The European Union welcomes Ukraine’s progress in reforms, but significant work still needs to be done in this regard, in particular, judicial reform, EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Olivér Várhelyi said.
“A significant part of the meeting today was devoted to reforms and their implementation. We see that Ukrainian government continues to take a number of very important steps in all directions. Despite this, there is still a lot of work to be done. This is very welcome, but we need to see further progress. This includes, in particular, the need for judicial reform. We are ready to help, and we continue to help Ukraine in this regard,” he said at a press conference after the seventh meeting of the EU-Ukraine Association Council in Brussels on Thursday, February 11.
Várhelyi said that the most important areas of reform for Ukraine are the establishment of the rule of law and judicial reform, the fight against corruption and economic reforms.
PJSC ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, following the results of its activities in 2020, slightly reduced sales of products in Ukraine due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to an interview of the director of the sales department in Ukraine and the CIS, Yevhen Chumachenko, published in the Metalurg corporate publication, according to preliminary estimates, last year the company on the domestic market slightly reduced sales to the indicators of the previous year as a result of the pandemic and a lockdown in the first half of the year.
“The purchasing activity of our clients in general and construction companies, in particular, during this period significantly decreased. The most significant decrease in the volume of purchases was made by small and medium-sized construction companies, in which the majority of workers are from other regions of the country. People left before the lockdown and then did not have the opportunity to return to objects. The demand began to recover only from June, in July-October it remained at a fairly high level. In November, the buying activity seasonally, as well as against the background of fears of a second lockdown in December, slightly decreased. However, if to look in general, then for the second half of the year we partially managed to make up for the losses of the first half of the year,” he said.
According to him, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih managed to keep its market positions.
Updating of Ukrainian Gaming Week format! UGW Expert Conference Will Be Held in February, and Large-Scale Ukrainian Gaming Week Gambling Exhibition To Take Place in March
After analyzing the requests of the gambling community and taking into account the interests of all market players, Smile-Expo decided to change the format of Ukrainian Gaming Week 2021 – instead of one specialized event, company will separately organize an expert conference and an exhibition of solutions for the gambling industry.
UGW conference: program, features and top speakers
Date: February 24, 2021
Location: Premier Palace Hotel, Kyiv
UGW conference is a unique platform for the exchange of knowledge about the launch, development and formation of the Ukrainian gambling market. Informative presentations, panel discussion and productive networking will welcome guests of the event. The speakers will be representatives of state authorities, members of specialized associations, Ukrainian and foreign specialists of various profiles.
Event will feature:
∙ Ivan Rudyi – Chairman of the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries.
∙ Taras Tarasenko – People’s Deputy of Ukraine of the 9th session, a member of the Servant of the People faction.
∙ Marian Zablotskyi – Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, representative of the Servant of the People faction.
∙ Ilya Machavariani – Senior Partner at 4H consulting agency.
∙ Anton Kuchukhidze – Head of the Gambling Association of Ukraine.
Experts will analyze the main provisions of the law on the regulation of gambling activities in Ukraine, talk about the requirements for advertising gambling establishments and discuss the prospects for the development of the industry. In addition, experts will present an anti-crisis strategy for bookmakers, explain how to form a positive image of the gambling business among population and address other crucial topics.
A complete list of speakers and topics of their presentations can be found on the official website.
Ukrainian Gaming Week 2021 exhibition: dates and program
In the context of COVID-19 pandemic, in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection, quarantine restrictions are introduced in different parts of the world: Great Britain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, etc. In some countries, stricter requirements for crossing the state border are established.
Ukrainian Gaming Week 2021 exhibition will become the largest industry event after the legalization of the gambling business, which will unite the leaders of the global gambling market. However, due to quarantine restrictions, foreign participants and guests may experience difficulties making international travel. Thus, they might not have the opportunity to come to Ukraine on the dates previously announced for the exhibition, which will make it impossible to hold the event on the planned scale.
Taking into account the current circumstances, the organizer of Ukrainian Gaming Week –Smile-Expo international company decided to reschedule the specialized event to the spring of 2021.
New dates of the exhibition: March 23-24.
Venue: KyivExpoPlaza.
The decision of rescheduling the event and choosing a new location will enable even more participants and guests to join the show.
Activities for exhibition attendees
Ukrainian Gaming Week 2021 program includes a two-day exhibition, an open lecture zone, UGW Awards ceremony and a party.
Event will feature cutting-edge products and services for the gambling industry. Ukrainian and international companies will become the exhibitors, featuring hardware manufacturers, software developers, payment aggregators, affiliate programs, etc.
At the open lecture hall, gambling experts will discuss crucial issues for the industry, analyze practical cases and present new products.
On the first day of the event – March 23, UGW Awards will award the representatives of the gambling industry who have achieved the greatest success. The winners will be awarded at a private party.
Don’t miss your last chance to buy tickets to UGW conference at the best price!
Starting from February 1, the price on “Conference” category tickets will be increased to 8,000 UAH, and on VIP category – up to 10,000 UAH.
Guests who manage to register before the end of January will be able to buy tickets at the most favorable price. The price on tickets in the “Conference” category until January 31 will be 5,000 UAH, VIP – 8,000 UAH.
Note! All UGW conference attendees automatically get a ticket to Ukrainian Gaming Week 2021 exhibition.
Join the industry events by Smile-Expo and participate in the revival of the legal gambling market in Ukraine!
Program and registration: ugw.com.ua.
The vaccine produced by AstraZeneca may be delivered to Ukraine next week, Chief State Sanitary Doctor Viktor Liashko said.
“We are waiting for the Pfizer vaccine. Perhaps the first will be the AstraZeneca vaccine. We will receive two products next week. There are questions about the Pfizer vaccine, which we receive as part of the COVAX initiative, which is supplied to Ukraine for free,” Liashko said on the air of the Right to Power (Pravo na Vladu) program on 1+1 TV channel on Thursday night.
He noted that bureaucratic processes are currently underway.
Liashko said that vaccines would be used in Ukraine after their registration.
According to the Chief State Sanitary Doctor, Ukraine has agreed on a contract for the supply of 12 million doses of vaccines produced by AstraZeneca and Novavax. The drugs will be shipped from India, where they are manufactured at the facilities of the Serum Institute.
Also, through the COVAX mechanism, Ukraine should receive from 2.2 million to 3.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the first half of the year.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 11/02/21

Source: National Bank of Ukraine