Google has decided to maintain special conditions for Ukrainian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) until the end of the war, exempting them from paying for Google Workspace, which was introduced in the rest of the world on July 1, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov has said.
“Since July, Google has been introducing a paid subscription to Google Workspace, but we have agreed on special conditions for our small and medium-sized enterprises. Until the end of the full-scale war, these services will be free,” Fedorov wrote on the Telegram channel on Monday.
He also thanked Google for its regular assistance and support to Ukraine, in particular, for providing the country with $15 million in assistance and free use of Google Workspace by Ukrainian teachers, as well as donating 43,000 laptops to schools.
Google Workspace includes corporate mail, cloud storage and other services.
Since the beginning of Russia’s armed invasion of Ukraine, 93 enterprises have moved to Lviv region, the press service of the Lviv regional military administration reports.
“In general, we have processed more than 400 applications for relocation. Of the 93 enterprises that have already moved, 38 have started work,” Orest Filts, the head of the investment policy department at the administration, said.
According to him, representatives of food, chemical, furniture, light industry and woodworking moved to Lviv region. As Filts noted, among them is Gemini Espresso, a natural coffee company, and MatrolLux, a manufacturer of mattresses, upholstered and cabinet furniture.
According to him, two more machine-building enterprises are planning to start work soon – Wind Farms of Ukraine LLC, which is part of Kramatorsk Heavy Machine Tool Plant, and Pozhmashina, the only manufacturer of specialized firefighting equipment in Ukraine.
According to the estimates of the Lviv regional administration, more than 2,500 jobs will be created at the displaced enterprises.
After the economic recession caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 60-65% of milk processing enterprises resumed work, even in the conditions of hostilities, the industry is able to meet domestic demand, so importing milk into the country is not advisable.
This opinion was published on the website of the profile association “Union of Dairy Enterprises of Ukraine” (SMPU) on Thursday.
According to her, the import of dairy products to Ukraine is inappropriate, since the resumption of the work of two-thirds of the enterprises of the industry, taking into account the stocks of dairy products intended for export, the supply of which disrupted the hostilities, makes it possible to meet the needs of the domestic market.
In addition, the association predicts that the production of raw milk in Ukraine per capita in 2022 will grow by 8% compared to 2021 – up to 229 kg from 212 kg.
At the same time, the SMPU recalls that after the start of the war, the Cabinet of Ministers included military goods, meat and edible offal, milk and dairy products, vegetables, nuts and a number of other goods on the list of critical imports. “However, the SMPU believes that there is no need to import milk. After all, even in the conditions of war, the dairy industry of Ukraine continues to work and fully supplies the country with high-quality dairy products. Therefore, the inclusion of dairy products in the lists of critical imports is a useless waste of precious foreign exchange funds,” the statement emphasizes. message.
In addition, according to the association, competition with imported “milk” will lead to a reduction in production by Ukrainian dairies and, accordingly, to a decrease in milk production.
“The government should support Ukrainian dairy producers. Now one of the main tasks of the state is to preserve the number of cows and the dairy industry. Therefore, SMPU insists on removing dairy products from the list of critical imports,” the organization said in a statement.
As reported, on February 28, the Cabinet of Ministers significantly expanded the list of critical imports. It includes meat and meat by-products, milk and dairy products, poultry eggs, natural honey, vegetables and edible root crops and tubers, fruits and nuts, coffee, tea, spices, cereals, wheat and wheat-rye flour, soybeans, juices. and plant extracts.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says that the state has already begun placing state orders for enterprises to meet critical needs.
“What, for its part, is the government doing to ensure a speedy transition to a ‘war footing’? Firstly, financial support for the functioning of the country. We are negotiating with all international organizations and countries on financial assistance. Of the latest decisions, the European Investment Bank will redirect EUR 639 million from other projects to the state budget of Ukraine,” Shmyhal said in his address on Sunday afternoon.
Also, according to him, the Ministry of Finance has already held the first issue of war bonds and will soon have a second issue.
“Everyone who is ready to lend to Ukraine, our military, our doctors, and critical infrastructure workers, can do this by purchasing war bonds,” he said.
Shmyhal also noted that the government has already authorized the relevant ministries to open four accounts with the National Bank, to which funds from individuals, organizations, companies, and international financial organizations will be credited to the fund for the restoration of Ukraine.
“Secondly. The economy of martial law implies a clear planning of needs. The state has already begun to place state orders for enterprises to meet critical needs. It’s not just about weapons. It’s about food, medicine, fuel and other important goods,” the prime minister added.
Among other things, he said that the government had already decided to limit the export of a number of socially important goods and raw materials from which they are produced.
Ukrainian enterprises in January-May this year increased exports of ferrous scrap by 8.9 times compared to the same period last year, to 146,345 tonnes, including 59,366 tonnes of scrap exported in May.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service on Wednesday, in monetary terms, exports of scrap metal increased by 12.5 times, to $52.333 million.
At the same time, in January-May this year, the country increased imports of scrap metal in quantity terms by 51.3%, to 10,351 tonnes. In monetary terms, imports of scrap increased by 2.4 times, to $18.007 million.
Scrap metal in January-May this year was mainly imported from Turkey (63.78% of deliveries in monetary terms), the Russian Federation (28.98%) and the U.S. (2.26%); and exported – to Turkey (96.26%), Germany (0.99%) and Lithuania (0.91%).
Twenty state-owned enterprises of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry are to be liquidated and fifteen others are to be reorganized based on the results of 2020-2021, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ihor Khalimon said.
“Over the course of 2020-2021, 20 state enterprises should be liquidated, 15 reorganized, and three prepared for privatization (the 209th Operations Officer’s Directorate, the 417th Operations Officer’s Directorate, and the Druzhbivsky Quarry of Nonmetallic Minerals Kvarts),” Khalimon said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
In line with a list of state-owned assets endorsed by the Defense Ministry order of September 11, 2020, which envisions the optimization of the state enterprise management system, 42 of the 111 Defense Ministry enterprises (40 related to the ministry’s Main Directorate and the other two to its Main Intelligence Directorate) will remain operating, Khalimon said.
“We’re talking about optimizing the system of management of state enterprises by determining a list of economic assets to be engaged in meeting the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” he said.
The Defense Ministry currently manages 109 economic entities, which generated losses of over UAH 53,000 in 2019, Khalimon said.
“Based on the results of economic activities in 2020, the enterprises transferred UAH 269.235 million to the Ukrainian state budget, which is 12% more than in the previous period, the enterprises’ aggregate revenue grew by 23% to UAH 1.069 billion, and the net sales revenue grew by 19.6% to UAH 984.7 million,” Khalimon said.
According to him, after the reorganization of the state-run enterprise Ivano-Frankivsk Military Timber Industrial Complex and the state-run enterprise Lviv Military Forestry Complex, 11 newly established forestry enterprises, based on the results of financial statements, worked profitably, with no wage arrears.
