The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted an order to join the Equal Pay International Coalition, based on the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly on September 18, 2017 in New York (USA).
The corresponding decision was made at a government meeting on Wednesday.
“After receiving a response from the secretariat of the Equal Pay International Coalition, the government of Ukraine will become a member of this coalition together with the Confederation of Employers of Ukraine, the General Representative Body of Representative All-Ukrainian Associations of Trade Unions at the national level, the Kyiv Institute for Gender Studies,” the press service of the Ministry of Social Policy said.
It is reported that joining the Coalition is an important step in fulfilling the commitment to narrow the gender pay gap undertaken by Ukraine as part of its participation in the Biarritz Partnership international initiative, which Ukraine joined in August 2020.
“The positive experience of the states that have joined the coalition is important for Ukraine, given the course it has chosen for European integration and the need to consolidate the efforts of executive authorities, trade union associations, employers’ associations, civil society organizations, as well as academia, aimed at closing the pay gap in the wages of women and men” the ministry said.
According to the ministry, at the beginning of 2020 in Ukraine, the average monthly wage of men was 22% higher than the average monthly wage of women.
Despite the overall positive dynamics in some areas of economic activity (for example, in financial and insurance activities), the gap in wages for women and men is up to 35%. The level of remuneration for women and men is almost the same in those areas where wages are low (administrative and support services, functioning of libraries, education).
The Equal Pay Coalition is an international initiative founded by stakeholders to narrow the gender pay gap and respect the principle of equal pay for equal work in all countries and industries.
The coalition is joined by central executive bodies (ministries responsible for the formation and implementation of policies in the field of labor and employment, ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men, central executive bodies in the field of statistics), associations of employers and trade unions, relevant UN agencies, civil organisations and scientific institutions.
According to recent data, metallurgical plant Azovstal (Mariupol, Donetsk region), a member of Metinvest Group, in January-August 2020 increased production of general rolled metals by 3.6% compared to the same period last year, to 2.66 million tonnes.
The representative of the enterprise told Interfax-Ukraine that during this period steel production increased by 3.2%, to 2.82 million tonnes, cast iron production increased by 8.3%, to 2.52 million tonnes.
In August, Azovstal produced 380,000 tonnes of general rolled metals, 410,000 tonnes of steel and 366,000 tonnes of cast iron.
Azovstal in 2019 reduced production of general rolled metals by 3.2% compared to 2018, to 3.753 million tonnes, production of steel by 1.6%, to 4.016 million tonnes, production of cast iron by 6.3%, to 3.475 million tonnes.
The enterprise belongs to Metinvest Group, the main shareholders of which are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart-Holding (23.76%), jointly managing the company.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA), after the termination of restrictions for foreigners from October 1, offers passengers a number of connecting flights and is also adding new flights.
According to the press service of the company, in particular, new international flights are being launched: Kyiv-Brussels-Kyiv, Kyiv-Dusseldorf-Kyiv, Kyiv-London-Kyiv, Kyiv-Prague-Kyiv, Kyiv-Baku-Kyiv.
In addition, UIA offers connecting flights via Kyiv from Amsterdam, London, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Dusseldorf, Munich, Prague to Dubai, Cairo, Baku, Yerevan, Istanbul, Tel Aviv, and from Dubai, Cairo, Baku, Yerevan via Kyiv to Amsterdam, London, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Dusseldorf, Munich, Prague, Tel Aviv, Istanbul.
Flights are also offered from Tel Aviv and Istanbul via Kyiv to Amsterdam, London, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Dusseldorf, Munich, Prague, Amsterdam, Dubai, Yerevan, Baku.
Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada has adopted at the first reading bill No. 3087-d on the creation of the Bureau of Economic Security, which should become a single body for combating economic crimes and remove the duplication of these functions from various law enforcement agencies.
An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported that the bill was supported by 245 MPs with the required 226 votes.
According to the document, the director of the Bureau is appointed based on the results of a competition and dismissed by the president. However, by the second reading it is planned to amend the bill to reassign the head of this body to the Cabinet of Ministers, said the co-author of the bill and Head of the committee on finance, tax and customs policy Danylo Hetmantsev.
According to him, this is necessary taking into account the decision of the Constitutional Court on the unconstitutionality of the appointment of Artem Sytnyk as director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau.
As the text of the bill shows, it is proposed to set the maximum number of the Bureau’s employees at 4,000 people. In turn, Hetmantsev said that the current number of employees of the tax police is 4,600.
“The director is accountable to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine,” Hetmantsev said.
Pivdenny Sea Port (formerly Yuzhny Sea Port, situated in Odesa region), the largest seaport in Ukraine in terms of transshipment volume, increased transshipment by 25.5% in January-August 2020 as compared for the same period in 2019, to 42.045 million tonnes.
According to the website of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA), in the eight months Pivdenny port increased transhipment of export cargo by 26.5%, to 31.704 million tonnes, of import cargo by 21%, to 5.245 million tonnes and of transit freight by 18.3%, to 4.818 million tonnes. There were 22 times more coastal freight handled, 277,970 tonnes.
According to goods nomenclature, the port increased handling of bulk cargo by 26.4% in January-August 2020, to 3.673 million tonnes, of dry bulk cargo by 27%, to 35.215 million tonnes and packaged goods by 10.8%, to 3.156 million tonnes.
Transhipment of containers accounted for 165,591 TEU (up by 26.7%).
Pivdenny seaport was founded in 1978.
