Businessman Rinat Akhmetov will send UAH 300 million to fight the COVID-19 coronavirus, combining all the resources of the charity foundation, DTEK and Metinvest, FC Shakhtar and all the assets of his financial and industrial holding SCM to help Ukraine, according to the foundation.
“Coronavirus is a disaster that the modern world has encountered on such a scale, probably for the first time. I’m absolutely sure that in this situation everyone should think how exactly he can help Ukraine and Ukrainians,” Akhmetov said.
Under the decision of the founder, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation will purchase another 300,000 rapid tests for coronavirus for the whole of Ukraine, which will be transferred to the Stabilization Fund, initiated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, in the shortest possible time. In addition, at least 200 respiratory medical devices and other equipment will be purchased.
“In cooperation with the Ministry of Health, we will do everything possible to prevent an epidemic of coronavirus in the cities of our presence and throughout the country. Only by combining our efforts in the face of danger we can make Ukraine cope with all the challenges that it faces,” the businessman said.
The foundation recalled that earlier, according to Akhmetov’s decision, equipment for the effective treatment of coronavirus complications had already been purchased and handed over to the Ministry of Health: high-quality Servo-I Universal and Servo Air respiratory medical devices of Swedish manufacture and other equipment.
A test system for diagnosing Covid-19, developed in the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, is being prepared for release, the press service for the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences said.
“The developed test system is being prepared for release in the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences,” the academy press service said on Thursday.
According to the press service for the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, scientists from the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics started working on domestic test systems in January 2020 on the orders of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council following reports on an epidemic of the new coronavirus in the Hubei province of the People’s Republic of China.
“In that time, the institute has designed and synthesized four nucleic primers that meet the most specific sequences in the virus genome. Preparations have been made for tests of the lab version of the original test system for diagnosing the coronavirus 2019-nCoV, which is not under patent protection of foreign test systems,” the press service said.
Besides, the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences has developed and put into operation some drugs, including those with antiviral effect, for use in medical practice.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said that 1 million ‘express tests’ for coronavirus (COVID-19) will be supplied to Ukraine on Saturday, March 21.
“What we are lacking and what we have agreed on is ‘express tests’. That is what not only Ukraine, but also any European country needs now. We agreed with China and we are grateful to them. And a special thank you to Jack Ma [the founder of Alibaba Group] for help. He allocated $80 million. Thanks to him and thanks to Mr.Yaroslavksy [the owner of DCH], we are expecting the arrival of these ‘express tests’ to Ukraine on Saturday. They will be sufficient for around one million people,” he said in the Svoboda Slova (Freedom of Speech) program on the ICTV television channel on Monday.
The head of state stressed that all of these test kits will be supplied to hospitals.
He also said that a part of test kits will be delivered directly to the front line for Ukrainian servicemen, who are a category of people that cannot be isolated.
The draft law “On priority decisions related to the prevention, prophylaxis and elimination of the COVID-19 coronavirus, other infectious diseases associated with it, as well as crisis response measures to prevent the spread of the epidemic” provides a clear algorithm for forced isolation and self-isolation, as well as liability for non-compliance with quarantine.
Minister of Health of Ukraine Illia Yemets presented the bill on Friday to MPs and representatives of relevant departments at a meeting of the working group under the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Health, Medical Assistance and Medical Insurance to draft legislative proposals aimed at preventing the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Ukraine.
The bill also provides for the simplification of the procurement of goods, works and services to prevent and combat coronavirus, which will speed up the process of purchasing personal protective equipment and test systems; the ability to work remotely; a ban on holding mass events with more than 200 people; a ban on conducting state surveillance and control measures during the implementation of measures related to the prevention and control of coronavirus; strengthening control of entry and exit to the territory of Ukraine.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Health, deputies supported the initiative and made several amendments to it.
CORONAVIRUS, COVID-19, INTRODUCING, NON-COMPLIANCE, QUARANTINE
The situation with coronavirus should not considerably influence the Ukrainian grain export, as the demand for agricultural products depends on number of the population, which is growing, and it is less elastic than the demand for fuel, consumer goods or tourism services, acting Director General of the Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) Serhiy Ivaschenko has said.
According to him, since the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic in China, Ukraine has not yet felt on its part the decline in demand for cereals.
“However, it should be remembered that certain logistic restrictions, such as a ban on entering ports for ships that visited regions where coronavirus disease is detected, or credit restrictions due to the collapse of economies, can negatively affect international trade,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
Ivaschenko said that such physical and financial limits could well have a negative impact on the dynamics of Ukrainian agricultural exports.
“At present, oil and fuel producers are experiencing a drop in demand and prices amid expectations of a decrease in transportation. A slowdown in a large economy such as China will certainly have a negative impact on other economies. If effective methods of combating coronavirus are not found in the near future, then the consequences for all the economies of the world will be very negative – an economic crisis may begin,” he said.
At the same time, the expert added that a drop in international trade will lead to an increase in product stocks and lower prices for it in the domestic market of Ukraine, as well as a drop in export revenue and national budget revenues.
The spread of coronavirus in some cases can be recognized as force majeure, the consequences of which did not allow fulfillment of obligations under economic contracts, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine (CCI) Hennadiy Chyzhykov has said. “The CCI of Ukraine receives a large number of requests regarding the recognition of the spread of coronavirus as force majeure. The CCI very carefully approaches this issue and relies on international practice and the legal framework,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
At the same time, Chyzhykov said that in general “coronavirus, like flu, is not a basis for evidence of force majeure.”
According to him, the basis for evidence of force majeure is the presence of one or more circumstances stipulated by law. Among them are such circumstances, including an epidemic.
In addition, force majeure circumstances may be determined by the parties in the text of the contracts.
“The presence of force majeure circumstances in the contracts such as an epidemic, an emergency situation in the healthcare sector or restrictive actions of the authorities, strengthens the position on the recognition of facts that do not allow the fulfillment of relevant obligations. But it is always necessary to provide evidence that it is coronavirus or measures to combat its spread that are circumstances that could cause the inability to fulfill obligations,” Chyzhykov said.
He also said that a party that refers to force majeure circumstances should contact the competent authority (the chamber of commerce and industry) of the country where these circumstances arose, and obtain the appropriate document (certificate), so that it can be presented to the counterparty according to terms of the contract.
