A Falcon rocket has successfully launched another batch of 23 mini-satellites to replenish the orbital grouping of the Starlink global Internet coverage network, the SpaceX development company has announced.
“The launch of 23 Starlink satellites has been confirmed”, the company said in a statement.
The rocket was launched from the 40th launch complex at the US Space Force base at Cape Canaveral in Florida on Saturday at 22:17 US East Coast time (Sunday at 05:17 Kyiv time).
This is the 118th launch of Internet satellites since May 2019 as part of the Starlink project and the 49th since the beginning of this year. SpaceX has already launched more than 5.3 thousand such satellites into orbit. Some of them have failed or left the orbit. Almost 5 thousand vehicles remain in orbit in working condition.
As part of the launch, the first reusable stage of the launch vehicle, which was used for the fourth time, made a controlled vertical landing on the A Shortfall of Gravitas drone platform in the Atlantic after separation.
The company is now the largest satellite operator in the world. Starlink’s Internet network is available to users in 62 countries, including North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. According to the Pentagon, the US military is also actively using the services of these satellites.
In the future, SpaceX plans to deploy an orbital grouping of 12 thousand spacecraft (and later – 30 thousand) to create a full-scale network that will provide the world’s inhabitants with broadband Internet access anywhere in the world. The total investment in the project is estimated at $10 billion.
Ferrexpo, a mining company with assets in Ukraine, has appointed Stuart Brown, formerly of De Beers, as an independent non-executive director to its board of directors.
According to the company’s information on Monday, Brown took office on October 22.
Ferrexpo also reports that Graeme Dacomb, who has been a member of the board of directors since May 2020, will resign from the board at the end of this year. It is clarified that Dacomb is currently the chairman of the audit committee, and Brown will take over from January 1, 2024, which will provide the necessary time for an orderly transfer of functions. Brown is also appointed as a member of the Audit Committee upon his appointment to the Board of Directors.
The press release states that Brown is an experienced mining executive with extensive board-level experience. He previously held the positions of CFO and CEO at De Beers and its various subsidiaries. Most recently, he served as President and CEO of Mountain Region Diamonds Inc. listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and CEO of Firestone Diamonds Plc, formerly listed on the AIM of the London Stock Exchange.
It is also reported that after Brown’s appointment, the number of independent directors will increase to five, two of whom are women. After Dacombe’s resignation at the end of this year, the number of independent directors will be reduced to four.
Ferrexpo is an iron ore company with assets in Ukraine.
Ferrexpo owns a 100% stake in Yeristovo Mining, 99.9% in Bilanivsky GOK and 100% in Poltava Mining.
In the Kyiv region, 95 facilities are being repaired under the state program “Renovate Home”, including 63 projects that have been fully or partially completed, the press service of the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine reports.
According to the release, condominiums in Kyiv region were the first to join the Restore Home program after its launch in November 2022. Most of the high-rise buildings are being renovated in Irpin – 87. Three houses are also being repaired in Bucha, two in Makariv and Gostomel, and one in Sofiyivska Borshchahivka.
“About 5,000 families have already participated in this initiative, which allows them to quickly repair their homes and return home. The total amount of grants to be received by condominiums in Kyiv region is UAH 280.5 million, of which UAH 116 million has already been paid by the Fund,” said Yehor Fareniuk, Director of the Energy Efficiency Fund.
Recently, the Energy Efficiency Fund has started implementing the main stage of the Restore Home Program. Now it covers the entire territory of Ukraine, except for the temporarily occupied territories and territories of active hostilities. As before, condominiums whose buildings were damaged as a result of hostilities can participate in the program. They can receive a grant from the Energy Efficiency Fund, which compensates 100% of the cost of works and materials, but it cannot exceed UAH 7.2 million.
The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” has increased its profit to UAH 2.6 billion in the first nine months of operation, according to the company’s CEO Yuriy Bolokhovets.
“This is ten times more than the industry earned before the reform, in the days of state forestry. We direct the lion’s share of our profits to the state budget. These are funds for new weapons, ammunition, and military salaries,” he said.
According to the company’s press service, over the past nine months, Fores of Ukraine transferred UAH 4.7 billion to the state budget, which is UAH 1.1 billion more than last year. The company invested hundreds of millions of hryvnias in new equipment for the Armed Forces.
“Record profits were achieved in a declining market. The situation on the timber market has not improved. Compared to last year, the average selling price of an impersonal cube of unprocessed wood fell from UAH 1.8 thousand to UAH 1.7 thousand. We have also abandoned our own processing – sales of sawn timber by the SOE’s branches decreased from UAH 2.8 billion to UAH 2.1 billion,” explained Bolokhovets.
According to the company’s CEO, the SOE’s profits have increased due to de-shadowing and increased efficiency of the state-owned enterprise. Most of the procurement was transferred to Prozorro, which made it possible to eliminate the loopholes in timber sales related to direct contracts – products are sold at prices set by competitive markets.
The company emphasizes that its customers are offered additional services, including loading and customs clearance of products. The fulfillment rate of exchange contracts has increased to almost 90%. Contractors’ services for procurement and other work have been standardized, and ceiling prices have been introduced.
In addition, the electronic accounting system has been improved, making it more difficult for illegal timber to enter the market, which has increased demand for legal products. Also, all untargeted expenses of the branches, such as “laying pavement”, were reduced.
SE “Forests of Ukraine” has standardized the staff of its branches and reduced unnecessary administrative apparatus, resulting in the replacement of almost half of the branch managers.
The company has also decided to sell subsidized facilities through the State Property Fund.
“We are really counteracting fictitious works and services that were common in the days of forestry. We have abandoned the use of expensive and inefficient financial instruments that used to often lead to the leakage of funds from state forestry enterprises, such as renting equipment at unreasonable rates,” Bolokhovets summarized.
As reported, the state specialized economic enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” is one of the largest forest users in Europe and the largest in Ukraine. It is managed by the State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine. The company manages 6.6 million hectares of state forest land.
On the afternoon of October 23, wind gusts of 15-20 m/s are expected in Kyiv, the Kyiv City State Administration website reported on Sunday, citing the Ukrainian Weather Center.
In this regard, the capital has been declared at hazard level I (yellow).
“Experts urge to follow the basic recommendations during strong winds: close all windows of houses tightly, remove objects that may fall out from balconies and loggias; stay away from billboards, power lines, trees on the street; in case of strong winds, take shelter in the nearest room or natural shelter; avoid being near large trees, and do not park vehicles near them,” the statement reads.
According to the telegram channel of the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center, strong winds of 15-20 m/s are also expected in Kyiv region on Monday. It will be cloudy with clearings, without significant precipitation. The temperature in the region will be 8-13° at night, 11-16° during the day; in Kyiv at night 11-13°, 14-16° during the day.
Ukraine in January-September this year reduced imports of coke and semi-coke in physical terms by 33.2% compared to the same period last year – to 221.599 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), coke imports in monetary terms for this period decreased by 45.9% to $88.978m.
Ukraine exported 2,750,000 tons of coke in the first nine months of 2023, down 25.6% from the same period last year. In monetary terms, it decreased by 34.4% – to $647 thousand.
Exports were made to Moldova (100% of shipments in monetary terms), while imports were mainly from Poland (86.81%), Colombia (10.23%) and the Czech Republic (2.01%).
As reported, Ukraine in 2022 reduced exports of coke and semi-coke in physical terms by 98% year-on-year to 3.856 thousand tons, in monetary terms by 97.6% to $1.011 million. The main exports were to Hungary (42.63% of shipments in monetary terms), Georgia (37.69%) and Turkey (17.41%).
Ukraine imported 359.192 thousand tons of coke and semi-coke in 2022, which is 54.5% less compared to 2021. In monetary terms, imports decreased by 50.3% to $174.499 million. Imports were mainly from Russia (43.43% of supplies in monetary terms, before the war), Poland (30.07%) and the Czech Republic (13.15%).
As a result of the war, a number of mines and coke plants are located in territories temporarily outside of Ukraine’s control.
