Touchstone Capital Group (the U.K.) is interested in a project to build an offshore combined solar and wind power plant in Ukraine, the press service of Ukraine’s Energy and Coal Industry Ministry has reported after a meeting of profile specialists of the ministry with a delegation of the company. “At the meeting, representatives of the company presented a project for the offshore combined solar and wind power plant with a gigawatt power capacity, which is unique not only for Ukraine, but also for the nearest neighboring countries. Its additional advantage is the availability of its own balancing capacities, which will ensure a more even schedule of electricity production. The project also envisages the use of a significant (more than 30%) share of components of Ukrainian production,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said that it is important that the implementation of these large projects occur in accordance with the actual state and the plan for the development of the electricity transmission system, and does not lead to deterioration in the operational security of the country’s power grid.
In turn, representatives of Ukrenergo at the meeting reminded: 70-80% of the projects for the construction of “green generation” is being implemented in the southern region of Ukraine (Zaporizhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa regions), which is energy-efficient and simultaneously lacks maneuvering capacities.
Touchstone Capital Group is engaged in property management, development of projects in the field of renewable energy. The group operates funds from Chinese and other international investors.
Original Ukrainian medicines are not available in the markets of the United States and the European Union (EU) over the absence of state support for research in Ukraine, Director General of Research and Industrial Center Borschahivka chemical and pharmaceutical plant (Kyiv) Yulia Zdarevska has said. “Original Ukrainians medicines are not usually introduced in the United States and the EU, not because of their low efficiency, but because of the lack of state support in Ukraine for the development of original drugs at the state or regional levels,” she told Interfax-Ukraine, commenting on the results of research on the market for drugs with insufficient evidence base, initiated by Anti Corruption Action Centre (AntAC) with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation.
Zdarevska said that the lack of registration in the United States or Europe is not proof of the inefficiency of medicines.
“Throughout the world, the registration of the drug in the FDA and EMA is a voluntary decision, not an obligation. Therefore, the substitution of concepts is clearly visible, therefore we believe that the group of drugs mistakenly described in the report as “Medicines Without Proven Effectiveness” should be referred to as” Medicines, the Use of which in the United States or the EU was not Envisaged by the Developer,” she said.
The general director of the plant said that the cost of a full cycle of developing and approving a new original drug in the United States could reach $2 billion.
“These costs today are unaffordable for the Ukrainian pharmaceutical industry,” she said.
Zdarevska said that the studies that pharmaceutical companies conduct to register their own drugs include safety and efficiency studies in accordance with established requirements.
“If these studies are not conducted, the drug cannot be registered. Thus, while demanding the prohibition of drugs not registered in the FDA and EMA, the authors of the research, in the first place, call into question the activities of state (and not only Ukrainian) regulatory authorities,” she said.
At the same time, Zdarevska said that the use of medicines in only one or several countries is a global practice, and the only necessary confirmation of the quality, effectiveness and safety of the drug is the availability of public registration.
She also recalled that in Ukraine for many years there is a pharmacovigilance system that allows the continuous collection, analysis and use of all information on side effects and the experience of clinical use of medicines.
Zdarevska said that Ukrainian pharmaceutical companies also export their medicines to more than 60 countries.
Research and Industrial Center Borschahivka chemical and pharmaceutical plant is among top 20 largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in Ukraine. It is a member of the Association Manufacturers of Medications of Ukraine (AMMU).
Crude oil production in Ukraine in January-August 2018 grew by 2.7% year-over-year, to 1.004 million tonnes. The Energy and Coal Industry Ministry of Ukraine told Interfax-Ukraine that gas condensate production grew by 0.8%, to 441,936 tonnes.
Naftogaz Ukrainy’s enterprises increased oil production by 2.9% in January-August 2018, to 976,820 tonnes, but decreased gas condensate output by 7.1%, to 278,330 tonnes. A 2.9% rise was seen in oil production by Ukrnafta, to 926,300 tonnes and a 16.1% fall in production of gas condensate, to 33,400 tonnes, while Ukrgazvydobuvannia cut oil production by 9%, to 50,520 tonnes and gas condensate by 5.7%, to 244,930 tonnes.
Other oil producing companies in January-August 2018 increased crude oil production by 26.3%, to 26,684 tonnes and condensate – by 17.7%, to 163,606 tonnes.
As reported, in 2017, Ukraine cut oil and gas condensate production by 4.2%, to 2.098 million tonnes.
The French sportswear brand Decathlon, part of the international Auchan Group, is to launch an online store in Ukraine in the spring of 2019 simultaneously with its first physical retail outlet, and announces plans to expand production in the country. “In six months, in the spring of 2019, we will open our first store in the north of Kyiv – in Retail Park Petrivka. Simultaneously, we will open an online store,” CEO of Decathlon Ukraine Florent Guieu said at a press conference on Tuesday. According to him, the company plans to cover the entire territory of Ukraine with its online store. The delivery of goods will be carried out from a warehouse located in Poland near the border with Ukraine. The online store will offer both delivery and customer pickup from the physical retail outlet.
Guieu also said that the company plans to expand production of own goods in Ukraine, which was launched in 2012.
“Ukraine is a fantastic country for production. We want to maximize the capacities for the production of footwear and non-technical goods here. We will try to produce more in Ukraine for the European market … Production is partnership, we do not own production facilities [in the countries of presence] with a few exceptions,” Guieu told Interfax-Ukraine in a comment.
In Ukraine, Decathlon produces goods in Zakarpattia, Sumy and Chernihiv regions.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has relaxed the rules of buying foreign currency by nonresidents to return foreign investment abroad after transactions with government domestic loan bonds, the central bank has reported on its website. The respective initiative was approved by resolution No. 100 of the central bank’s board amending certain legal acts of the NBU dated September 18, 2018. The document came into force on September 20, with the exception of certain clauses, which will become effective on November 1, 2018. “Nonresidents for the purchase of foreign currency after operations with government bonds will need to submit the short list of documents as possible,” the NBU said in the report.
In particular, the resolution specifies the rules of settlements under operations with government domestic loan bonds, where a nonresident is a party: transactions with banks and nonresidents can be carried out without restrictions, operations with other counterparties can be carried out only on the stock exchange with settlements using the “delivery of securities against payment” principle.
In addition, the rules of servicing the operations on the government domestic loan bonds placement among the clients of primary dealers (broker contracts) are defined, which provides access to the primary government domestic loan bonds market for private investors.
The mechanism for servicing refinancing operations with a pool of assets as collateral has also been regulated. The procedure for conducting blocking operations for government domestic loan bonds under these transactions has been determined, and the NBU is given the opportunity to take into account the securities of banks that are deposited as collateral in favor of the central bank.
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
