The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine officially confirms that the brands of Inditex, one of the world’s largest fashion distribution groups, such as Zara, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, and Zara Home, are returning to Ukraine.
“On the instructions of the President of Ukraine, since 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been systematically working with all the leading international brands that left the Ukrainian market due to the outbreak of a full-scale war by the Russian Federation to resume their work in Ukraine. The return of Inditex is the next step after the resumption of the work of McDonald’s, H&M and others,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It is noted that the return of large international companies to the Ukrainian market creates new jobs, provides access to quality goods and services, supports Ukraine’s economy during the war and deepens its integration into the world economy, strengthens the confidence of international business and investors in our country and its victory.
“I am grateful to our partners for supporting these efforts. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine continues to work to restore the work of international business in our country and attract new companies,” the ministry added.
Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Pull&Bear, Stradivarius, ZARA, Zara Home
On March 6, Kyiv hosted the fifth anniversary award ceremony of the annual Women in Arts award. The Resistance award, which UN Women in Ukraine and the Ukrainian Institute recognize the achievements of women in the field of culture and art, and from 2023, their contribution to bringing Ukraine’s victory over the aggressor country Russia closer. The event was supported by the Governments of Sweden and Japan, as well as the United Nations Women’s Fund for Peace and Humanitarian Assistance.
The names of the winners of the Women in Arts. The Resistance 2024:
Women in the Visual Arts – Kateryna Buchatska
Women in Music – Jamala
Women in the Performing Arts – Oksana Dmitrieva
Women in Cinema – Alisa Kovalenko
Women in literature – Yaryna Chornohuz
Women in cultural management – Olga Gonchar
Women in Cultural Journalism, Criticism and Research – Kateryna Yakovlenko
Special mention – Kateryna Pryimak
“The theme of this year’s award is Resistance, the resistance that Ukrainian women are putting up to Russian aggression, amplifying women’s voices and calling for a change in the world’s perception of Ukraine. I am grateful to each and every one of them, who through their tireless work encourages the international community to act. Ukrainian artists are using all their talent and all available means of art to call on the world to act and support Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression,” commented Dmytro Kuleba, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Prize.
The winners of the Prize are determined by an expert council and jury consisting of experts in the field of culture and art, representatives of the public sector and independent institutions. The board and jury consist of 42 members. More information about the experts who selected the winners this year can be found on the award’s website.
“In times of the most difficult challenges, Ukrainian women are proving themselves with exceptional resilience, dignity and determination in every sphere of public life. Their leadership, creativity, and unwavering spirit help to overcome the difficulties of war, and they are the embodiment of true resilience and hope for recovery. Today, we not only admire the unwavering spirit of Ukrainian women in the arts, but also honor the talented women who have died as a result of Russian aggression. This is a moment of great pride, deep sorrow and solidarity with the Ukrainian people,” said Sabine Fraser Günes, UN Women Representative in Ukraine.
Special guests of the ceremony were the multimedia performance project Liniya by Christina Kirik, which combines the worlds of music and theater to create immersive experiences through live performances and sensory installations.
The ceremony was hosted by journalist, presenter, poet and screenwriter Oleksandra Hontar and stand-up comedian and volunteer Vasyl Baidak.
Media partners of the fifth Women in Arts Award ceremony: Starlight Media, Radio Culture and Public Culture and Harper’s BAZAAR.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the award has acquired a new meaning – recognizing and honoring the resistance and resilience of Ukrainian women artists and the entire Ukrainian people. This idea is reflected both in the name, to which the prefix “The Resistance” was added, and in the symbolic slogan “Until the Storm is Over” chosen for this year’s ceremony.
A minute of silence was observed at the event in memory of the artists who died as a result of Russian aggression.
The winners of the award were presented with the traditional statuettes by sculptor Maria Kulikovska in the form of intertwined female hands. According to the artist, women’s hands symbolize support and protection, as well as women’s labor. This year, the color of the statuettes is a delicate sky blue, symbolizing the light that remains with us in these turbulent times and the hope for a clear and peaceful sky after the war.
Women in Arts is an independent award founded in 2019 by the Ukrainian Institute and UN Women in Ukraine as part of the HeForShe movement for gender equality. The purpose of the award is to draw attention to the achievements of women artists and to popularize Ukrainian culture in the country and around the world. The winners of previous years include Oksana Zabuzhko, Sofia Andrukhovych, Irma Vitovska-Vantsa, Alevtina Kakhidze, Iryna Tsilyk and others.
For reference: The Ukrainian Institute is a state institution under the management of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. The mission of the Ukrainian Institute is to strengthen Ukraine’s international and domestic subjectivity through cultural diplomacy. We establish international cultural ties between people and institutions and create opportunities for Ukrainians to interact with the world.
UN Women is a United Nations entity that focuses on achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women.
HeForShe is a global solidarity movement for gender equality, founded by UN Women, that puts men and boys at the center of change. Since its launch in 2014, the campaign has been joined by heads of state, leading scientists, CEOs of global corporations, athletes, artists, and opinion leaders who share the philosophy of gender equality. The movement was launched in Ukraine in 2018. Support is provided by the Government of Sweden.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) fined ODO SK “Premier Garant Profi” in the amount of UAH 595 thousand for violation of requirements in the field of financial monitoring.
As reported on the website of the regulator, the fine was imposed for improper performance by the institution of duties in full to submit to the requests of the National Bank reliable information, documents, copies, extracts from documents relating to the implementation of the institution of the requirements of the legislation in the field of prevention and counteraction to legalization (laundering) of proceeds of crime, financing of terrorism and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
In addition, the fine was imposed for violation in terms of non-compliance of the institution with the requirements of the content of contracts concluded with agents, as well as in terms of the company’s failure to take measures to obtain the permission of the head of the institution to establish business relations in respect of clients whose ultimate beneficial owner is a politically exposed person.
As reported, earlier in January this year, the NBU has already fined SK “Premier Garant Profi” in the amount of UAH 51 thousand for violation of requirements in the field of financial monitoring.
IC “Premier Garant Profi” was registered in 2011. Specializes in risk insurance. According to the company’s data, its shareholder is Elena Ermolova owns 99.99% of the company indirectly through LLC “Alpha Lex LTD”.
Fresh nuclear fuel from Westinghouse (USA) for two power units of Khmelnytsky NPP with VVER-1000 reactors has been delivered to the plant site, the press service of NNEGC Energoatom reported on Friday.
According to the press service, fuel will be loaded into KhNPP reactors this year during scheduled preventive maintenance.
“Before that, two KhNPP units were operating on Russian fuel purchased before the full-scale invasion. After February 24, 2022, Energoatom completely ceased cooperation with the aggressor country. From now on, all domestic nuclear power plants will use American fuel assemblies,” the statement said.
The press service noted that the company has carried out a number of technical works and purchased the necessary equipment to ensure that all Ukrainian NPP units with VVER-1000 and VVER-440 reactors operate on Westinghouse fuel.
As reported, in 2000, in order to diversify the sources of nuclear fuel supply for Ukrainian NPPs, Energoatom and Westinghouse launched a project to qualify Westinghouse’s nuclear fuel. The first nuclear fuel supply contract between the parties was signed in 2008.
In June 2022, Energoatom and Westinghouse signed an agreement on the supply of nuclear fuel for all Ukrainian NPPs.
In September 2023, Energoatom became the world’s first power generating company to operate Soviet-designed reactors, but implemented a project to diversify nuclear fuel for VVER-1000 and VVER-440 reactors.
The Open Data Quality Index in Ukraine currently scores only 42%, an indicator that reflects the principles of open data guaranteed by law: openness by default, efficiency and clarity, accessibility and use, and comparability. Data from state registers, which are supposed to be public by law, still remain semi-open. The Verkhovna Rada, the State Judicial Administration, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Internal Affairs are the most conscientious in publishing data. The anti-rating is led by the Tax Service, the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Health.
Opendatabot analyzed how the quality of government data has changed in recent years.
We monitor data openness on the Open Data Quality Index in Ukraine page.
Less than half of open data in Ukraine meets international requirements. The Open Data Quality Index currently stands at 42.37%. For comparison, in the second half of 2023, the Index was 37.11%.
The invasion of Russia in one day threw Ukraine back 6 years in terms of transparency and accessibility of public information. In the early days, the state closed registers to protect information from the enemy.
After a break, some government agencies – data managers – began publishing sets of data, just as they did before the great war. Despite this, the Open Data Index in Ukraine has not yet reached the levels before the full-scale invasion. As a reminder, at the beginning of 2022, the Index stood at 57.6%.
Graph of the Open Data Quality Index
The improvement of data quality and the growth of the Index score were influenced by the publication of the following government data:
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine – information on MPs, their activity and property status;
SJA – the Unified State Register of Court Decisions;
The Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine – Register of Construction Activities;
State Property Fund – Register of corporate rights of the state in the authorized capital of business entities
Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries – Register of Gambling Business
At the same time, some datasets stopped being updated and were closed altogether:
SJA: details for paying court fees
Pension Fund of Ukraine: data on taxpayers with arrears of payments to the Pension Fund
Ukrpatent: State Register of Intellectual Property Representatives (patent attorneys)
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the SJA, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs remain the leaders in terms of data quality.
However, the most closed agencies remain, despite the requirements of Resolution 835 of the Cabinet of Ministers:
State Tax Service
Ministry of Health
Ministry of Economy.
“Two years after the start of the full-scale war, the state has not yet created transparent and clear rules for open data. The closure of information as a temporary measure that is supposed to protect information from the enemy is actually creating opportunities for fraud and preventing the country’s economy from developing.
Over the year, we have made progress in the fight for open data – for example, the publication of the Register of Corrupt Officials and officials’ declarations was resumed with a significant public outcry. However, among the most important registers for business, tax debts, VAT and single tax remain closed,” comments Oleksiy Ivankin, Head of the Open Data Hub.
In February, registrations of electric vehicles (new and used) in Ukraine increased 2.3 times compared to the same month in 2023 – up to 3.924 thousand units, including the share of new ones at 24%, Ukravtoprom reported on its Telegram channel.
The bulk of the electric vehicles registered during the month were passenger cars – 3,881 thousand units (new – 926 units, used – 2,955 units), and only two of the 43 commercial vehicles were new.
The top five new electric cars on the market in February were formed by: Volkswagen iD.4 – 257 units; BYD Song Plus – 104 units; Honda eNS1 – 96 units; Nissan Ariya – 71 units and Honda M-NV -49 units.
The TOP-5 of the first-time registered used cars in January included Nissan Leaf – 416 units; Tesla Model 3 – 380 units; Tesla Model Y – 279 units; Volkswagen e-Golf – 210 units and Hyundai Kona Electric -161 units.
As reported, in January of this year, Ukrainians purchased more than 3.5 thousand electric vehicles, which is 2.8 times more than in January 2023, with the share of new cars amounting to 24%.
In total, 7.5 thousand electric vehicles were registered for the first time in Ukraine in two months, 2.5 times more than a year earlier.
In 2022, according to Ukravtoprom, registrations of electric cars in Ukraine increased 2.8 times to 37.6 thousand, with new cars accounting for 20% compared to 17% a year earlier.
