Ukrzaliznytsia JSC (UZ) has assigned a double-decker Skoda electric train to the Intercity+ route No. 741/742 Kyiv-Lviv for the New Year’s Eve and holidays, the company’s press service said on Wednesday.
According to the telegram, the train will depart from Kyiv on December 22, 24, 28, 30, and January 1, 2, 5, 7 at 14:58 and arrive in Lviv at 20:56.
The train will run back from Lviv on December 23, 25, 29, 31, and January 2, 3, 6, 8, departing at 8:05 a.m. and arriving in Kyiv at 14:10 a.m.
“A convenient transfer to Lviv from a Warsaw flight via Rava-Ruska has also been agreed in this direction,” UZ emphasized.
The company added that at the time of the Skoda electric train’s arrival in Lviv, a train with seating cars will run to Cherkasy on the route No. 729/730 according to a changed schedule.
In addition, an additional train No. 159/160 Kyiv – Truskavets (via Lviv) has been scheduled. It will depart from Kyiv on December 23 and 29 at 10:24 and arrive in Truskavets at 19:35.
In the opposite direction, the train will depart from Truskavets on December 23 and 29 at 8:26 a.m. and arrive in Kyiv at 18:44.
“Tickets for the upcoming dates are already available in the Ukrzaliznytsia app, chatbot, website, and at the ticket offices of the stations,” UZ said.
The Skoda EJ 675 Elephant electric train consists of six double-decker cars, has 636 seats and can accelerate to 160 km/h.
“Ukrzaliznytsia has purchased two Czech electric trains Skoda EJ 675 Elephant in preparation for Euro 2012.
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that he had approved another $200 million military aid package for Ukraine.
“I just signed a document allocating $200 million for Ukraine’s defense,” Biden said at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House.
He added that this aid package would be promptly sent to Kyiv.
The US president did not specify what exactly would be included in this tranche of aid.
The event will become a platform for constructive dialogue, expression and discussion of various opinions between the authorities, developers, architects, builders and the public sector
On December 14, the first UKRAINIAN CONSTRUCTION CONGRESS will be held at the CEC “Parkovy” in Kyiv, where participants will have the opportunity to discuss, express their opinions and visions of the Formula for the Reconstruction of Ukraine.
Both foreign partners and the Ukrainian government, developers, builders and architects are already working on planning and implementing the reconstruction of Ukraine. But unfortunately, there is currently no clearly articulated consolidated vision, basic principles, or common vision of cooperation and interaction among all participants in the process. This was the trigger for the idea of discussing the Formula for the Reconstruction of Ukraine.
The UKRAINIAN CONSTRUCTION CONGRESS will become a platform for constructive dialogue, exchange of views and ideas between the government, developers, architects, builders, manufacturers of building materials, the public sector and other industry participants. An important issue of the congress will be the problem of returning Ukrainians from abroad, without whom Ukraine’s recovery is impossible.
The program of the event will include discussion panels, speeches and presentations by experts in various fields.
Mykhailo Podolyak, Advisor to the Head of the Presidential Office and Acting Minister of Culture and Information Policy Rostyslav Karandeyev, will also deliver a welcoming speech at the event.
The organizers have already announced a list of topics to be discussed at the event, the results and conclusions of which will form the basis of the Formula for Rebuilding Ukraine.
Among them:
– “Education in architecture. Destruction or misunderstanding of the needs of reconstruction?”
– Innovations and their impact on business development;
– “Promising areas of investment in the future reconstruction of Ukraine”;
– “Technologies of future recovery as a tool for modernization of Ukraine”;
– “Money for housing. Sources of income in 2024: investments, sales, mortgages”;
– “City without Borders: own examples and actions towards barrier-free access”;
– “Sustainable City: transforming Ukraine through urban transformation;
– “Ageism. Discrimination against the adult generation”;
– “Architect or developer. Who is in charge?”
Among the panel discussions were “How to build during the war. Innovations in construction”, “What to build during the war”.
“Our congress is a platform where we provide an opportunity for different teams and companies to interact and express their opinions on how Ukraine should move forward in the context of reconstruction,” comments Igor Parubsky, organizer of the Ukrainian Construction Congress.
The discussion of topics and opinions on the Formula for Rebuilding Ukraine will be attended by Tetiana Lomakina, Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Barrier-Free Access, Vadym Svyrydenko, Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Rehabilitation of Combatants, Daryna Marchak, First Deputy Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine, Volodymyr Popereshniuk, co-founder of Nova Poshta, Massi Nayyem, Founder of Miller Law Firm, co-founder of the Human Rights Center “Principle”, Artur Mikhno, CEO of work. ua, Anatoliy Amelin – Director of Economic Programs at the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, Andriy Dligach – Ph. Sc. Chairman of Advanter Group, Vitaliy Melnyk – Vice President of UDP, Vlad Goldakovskiy – Founder of Goldakovskiy Group Architects, Oleksandr Kashchenko – Dean of the Faculty of Architecture of KNUBA, Anatoliy Davydov – Dean of the Faculty of Architecture of NAOMA, Borys Goldenstein – Founder and CEO of ZEZMAN HOLDING, Andriy Vavrysh, founder of SAGA Development, Mark Kestelboim, CEO of Well-Being contech, Budova, Sergey Samusev, development company ZV Development, Mark Marchenko, CEO of SENSAR Development, Igor Guda, founder of Creator-Bud, Igor Mazepa, CEO of Concorde Capital, and others.
The congress will also feature an analysis of the Ukrainian real estate market by Olga Okhrimenko, an expert of LUN.
Other representatives of the construction industry from all over Ukraine can also take part in the Ukrainian Construction Congress. Admission is free upon pre-registration on the organizer’s website, which reserves the right to refuse participation.
The full program and speakers, as well as the registration form, are available at https://www.ubc-ua.info/.
The curfew for the winter holidays in Kyiv will be in effect as usual – from 00:00 to 05:00, the Kyiv City Military Administration’s telegram channel reported on Sunday.
“There will be no mass events in Kyiv on Christmas and New Year’s Day – no fairs, no celebrations. Such a decision was made by the Kyiv Defense Council,” the message says.
At the same time, a Christmas tree will be installed on St. Sophia Square in the center of Kyiv at the expense of patrons. Installation work is scheduled to begin on Sunday, December 3.
“The opening will be on December 6, St. Nicholas Day. The Christmas tree will be installed exclusively at the expense of patrons – without spending budget funds on the arrangement of the Christmas tree and electricity,” the military administration said.
Kyiv has returned to the ranking of the most expensive cities to live in, ranking 132nd out of 173, according to a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
The report notes that in 2022, the Ukrainian capital was not included in the ranking due to Russian aggression, and in 2021 it ranked 118th. Due to the lack of data for 2022, prices in Kyiv were not included in the calculation of average inflation.
The World Cost of Living (WCOL) study was conducted by the EIU from August 14 to September 11, 2023, based on prices for the most commonly used goods and services. In the world’s largest cities, prices have risen by an average of 7.4% over the past year, in terms of local currencies. This is slightly slower than the 8.1% price increase in 2022, but significantly higher than the trends of 2017-2021.
Singapore and Zurich share the first and second places in terms of cost of living, while New York and Geneva take the third and fourth places. The top ten most expensive cities also include Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Paris, Copenhagen, Tel Aviv and San Francisco. Western Europe accounts for four of the top ten most expensive cities in the ranking, due to persistent inflation and rising food and clothing prices, along with the appreciation of the euro and the region’s currencies.
Damascus (Syria) remains the cheapest city in the world. The Russian cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg have seen the largest drops in their rankings – by 105 places to 142nd place and by 74 places to 147th place, respectively.
The EIU compares more than 400 price indicators for more than 200 products and services in 173 cities.
On Friday, December 1, special vehicles, emergency vehicles and bus service for passengers from the left bank to the right bank of the Podilsko-Voskresenskyi Bridge crossing were opened in Kyiv to ensure life support during martial law, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
“At the first stage, bus route No. 111 will operate here in the direction of the metro station “Square of Ukrainian Heroes” – metro station “Livoberezhna,” Klitschko wrote in his telegram channel.
He emphasized that the Podilsko-Voskresenskyi bridge crossing is the largest of the transport infrastructure facilities in Kyiv and Ukraine: its length is more than 10 km.
“A few years ago, we planned and promised to ensure passenger traffic as the first stage of the facility’s launch. And today, it has finally happened! To all the skeptics and those who tried to block the work at the facility, I will say one thing: now look for other reasons for your manipulations,” the mayor added.
