The European Union coordinated the first MEDEVAC operation for transferring Ukrainian children with chronic diseases from Poland to Italy, the European Commission said in a statement.
“The operation was financially and operationally supported by the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and is part of the European solidarity mechanism for intra-EU medical transfers of refugees and displaced people,” it said.
The operation was carried out by an Italian medical team at the request of and in close cooperation with Poland.
Italy plans to allocate EUR 110 million in financial assistance to support the population and economy of Ukraine in areas that will be agreed with the Ukrainian authorities, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Luigi Di Maio said during a briefing in the Senate of the Italian Parliament.
“We also intend to help the International Committee of the Red Cross in the humanitarian sphere,” he added, commenting on the results of his visit to Kyiv last week.
Since December 16, Italy has banned optional trips to its territory for Ukrainian citizens in connection with coronavirus (COVID-19) infection pandemic, including for tourism purposes, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (MFA) said.
“According to the updated rules for crossing the border with the Italian Republic, in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, Ukraine has been included in the list of countries in list E from December 16, 2021, which provides for a ban on optional travel of Ukrainian citizens, including for tourism purposes,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said on website: tripadvisor.mfa.gov.ua.
An exception is made by citizens of Ukraine, holders of a residence permit in Italy, or those citizens who enter Italy for confirmed reasons of work, study, medical treatment or absolute necessity. In some cases, according to the decision of the Italian competent authorities and if there are well-reasoned reasons, the entry into the country of persons who have confirmed and stable personal relations with Italian citizens may be allowed.
Upon entry, citizens of Ukraine from these categories must complete the Passenger Locator Form, an on-line sanitary control form, available at https://app.euplf.eu/ before arrival; present a certificate (certificate) of a negative result of molecular testing (made no more than 72 hours before arrival) or express testing for COVID-19 (made no more than 24 hours before arrival); activate health surveillance procedures in medical institutions in accordance with the territory of residence and go through ten days of self-isolation, at the end of which, retesting to confirm a negative result (molecular or rapid test).
The Italian government has opened entry for Ukrainians for all types of travel since July 31, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
“In accordance with the order of the Italian Ministry of Health dated July 29 on the updated norms for crossing the border with Italy, in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, Ukraine has been included in the list of countries of category D since July 31, which provides for the possibility of visiting the territory of the Italian Republic for any purpose, including tourism,” a message on the website of the interactive map of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine tripadvisor.mfa.gov.ua reads.
It is indicated that at the same time, those wishing to visit Italy should take into account the basic mandatory requirements.
In particular, the presence of a certificate of a negative result of molecular or antigenic testing for COVID-19 (the test was done at least 72 hours before arrival). The online Passenger Locator Form must also be completed, which is available at https://app.euplf.eu/.
Upon arrival in Italy, citizens must self-isolate for five days, after which they must retest for COVID-19, which must confirm a negative result.
“Self-isolation is not required if a citizen has a negative molecular or antigen test for COVID-19, and has provided the carrier or any other authorized person with the corresponding Green Pass European-standard certificate of completion of the full course of vaccination with one of the approved by the European Agency on medicinal products with the following vaccines Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson, Moderna, AstraZeneca (a green passport is always provided with a negative test result),” the message explains.
In the absence of the above certificates, citizens can enter Italy, but they must self-isolate within five days, activating local health surveillance procedures, informing the local health authorities; pass the test after completing the established self-isolation.
Children under six are always exempt from the test requirement, but must still self-isolate if necessary.
The above provisions are valid until October 25, 2021.
In addition, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine recalled that, in addition to the above rules, the rules for the need to confirm the purpose of the trip, the place of stay, the availability of the necessary funds, the date of departure from Italy, etc., remain in force, which can be verified by the officers of the border police of Italy when entering the country. The final decision on permission to enter/refusal of entry is always made by the Italian border police (Polizia di Frontiera), the Foreign Ministry stressed.
The Italian government will open entry for all types of travel for Ukrainian citizens from July 31, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
“Everyone asked when Italy would open. I answer that Italy has been restoring visa-free travel for Ukrainians since July 31 according to the recommendation of the EU Council. There is a nuance, five days of self-isolation upon arrival. But even self-isolation cannot spoil emotions when you are in Italy,” Kuleba said on Twitter on Friday.
According to the information on the website of the Consular Service of Ukraine, since July 31, Ukraine has been included in the list of countries of D category, which provides for the opportunity to visit the territory of the Italian Republic for any purpose, including tourism.
At the same time, those wishing to visit Italy should take into account the mandatory requirements: the presence of a certificate of a negative result of molecular or rapid testing for COVID-19, which must be done at least 72 hours before arrival; fill out the online Passenger Locator Form on the website: https://app.euplf.eu/; upon arrival in Italy, citizens must self-isolate for five days, after which they must retest for COVID-19, which must confirm a negative result.
These conditions will be valid until August 30, 2021.
Metinvest, an international vertically integrated mining and metallurgical group of companies, is exploring the possibility, together with Itlay’s Danieli, to build a new rolling mill in Italy.
Metinvest CEO Yuriy Ryzhenkov said at a press conference devoted to the company’s 15th anniversary held in Kyiv on Wednesday that the project involves the construction of a new production facility in Italy, where Ukrainian slabs will be rolled into hot-rolled flat products.
“The Metinvest Group is really exploring the possibility of building a rolling mill in Italy,” Ryzhenkov said.
At the same time, he recalled that the group already has two plants in Italy, where flat-rolled products are produced from Ukrainian slabs. And Metinvest has always noted that this market is interesting and promising for the company.
“But Metinvest has not made a final decision on this project,” the top manager said.
According to him, now the project is at the pre-feasibility stage, negotiations are also underway with the owners of the site, and the construction of a plant is planned.
Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of mining and metallurgical enterprises. Its enterprises are located in Ukraine – in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, in European countries. In particular, in Bulgaria it has Promet Steel plant with a capacity of 500,000 tonnes of rolled metal per year, in Italy – Metinvest Trametal and Ferriera Valsider with a total annual capacity of 1.2 million tonnes. In the U.K., the company owns Spartan UK plant that is capable to produce 200,000 tonnes of rolled steel annually.
The main shareholders of Metinvest are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage the company.
