Czech railroad operator RegioJet has made its first flight on the Prague-Chop route. The night train from Prague with 120 passengers arrived at the Chop station on schedule at 10:35 Kyiv time, the press service of the railway operator reported on Thursday.
As reported, starting March 27, RegioJet is launching a second line to Ukraine via Slovakia to Chop in addition to the existing one via Poland’s Przemysl. The flight has three cars with 140 seats, which follow the Prague-Kosice train. Ticket prices range from EUR18.9 to EUR67.9 including meals.
The night train Prague – Chop departs from Prague (Czech Republic) at 21:52, from Košice (Slovakia) at 06:38 in the morning and arrives in Chop at 10:35. In the opposite direction, departure from Chop is at 17:35, from Kosice at 21:37, arriving in Prague at 05:46 the next day.
JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” launches a special connecting train No. 345/346 Chernivtsi – Chop – Uzhhorod, which will connect with the new international route Prague – Chop.
The connecting train No. 346 Chernivtsi – Chop – Uzhhorod will depart from Chernivtsi daily at 05:30, go through Ivano-Frankivsk (08:13-08:27), Stryi (11:20-11:50), Mukachevo (15:13-15:18), Chop (16:28-16:57), and arrive in Uzhhorod at 17:20. In the opposite direction, departure from Uzhhorod is at 11:05, followed by Chop (11:28-12:03), Mukachevo (13:00-13:10), Stryi (16:15-16:40), Ivano-Frankivsk (19:22-19:27), arriving in Chernivtsi at 21:32.
Train stops are provided at the stations Batyovo, Karpaty, Svalyava, Volovets, Slavske, Skole, Morshyn, Bolekhiv, Dolyna, Rozhnyativ, Kalush, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kolomyia.
In 2024, Gas TSO of Ukraine LLC (GTSOU) plans to invest UAH 812.923 million in the development of the gas transmission system through depreciation charges.
This is stated in the resolution of the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission (NEURC) on the approval of the GTSOU’s GTS Development Plan for 2024-2033, approved at a meeting on Wednesday.
“The main directions of the Gas Transmission System Development Plan for the first year (investment program for 2024) of the 10-year development plan are financing for: compressor stations – UAH 431,768 thousand (excluding VAT), gas distribution stations – UAH 60,226 thousand, gas pipelines – UAH 53,037 thousand,” the regulator said in its justification for the approved document.
In 2024, GTSOU also plans to spend UAH 85,996 thousand on the implementation and development of information technologies, UAH 63,200 thousand on the purchase of diagnostic and inspection devices and other devices, UAH 53,017 thousand on the modernization and purchase of vehicles, special machines and mechanisms, UAH 48,240 thousand on the purchase of production equipment, and UAH 17,439 thousand on industrial buildings and design and survey works.
The overall 10-year plan for the development of Ukraine’s GTS provides for a total funding of UAH 43.756 billion.
DTEK Energy Holding, through its EU-focused subsidiary DRI, has signed an agreement with Polish company Columbus Energy to build a 133 MW energy storage system in southern Poland.
“On March 27, DRI signed a definitive binding share purchase agreement with Polish company Columbus Energy, which will give it the right to build a 133 MW battery storage facility in southern Poland, subject to permits,” DTEK said in a release on its website on Wednesday.
DTEK notes that this is the largest energy storage system (ESS) project in Poland, and the agreement is its first major infrastructure investment in the country and a key element in the company’s plan to create a pan-European energy system uniting Ukraine and the EU. DTEK’s goal is to create a 5 GW portfolio of renewable energy projects in Europe by 2030 through DRI.
The acquisition of the 133 MW SPP project makes DTEK Group one of the first companies to develop this technology on a large scale in Poland, the release said.
DRI expects to close the deal with Columbus in the coming months and start construction of the facility in Q4 2024 to complete it and put it into operation in early 2026. The project is committed to providing energy capacity to the Polish market for 17 years (from 2027).
“Today’s signing marks an exciting moment in Europe’s quest to move beyond fossil fuels. This project will not only provide vital flexibility on Poland’s path to a renewable future, but will also be an important achievement for Central and Eastern Europe in demonstrating how battery storage can be successfully developed. DTEK’s investments in the country are a crucial step towards the integration of the energy systems of Ukraine and Poland,” said Maxim Timchenko, CEO of DTEK Group, as quoted in the release.
According to Krzysztof Kokhanowski, Vice President of the Board and CEO of PIME, the largest association in the energy storage industry in Poland, it is gratifying to see international energy players like DTEK investing in the Polish battery market through its EU subsidiary.
“Poland is one of the leaders in the European Union in the production of batteries and battery cells, and in the next 5 years it will be one of the leaders in the construction of energy storage facilities based on battery technology. The construction of this new facility will certainly contribute to our country’s efforts,” he said.
According to the release, Poland currently uses 30 GW of coal and natural gas-fired power to balance its energy system, which is increasingly using renewable energy sources and shifting from centralized to distributed generation. The batteries will help to ensure the grid’s performance and provide the power system with a reliable mechanism for balancing the unstable nature of renewable energy.
As reported, DTEK Group implemented a 1 MW pilot project in Enerhodar in 2021, before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It is now under occupation. In early 2024, DRI launched its first projects in Europe: in Romania, the 60 MW Ruginoasa wind farm and the 53 MW Glodeni solar power plant. It also intends to develop renewable energy in Romania, Italy, and Croatia.
The National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) has added brokerage platform CapitalProf, cryptocurrency exchanges Crypto Lloyds / Crypto Lloyds LTD, IncCrypto, ABNBITFX, RWB Group and seven more cases to the list of questionable investment projects.
As the Commission clarified in a statement on Wednesday, in particular, the list was supplemented by the trading platform Advanced Mining, trading platforms DotBig, ParadTrade and xChief Ltd, RoboForex, Fondexx, as well as Avalon Technologies, a platform that trades IT assets, positioning itself as “one of the fastest growing investment projects in Runet”.
The total number of positions in the list reached 268 investment projects.
Last week, as part of the work to protect the rights of investors, the SECP held an online meeting with specialists from BaFin (German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority). The Commission again reminded potential investors of the significant risks associated with investing: through persons whose activities on the territory of Ukraine are not regulated in any way, as well as persons indicating false information about licensed and allegedly official activities in countries with developed financial markets.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky during his working visit to Sumy region took part in the first regional meeting on the new program of economic policy “Made in Ukraine”.
“For the first time held a regional meeting regarding our new program of economic policy “Made in Ukraine”. There is a substantial amount of funds for this year for all regions of our state. Guaranteed for Sumy region as well,” he said in the evening video message.
Thus, according to him, as a result of this meeting, there are already specific tasks for members of the government, the State Property Fund, the Office of the President and regional authorities, and there are signed contracts for the Ukrainian defense-industrial complex.
Zelensky, in particular, said there are new contracts for automated fire-fighting systems, new FPV drones, and simulators for mobile firing teams to help shoot down Shaheds more effectively.
“I am proud that every month more and more companies, more and more developers are offering concrete samples of weapons, shells, equipment, mine clearance vehicles and everything that is needed on the frontline and will save the lives of our people,” he said.
In addition, during his visit to Sumy region, the president held a lengthy coordination meeting on internal security in the region – from shelters to countering crime, and on all defense issues.
“Very substantive. As for the economy and the social situation: now the general task – and the government, and the regional authorities and heads of communities to give every opportunity that here in our Sumy region there were jobs, that social protection worked, that there were reliable revenues to the budget,” – said Zelensky.
Approximately 1.05 billion tons, or 19% of all food produced in the world, was wasted in 2022, while more than 780 million people continued to struggle with hunger, the UN says.
“In 2022, households on all continents wasted more than 1 billion meals a day, while 783 million people suffered from hunger and a third of the world’s population faced food insecurity,” the report, published on the website of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), says.
According to the report, in 2022, the world produced 1.05 billion tons of food waste, which is 132 kg per capita or almost a fifth of all food available to consumers. Households accounted for 60% of food waste, catering companies for 28%, and retailers for another 12%.
“Food waste is a global tragedy. Today, millions of people are starving while food is simply thrown away,” said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen.
“Such waste causes significant damage to the climate and nature,” she added.
According to the UNEP, food waste is responsible for 8-10% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions and significant biodiversity losses.
“The damage to the global economy from food losses and food waste is estimated at about $1 trillion,” UNEP said.
The report emphasizes that as of 2022, only 21 countries have included reducing food loss and food waste in their national climate agenda.
