President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky by his decree appointed Yaroslav Melnyk as Ambassador of Ukraine to the Italian Republic.
“To appoint Yaroslav Volodymyrovych Melnyk as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Italian Republic,” according to the text of decree No. 399/2020 dated September 21, released on the presidential website.
The son of Motor Sich’s Honorary President Oleksandr Bohuslayev has bought the Gallinara Island in the Ligurian Sea near the Italian Riviera from several owners for more than EUR 10 million.
According to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera’s website, the deal on the acquisition was concluded by the Galinette company from Monaco, belonging to a 42-year-old native of Zaporizhia with Grenada citizenship, Oleksandr Bohuslayev, allegedly the son of PJSC Motor Sich’s honorary president, MP Viacheslav Bohuslayev.
According to the publication, the turtle-shaped island, about 0.5 km long, is located 1.5 kilometers from the coast between the towns of Albenga and Alassio and is a nature reserve closed for tourists. The island was previously owned by wealthy Italian bankers.
“Significant debts to the tax authorities, partners’ economic problems – the sale [of the island] is overdue. Bohuslayev entered into negotiations in May, and on July 17 the deal went through. Ideally, Bohuslayev can now plant a Ukrainian [or Grenada] flag on the top of the turtle island,” the article says.
PJSC Motor Sich is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of aircraft engines, as well as industrial gas turbine plants. The company delivers its products to more than 100 countries worldwide.
Until recently, the largest individual shareholder of PJSC Motor Sich was the company’s Honorary President, MP Viacheslav Bohuslayev, who in 2016 declared the reduction of his stake in Motor Sich from 15.8% to 1%. He also included in the income earned in 2016 the investment income from the securities trader Motor-Dealer owned by PJSC Motor Sich in the amount of about UAH 1.07 billion.
The likelihood of cooperation between the State Agency for Roads of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) and Alitalia in the development of road infrastructure and “smart roads” was discussed by Minister of Infrastructure Vladyslav Krykliy and Italian Ambassador to Ukraine Davide La Cecilia in Kyiv on Friday.
“The minister briefed the ambassador on a number of important investment projects that are planned in the industry, in particular, in the construction of highways, bridges, concessions of seaports and railway stations. The parties also discussed possible cooperation between Ukravtodor and Alitalia in the development of road infrastructure and ‘smart roads.’ In addition, they noted the importance of developing airports and container trains,” the ministry said in a message on its website.
Krykliy also stressed the interest of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine in the resumption of the work of the Ukrainian-Italian Council for Economic, Industrial and Financial Cooperation with the aim of enhancing relations in the field of transport and infrastructure.
He positively noted the long-term and mutually beneficial relations between Ukraine and Italy in the field of aviation and confirmed his readiness to act on the principle of reciprocity, positively considering all requests from air carriers that will be appointed by the Italian side.
In addition, the parties discussed further cooperation between the two countries in road traffic.
Irish Ryanair Holdings Plc, Europe’s largest air low-cost carrier, is intended to resume flights from Ukraine to Italy starting from July 6, Ryanair Ukraine reported on Telegram.
“The largest Europe’s low-cost Ryanair planned opening of the regular flights from Ukraine to Italy in July,” reads a report.
In particular, Ryanair will operate flights from Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv and Odesa.
Thus, starting from July 6, the airline plans to resume flights Kyiv-Rome, Kyiv-Milan (Bergamo), Lviv-Bologna, Kharkiv-Milan (Bergamo), Odesa-Bologna, Odesa-Milan (Bergamo).
Starting from July 7, Ryanair plans to launch flights on the route Kyiv-Bologna, Kyiv-Catania, Lviv-Milan (Bergamo).
From July 8, the resumption of flights Lviv-Rome and Odesa-Rome is expected.
It was reported that the prices started from EUR 40 for one-way ticket. The tickets for purchase are available in the reservation system on the carrier’s website.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal expects in 2020, after the quarantine is over, a meeting of the Ukrainian-Italian Council on Economic Cooperation and the holding of a common business forum.
“After the quarantine is over, we expect to hold a meeting of the Ukrainian-Italian Council for Economic Cooperation and organize a joint business forum as part of the visit of Prime Minister of Italy Giuseppe Conte to Ukraine this year,” the government’s press service quoted Shmyhal as saying following a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Italian Republic to Ukraine Davide La Cecilia and a delegation of representatives of Italian companies operating in Ukraine.
The Ambassador of the Italian Republic to Ukraine Mr. Davide La Cecilia, in turn, added that Ukraine is of interest for investors.
“Italy is one of Ukraine’s first commercial partners at the global and European level, and we have set a goal of increasing investment and deepening economic cooperation,” said Cecilia.
The parties agreed to intensify cooperation in various areas of the economy, in particular, in the development of energy, agribusiness and infrastructure.
Italian aviation authorities granted Ryanair, the Irish low-cost airline, temporary rights to operate 28 weekly flights between the cities of Italy and Ukraine until July 13, 2020, the National Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) has said on its website.
Ryanair was allowed to fly to Kyiv from Bergamo, Bologna, Rome, and Catania; to Odesa and Lviv from Rome, Bergamo and Bologna; and also to Kharkiv from Bergamo.
Earlier, Ryanair announced the cancellation of most of its flights from March 24. At the same time, the carrier does not expect to resume flights in April and May due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread and the introduction of significant restrictions on flights by various European countries.
Ryanair intended to launch flights from Italy to Ukraine in 2019.
“In Italy, we fly from Milan and Pisa. However, the Italian government provided certain advantages to the airline, which has only two flights. We filed a lawsuit and won the case, thus we will also fly from Italy to Ukraine,” the airline’s Chief Commercial Officer David O’Brien said.
