KYIV. July 11 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Wizz Air airline (Hungary), the largest low cost air carrier in Central and Eastern Europe, has announced new special tariffs from EUR15 for passengers affected by the cancellation of all flights of Ryanair (Ireland), the largest airline in Europe, from Ukraine.
According to a press release from the Hungarian carrier, passengers who have tickets for canceled Ryanair flights between Kyiv and London or Eindhoven, as well as Lviv and Berlin or Wroclaw can book Wizz Air flights through its website or the airline’s call center and during the trip they will need to bring their original booking documents.
These fares are valid for one-way flights, including taxes and fees for travelling until November 30, 2017 including the availability of seats. The number of tickets is limited by the capacity of the aircraft. Re-booking must be carried out by July 17.
“Wizz Air launches tariffs from EUR15 to EUR35 to minimize inconveniences for Ryanair passengers affected by today’s cancellation of flights of this airline. Wizz advises booking places as quickly as possible, because the offer at special prices will be available in accordance with availability of vacant seats,” the report says.
At present Wizz Air offers its passengers 21 low cost routes to eight countries from the airports of Lviv and Kyiv.
KYIV. July 11 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) presided by President Petro Poroshenko met on Monday to consider the issue of tightening control of the Ukrainian state border crossing and specifically, of introducing a procedure for collecting biometrics of foreign visitors.
“This is about tightening controls over the entry to, exit from and stay in Ukrainian territory of citizens of other countries: we are introducing biometrics control procedures for all individuals crossing the Ukrainian border,” the Ukrainian presidential press service quoted Poroshenko as saying late on Monday.
“We must collect biometrics, including fingerprints and a digital photograph. This will considerably boost opportunities in terms of the fight against terrorism,” Poroshenko said, expressing confidence that the proposed draft decisions will be absolutely understood and supported by society.
Poroshenko noted that his order to draft relevant documents has by now been fulfilled. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine will report on this subject, Poroshenko said.
“We will give sufficient amount of time for the country to get prepared in terms of quality, so that upstanding citizens feel no inconvenience,” he said.
Poroshenko also instructed Interior Minister Arsen Avakov to personally take control of the order’s implementation so as to provide border guards at all main border-crossing points with equipment as necessary to record biometric data.
KYIV. July 11 (Interfax-Ukraine) – European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and European Commission Vice President Federica Mogherini will visit Kyiv to represent the European Union at the 19th EU-Ukraine summit on July 12-13.
European Commission’s vice-president for financial stability and financial services Valdis Dombrovskis and European Commissioners Johannes Hahn and Cecilia Malmstrom will also take part in the summit, the European Union’s Delegation to Ukraine said.
President Petro Poroshenko will lead the Ukrainian delegation.
During the summit, the chiefs of state and heads of EU institutions are expected to acknowledge the completion of the ratification of the EU-Ukraine association agreement and the recent introduction of visa-free travel for Ukrainian citizens. The summit participants will also discuss progress of Ukrainian reforms and their support by the EU. The agenda also includes the conflict and crisis in eastern Ukraine, regional and foreign policy issues, among them relations with Russia, energy security, and preparations for an Eastern Partnership summit scheduled for November 2017 in Brussels.
The EU-Ukraine summit plenary session is to open at 11:00 a.m. on July 13, which is to be followed by a press conference to sum up the event’s outcomes.
Some information possessed by Interfax-Ukraine indicates that there is still no clarity about a joint statement that is supposed to be adopted in conclusion of the summit. Some sources said the Netherlands blocked a statement provision saying that the European Union recognizes Ukraine’s European aspirations. Kyiv has reportedly insisted on this wording and warned that, if the EU refuses to include it in the joint statement’s final text, it may even refuse to adopt the statement itself.
KYIV. July 10 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The land bank of Kernel agricultural holding after acquisition of Ukrainian Agrarian Investment (UAI) and Agro Invest Ukraine has reached over 600,000 ha of leasehold farmland.
According to a company report on the website of the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE), Kernel completes the farmland bank expansion strategy.
In June 2017, Kernel finalized a deal to acquire UAI with a land bank of over 190,000 ha of leasehold farmland and around 200,000 tonnes of grain storage capacity. In July, Kernel bought Agro Invest Ukraine with a land bank of over 27,500 ha of leasehold farmland and near 170,000 tonnes of grain storage capacity.
“UAI manages onе of the largest prime quality farmland banks in Ukraine located in the proximity to Kernel’s existing operations. With respect to the acquisition of Agro Invest Ukraine our main target was world-class grain storage infrastructure which complemented the recent expansion of our farmland bank in the region. We added over 170,000 tons of modern grain silos, saving 2 years to construct the similar infrastructure from scratch,” Agribusiness Director at Kernel Yevhen Osypov said.
He said that Kernel focuses on the integration of acquired assets to uplift the operational efficiency and productivity levels to Kernel’s high standard.
KYIV. July 10 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Two enterprises producing milk and dairy foods and fish and fish foods have been licensed to export their produce to the European Union market from July 7, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food said.
Now 283 Ukrainian enterprises have the right to ship their produce to the EU countries, of which 103 are producers of food, including poultry, fish, honey, eggs, milk and dairy, the ministry said on its website.
The EU can also export 180 enterprises producing non-food products of animal origin, down and feather raw materials, skins, fodder for pets, non-edible offal, pedigree materials, and other non-food products of animal origin.
KHARKIV. July 10 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Oleksandr Yaroslavsky, the owner and president of DCH group of companies, has announced the purchase of a 100% stake in INGO Ukraine insurance company (Kyiv).
“Some 100% of the shares have been bought. The shares are in the process of registration,” Yaroslavsky told reporters in Kharkiv.
As reported, in May DCH completed formal procedures for closing a deal to purchase a 25% stake in INGO Ukraine insurer. Subsequently, DCH intended to increase its stake in the company to 100%.
