The Verkhovna Rada has ratified a financial agreement between Ukraine and the European Investment Bank (EIB) to improve road safety. Some 334 deputies voted on Thursday for corresponding draft law No. 0014 of December 13, 2019, the parliament’s website said.
According to the text of the explanatory note, the agreement stipulates the provision by Ukraine of the EIB state guarantee to ensure the implementation of the project “Improving Road Safety in Ukrainian Cities.”
It is expected that the project will reduce the number of accidents and the severity of their consequences; increase the share of travel by bicycle, on foot or by public transport in the total volume of traffic and, accordingly, reduce the number of trips by private transport. In addition, the project will reduce the time spent by passengers at public transport stops, as well as the operating costs of road transport owners and emissions of harmful substances into the air.
According to Minister of Infrastructure Vladyslav Krykliy, the estimated cost of the project is EUR 177 million, of which an IEB loan is EUR 75 million (the agreement was signed on July 9, 2018), a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is estimated at EUR 75 million (it is planned to sign the agreement in 2020 year), and own funds of cities and technical assistance totaling EUR 27 million.
“Improving safety for the cities of Lviv, Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Kamenetz-Podilsky includes improving the infrastructure of road intersections, infrastructure for cyclists and public transport, arranging facilities to reduce speed in settlements and near schools, etc.,” he said on his Facebook page on Thursday evening.
Solvent banks saw UAH 59 billion of net profit in January-November 2019, which is three times more than a year ago (UAH 19.9 billion), according to a report of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on its Facebook page. According to statistics, banks’ incomes in January-November of the current year increased 23%, to UAH 222.1 billion, and expenses grew by 2%, to UAH 163.1 billion.
The high pace of banks’ incomes was determined by the growth of their net interest and commission incomes by 13% to UAH 73 billion and by 15% to UAH 40 billion, respectively.
In general, gains of all banks from revaluation and purchase and sale operations for the period of January-November 2019 amounted to UAH 15.7 billion, while a year earlier there were losses of UAH 1.52 billion. At the same time, the volume of funds sent to reserves by banks in January-November 2019 decreased by 60%, to UAH 8.6 billion from UAH 21.7 billion for the same period in 2018.
In November 2019, solvent banks increased profit by 13%, or by UAH 7 million.
SkyUp Airlines is resuming flights of the 2019-2020 flight program to Slovakia. The press service of SkyUp reported that the Kyiv-Poprad-Kyiv flights were launched on December 19 and will be operated twice a week – on Thursdays and Sundays. The cost of a round-trip ticket with baggage will start from UAH 3,400.
Earlier the airline reported that SkyUp Airlines during the summer navigation schedule in March-June 2020 will launch flights from Kharkiv to Batumi, Tbilisi (both Georgia), Burgas (Bulgaria) and Tel Aviv (Israel).
SkyUp Airlines LLC was registered in Kyiv in June 2016. The founder is ACS-Ukraine LLC of Tetiana and Yuriy Alba, who also own the JoinUp! tour operator.
According to the unified public register of legal entities and private entrepreneurs, the ultimate beneficiaries of SkyUp are Oleksandr (50%) and Yuriy (50%) Alba.
In total, the airline operates 47 destinations (32 regular and 15 charter flights). Moreover, the share of scheduled flights is 61% of the total number of flights.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 20/12/19
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of December 20
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
Gas talks with Ukraine will continue in Minsk on Friday, Gazprom told reporters. “The negotiations are not technical. The level is high. Gazprom to be represented by CEO Alexei Miller,” the company said. Late on Thursday, the parties in Berlin agreed on a protocol on the whole range of gas issues between Russia and Ukraine that should be approved at the highest level.
“We really did a very good job today, prepared a draft protocol, a detailed protocol that is almost ready, which currently needs to be agreed upon, and I hope that we will come to final agreements in the near future,” Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said following the talks in Berlin.
As reported, Berlin on Thursday hosted Russian-Ukrainian gas negotiations with the participation of Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier, Commissioner of the German Government for Gas Transit across Ukraine Georg Graf Waldersee, and Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič.
The Russian side was represented by Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak. Minister of Energy and Environmental Protection of Ukraine Oleksiy Orzhel, Executive Director of NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy Yuriy Vitrenko, and CEO of LLC Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (TSO of Ukraine) Serhiy Makogon acted on behalf of Ukraine.
