The Forum for the Reconstruction of Ukraine is taking place in Istanbul. It began with a meeting between Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu and Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov.
“We held fruitful meetings with Omer Bolat and Abdulkadir Uraloglu, who organized the Ukraine Reconstruction Forum, an initiative that promotes cooperation in the recovery and development of the affected regions. This demonstrates a strong commitment,” Kubrakov wrote on social network X.
He noted that the forum will help increase the trade potential of the countries, expand logistics and foreign economic relations.
“We have a common goal: The Black Sea should become a zone of cooperation, trade and economic growth. It is important to attract private investment in infrastructure rehabilitation. This year, projects aimed at restoring energy, housing, critical and social infrastructure are prioritized,” Kubrakov said.
The Turkish Minister of Trade, for his part, emphasized that the experience gained from successful projects implemented by Turkish contractors in different regions of the world to date will become a cornerstone of cooperation between the two countries, especially in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
“In addition, together with Kubrakov, we have made important assessments of increasing the volume of mutual trade and strengthening economic relations between the two countries,” he wrote in X.
TAScombank has signed the first UAH 15.6 million factoring financing agreement under the state program “Affordable Factoring” with Nika Plast, a producer of plastic films, the financial institution’s press service said on Wednesday.
“This will allow our partner to obtain additional working capital to increase production and sales,” the release said.
The term of the agreement and the interest rate were not specified.
According to the press service, Nika Plast is a manufacturer of polyethylene films, bags, sacks and other products made of high and low pressure polyethylene, which have a wide range of applications.
According to YouControl, the company was registered in 1997, and its ultimate and sole beneficiary is Oleksandr Nikolaienko. It is noted that the main consumers of the products are: the construction sector, agro-industrial, industrial and food production, retail chains, as well as small businesses.
The “Affordable Factoring” program is aimed primarily at Ukrainian producers of goods – micro, small and medium-sized enterprises – and was created to provide them with the opportunity to quickly replenish working capital.
The maximum limit of financing within its framework is UAH 150 million, the interest rate is compensated above the level of 13% per annum, and the maximum term of use is 360 days.
In addition to TAScombank, the program includes such authorized factors as: Credit Agricole Bank, MTB Bank, Cominbank, Globus Bank and OTP Bank.
Corum Group (DTEK Energy) is completing the shipment of a new scraper conveyor for DTEK Energy’s Belozerskaya mine, the company said on Facebook on Wednesday.
“The powerful and high-performance SPC271M conveyor, designed for efficient coal mining and transportation in difficult mining and geological conditions (…), is designed to work with seams with a thickness of 1.65 m,” the statement said.
According to Corum, the new machine, in particular, has drive units equipped with a water cooling system that reduces the risk of overheating, and is also equipped with replaceable drive stars, which makes maintenance affordable and safe.
Corum Group is a leading manufacturer of mining equipment in Ukraine and is part of DTEK Energy, the operating company responsible for coal mining and coal-fired power generation within Rinat Akhmetov’s DTEK holding.
As reported, in 2023, DTEK’s machine builders manufactured and repaired 750 units of mining equipment, including 15 new tunnelling and shearers. We also produced 1.1 million spare parts.
In 2022, 147 units of mining equipment (including 9 shearers) and 456 thousand spare parts and components were produced in the relocation of production facilities (Druzhkovka Machine-Building Plant and partially at Svet Shakhtyora in Kharkiv).
Belozerskaya mine, CORUM GROUP, DTEK ENERGY, scraper conveyor
The Pentagon has successfully tested a new long-range precision-guided bomb and will send the first batch of the weapon to Ukraine, Politico reports.
“Ukraine will receive its first batch of small-diameter ground-launched bombs, a brand new long-range weapon created by Boeing that even the United States does not have in its arsenal,” the publication wrote, citing anonymous sources.
The weapon was developed jointly by Boeing and Saab. The new bomb, which can cover a distance of more than 150 km, is expected to be “a significant potential for Ukraine.”
At the same time, the representative of the US Department of Defense, Major General Pat Ryder, refused to comment on the timing of the delivery of new weapons to Ukraine “for reasons of operational security.”
“We continue to work closely with Ukraine and our industry partners to ensure that Ukraine receives and is ready to use the capabilities we provide them as soon as possible,” the Pentagon spokesman said.
In 2023, the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” reduced fuel consumption by almost half compared to 2021 – to 16.8 thousand tons, saving approximately UAH 1 billion, said the company’s CEO Yuriy Bolokhovets.
“In 2021, the enterprise of the State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine purchased 34.7 thousand tons of fuel, in 2023 our company has already spent about 16.8 thousand tons. It is clear that the comparison is conditional. Not all state forestry enterprises have joined the Forests of Ukraine, and the volume of timber harvesting has partially decreased. However, the savings are obvious,” he wrote on Facebook.
According to him, such indicators were achieved due to centralization and increased control.
“The director of the branch (forestry) no longer determines the norms as he sees fit. Standards have been approved that are uniform for all. We promptly detect and severely punish “tricks” with writing off fuel for equipment that was not actually working,” explained Bolokhovets.
The general director of Forests of Ukraine said that each inspection of the branch by the Security Department involves an analysis of how and where the equipment was used and the result of its work.
“Forests of Ukraine also plans to introduce online monitoring systems for the movement of special and loading equipment. The ERP system, which automates data accounting and processing, is being prepared for procurement.
In addition, the state-owned enterprise purchases fuel mainly centrally through Prozorro. The price is lower than the ceiling price at gas stations (before the reform, some forestry enterprises managed to buy 30% more expensive).
“Taking into account the de-shadowing and transparent procurement, up to a billion hryvnias have been saved on fuel,” Bolokhovets summarized.
As reported, Ukraine launched a forestry reform in 2016. As part of it, the sale of raw wood at electronic auctions has already been introduced. Since 2021, an interactive map of wood processing facilities has been operating in a test mode in a number of regions.
The industry has implemented the Forest in a Smartphone project, which contains a list of logging tickets for timber harvesting and allows you to check the legality of logging on the agency’s online map.
On June 1, 2023, Ukraine launched a pilot for the electronic issuance of logging tickets and certificates of origin of timber. In addition, the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” has launched a pilot project to procure timber harvesting services through the electronic platform Prozorro.
The Odesa Regional Military Administration, together with Ukrainian and Moldovan border guards, customs officers and representatives of the EUBAM mission, continues preparations for the launch of the first Odesa-Chisinau air shuttle, said Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration.
“This should speed up the passage of Ukrainians traveling to Chisinau International Airport and relieve the border crossing points (primarily in the area of the Mayaky-Palanka-Udobne checkpoint). Organized transportation of passengers will also reduce the load on the region’s roads by cars and improve the level of service for the population in the field of international transportation,” Kiper wrote in his telegram channel.
He noted that the transfer will be carried out in several stages: passenger registration in the electronic system with a copy of the plane ticket departing from Chisinau, the formation of passenger groups 2-3 days before the departure of flights, after which buses with pre-registered passengers will depart from Odesa. Passengers of the air transfer will undergo customs and border procedures in an expedited mode.
The total planned travel time is 4 hours.
“We will do everything to launch the first buses in the near future,” added Kiper.
