The memorandum of intent for the joint use of the passive and active infrastructure of their mobile networks has been signed by the mobile communications operators Kyivstar and Vodafone Ukraine.
According to a joint press release of the companies issued on Thursday, sharing telecommunications infrastructure will enable the parties to accelerate the deployment of 4G networks in rural areas and on highways.
The memorandum takes into account the use of not only communication channels, but also towers, as well as other equipment. Cooperation using telecom infrastructure will enable operators to avoid duplication in the process of building networks, which will accelerate the provision of access to 4G/LTE services for subscribers living in sparsely populated areas.
Now Kyivstar and Vodafone Ukraine are identifying mobile network sections and settlements for sharing infrastructure. The operators plan to begin practical implementation of the memorandum in November-December 2020 after the approval of the project by government bodies.
“Partnership and cooperation in the use of mobile networks will allow the operators to accelerate the bridging of the digital gap between megacities and villages, and to fulfill their investment plans despite the decrease in market income. We proposed that all mobile operators of Ukraine join the memorandum,” Kyivstar President Alexander Komarov said.
He said that the memorandum is open to all players who want to develop new mobile technologies on mutually beneficial conditions.
“Such unbiased and seemingly insurmountable circumstances as lockdown and the lack of roaming revenues could make adjustments to the implementation of coverage. But we understand the importance of building infrastructure as soon as possible to ensure equal access to digital services. Sharing networks will make our investment more effective,” CEO of Vodafone Ukraine Olha Ustinova said.
In her opinion, this will also give the operator the opportunity not only to adhere to the obligations assumed for coverage, but also to bring high-speed Internet to small villages with a population of less than 2,000 people.
For its part, the National Commission for Communications and Informatization Regulation (NCCR) also welcomes cooperation between operators in building networks.
“We are pleased that Vodafone Ukraine supported this idea of the NCCR. We welcome cooperation between operators, in particular in building networks,” Chairman of the commission Oleksandr Zhyvotovsky said, expressing the hope that other operators will also join the memorandum and the process of mutually beneficial cooperation.
According to him, active sharing is an effective way to optimize the costs of building and maintaining networks and quickly covering the territory of Ukraine with a high-quality signal and mobile Internet access and fulfilling licensing conditions in the 900 MHz band.
The signing of the memorandum was supported by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.
In accordance with the decree of the President of Ukraine on some measures to improve access to mobile Internet, mobile operators should provide 4G communications to settlements with a population of 2,000 or more, as well as major roads in the coming years.
Slovakia has handed over a humanitarian aid to Ukraine to wind up consequences of a natural disaster in the population areas of Ivano-Frankivsk region.
According to the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, tents, pumps, generators and other rescue equipment will be handed over to help people in the most affected areas of the region.
As reported, as of July 6, five residential locations (349 at the beginning) in Chernivtsi region, 14 cellars (7,225 at the beginning), including eleven in Ivano-Frankivsk and three in Ternopil regions, 47 housing plots, including 38 in Chernivtsi, seven in Ternopil and two in Ivano-Frankivsk regions, are still flooded.
Some 549 kilometers of roads (654 kilometers at the beginning) and 213 bridges (266 at the beginning) in Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi and Lviv regions are damaged.
Three people died in Ivano-Frankivsk region.
Montenegro has simplified the procedure of entering the country for Ukrainian citizens by cancelling the requirement to take a test for coronavirus (COVID-19), the Embassy of Ukraine in Montenegro said.
“The Institute for Public Health of Montenegro has added Ukraine to the list of the ‘green zone’ countries, which means the cancellation of the requirement to take tests,” the embassy said on its website.
On the website of the Institute for Public Health of Montenegro, Ukraine is on the list of the countries whose citizens may enter Montenegro without additional restrictions related to COVID-19.
Raiffeisen Bank Aval (Kyiv) does not plan to reduce office space in 2020, said Alexander Pisaruk, Board Chairman of the bank Oleksandr Pysaruk has said.
“In the medium term, I see an opportunity to reduce office space for a number of reasons, but probably not this year,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to Pysaruk, the reduction in office space will depend on the pace of the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), morbidity, and also the acceleration of the digitalization trend.
At the same time, the board chairman spoke about the bank’s plans for redevelopment of offices in accordance with the social distancing rules during lockdown.
“As for the office space, it needs to be redesigned. The combination of presence of a smaller number of employees in the office with larger distances between workstations requires a systematic review of approaches to managing office real estate, including the interior, the number and quality of sites,” Pysaruk said.
Ukraine in January-June 2020 reduced electricity exports by 12.3% (by 374.6 million kWh) compared to the same period in 2019, to 2.676 billion kWh, according to data from Ukrenergo. According to Interfax-Ukraine’s calculations, the supply of electricity from the energy island of Burshtyn TPP to Hungary, Slovakia and Romania decreased by 12.9% (by 263.2 million kWh), to 1.772 billion kWh.
Electricity supplies to Poland increased by 17.5% (by 115.2 million kWh), to 773.9 million kWh.
Electricity supplies to Moldova amounted to 130.3 million kWh, which is 63.5% (226.6 million kWh) less than in January-June 2019.
Ukrainian electricity was not exported to Belarus and Russia.
In June 2020, exports fell by 3.3 times compared with the same month last year (by 235.3 million kWh), to 102.3 million kWh.
At the same time, Ukraine for the six months imported 1.757 billion kWh of electricity, including 1.034 billion kWh supplied from Slovakia, 434.2 million kWh from Hungary, 152.3 million kWh from Belarus, 82.4 million kWh from Romania, and 53.4 million kWh from Russia.
In June, imports fell to a minimum of 18.9 million kWh, which is 1.8 times less than in May 2020, 8 times less than in April, 23.4 times less than in March, almost 30 times less than in February and January.
State-controlled PrivatBank in January-May continued to top the list of the most profitable Ukrainian banks, declaring UAH 19.62 billion of net profit, while state-owned Ukreximbank recorded the largest loss, as a month earlier, of UAH 1.59 billion.According to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), Oschadbank (UAH 3.56 billion) ranked second in the list of the most profitable banks, Raiffeisen Bank Aval (UAH 1.7 billion) ranked third. FUIB is in the fourth position (UAH 1.13 billion), and Citibank (UAH 759.66 million) is fifth.
According to the central bank, in January-May 2020, Bank Credit Dnipro ranked second (UAH 245.89 million) in terms of losses, Prominvestbank (PIB, UAH 126 million) ranked third, Pravex-Bank (UAH 63.72 million) ranked fourth and BTA Bank (UAH 39.38 million) was fifth.
In general, in the five months of 2020, the net profit of banks increased by 23.6%, to UAH 28.96 billion from the corresponding figure a year earlier (UAH 23.43 billion).
Some 59 of 75 banks operating in Ukraine were profitable during this period, according to NBU data.
According to the statistics of the National Bank, in terms of total assets, PrivatBank (UAH 590.59 billion) ranked first for the indicated period, Oschadbank (UAH 310.78 billion) ranked second, Ukreximbank (UAH 220.71 billion) ranked third, Ukrgasbank (UAH 156.43 billion) ranked fourth, while Raiffeisen Bank Aval (UAH 100.9 billion) ranked fifth.
