Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air has announced the resumption of flights on the Kiev – Budapest route from September 13, 2021.
“We are pleased to announce the resumption of flights on the Kiev – Budapest route. Thanks to it, the airline connects the capitals of Ukraine and Hungary and offers passengers affordable travel opportunities,” Internal Communications Manager at Wizz Air Paulina Gosk said.
Flights on this route will operate twice a week until the end of October and five times a week in November. Flights will take off from the Kyiv international airport (Zhuliany).
To ensure the safety and comfort of passengers and the crew during their flight, Wizz Air is implementing enhanced hygiene measures to maintain physical distancing and improve on-board cleanliness. In addition, passengers are encouraged to pay for all necessary services online before boarding (for example, to pay for additional luggage via the Internet).
On Tuesday, August 3, at 10.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference entitled “Importance of city’s long-term strategy in urbanization era: Odesa example.” Participants include futurologist, founder of the Center for Economic Recovery Andriy Dlihach, Odesa entrepreneur, founder of Odesa Business Club Dmytro Kavzachynsky, Head of the Association of Sustainable Development Leaders Olena Zubareva (8/5a Reitarska Street). The broadcast will be available on the YouTube channel of Interfax-Ukraine. Due to quarantine restrictions, the number of seats in the press center is limited. Admission of journalists requires registration on the spot.
A sports cluster will be created at the Expocenter of Ukraine National Complex in Kyiv within the framework of the Big Construction and Healthy Ukraine presidential programs, which will occupy 22 hectares of territory, Deputy Head of the President’s Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Facebook following the presentation of the project concept.
According to him, this year the project will be implemented on 11 hectares.
Tymoshenko noted that the concept of the future cluster was developed by Big City Lab, a company for the transformation of urban spaces, together with the Lithuanian urbanist Tadas Jonauskis. At the same time, a special emphasis during the design of the cluster was placed on the creation of a barrier-free space.
“The infrastructure of the future cluster includes jogging and cycling paths with professional coverage, locations for TRX, crossfit, yoga and fitness classes, equipped areas with exercise machines for strength and cardio training, tennis tables, a swimming pool with a trampoline, basketball and football grounds, a climbing wall, a concrete skatepark and much more,” he said.
The first open area of the future sports cluster will be an urban park, which will begin accepting visitors this summer.
“The space of the urban park will be intended, first of all, for active pursuit of street cultures, for battles and jams, for the implementation of sports projects and media events,” Tymoshenko explained.
According to him, an important part will also be a space called Street Culture Hub, which will bring together a community of street cultures from different cities and famous athletes, artists and teams.
“In the future, the president sets the task of creating such cool sports facilities in every region. Sports and health are becoming a new trend in Ukraine,” Tymoshenko stressed.
Earlier, the deputy head of the President’s Office said that within the framework of the Healthy Ukraine program, it is planned to create 873 “active parks” and modern sports grounds with free access for everyone in various localities of the country.
The average price for primary residential real estate in Kyiv increased by 16.2% over the six months and amounted to $1,705 per square meter, Corporate Communications Manager at City One Development Halyna Martynenko has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“The growth in prices in new buildings amounted to 9.3% in the second quarter, which is almost the same as Kyiv’s real estate gained for entire 2018, some 10%,” Martynenko said.
According to her, from 2014 to 2017, the average prices for square meters in Kyiv’s new buildings fell in price (by 24%, 12%, 5% and 3% per year, respectively), but in 2018 and 2019 there was an increase – by 10% and 22%.
“The coronavirus 2020 showed stability – a decrease by a symbolic 0.1%. It is highly likely that, in general, by late 2021, real estate will return growth rates at the level of 2019,” Martynenko said.
According to an analytical report by City One Development, the business class increased in price the most in Kyiv market – in the first half of 2021, the square meter rose in price by 22%, to $2,252. The most stable was the premium (elite) class – an increase of 9%, to $3,571 per square meter. The economy class has risen in price by 15%, to $978 per square meter, and the comfort class – by 17%, to $1,205 square meter.
In general, there are 186 objects in the primary market of Kyiv. More than 40% of them are positioned in the comfort class. The third is business class. Less than 10% – the premium, elite class.
“Once the most capacious segment of the economy occupies today only 15% of the market. It has shrunk over the year from 18% to 15% and continues to decline,” Martynenko said.
According to the analytical report by City One Development, in the second quarter of 2021, sales started in 11 new residential complexes, in total it is more than 4,000 apartments.
The economy class is represented by the only project, Navigator2 from DBK-Zhytlobud developer, for 1,350 apartments. The comfort class – four projects, together for 1,415 apartments, and the business class – five projects with a total of 908 apartments. The premium class is represented by one project for 86 apartments.
Since the beginning of the year, Kiev has been visited by 308,000 foreign and more than 500,000 domestic tourists, deputy head of Kyiv City State Administration Maryna Khonda has said.
“According to the State Border Guard Service, most of the foreign tourists came from the United States – 26,576 people. Israel is in the second place – 22,684 people, and Turkey closes the top three – 21,057 tourists. The list of countries from which a lot of tourists came from also includes Germany, Belarus, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Great Britain, Georgia and India,” Khonda said.
According to her, the tourism development will become one of the main priorities for Kyiv after the pandemic. A number of important projects are currently being implemented to increase the tourist attraction of the city. In particular, the Hospitality Academy recently began its work in Kyiv to train volunteer assistants in the field of tourism. Also in Kiev, they plan to create an inclusive tourist route that will unite the most famous sights.
Maryna Khonda also said that since the beginning of the year, UAH 22.5 million in tourist tax have been collected.
Due to the intensification of inbound tourism, the occupancy rate of hotels in Kiev in June 2021 increased to 66%, which is 23% higher than in May, Head of the Hotel Matrix project Yelyzaveta Rudeleva has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“We see positive trends in all indicators in all major cities of Ukraine,” she added.
According to Rudeleva, Odesa is in second place in terms of hotel occupancy: an increase from 53% in May to 63% in June. This is followed by Lviv from 41% in May to 60% in June, Dnipro from 45% in May to 58% in June, and Kharkiv from 45% in May to 50% in June.
As she said, usually hotels, anticipating the high demand for the coming period, increase the price. Price and Average Daily Room Rate (ADR) certainly have different meanings, therefore, an increase in price, accordingly, affects an increase in ADR.
Compared to May, ADR indicators of all Ukrainian cities grew from 2.4% to 18.4%. ADR of Dnipro increased to UAH 3782 from UAH 3289 in May, Lviv – to UAH 2,439 from UAH 2,060, Odesa – to UAH 2,284 from UAH 2,067, Kiev – to UAH 2,031 from UAH 1,836 in May.
RevPar (Revenue Per Available Room per day) almost doubled in Lviv – from UAH 850 in May to UAH 1,557 in June. A strong breakthrough in hotels in Odesa – from UAH 1,089 in May to UAH 1,476 in June and Kyiv – from UAH 780 in May to UAH 1,345 in June. In Dnipro, this figure rose to UAH 2,174 from UAH 1,550 in May, in Kharkiv to UAH 1,058 in June from UAH 938 in May.
Statistical data for Dnipro is presented by the hotel market of four-star and five-star hotels, in Kharkiv – two-star, four-star and five-star hotels. The statistics of Kiev, Odesa and Lviv are presented by three-star, four-star and five-star hotels.
