The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine at a meeting on August 5 approved the State Strategy for Regional Development for 2021-2027.
“The document was prepared by the Ministry of Regional Development. This important document is filled with new content, European approaches to the development of regions. I see this as one of the vectors of our movement and direction to the European Union,” Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said during the meeting.
He added that the document took into account the issue of a new administrative-territorial structure, while stressing that there is no talk of any liquidation of some of the social infrastructure facilities.
According to the presentation of the strategy made by Minister of Communities and Territories Development Oleksiy Chernyshov, new functional types of territories were identified, as well as regions that are in the focus of regional policy: the mountainous territories of the Carpathians, the coastal zones of the Black and Azov Seas, nature reserves, border areas, including those on the contact lines, rural areas in unfavorable conditions, agglomerations, centers of economic growth, mono-functional cities, as well as temporarily occupied territories. For each functional region, the ministry has identified important development aspects.
The Ministry of Regional Development also began developing plans of measures to implement the strategy for the next three years, as well as aligning regional strategies. In addition, a draft law has been prepared on reforming the State Fund for Regional Development to finance the implementation of the state strategy.
“To achieve the set goals, the targeted use of funds from the state budget is critically important. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the system of financing regional development, including at the expense of the State Fund for Regional Development,” Chernyshov said
The draft general plan of Kyiv includes the construction of an external bypassing railroad from Nizhyn to Korosten directions for passing transit freight traffic which has overloaded the capital’s railway hubs recently.
The press service of Kyiv City State Administration said referring to the municipal organization Kyivgenplan on Wednesday that the main railway development measures include:
– construction of a railway junction at various levels near the Livy Bereh (Left Bank) stop;
– construction of additional running lines on the sections: Kyiv-Demiyivsky – Darnytsia, Zhuliany – Hlevakha, Kyiv – Myronivka;
– closure of 66 low-density line at ten freight stations;
– creation of three transport and storage facilities near Kozhukhivka in Vasylkivsky district, Kalynivka in Brovarsky district, Ukrainka at the facility with new freight districts of the river port;
– closure of freight stations and Kyiv-Tovarny, Kyiv-Dniprovsky yards, Kyiv-Pochaina freight yard, Kyiv-Pasazhyrsky hauling yard and Darnytsia sorting yard.
As reported, the draft general plan of Kyiv also envisages the construction of two new bus stations at Kyiv’s exits and shutdown of the Central Bus Station.
Ukraine should re-look at the development of nuclear power generation, including focusing on the implementation of projects that increase the ability to maneuver, acting Minister of Energy and Environmental Protection Olha Buslavets has said.
Commenting on the relevance of the Ukraine-EU Energy Bridge project in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine, she said that, in the context of the construction of new facilities, it is more advisable to focus on the construction of small modular reactors (SMR).
“The decisions on the energy bridge are related to the completion of reactors three and four of the Khmelnytsky NPP. My personal expert conviction: we need to reconsider what exactly needs to be developed in nuclear power generation. If we talk about new construction, we should talk about small modular reactors with the possibility of regulation. We already have a power system that is very overloaded with basic capacities. Energoatom is 55% of our electricity production, which, I will remind you, is not regulated,” she said.
In addition, Buslavets expressed the opinion that for Ukraine, which plans to synchronize with the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) by 2023, it would be more expedient to focus all its efforts on this project.
“When it [the energy bridge project] was only being worked out, I did not see the point in a separate project if there were plans for general synchronization with the European system. It would be more expedient to focus all efforts on general integration, rather than being distracted by some separate projects and give separate conditions,” the acting minister said.
Advisor to the President of Ukraine on Economics Oleh Ustenko took part in an online meeting with leading businessmen belonging to the CEO Club Ukraine, during which issues related to the development of the Ukrainian economy during the quarantine and the global economic crisis, as well as measures to minimize its negative impact for Ukraine were addressed.
“The presidential advisor answered questions of Ukrainian business, shared his forecasts and scenarios for the development of the economic situation in the country, noting that Ukraine has a good basis for rapid stabilization and growth after the coronavirus epidemic,” the presidential office’s press service said on Thursday.
Ustenko separately dwelt on the issue of adapting the economic strategy of Ukraine to the new operating conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, assuring the business community that the economic system of the state is now under full control.
“Within the framework of the presidential anti-crisis policy, the government and parliament have already adopted two packages of anti-crisis measures, and now the third is being developed, which will include measures to protect businesses from the effects of the epidemic and the global crisis,” the report says.
Ustenko noted the need for everyone to remain, above all, humane during the crisis and not fall into despair.
“We are living in such a difficult time, but we must always remember that there is someone for whom it is much more difficult now. If you helped the weak, please continue to do so. Our financial opportunities during the crisis are reduced. However, it’s important to withdraw from this crisis cleaner and better, more humane and socially responsible,” he stressed.
The lifting of the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land is a significant impetus to the development of the economy, farming and the agro-industrial complex.
“The lifting of the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land is a significant impetus for the development of the economy, farming, the agricultural complex in Ukraine,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Telegram.
As reported, on the night of March 31, the Verkhovna Rada at an extraordinary meeting adopted a law on opening the land market from July 1, 2021 with the restriction of its work in the first three years only to land plots owned by individuals with a maximum ownership of 100 hectares per capita.
The shareholders of PrJSC VF Ukraine (provides mobile services under the Vodafone-Ukraine brand) on January 20 decided to provide prior consent to raising funds of up to $1 billion, but the company plans to gradually raise up to $500 million from external sources for the implementation of the development strategy, the operator’s press service has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“At the moment, the company is considering its development strategy. In the near future, we are considering options for phased attraction of external financing in the range of $500 million,” Viktoria Ruban, the head of the public relations department of Vodafone-Ukraine, said.
According to her, attracting external financing on favorable terms is consistent with the company’s development strategy and is a common practice in business.
According to a company report in the information disclosure system of the National Commission for Securities and the Stock Market, the company was allowed to sign loan agreements, agreements on commissions, orders from other transactions related to raising funds. The limit amount of such transactions is $1 billion (or UAH 24.253 billion at the NBU rate as of January 20, 2020).
The value of the company’s assets as of 2018 stood at UAH 21.479 billion.
The ratio of the marginal aggregate of transaction value to the value of the issuer’s assets according to the latest annual financial statements is 112.91%.
