Citizens of Ukraine can travel in Thailand for tourist purposes without visas from April 14, 2019.
“For a trip, you must have a passport (biometric or non-biometric). The period of a visa-free stay is up to 30 days,” the department of the consular service of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine said.
To stay in Thailand for more than 30 days, regardless of the purpose of the trip, you must obtain a visa at the appropriate diplomatic mission or consular office.
The Foreign Ministry recalls that citizens of Ukraine should be covered by insurance when traveling abroad.
Retail trade turnover in Ukraine in comparable prices in January and February 2019 increased by 6.8% compared to January and February 2018, to UAH 150.913 billion, the State Statistics Service has reported.
According to its data, in February 2019 retail trade turnover compared with January 2019 decreased by 4.4%, and compared with February 2018 it grew by 7.2%.
The largest increase in the retail trade turnover of enterprises (legal entities and individual entrepreneurs) in January and February 2019 compared with January and February 2018 was recorded in Zakarpattia (by 14.6%), Kyiv (by 11.1%), Vinnytsia (by 10.1%), Lviv (by 9.5%), Ivano-Frankivsk (by 8.9%), Dnipropetrovsk (by 7.9%), Odesa (by 7.8%), Ternopil (by 7.7%) and Rivne (by 7.5%) regions.
The leaders in absolute terms of the volume of retail turnover for the specified period are: Kyiv city (UAH 28.781 billion), Dnipropetrovsk (UAH 14.208 billion), Kharkiv (UAH 12.243 billion), Odesa (UAH 10.685 billion), Kyiv (UAH 10.627 billion) and Lviv (UAH 9.455 billion) regions.
According to statistics, in January and February 2019 compared to 2018, retail trade turnover in Donetsk region increased by 7.2%, to UAH 4.754 billion, and Luhansk region – by 3.4%, to UAH 1.395 billion.
The State Statistics Service said that the turnover of retail enterprises (legal entities) February 2019 compared with February 2018 increased by 7.9%, and compared to January 2019 decreased by 4.3%, to UAH 53.505 billion. In January-February 2019 the turnover of retail enterprises rose by 7.4%, to UAH 109.203 billion.
The wholesale turnover of enterprises in January and February 2019 compared with January and February 2018 decreased by 5.7% and amounted to UAH 301.309 billion.
As reported, the retail trade turnover of Ukraine in 2018 increased by 6.1%.
The State Statistics Service noted that the data are given excluding the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol and the area of the joint forces operation.
On March, 23 and 24 in «The Kyivan Rus Park» a show-program «The World of Horses» will take place. The program introduces the horses of rare ancient breeds collected from all over the world. An unforgettable time travel into the epoch of the Middle Ages with horse-trick performances, Slavic amusements, master-classes, horse riding, delicious food prepared on open fire, zip-line , and many other activities will be waiting for the guests.
Ancient Kyiv opens at 10:00. The program starts at 13:30.
The ticket price: a full adult ticket – 170 UAH, for pensioners and students – 150 UAH, for schoolchildren – 60 UAH, for preschool children – for free.
Ancient Kyiv in the «Kyivan Rus Park» is located in Kyiv region, Obukhiv district, the vill. Kopachiv.
Route taxis leave from Kyiv from the «Vydybitchi» metro station.
Details on the website www.parkkyivrus.com
The Interfax subscribers can save money with the “openbusiness-20” promo code for a 20%-discount for a full price adult ticket to the Principality of Kyivan Rus:
– by previous order by tel.: +38 044 461-99-37, +38 050 385-20-35
– or at the cash desk at the entrance to the «Kyivan Rus Park».
The largest number of vacancies in 2018 was offered in the field of sales, IT, telecoms and marketing, according to a study conducted by the international recruiting portal HeadHunter Ukraine.
According to its press release, with reference to the results of the survey, last year both a rise and a decline were observed in the labor market of Ukraine.
More than half of respondents, describing the situation in the industry where their company operates, called it stable or noted some growth and positive dynamics.
According to HeadHunter Ukraine, the regional structure of vacancies and resumes last year remained unchanged. The top five regions include Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and Lviv regions. In terms of cities, the largest number of both vacancies and resumes was presented in the capital.
According to the study, competition in the labor market in the country in 2018 was mainly at the level of three or four people per vacancy. The growth of the load on one vacant job of up to five people was recorded in October-December.
Consolidated net profit of Metinvest B.V. (the Netherlands), the parent company of the Metinvest international vertically integrated mining and metallurgical group, grew by 93% in 2018 compared with 2017, to $1.188 billion from $617 million.
According to the audited financial statements published on Thursday, revenue rose by 335, to $11.88 billion from $8.931 billion, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased 23%, to $2.513 billion from $2.044 billion. Gross profit rose by 28%, to $2.787 billion.
The total debt of the company fell by 9%, to $2.743 billion, and cash and cash equivalents grew by 8%, to $280 million.
“In 2018, Metinvest delivered some of its best results in the last four years, proving that it has indeed turned a corner through proactive operational, strategic and financial management,” Chief Executive Officer of Metinvest Yuriy Ryzhenkov said, commenting on the results.
“The operational results were decent: production rose by 3% year-on-year for hot metal, was largely unchanged for crude steel and iron ore concentrate, jumped by 11% for coke and climbed by 9% for coal,” he said.
Amid this, the group reinvigorated its CAPEX programme in the year, spending nearly $900 million to modernise and catch up on deferred maintenance of assets in the largest such outlay since 2011. Metinvest’s Technological Strategy 2030, which serves as a roadmap to guide the group in fulfilling its strategic priorities, aims to strengthen core production processes to lay a solid foundation for future upgrades to downstream facilities.
Among others, the main achievement of the Mariupol steelmakers was the construction of continuous casting machine No. 4 at Illich Steel, which was completed without major delays and on budget. The machine has eliminated casting bottlenecks and effectively expanded the plant’s annual crude steel production capacity by around 40% to 4.3 million tonnes.
“Importantly, around one third of the project cost was financed using long-term funding guaranteed by the Austrian export credit agency,” Ryzhenkov said.
At the iron ore producers, Metinvest is conducting an extensive heavy truck fleet upgrade to improve output volumes and production efficiency. At Northern GOK and Central GOK, pelletising machines are undergoing large-scale maintenance to allow the group to further capitalise on strong pellet premiums, he said.
Metinvest remains committed to securing its long-term future. To this end, in 2018, the group acquired minority stakes in two assets that are an ideal fit for the business model and will help to strengthen vertical integration and improve resilience to economic cycles. The stakes of 24.99% in the Pokrovske coal business and 23.71% in Yuzhcoke will secure long-term supplies of high-quality Ukrainian coking coal and coke to improve Metinvest’s self-sufficiency in these key inputs.
Underpinned by favourable steel and iron ore prices and ongoing economic growth in Ukraine, the Group delivered its strongest financial results in 2018. Revenues soared by 33% year-on-year due to an enhanced focus on priority markets, while EBITDA rose by 23% year-on year, with both the steel and mining segments contributing equally. Free cash flow generation for the reporting period reached $673 million, up nearly five-fold year-on-year, driven by the robust EBITDA and dividends from a mining joint venture.
“After successfully refinancing its bonds and pre-export facility, Metinvest has normalised its debt portfolio to achieve a sustainable maturity profile, improving the investment case as a result. These achievements received official acclaim when the transaction won the Emerging EMEA Bond of 2018 nomination in the International Financing Review annual awards,” the top manager said.
“In 2019, global iron ore and steel prices are an ongoing source of uncertainty. Trade tensions and concerns about a potential global economic slowdown are creating price pressure. This year will also bring presidential and parliamentary elections in Ukraine, which could cause some turbulence,” Ryzhenkov said.
At the same time, Metinvest will continue to prioritise improving operational performance and implementing the long-term upgrade programme; emphasising health and safety, of both staff and contractors; and reducing environmental impact.
“I would like to thank our clients, investors, creditors, employees and other stakeholders for their support during 2018,” he said.
Capital investment in agriculture in 2018 totaled UAH 90 billion, including UAH 25 billion invested in processing, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has said.
“Last year, UAH 90 billion were invested in the agricultural and industrial complex, almost UAH 25 billion were funds invested in processing… We have not yet used even a third of our potential [in the agricultural and industrial complex],” he said at the tenth Agroport West Lviv International agricultural exhibition and forum on supporting farming held in Lviv on Thursday.
According to him, the share of agriculture of Ukraine’s GDP is 17%, but only 4% of it are processed products, the rest is raw materials.
“Our task is to change this structure. At least a quarter of the gross product should be for the agricultural and industrial complex. We must increase the in-depth processing of Ukrainian products,” Groysman said.
The prime minister said that products grown in Ukraine are represented in 190 countries.
