Ukraine from October 30, 2019 will return to the U.S. General System of Preferences, according to a proclamation of U.S. President Donald Trump. “On Saturday Kyiv time or on Friday night in Washington, the news came out that Trump has completely returned Ukraine to the General System of Preferences,” Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture, Ukraine’s trade representative Taras Kachka said at a press briefing on Monday.
He said that all 155 types of goods that were removed from the system of preferences, again will receive the possibility of duty-free trade in the United States.
“These are mainly food processing products – confectionery product… [and also] industrial products, especially complex engineering products,” Kachka said.
He said that the return to the system of preferences was made possible thanks to the progress in introducing new legislation on collective management organizations (CMOs).
“This is unlikely to affect trade statistics, since these are not mass products, but will positively influence small and medium-sized businesses,” Kachka added.
As reported, in 2018, the United States suspended the General System of Preferences, which allows the import of more than 3,500 types of goods to the United States duty free, for 155 types of Ukrainian goods due to systematic copyright violation.
SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) on October 26, 2019 serviced its first in eight years flight to Ukraine on the Oslo-Kyiv route, the Boryspil international airport has said in a report. SAS flies to Oslo’s main airport – Gardermoen.
The airline will make regular flights from Kyiv to Oslo with a frequency of three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, departing from Kyiv at 14.00 and arriving in Oslo at 15.50. From Oslo to Kyiv, the SAS will take off at 09:30 and land at 13:10. Travel time is 2 hours and 50 minutes.
Earlier, SAS had already flown to Ukraine, operating Copenhagen-Kyiv flights until March 25, 2011. The decision to terminate the flights was made by the airline due to the unprofitability of the route.
In 2012-2014, the Oslo-Kyiv route was operated by Norwegian Air Shuttle. Also, the Hungarian airline Wizz Air transported passengers on the same route.
Ukraine plans to open an office of innovations in Jerusalem pursuant to agreements between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko has said.
“Ukraine and Israel are getting closer – an important event. Following the results of the agreements between President Zelensky and the Israeli Prime Minister, we plan to open an innovations office in Jerusalem, which, together with the Ukrainian embassy in Tel Aviv, will help new industries of the two countries find partners,” he said on Twitter.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on October 25, 2019 put into circulation the 1,000-hryvnia banknote, the NBU has reported on its website.
“From today, banks will be able to get it at the National Bank and give it out to their customers. This banknote is now a valid means of payment in Ukraine. It can be freely used to pay in a retail network or make a deposit with a bank,” the press service of the governor of the central bank said, citing Yakiv Smolii.
According to him, the key advantages of putting into circulation the new banknote with a face value of UAH 1,000 are an increase in the convenience of payments and a reduction in the cost of producing and processing banknotes. The 1,000-hryvnia banknote replaces in circulation some of the banknotes with a face value of UAH 100, 200 and 500. In addition, the appearance of the new banknote will simplify payments and savings.
As the central bank said, the last time the highest face value banknote – UAH 500 UAH was put into circulation 13 years ago. At the same time, Ukrainians’ incomes are rising, prices are changing, therefore, according to theoretical studies used to determine the optimal banknote number by the central banks of the world, to ensure normal money circulation in Ukraine, banknotes of a higher face value than UAH 500 are needed.
According to the press service, the new banknote combines advanced design and money security technologies.
“The 1,000-hryvnia banknote is the highest face value our national currency has today. It is therefore well protected. This banknote contains more than 20 modern security elements, including two modern optically variable elements. Everyone can independently verify its authenticity,” Smolii said.
So, turning the banknote in your hands, you can easily check its modern security element – the SPARK OVI element in the form of a crystal flower, which should gradually change color – from golden to jade green. Another innovative security feature is the “window” thread. This partially embedded in the paper purple polymer thread contains the digits representing the banknote’s face value and the trident – the small coat of arms of Ukraine. Tilting of the banknote brings out the kinematic effect, the background image moves in the opposite direction.
The front of the banknote features a portrait of Volodymyr Vernadskyi, an outstanding scientist, one of the founders and the first president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, created in 1918. The building of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine is at the back of the banknote.
The 1,000-hryvnia banknote inherits the new modernized design of the upgraded 20, 100 and 500 hryvnia banknotes.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 28/10/19
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Electricity production by Ukraine’s power grids decreases by 1.4%
Electricity production by Ukraine’s integrated power grids in January-September 2019 decreased by 1.4%, or 1.631 billion kWh, compared to the same period in 2018, to 114.298 billion kWh, Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy and Environmental Protection told Interfax-Ukraine.
Nuclear power plants (NPPs) during this period reduced their electricity production by 0.5% year-over–year (y-o-y), to 60.562 billion kWh. In particular, electricity output by Zaporizhia NPP was 27.858 billion kWh (+0.8% versus January-September-2018), Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP generated 12.898 billion kWh (+9.2%), Rivne NPP 13.428 billion kWh (+18.9%), and Khmelnytsky NPP 6.38 billion kWh (-37.2%).
Thermal power plants (TPPs), as well as combined heat and power plants (CHPPs) and cogeneration plants increased production by 0.5%, to 42.172 billion kWh. TPPs alone increased output by 0.2%, to 34.651 billion kWh, CHPPs and cogeneration plants saw a 1.7% increase, to 7.52 billion kWh.
In January-September 2019, hydro and pump storage power plants reduced production by 38.3%, to 6.161 billion kWh, while isolated generating plants increased output by 17%, to 1.294 billion kWh.
Electricity production by wind farms, solar power plants, biomass plants more than doubled, to 4.109 billion kWh.
The NPPs accounted for 53% of total electricity output January through September 2019 (52.5% y-o-y), while the share of TPPs, CHPPs and cogeneration plants was 36.9% (36.2%) and that of the hydro and pump storage power plants was 5.4% (8.6%). The isolated generating plants accounted for 1.1% (1%), and the share of renewable energy was 3.6% (1.7%).
