One of Europe’s largest bus operators FlixBus announced the launch of a new international line from Ukraine starting February 14: Kiev – Berlin – Hamburg – Bremen and extension of the existing one from Warsaw-Lublin to Odessa, the company’s press service said Thursday.
“Today we are taking the next step in developing lines from Ukraine to Germany and Poland. Warsaw, Berlin and Hamburg are top destinations for travelers. Demand proves that Ukrainians care about these destinations,” commented FlixBus director for Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics Michal Lehmann.
He noted that in spite of the war, the company has doubled the size of the route network from Ukraine during the year and plans to open new lines if it sees that people need transportation services.
According to the message tickets for flights N3206 Kyiv – Zhytomyr – Rivne – Lviv – Berlin – Hamburg – Bremen and N3242 Odessa – Uman – Vinnitsa – Khmelnytskyi- Lviv – Lublin – Warsaw are available at the site, in mobile application FlixBus and at partner agencies.
The route Odessa-Warsaw is presented on the current line, on which the bus departed from Vinnitsa. Given the high demand in the south of the country, it was decided to extend the line to include Uman and Odessa. Flights are daily. The bus will be on the road for about a day.
From Kiev to Germany the buses will go three times a week: on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. From Bremen to Ukraine the bus departs on Monday, Thursday and Sunday. Travel time is about 30 hours, including stops and border crossing time.
As reported, after the start of a full-scale war, FlixBus launched 8 new routes from Ukraine to Europe. The company already has 16 lines from Ukraine to six European countries: Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria.
FlixBus, which develops bus transportation in Europe and the U.S., was founded in 2013. It operates on a partnership model with regional bus carriers that provide their buses and route documents.
In June 2019, FlixBus announced the opening of a representative office in Ukraine, in July 2020 the company launched domestic flights in the country.
Another temperature record was recorded in Kiev – for the first time in 143 years of observations, the average daily air temperature was +7.3 ° C, according to the website of the weather station of the Central Geophysical Observatory named after Boris Sreznevsky on Thursday.
“In Kiev, January 18, for the first time in 143 years of observations, the average daily air temperature was +7.3 ° C, which is 1.6 ° C above the record temperature value for the day in 1993. Climatic norm was exceeded by 9.8 ° C, which corresponds to the weather at the beginning of April”, – said meteorologists.
As noted in the report, the maximum temperature in the capital rose to +10.2 ° C, exceeding the previous record for 2007 by 0.8 ° C. The minimum temperature in Kiev did not fall below 3.7°C. The previous record was in 1990 and was 3,4°C.
Hryvnia median price per sq.m. in new buildings rose by 38% in Kiev and by 33% – in the capital region for the year, according to a study of the portal of new buildings LUN. In the capital in January-2022 the median price rose from 34.7 thousand UAH / sq.m. to 48.2 thousand UAH / sq.m. in January-2023, in the region – from 20.9 thousand UAH / sq.m. to 28 thousand UAH / sq.m.
According to the LUN portal, in January-2023 in Odessa the median price of objects under construction increased by 48% – from 25.2 thousand UAH / sq. m. to 38.4 thousand UAH / sq. m, in the Odessa region by 68% – from 18.8 thousand UAH / sq. m. to 30.7 thousand UAH / sq. m.
The record price increase is in Lviv, where the median price for the year increased by 80% – from 25.5 thousand UAH / sq. m. to 46.7 thousand UAH / sq. m. In Lviv region real estate rose in price by 66% – from 17 thousand UAH / sq. m. to 28.9 thousand UAH / sq. m.
The mayors of Warsaw, Prague, Budapest and Bratislava are visiting Kiev, the Polish TV channel Polsat News has reported.
Details of the mayors’ visit to the Ukrainian capital are not yet known.
According to media reports, this is the first visit of Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski to Kiev after the war started.
On February 15, 2022, Trzaskowski, accompanied by Prague mayor Zdenek Grzyb on behalf of the Pact of Free Cities went to meet with Kiev mayor Vitaliy Klitschko.
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio had a 30-minute phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, discussing Russian aggression against Ukraine and the Japanese prime minister’s possible visit to Kiev.
According to NHK television, Kishida assured that he would play an active role during Japan’s G7 presidency.
“I strongly condemned Russia’s continued aggression and said that Japan will do everything possible to help, including surviving the winter to protect the lives of Ukrainians,” he said.
For his part, President Zelenskyy expressed his deep appreciation for Japan’s position and spoke about the current situation in the country. The interlocutors also discussed the possible visit of Kishida Fumio to Ukraine, who received an invitation to visit Kiev.
“Nothing has been decided yet, but I will consider it under different circumstances,” he added.
International hotel operator Accor Live Limitless (France) opened apartment hotel Adagio Kyiv Beresteiska, general director of Accor Northern Europe – Ukraine, Georgia and CIS region Andrey Davidenko told Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
“At Adagio Kyiv Beresteiska, sales are open from December 29, 2022. Now is the soft opening period, not all works are 100% finished, by January 9 we plan to open the restaurant. ibis Kyiv Beresteiska will not open until the war is over,” he said.
Both hotels are located in one building on the Victory Avenue, 55, in Adagio Kyiv Beresteiska 105 rooms, in Adagio Kyiv Beresteiska – 156.
Adagio Kyiv Beresteiska is an apartment hotel, and the rooms are adapted for longer stays: they have fully equipped kitchens, special work spaces, WIFI and other amenities for work and rest. According to Davidenko, there are already clients, who have chosen the hotel for a long stay; there is also a possibility to rent a room for a short term.
As it was reported, the international hotel operator Accor Live Limitless was planning to launch three new hotels in Ukraine in 2022-2023, ibis & Adagio Kyiv, ibis Lviv and Novotel Lviv. A 77-room ibis Styles Lviv Center hotel, located in the business center of Lviv on Shukhevicha Street, 3, began operations in December 2022.
In addition, the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank intends to provide a EUR 8 million loan for the construction of a 4-star hotel Novotel with a room capacity of 128 rooms in Lviv to Real Estate Development Center LLC.
“Now it is very difficult to talk about any timeline for Novotel Lviv, perhaps at the end of 2024 we will open. Everything depends on the end of the war,” Davidenko told Interfax-Ukraine.
Accor Group – one of the leading hotel operators in the world – opened the first hotel under the brand Novotel in Lille (France) in 1967.
Accor, as of December 2022, had more than 5.3 thousand hotels, resorts and residences in 110 countries under more than 40 brands (Raffles, Sofitel, Fairmont, OneFineStay, MGallery, Pullman, Swissotel, Grand Mercure, The Sebel, 25 hours hotel, Novotel, Mercure, Adagio, Mama Shelter, Ibis, Ibis Styles, Adagio success, Ibis Budget, Jo & Joe, hotelFormule1, hotel F1, Thalassa sea & spa, greet and others).
Accor SA shares are listed on Euronext in Paris and traded over-the-counter in the U.S. market.
In Ukraine AccorHotels manages 3-star Ibis hotels in Kyiv, Ibis Styles and Gruner in Lviv, 5-star Fairmont Grand Hotel in Kyiv, as well as Mercure Kyiv Congress Hotel. In addition, one hotel managed by Accor is located in Odessa – MGallery Hôtel de Paris.
