Polish carriers have postponed the start date of the blockade of freight traffic at three checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Polish border from November 3 to November 6, Ihor Overko, head of the International Transport Association of Ukraine, said on Facebook on Thursday, citing one of the protest organizers.
“Polish carriers have announced that they are postponing the start of the blockade of freight traffic heading towards the three checkpoints from November 3 to November 6. This was announced by the co-chairman of the blockade, the organizer of the protest at the Krakowiec-Korczowa checkpoint, Tomasz Borkowski,” the statement reads.
The blockade will begin at 13:00 Kyiv time on November 6. The organizers of the protest have received official permission from local authorities to hold it until January 3, 2024, the statement said.
The blockade of freight transport will be organized in the direction of three checkpoints: “Yagodyn-Dorogousk, Krakovets-Korchova, and Rava-Ruska-Hrebenne.
One of the main demands of the protest organizers is to return to the practice of issuing permits for Ukrainian freight carriers and reduce their number to the pre-war level, when up to 200,000 permits were issued per year. In addition, the carriers want empty Polish trucks returning from Ukraine to Poland to be able to cross the border without an e-queue and without waiting 10-12 days. The carriers also demand to tighten the rules of transportation under the ECMT (certificate of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport).
Earlier it was reported that Polish carriers with the participation of 200 people and in the presence of 100 tractors planned to hold a one-day strike at the largest Polish border checkpoint “Yagodyn-Dorogousk” on November 3.
The Ministry of Reconstruction confirmed that it had received reports of a blockade of checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Polish border, and then initiated a meeting with officials from Poland and the European Commission (EC) to ensure stable border operations.
In a commentary to Interfax-Ukraine, Deputy Minister Serhiy Derkach said that most of the demands of Polish carriers threatening to block the border are unrealizable.
In October 2023, Ukraine increased imports of cheese by 70% and butter by 14% in monetary terms, the press service of the Union of Dairy Enterprises of Ukraine reported.
According to the report, in October of this year, 27 thousand tons of cheese were imported compared to 28.6 thousand tons in the same period last year, but more money was spent on its import – $160 million against $150 million.
“Imports of butter increased significantly, by 62% by weight, and the share of expenditures on it increased 10 times compared to last year,” analysts stated.
They noted that in the dynamics of cheese imports in the last three months there has been a moderate increase, which indicates increased competition in the domestic cheese market. The 14-fold increase in butter imports over the same three months led to a negative balance in international trade.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) will allocate EUR 450 million to Ukraine for two recovery projects, with the first two tranches of EUR 100 million each to be approved by the end of 2023, the press service of the Ministry of Recovery reports.
The funds, with a total budget of EUR450 million, are reportedly allocated to two projects – Ukraine Recovery III FL and Ukraine Water Recovery FL.
Ukraine Recovery III FL (EUR250 million, first tranche – EUR100 million): aims to finance critical social and urban infrastructure. This includes the restoration of infrastructure damaged as a result of Russian aggression and the construction of new basic infrastructure to ensure decent living conditions for displaced persons and host communities;
Ukraine Water Recovery FL (EUR 200 million, first tranche – EUR 100 million): aims to finance investments in critical water infrastructure in areas directly affected by the war or where a significant number of IDPs live. This includes the restoration of water supply and sewerage, including measures to overcome the consequences of the destruction of the Kakhovka dam.
Funds from the European Investment Bank (EIB) are allocated as part of cooperation with Ukraine, the principles of which are laid down in the Memorandum of Understanding signed on June 21, 2023 in London at the URC 2023 conference. The Memorandum provides for the allocation of a total of about EUR 840 million in loans for the implementation of infrastructure rehabilitation projects in Ukraine.
Subject to final approval by the EIB Board of Directors and the EU4U Donor Committee, the first tranches of EUR 100 million will be signed by the end of this year.
In January-September 2023, Grave Ukraine Life Insurance (Kyiv) collected UAH 286.5 million in net premiums, which is 10.3% more than in the same period of 2022.
According to the company’s report in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), its gross written premiums for the period amounted to UAH 334.6 million, which is 10.8% more than in the first nine months of 2022. UAH 48.154 million (+13.8%) was ceded for reinsurance.
For the first nine months, the company paid UAH 110.904 million, which is 29.4% more than in the same period last year.
The company’s administrative expenses amounted to UAH 30.299 million (+34.6%), and sales expenses amounted to UAH 126.9 million (+76.5%).
The financial result before tax amounted to UAH 50.769 million, which is 5.4 times more than in the first nine months of the previous year.
Net profit amounted to UAH 40.021 million (almost 10 times more).
As reported, Grave Ukraine Life Insurance and Grave Ukraine Insurance Company are part of the Grave Ukraine Financial Group, the ultimate beneficiary of which is GRAWE-Vermögensverwaltung (Austria).
In January-September this year, Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group, including its associates and joint ventures, paid almost UAH 11 billion in taxes and duties to the budgets of all levels in Ukraine.
According to the company’s press release on Thursday, despite Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Rinat Akhmetov’s Metinvest remains the backbone of the country’s economy.
Metinvest’s Ukrainian enterprises paid UAH 2.8 billion in income tax, UAH 2.4 billion in unified social tax and UAH 2.3 billion in personal income tax in January-September this year. At the same time, Metinvest increased its land payments by 4% year-on-year to UAH 893 million in the first nine months of the year, up to UAH 1.5 billion.
Subsoil use fees (UAH 1.5 billion) and environmental tax (UAH 449 million) became significant sources of revenues for the state and local budgets of Ukraine.
In the third quarter of 2023, the Group transferred UAH 4.6 billion to the Ukrainian budget, which is 15% more than in the same period last year.
In particular, in July-September, Metinvest’s enterprises increased their income tax payments by 28% compared to July-September 2022, to UAH 1.7 billion. Over the same period, unified social tax payments increased by 8% compared to the third quarter of 2022, to UAH 847 million. And the payment of personal income tax increased by 12% compared to July-September 2022 to UAH 818 million.
In addition, in the third quarter of 2023, the group’s companies paid UAH 618 million for subsoil use, up 2% year-on-year. At the same time, land payments for July-September this year increased by 9% to UAH 304 million compared to the same period in 2022, and environmental tax increased by 24% to UAH 146 million.
Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest, noted that at the beginning of the great war, Metinvest faced serious challenges, which the group continues to overcome.
“We had to rebuild our business, create new supply chains for exporting products and change our operating model. All these steps helped the company to survive and remain one of the largest taxpayers in Ukraine. We want to help Ukrainians, the country and the army, just as we have taken care of our employees and residents of the regions where we operate. That is why we continue to work for victory in all areas,” the top manager was quoted as saying.
As reported earlier, Metinvest, including its associates and joint ventures, paid more than UAH 2.5 billion in taxes and fees to the budgets of all levels in Ukraine in January-March 2023, more than UAH 6.3 billion in the first half of 2023, and UAH 20.5 billion in 2022.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies. The Group’s enterprises are mainly located in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions.
The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage it.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Yevhen Perebyinis accepted copies of credentials from newly appointed Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Ukraine Radek Pech.
As reported on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Perebyinis highly appreciated the intensification of the political and sectoral dialogue between Ukraine and the Czech Republic, and also expressed gratitude for the Czech Republic’s continued support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
The Deputy Minister thanked the Czech side for its active participation in promoting Ukraine’s foreign policy initiatives, in particular the implementation of the Peace Formula provisions, support for the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the creation of legal mechanisms for bringing to justice those responsible for Russian war crimes and further strengthening of sanctions pressure on the aggressor country.
Particular attention was paid to issues of European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine.
