Ukraine can help Honduras with food security, according to Honduran President Nasri Asfura.
“Ukraine has extremely important ideas and technologies that could be useful to us in the agricultural sector and could also help us with food security,” Asfour said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday.
For his part, Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine is ready to assist Honduras in matters related to drone technology.
“We are ready to share our knowledge on digitalization. We have made significant strides forward, especially during the war… We are ready to help with drone technology,” Zelenskyy said.
He emphasized that drones are not just about weapons—they are about security, coastal defense, and intelligence.
The State Film Agency of Ukraine has selected 404 out of 449 submissions for feature films and TV series to advance to the next stage of the “Tysyachovesna” cultural support program competition.
The application period for the “Tysyachovesna” program ended on June 4. A total of 449 applications were submitted in the “Feature Films and TV Series” category.
Following a technical screening, the State Film Agency published a list of 404 participants admitted to the second stage of the artistic competition.
“In addition, in accordance with the requirements of the Regulations, a random draw was conducted to assign projects to the experts on the competition commission for expert evaluation during the second stage of the artistic competition,” the Agency’s statement reads.
The expert evaluation will continue until July 28. It is at this stage that a comprehensive professional evaluation of the submitted projects will be conducted by more than 180 experts, whose list has been approved by the government.
Each project will be evaluated by five independent experts based on ten criteria, including: the project’s relevance to the competition’s theme; the budget’s alignment with the creative concept; the professionalism of the team; the potential to engage the audience; artistic and content value; originality of the idea; social significance and potential impact; inclusivity, accessibility, and diversity; feasibility of implementation; and the team’s experience in implementing similar projects.
Based on the evaluation results, a list of participants will be compiled who will proceed to the next stage of the competition—the pitching session. The final pitching sessions, held in a festival format, will take place from August 12 to 16. Participants will present their projects to experts and competition committees, who will determine the program’s winners.
Estimated funding by category: feature films and series—1.9 billion UAH; non-fiction (documentary) films and series—240 million UAH; animated films and series, as well as films and series for children—490 million UAH; contemporary music – 300 million UAH; performing arts – 400 million UAH; visual arts – 300 million UAH; audiovisual shows and videos for social media – 260 million UAH.
As previously reported, on April 3, the Ministry of Culture launched the call for proposals under the initiative to create Ukrainian cultural products (formerly “1,000 Hours of Ukrainian Content,” now “Tysiachovesna”). The application period ran through June 4, and the final project pitching will take place August 12–16.
The 2026 state budget allocates 4 billion hryvnias for the implementation of this program. According to Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture of Ukraine Tetiana Berezhna, this year a maximum of 80% of the 4 billion hryvnias—that is, 3.2 billion hryvnias—will be allocated to the “Tysyachovesna” program.
Berezhna also reported that the ministry will propose allocating funds for the “Tysyachovesna” program in the 2027 state budget. She added that next year, the project is planned to be expanded to include books and online games.
GEOGRAPHICAL STRUCTURE OF UKRAINE’S FOREIGN TRADE (IMPORTS) IN January-DECEMBER 2025, million USD
Polish President Karol Nawrocki stated that Ukraine’s accession to the European Union would pose a threat to Polish agriculture.
“I acknowledge that Ukraine’s accession to the EU poses a threat to Polish agriculture. As President of Poland, and while understanding Ukraine’s aspirations, I will always advocate for fair treatment of Polish farmers and Polish agricultural products, particularly in the context of the ‘Green Deal’ and EU decisions,”
Navrotsky said, according to a press release from the Office of the President.
He also added that Poland has “land that is far too beautiful” to “surrender Polish agriculture to either ideology or someone else.”
The biopharmaceutical company “Biopharma” is building a plant in Romania, according to the company’s president, Konstantin Efimenko.
“We are already building a plant in Romania,” he said at the “Industrial Evolution: Manufacturing Drives the Economy” forum in Bila Tserkva (Kyiv Oblast) on Thursday, without specifying the project’s timeline.
Commenting on Ukraine’s investment appeal, Yefimenko noted that “no foreign companies will come here if things aren’t good for our own people.”
He also emphasized the importance of developing the education sector. “We need to keep the National Math Test in schools, but why aren’t we talking about the fact that math education in schools is weak, that children graduate from school knowing nothing? We have two ‘happiness’ classes a week, and chemistry just once every two weeks. What kind of technologies will we be able to develop?” he said, pointing out the outdated state of university facilities.
“Tear them down and forget about them—they can’t be renovated. We need to start from scratch,” he said.
Yefimenko reported that “Biofarma” plans to invest $25 million “in another laboratory,” without providing further details.
He also reported that “Biofarma” has registered its albumin product in Brazil.
“We need to create conditions so that no prosecutors come to us—only the tax inspectorate should visit us. Tell me, what difference does it make to the state how I registered my albumin in Brazil? I’m number one in Brazil right now. The Brazilians are happy, I’m happy. Anything that’s good for Biofarma is good for Ukraine, and for Bila Tserkva, at the very least. Why do you need to regulate what I’m doing in Brazil?” he said.
As previously reported, in 2024, Biofarma announced plans to build a plant in Romania.
“Biofarma” exports its products to dozens of countries and plans to expand its presence in Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America, while also continuing to increase its production capacity.
In a number of large-scale studies, regular ice cream consumption was unexpectedly found to be associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes; however, scientists caution that this is a statistical association rather than a proven protective effect of the product, according to SciTechDaily, citing research on dairy products and metabolic health.
Ice cream is not typically considered a disease-preventive food due to its sugar, saturated fat, and calorie content. Nevertheless, in several large observational studies of dairy products, researchers discovered an unexpected finding: in certain groups, people who ate ice cream more frequently were less likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
One of the earliest indications emerged from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, which included more than 41,000 men. The published study focused primarily on the association between low-fat dairy products and the risk of diabetes; however, in the data on individual products, ice cream also showed an unexpected inverse association with the disease.
Later, in a 2014 study published in BMC Medicine, researchers analyzed three large U.S. cohorts: 41,436 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, 67,138 women from the Nurses’ Health Study, and 85,884 women from the Nurses’ Health Study II. Over nearly 4 million person-years of follow-up, 15,156 cases of type 2 diabetes were recorded.
The main conclusion of this study was more conservative: total dairy intake was not significantly associated with the risk of diabetes, whereas yogurt showed a consistent inverse association. In a meta-analysis of 14 prospective cohorts with 459,790 participants and 35,863 cases of diabetes, a daily serving of yogurt was associated with an approximately 18% reduction in the risk of diabetes.
Furthermore, in a subgroup analysis of individual dairy products, ice cream also demonstrated a statistically significant inverse association with the risk of diabetes.
The researchers emphasize that these findings should not be interpreted as a recommendation to eat ice cream to prevent diabetes. The most likely explanation is reverse causality: people with early signs of metabolic problems, excess weight, or high cholesterol may, on the advice of doctors, cut back on sweets, including ice cream. As a result, there may be more relatively healthy people among those who continue to eat ice cream.
Another possible explanation is errors in dietary questionnaires. Observational studies are often based on self-reports, and people may inaccurately report their consumption of foods considered “unhealthy.” This can distort the statistical association between diet and disease.
Some researchers also suggest that part of the effect may be related to the characteristics of milk fats and proteins, ice cream’s lower glycemic index compared to some other carbohydrate-rich foods, and the structure of milk fat. However, these hypotheses do not yet provide grounds for considering ice cream a protective food.
For the food industry and the dairy market, such studies are important not as an endorsement of ice cream, but as a reminder of the complexity of evaluating food products. The same product can have different effects depending on its composition, portion size, frequency of consumption, overall diet, body weight, level of physical activity, and an individual’s health status.
Nutrition experts continue to recommend limiting foods high in added sugars and saturated fats. Ice cream can remain part of a healthy diet as a dessert in moderate amounts, but the available data do not prove that consuming it reduces the risk of diabetes or cardiovascular disease.
Thus, the scientific debate surrounding ice cream remains unresolved.
