Double liability company Interchem, a pharmaceutical company based in Odesa, has received the permit of the Health Ministry of Ukraine for conducting clinical testing of antiviral medicine Amixin for effectiveness in treatment of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Director General of the company Anatoliy Reder told Interfax-Ukraine that a respective decree of the Health Ministry was signed on May 14.
He also said that the company requested the consideration of the application on clinical trials of Amixin due to the fact that the medicine had previously shown its effectiveness against a number of dangerous viral infections. During preclinical trials, it was proved that tilorone (the active substance of Amixin medicine) has antiviral activity against a number of strains of ordinary coronaviruses.
Several international research centers have already conducted and are carrying out testing of tilorone against SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
“As we can see, not only do we consider Amixin as a potentially effective medicine against COVID-19, but also researchers abroad,” he said.
Reder said that, in particular, such trials were conducted at the Institut Pasteur Korea (South Korea), and in two research centers in the United States as well.
“Based on the data of preclinical trials showing the highly effective antiviral effect of tilorone against SARS-CoV-2, we applied to the Health Ministry for approval of the third phase of clinical testing to expand the range of use of Amixin medicine and obtain evidence on its efficiency and safety for treating patients with COVID-19 infection,” he said.
According to Reder, clinical trials of Amixin will be conducted by research centers in three cities of Ukraine. In general, a trial may take three to four months from the moment the Health Ministry gave a permit for conducting it to the pharmaceutical company.
“The duration of the clinical trial will primarily depend on the speed of patient enrollment. At this stage, it is planned to include more than 60 volunteers in the study who, according to the severity of the disease, will be on self-isolation and undergo outpatient treatment,” he said.
Reder said that the research doctors who confirmed their readiness to conduct this trial are highly motivated, first of all, by their scientific interest and the opportunity to make their contribution to the search for a solution, which is so urgent for the whole world of medical and social problem that the new coronavirus has become.
Interchem is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the country.
Kyivstar mobile operator launches the possibility to switch to the company’s contract tariff remotely, one can order free courier delivery of SIM cards and contracts throughout Ukraine.
According to the operator’s press release, both existing Kyivstar subscribers and new customers who decide to join the national telecoms operator’s network can use this service.
“For this, it’s enough to choose the best contract rate in the Kyivstar online store at shop.kyivstar.ua and place the delivery. During its confirmation, subscribers will be able to immediately enter all the necessary data to sign an agreement and receive an already completed document for signing. Delivery will be carried out at a time convenient for the subscriber by prior agreement,” Kyivstar noted.
Subscribers, in particular, can choose one of the Smart tariffs, which provide unlimited mobile Internet, unlimited times for calls in the network, from 120 to 3,000 minutes for calls to other numbers within Ukraine, as well as abroad, fixed Internet and other services at no extra charge.
In January-April 2020, the seaports of Ukraine handled more than 55 million tonnes of cargo, which is 12.6% more compared to the same period in 2019.
According to the statement of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority on the state-owned enterprise’s website, traditionally, the leaders in transshipment are grain and ore.
Over the indicated period 18.7 million tonnes (5% more) of grain and 13.8 million tonnes of ore (30.5% more) were handled.
Handling of coal doubled to 2.5 million tonnes and that of crude oil increased by five times to 800,000 tonnes. Transshipment of containers by Ukrainian ports amounted to 357,700 TEU (up by 17.2%).
According to the Sea Ports Authority, handling of exported cargo increased due to a rise in transshipment of grain to 18.2 million tonnes (by 5.3%), iron ore to 10.9 million tonnes (by 45.4%), oil to 2.2 million tonnes (by 8.8%).
Transshipment of imported cargoes increased due to a rise in handling coal to 2.3 million tonnes (by 106.9%) and crude oil to 500,000 tonnes (by 213.6%), and oil products to 400,000 tonnes (by 233.3%).
Transit transportations increase due to a rise in handling ore to 1.1 million tonnes (by 34%) and crude oil to 400,000 tonnes.
Four seaports led in terms of cargo handling: Pivdenny, Mykolaiv, Chornomorsk and Odesa. In general, they processed 47.7 million tonnes of cargoes, which is 87% of the total volume of cargo handling by Ukrainian seaports.
Ukrainians declared UAH 871 million of income tax and UAH 120 million of military tax as of May 14, 2020. In particular, some 3,150 citizens reported incomes in the amounts of more than UAH 1 million. In general, the will pay UAH 393 million of income tax and UAH 47 million of military tax.
The State Tax Service of Ukraine reported on its website that the majority of citizens, who declared more than UAH 1 million in incomes in 2019, are as usually registered in Kyiv – around 1,200 taxpayers.
“Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions have 278 and 270 millionaires, respectively,” it said.
The State Tax Service also said that the income declaring campaign for 2019 has been prolonged until July 1, 2020. The deadline for submitting declarations is June 30, 2020.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is convinced that the “Ukraine is Europe” slogan should not be formal, which Ukrainians recall once a year, it should be part of their consciousness. “I have always said that Europe is, first of all, a way of thinking. Europe begins with each of us, with each citizen, with the observance of laws, payment of taxes, protection of democratic values and civil society, free expression of will, freedom of speech, thought and religion, equality and respect, with the “allergy” to taking or giving bribes, with a properly parked car and a cigarette butt thrown into the garbage bin. Let’s make Europe Day every day,” he wrote on his page in the Facebook social network on the occasion of Europe Day.
Zelensky recalled that the European friends of Ukraine in 2020 marked the 70th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, with which the European Union actually began its countdown.
“The words of Robert Schuman are still relevant today: “Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan.” The building of a united, prosperous and successful Europe continues. It is obvious to me that this process cannot be considered completed without Ukraine. We believe that this day will definitely come, and our state will be a full part of the European family!” the President of Ukraine said.
The surplus of Ukraine’s foreign trade in services in the first quarter of 2020 decreased by 2.9% compared to the same period in 2019, to $1.446 billion against $1.489 billion respectively, the State Statistics Service has reported.
According to its data, export of services in January-March 2020 decreased by 1.8%, to $2.825 billion, imports by 0.7%, to $1.379 billion.
The ratio of coverage of import by export amounted to 2.05 (in the first quarter of 2019 some 2.07).
Foreign trade operations were carried out with partners from 206 countries of the world.
