelers and bus routes on one platform will allow BlaBlaCar to become a global marketplace for making long-distance trips,” the company said.
The trilateral talks in the Ukraine-Russia-European Commission format on transit of Russian gas across Ukraine in 2020 would be resumed in September 2019, Vice President of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic has said.
He said in Strasbourg, speaking to deputies of the European parliament of the new convocation after the EU Summit meeting that the trilateral talks by him will be resumed in September.
Ukraine’s foreign trade in goods (imports), jan–apr, 2019
The National Commission for Communications and Informatization Regulation (NCCR) has proposed to telecom operators within one month to file an application to the regulator about the early introduction of the new radio technology in the radio frequency (RF) band lower 1 GHz and settle the issue of concentration of a part of spectrum with two market players via quitting some RF by them on a voluntary basis. According to the regulator’s website, the applications on behalf of operators about the early introduction of the new technology are required because NCCR lacks the legislative authority to make regulatory decisions aimed at changing the current situation.
The commission recalled that, unlike the 1800 MHz band, suitable for the introduction of new radio technologies, the RF spectrum in the 900 MHz band is almost five times smaller, and it is simultaneously used by both general and special users; that this RF is licensed to operators for 3-11 years; that a significant fragmentation of the spectrum and the available concentration of the RF with one telecommunications operator also adversely affect the possibility of introducing new communication technologies in the specified band.
“It was also established that defragmentation of the spectrum would not provide an opportunity of introducing new radio technologies by all operators, given the limited RF they have in use,” the commission said.
The regulator also said that in 2018-2019, the commission, together with industry associations and government agencies, was working to find options for a voluntary frequency exchange, but no agreement was reached between telecommunications operators.
NCCR recommended RF users who, in accordance with the law, carry out operator activities in a certain radio frequency band below 1 GHz, within one month to apply to the commission with an application on the early introduction of new radio technology in this band.
At the same time, the commission recommended to Kyivstar and Intertelecom simultaneously with the said application to submit applications for reducing the relevant RF bands taking into account: the fundamentals of public regulation and the basic principles of using RF spectrum of Ukraine, as well as the number of subscribers of each operator involved by these operators’ resource, as well as the percentage of RF in the 900 MHz band used by EU telecommunications operators, and taking into account the problems of international coordination of RF.
At the same time, the commission considers it advisable to include the liabilities to ensure within 12 months from the date of issuance of a new license to comply with the indicators of the quality of mobile communication services using 3G/4G radio technologies in the territory of each settlement of Ukraine, and on regional, national and international highways of the region, provided for in the new license (except for territories where public authorities are temporarily not exercising their powers, and the territories in which the restrictions for the operation of radio electronic facilities are set) in the special conditions for using RF spectrum under new licenses.
In turn, the Kyivstar mobile operator said that it understands the importance of reducing the digital gap in Ukraine and is ready to consider a possible partial return of RF to the state.
“We have repeatedly offered options for the exchange of frequencies in the 900 MHz band, because this exchange will increase the available spectrum size. We are ready to consider the possibility of a partial return of frequencies to the state under certain conditions… The company acquired RF on legal grounds, at market value, through effective mergers and acquisitions, observing all legislative procedures. It is important for us to understand the regulator’s vision regarding compensation for Kyivstar, as well as the step-by-step reorganization algorithm for the 900 MHz band and their refarming,” President of Kyivstar Alexander Komarov told Interfax-Ukraine, adding that only in 2018, the operator paid more than UAH 1 billion for the rental of RF spectrum.
He also said that the necessary condition for the exchange of radio frequencies in the 900 MHz band is the subsequent introduction of the principle of technology neutrality on the Ukrainian telecom market, which will enable all telecom companies to develop any communication services in frequencies that have already been issued to operators.
Intertelecom has not yet commented on the statement of the commission.
