The framework bill on the key principles of the government agricultural policy and rural development policy (No. 9162), which should determine Ukraine’s agricultural strategy, has been registered by a group of lawmakers.
“The document introduces the Agrarian Attache Office to represent and protect the interests of Ukrainian agricultural producers abroad. A step-by-step implementation of the government policy will be an action plan for implementing the basic principles for the development of the government agricultural policy and rural development policy, which will be developed for the period of five years to implement the law. Monitoring of the corresponding plan of measures is also proposed,” the co-author of the bill, MP Oleh Kulinich (deputy group Vidrodzhennia Party) said on his Facebook page.
According to MP Mykola Kucher (Petro Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction), the bill will also introduce additional control over the management of state-owned land.
“Although at first glance, bill No. 9162 is declarative, but it is it that establishes the fundamental principles of the formation and implementation of the government agrarian policy, thereby getting a strategic content,” Kucher said.
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite will visit Ukraine in a few days, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has said. “Dalia Grybauskaite, President of Lithuania … will be in Kyiv in a few days as my guest, a guest of Ukraine,” Poroshenko said during a meeting with students of the National University of Trade and Economics in Kyiv.
Ukraine in January-October 2018 increased electricity exports by 13.5% (by 600.5 million kWh) compared to the same period in 2017, to 5.05 billion kWh, the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry has told Interfax-Ukraine. The supply of electricity from the Burshtyn TPP energy island towards Hungary, Slovakia and Romania increased by 15.6% (by 419.4 million kWh), to 3.103 billion kWh.
Export of electricity to Poland increased by 57.6% (by 424.6 million kWh), to 1.161 billion kWh.
Electricity supplies to Moldova amounted to 785.5 million kWh, which is 23.7% (243.5 million kWh) less than in January-October 2017.
Ukrainian electricity was not exported to Belarus and Russia in January-October 2017 and January-October 2018.
At the same time, in October 2018, export of Ukrainian electricity amounted to 532.4 million kWh, which is twice more than in October 2017 (267.4 million kWh).
In addition, Ukraine in January-October 2018 imported 26.489 million kWh of electricity.
The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) will officially start working on November 27, the Uriadovy Kurier newspaper said. In an announcement published in the paper on November 23, SBI chief Roman Truba says the State Bureau of Investigation will start working from November 27, 2018 as a central body of the Ukrainian government to perform law enforcement activities aimed at preventing, exposing, stopping, solving, and investigating crimes placed under its jurisdiction.
Earlier in November, Truba said that 295 investigators of the SBI will be appointed on November 27 and they will be taking the oath of office. Among them are 102 investigators of the central office and 193 investigators of the SBI’s territorial departments.
The SBI said investigation units have been set up at the central and regional offices to work in three areas, such as investigations into crimes involving official activities and corruption, investigations into crimes committed by members of law enforcement agencies and in court activities, and investigations into military and war crimes.
Small and Medium Entrepreneurship (SME) School is a project of Vasyl Khmelnytsky’s K.Fund, which is aimed at promoting entrepreneurship in the cities and towns of Ukraine by delivering high-quality and relevant knowledge, as well as allowing entrepreneurs with different backgrounds to master effective practical skills. During the training, students will be able to get answers to the questions they are interested in and receive professional advice from experts.
SME School’s curriculum includes an intensive course on major aspects of business organization and entrepreneurship. After that, students have three weeks to develop their business plans, while receiving advisory support from the School’s teachers.
“Entrepreneurs are proactive citizens; they create jobs, increase competitiveness of municipalities and Ukraine at whole. In this connection it is crucially important to develop the local business environment within particular municipalities. Usually entrepreneurs are in need for new knowledge to develop their own businesses, search for new markets but they lack time for education. We are glad that our initiative of intensive business education received a significant interest from the side of experienced lecturers and practitioners who are keen to help beginners avoid unnecessary mistakes.”
Lidia Pashchuk, Head of SME School
The courses at the School are delivered by entrepreneurs, representatives of the leading Ukrainian business schools, people that have expertise in the area of organization, restructuring, consulting of small and medium enterprises, training of specialists in different businesses.
During 2016-2018, SME School’s team conducted 14 courses in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, and Bila Tserkva in Kyiv region; nearly 450 entrepreneurs successfully completed their course.
In 2019, SME School plans to develop existing and create new programs in other regions of Ukraine. The project aims to create a community of like-minded entrepreneurs who can solve problems through interaction or create joint business projects.
SME School is the largest progressive community of educated members of small- and medium-sized businesses created by Ukrainians for Ukrainians. The goal of the project is to develop entrepreneurship through high-quality and relevant knowledge and effective practical skills for entrepreneurs with different levels of experience in all regions of Ukraine.
The annual port grain handling capacity in 2018 would grow by 6 million tonnes, reaching 49.9 million tonnes, the Ukrainian Sea Port Authority has reported. “This year, the construction of three more grain terminals was completed at the ports of Yuzhny, Berdiansk and Olvia. They will increase annual modern grain transshipment capacity by another 6 million tonnes,” Head of the administration of the Yuzhny branch of the Ukrainian Sea Port Authority Maksym Shyrokov said.
He recalled that over the past five agricultural years, the volume of grain exports through the seaports of Ukraine has almost doubled, from 22.1 million tonnes to 43.9 million tonnes, and in total 52 grain terminals operate in the ports of Ukraine. According to him, the construction of transshipment complexes, terminals, reconstruction and construction of berths continues in Mykolaiv, Chornomorsk, Odesa, Mariupol and Yuzhny ports.
The countries of Asia, the Middle East and North Africa remain the main destinations for grain export deliveries through Ukrainian ports, while the EU countries reduce grain imports from Ukraine, Shyrokov said.
