Ukraine can become a member of the European Union (EU) within the next five years, provided that it implements all the necessary reforms, European Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Varghese said at a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday.
According to Deutsche Welle, Varghese said that additional tools have been created for Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkans to “help them accelerate reforms.”
“These tools are called the Growth Plan, the Ukraine Plan, depending on the country. And with the help of this plan, we have made it possible for the Western Balkans, Moldova, and Ukraine to complete reforms in order to prepare everything and become an EU member by the end of the next European Commission mandate,” he said.
On September 30, a report on EU enlargement was presented in Brussels, which describes the progress of the candidate countries.
At a summit in Brussels on June 23, 2022, the European Council granted Ukraine candidate status in the EU. Kyiv has to implement several important reforms related to the rule of law, oligarchs, and corruption, among other things.
Change in consumer prices in 2023-2024, %
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In the first 9 months of 2024, Kovlar Group’s production increased by 100% compared to the same period in 2023.
According to the company, the main consumers of fire protection in 2024 were system developers of commercial real estate and infrastructure.
“The key components of this growth are the adaptation of the production cycle to wartime conditions and the high competitiveness of Ammokote products,” said Konstantin Kalafat, CEO of Kovlar Group.
Today, the company continues to carry out research and development activities to develop new promising fire protection materials necessary for the reconstruction of Ukraine. This allows us to keep the development of the Ukrainian fire protection industry at the global level and significantly reduces the import dependence of the domestic fire protection market.
Today, Kovlar Group is the largest Ukrainian manufacturer of fire protection products, which occupies about 60% of the Ukrainian fire protection materials market and offers more than 20 products under the Ammokote brand.
DW Akademie has been active in Ukraine since 2014, promoting freedom of expression, media viability and balanced reporting. It supports the public broadcaster in informing the population during the ongoing war.
The Ukrainian media landscape has changed fundamentally since the war broke out in February 2022. However, despite wartime censorship and additional restrictions on press freedoms, the country’s ranking has moved up significantly on Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index. Ranked in 2022 at 106 out of 180 countries, it rose to position 79 in 2023 and to position 61 in 2024.
These higher rankings are mainly due to oligarchs losing their influence on the journalism and editorial policies of national TV stations. Their political and economic influence has declined sharply since the war began, and few public political disputes are now conducted via the media. As a result, oligarchs have lost interest in their own media (especially national TV channels) as platforms for political strife. This growing gap is being filled by Ukraine’s public broadcaster UA:PBC (Suspilne) and local media.
Nevertheless, ongoing reports jointly produced by and aired on six national TV channels, that are controlled by the president’s office and financed by the state budget, have undermined people’s trust in the media.
Observers point to two clear trends in the media market since 2022: people are moving away from television as their main source of information and towards social and online media (especially Telegram). At the same time, people’s trust in and the relevance of independent (online) media is growing. Although countering (Russian) disinformation is a major challenge as people increasingly consume news via (anonymous) Telegram channels, strengthening the relevance of local media in Ukraine is encouraged.
Our activities
DW Akademie has been active in Ukraine since 2014, supporting local independent media, public broadcasting (UA:PBC) and freelance journalism. Its ongoing projects help improve standards for journalistic qualifications and make basic and advanced training more practice oriented. It also provides comprehensive and needs oriented support to local independent media outlets.
Independent, reliable information is vital in times of war. As a result, the public broadcaster UA:PBC informs people about attacks, even if the alarm system is not working. DW Akademie keeps in close contact with its staff and partner organizations in Ukraine, including UA:PBC.
DW Akademie is supporting the project sponsor Ukrainian Institute for Media and Communication (UIMK) in developing training formats. The aim is to increase the media and digital skills of people over and to break old rigid ways of thinking. An accompanying study is analyzing the needs and ways to reach this target group. One example is for younger relatives to support older people in becoming more involved in social discourse and transformation processes.
Via the Journalism Teachers Academy (JTA), the UIMK offers training in methodology and didactics to teachers from Ukrainian university journalism faculties. The aim is for media outlets to draw from young better-trained media professionals. Cooperation is being planned with six Ukrainian universities.
The Educational Center Nakypilo continues to offer training positions that are practice-oriented and part of the School for Universal Editors (SUR) to enable trained editors to support staff at independent media outlets. The school’s financing is ensured through financial consulting and organizational development.
DW Akademie provides extensive support to local independent media outlets in Ukraine. It offers needs-oriented training for journalists and media managers as well as seminars and study trips to Germany to give space for discussions, reflection and networking. Together with “Maje Sens”, a new project partner and non-governmental organization, media managers will receive training and support in fundraising. The project runs from 2024-2025.
DW Akademie, together with the Ukrainian public broadcaster (Suspilne) and media organization Lviv Media Forum, is conducting the project “Strengthening Independent Media for a Strong Democratic Ukraine” (2024-2026). It is funded by the European Commission with the support from the German Federal Foreign Office.
The project aims to increase the long-term capacity of independent media, including the Ukranian public broadcaster, and promote an open constructive dialogue within the Ukrainian population. It also aims to support the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting as it strives to meet EU standards.
DW Akademie and Ukraine’s Lviv Media Forum are applying their expertise in supporting independent regional media in Ukraine, with a focus on niche media, constructive journalism and social participation. Suspilne is working more on investigative reporting and children’s content, and advancing its digital modernization process.
The project “MIL Initiative for Youth” by DW Akademie in partnership with Suspilne’s Public Academy Juniors is for young people (12-18 years old) and gives them a voice in local democratic processes.
Funding: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), German Federal Foreign Office (AA), European Commission (EU)
Program Directors: Dr. Kyryl Savin (BMZ), Hélène Champagne (EU)
Locations: Kyiv, Lviv, Cherkassy, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Odessa, Dnipro, Chernihiv, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporozhye, Kherson, Mariupol, Donesk, Luhansk
Local Partners: Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine UA:PBC (Suspilne), Educational Center Nakypilo, NGO “Maje Sens”, Ukrainian Institute for Media and Communication (UIMC),Lviv Media Forum (LMF)
Focus: Qualification and training for journalists, media viability, business journalism, civic participation (local), social participation, (local) participatory media formats and community media, media and information literacy (MIL), professionalism and journalist networks
https://akademie.dw.com/en/dw-akademie-in-ukraine/a-18549630
At least 64 people have died due to flooding caused by heavy rains in Spain, EFE news agency reported on Wednesday.
“The authorities of the autonomous community of Valencia, which was most affected by the floods, confirmed that 62 people died (…), while two victims were found in the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha,” the agency reports.
In addition, several people went missing in both communities. Search and rescue operations continue in Valencia and Castilla-La Mancha. In Valencia, the floods caused power outages. Several flights were canceled at Valencia airport. In addition, rail and road connections in the region have been partially disrupted.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that dozens of cities were flooded and warned that the danger to the population was not over yet.
“For those who are looking for their loved ones: the whole of Spain feels your pain. Our priority is to help you. We are using all the necessary resources to recover from this tragedy,” Sanchez said in a televised address.
Spanish emergency response units have sent more than a thousand employees to the flood-affected areas of the country. In addition, the Spanish government has set up a crisis committee to coordinate rescue efforts.
The National Meteorological Service of Spain has introduced a “red”, the highest, level of weather danger in the region. According to forecasters, the rains will continue at least until Thursday.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing Kormotech, a leading Ukrainian pet food producer, with a financing package to increase exports and geographic diversification by building a second pet food plant in Lithuania, the EBRD press service reports.
According to the release, the total cost of the Kormotech project will be EUR63 million.
The allocated financing package is a EUR40 million A/B syndicated loan, of which EUR20 million will be provided by the Dutch SDG-focused asset management fund ILX Fund.
The bank has previously provided EUR 15 million to Kormotech Group, a long-standing EBRD client, for the construction of its first plant in Lithuania, which began operations in June 2020. The bank also provided a EUR3.3 million loan to the company to replenish working capital during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
The EBRD loan is accompanied by grant financing, including a grant from the Japan-EBRD Cooperation Fund, which partially covers the costs of external lawyers. The grant funding will also partially cover the cost of new workplace equipment that will create new livelihoods for groups that need more attention, including women and people with disabilities. This component is being implemented as part of the EBRD’s new program aimed at stimulating capital investment.
The loan is provided to the Group’s holding company Vengast Investments Ltd (Cyprus) and its subsidiary in Lithuania, Kormotech UAB.
The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war in 2022, the bank has provided EUR 5 billion to the Ukrainian economy and agreed with shareholders to increase capital by EUR 4 billion, which will allow it to continue lending at current levels during the war and further increase volumes during the full-scale recovery phase.
Kormotech is a global family-owned company with Ukrainian roots that has been producing cat and dog food under the Optimeal, Club 4 Paws, Woof! and Meow! brands since 2003. The company has production facilities in Ukraine and the EU, with a product range of over 650 items. Its focus on exports and geographic diversification helps it withstand the impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The new project will also help Kormotech strengthen its human resources and skills development efforts in light of the current challenging situation on the Ukrainian labor market, including creating new employment and training opportunities for women, veterans, and other groups that require more attention. It will also enable Kormotech to improve energy efficiency.
In 2023, Kormotech’s turnover increased by 22.5% to $152 million from $124 million in 2022. The ratio of sales abroad and in Ukraine in tons is now 31% to 69%, respectively (in 2022 it was 28% to 72% in Ukraine).
Kormotech brands grew most dynamically in the markets of Romania (+35%), Poland (+11%) and Moldova (+11%).
Kormotech is a leader in Ukraine, one of the world’s top 50 pet food producers and one of the top 21 most dynamic pet food brands. The ultimate beneficiaries of Kormotech are Olena and Rostyslav Vovk.
