A study of the prospects for EU rail links with Ukraine and Moldova provides a basis for launching a project to use European gauge railway gauges on key lines, the European Commission (EC) has said.
The study was published on Tuesday by the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
“The construction of the first European rail gauge in Ukraine and Moldova, which will connect their railroads with Poland and Romania, will bring these countries closer to the EU single market. With this study, we are laying the groundwork for long-term solutions, supporting Ukraine in its trade and recovery,” said Adina Velian, EC Member for Transport.
The conformity of the railroad lines of Ukraine and Moldova to the European standard of gauge, she said, will also improve conditions for citizens of these countries to travel to Europe.
The study suggests that the European gauge on the lines to Lviv and Chisinau should be implemented “as a first step to improve communication between Poland and Ukraine, as well as between Romania and Moldova”.
The study also assesses how the new European standard gauge lines will interact with the rest of the rail network in these countries, where broad gauge will continue to be used, the EC communiqué said.
Ministry of Health has dismissed the rector of the Lviv National Medical University Boris Zimenkovsky.
According to the Ministry of Health, Orest Chemeris, vice-rector for scientific and pedagogical (medical) work of the university, doctor of medical sciences in surgery, became the acting rector.
“In the near future, the new acting rector is entrusted with the preparation and conduct of the competition to fill the vacant position of rector of the Lviv NMU. Also among the priorities in the post: the development of the concept of the University Hospital and the preparation of the medical institution for the conclusion of contracts for medical services to the population under the Program of medical guarantees”, – noted the department.
In addition, the Ministry of Health said that among the priorities will be to ensure coordination of the implementation of the construction of a new rehabilitation center for reconstructive surgery. The center project is implemented within the framework of an agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of Austria on economic cooperation on the basis of the First Medical Association in Lviv.
As it was reported, at the end of June the Ministry of Healthcare formed a commission for evaluation of the situation that has developed at Lviv National Medical University during the assignment of students for internship. The commission considered “numerous complaints of students of this university concerning the procedure of allocation to internship in general”.
Earlier, students of the Lviv National University published on social networks information about the problems during the placement of students in internships, as well as video recordings of the June 19 meeting of the commission with the statements of the university administration, which students described as inappropriate.
Industrial park “Mostyskiy Dry Port” (Lviv region) is planning to invest EUR3 mln in logistics and communications development by the end of the year. For these purposes it has leased 35 ha of land near the junction of railway tracks near the railway station “Mostyska-1”, project manager Viktor Dovgan said.
“We understand that the economic integration of Ukraine and the European Union will deepen. (…) As it does not sound cynical given the recent restrictions on imports from Ukraine to Poland, but we believe that Poland is a strategic partner. Trade, logistical disputes will arise. But, for this reason they are partners, to solve them quickly, as it happened with transit, “- Dovgan explained the choice of the location of the hub at the conference organized by UkraineInvest.
According to him, “Mostyskiy dry port” will be a combination of dry port and industrial park. Its potential residents should be relocated enterprises from the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, focused on exports to the EU.
“The newly built logistics hub will allow them to produce, pack, bottle and export their goods”, – said Dovgan.
Two major residents have already expressed their interest in the project. The first of them – a major oil trader – will soon begin building tanks for the transshipment of petroleum products. The second resident, according to the signed preliminary agreement, will be an agricultural holding, which will export agricultural products. Accordingly, it will build storage silos.
Currently, the company is looking for a third resident, for the needs of which it is ready to build both production and open storage of coal and ore. The third cluster will focus on the needs of the client, the project manager explained.
According to Dougan, the industrial park has drawn up a long-term lease for 35 hectares of industrial land. The company plans to purchase it from the local community next year, subject to the loading capacity of 50%.
By the end of 2023, EUR3 million will be invested in the construction of the hub, which will be used to lengthen the broad and narrow branches of the railroad tracks.
“The land is suitable for the station, but we understand that we need to separate the branches of the wide and narrow track. From the highway M11 (it is planned) to take the road, level it, conduct excavation work; to bring in at the first stage 5 MW of electricity, as well as provide more necessary communications for the residents, “- said Dovgan.
He added that the hub will prepare the site for construction with all the communications, and residents themselves will build tanks for diesel, silos for grain or warehouses for containers.
NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine has refused to implement the UAH 1 billion project to build the first powerful biofuel CHP in Lviv that was launched when Yuri Vitrenko was in charge of the company, Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovoy said.
“Unfortunately, we have not found the support of “Naftogaz” in the implementation of this project, so now the process is suspended. We are directing all our energy, in particular, to the construction of a waste recycling plant,” he told Energoreform correspondent on the sidelines of the high-level meeting “Agreement of Mayors in Ukraine: Planning Sustainable Development Together” in Lviv on Wednesday.
At the same time, Sadovy noted that no money was allocated from the city budget for the CHP construction project. “It was an initiative of the former head of Naftogaz (Yuriy Vitrenko – ER), but today the management of the company has a different opinion regarding such projects in Ukraine,” the Lviv mayor explained.
At the same time, he pointed out that among other things there is a waste composting station in Lviv, and other eco-projects aimed at reducing CO2 emissions are implemented.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, in September 2022, the Naftogaz of Ukraine jointly with the Lviv City Council launched a project to construct a combined heat and power plant on wood chips, which was planned to be put into operation by February 2023.
As Vitrenko said then, the cost of the project for the company will cost approximately UAH 1 billion.
Sadovaya, in turn, noted that for the city it will be the first powerful CHP plant on alternative fuel, which will cover about a quarter of its needs in heat. “We have planned such a project with the EBRD for a long time, but according to their classical procedures we could start it only next year. But Russian aggression has so activated the thought process that we came to agreements with Naftogaz,” he explained.
Similar projects were planned in other cities: under Vitrenko, Naftogaz announced its intention to build at least nine combined heat and power plants in eight regions of Ukraine with a total capacity of 250 MW of thermal energy and 52 MW of electrical energy.
According to Sadovyy, the construction of a waste processing plant in Lviv is planned to be completed by the end of this year. The works are 25% completed.
“Covenant of Mayors in Ukraine: planning sustainable development together” is the biggest movement in the world concerning climate and energy, which started in the European Union in 2008. Now the initiative unites 11 thousand local and regional authorities in 55 countries of the world. For today almost 300 Ukrainian communities have joined the climate movement. They have developed 180 action plans aimed at solving energy and climate problems. Signatories of the agreement in Ukraine have pledged to reduce CO2 emissions by more than 25 million tons per year.
Construction of a waste processing plant in Lviv is planned to be completed by the end of this year, the construction work is 25% complete, said Mayor Andriy Sadovoy.
“Inspected the construction of the waste processing plant. Now 100% of design and 25% of construction works are already done. By the end of the year we plan to finish the construction. The next stage – installation of equipment”, – the mayor wrote in Facebook on Monday.
He reminded that the construction is being done by a Polish company Control Process S.A., which has experience of similar works. Capacity of the plant will amount to 250 thousand tons per year.
In addition, the reclamation of the Gribovichi landfill continues, more than 90% of the work has already been completed, Sadovaya added.
As reported, on June 1, 2018, the Lviv City Council and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development signed an agreement for a total amount of EUR35 million intended for the construction of a waste recycling plant and reclamation of the Grybovychi landfill.
More than 70% of construction sites in Kiev, Lviv and Odessa continue to work, prices for the year increased in the capital by 36.1%, in Odessa by 48.4%, in Lviv by 82.7%, said the founder of M4U Vladimir Danilenko to the agency “Interfax-Ukraine”.
“During the year of war in Ukraine, real estate markets in most major cities continued to grow. The cost per square meter rose during the year in line with rising production costs, the devaluation of the hryvnia and the distance from the front line. In October 2022 the tendency has changed: the prices in Lviv continue to grow, in Kiev and Odessa have stabilized”, – said Danylenko.
According to M4U, the number of active construction in the capital today is 83.7% of the beginning of February 2022 – 185 of 221 housing estates.
At the beginning of February 2023 the average price per square meter in new buildings in Kiev was 61 thousand 234 UAH. This is 36.1% higher than it was before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but 1.2% lower than in January. Prices were rising most actively in the summer, when most sales departments resumed their work and when the official dollar exchange rate went up. From June to September the average cost per square meter increased by 26.7%.
“Today the pace of construction work is much lower than before the war, so it does not make sense and possible for developers to often recalculate the cost of construction. Market factors for price increases are also absent,” Danilenko explains.
According to the study of M4U, the largest increase in the cost per square meter was noted in the segments of elite (+46.1%) and economy (+44.3%). The price increase in popular among buyers classes of comfort and business was 35.5% and 34.4%, respectively.
At the beginning of February 2023 the majority of real estate offers are concentrated in the price range from 34 to 54 thousand UAH/sq. m, comfort class objects prevail among them.
Traditionally the biggest number of actively built and sold new buildings, as well as apartment offers, is in Holosiivskyi district of Kiev. More than a half of them (16 out of 29 Residential Complexes) are the objects of comfort class. The second largest volume of construction is in Pechersk district, where 15 out of 26 housing estates are positioned in business class, the rest – the elite. In Shevchenkivskyi district of Kiev 24 residential complexes are under construction, most of which belong to business class. Fewer new homes are being built in Obolonskyi (11 LC) and Desnianskyi (10 LC) districts. At the same time the supply of new apartments in Desniansky district is twice as much as in Obolonsky, there is more housing in the economy class housing.
In the Kiev region at the beginning of February 2023, 204 out of 263 construction sites resumed their work a year ago (77.5%). A square meter in the suburbs of the capital on average has risen by 34.1%, to 31 844 UAH. As in the capital, the most active price increase occurred in summer, from October to February prices remained practically unchanged.
In contrast to the capital, the prices for new buildings of the comfort class rose more substantially – by 33%, to 29,992 UAH. Apartments in new buildings of economy and business classes rose in price by 30% and 30.1%, respectively. The price increase in objects, positioned in the elite class, was 28%.
Most proposals of the capital region belong to comfort and business classes, price range is 26-32 thousand UAH.
Most of the objects are built and sold in Irpen (41 LC), Sofievskaya Borschagivka (17 LC), Brovary, Gostomel (13 LC) and Bucha (12 LC). By volume of apartments for sale are leaders in Sofievskaya Borschagivka and Brovary, a few less proposals in Kryukivschyna, Irpen, Bucha.
In Lviv and the Lviv region the number of new buildings in active construction and sales is now the same as it was before the Russian invasion – 218, during the year this figure has changed slightly.
The average price per square meter for the year increased by 82.7%, to 45 706 UAH.
The majority of objects in Lviv are in the price range from 24 to 34 thousand UAH, in the structure of supply the comfort class dominates.
Thus, according to the study of M4U, the greatest price dynamics is observed in the business class, where the cost per square meter for the year increased more than twice, by 109%. In the economy segment, prices rose by 66.7%, comfort by 60.3%, and elite by 58.7%.
The largest amount of apartments in new buildings are in Shevchenkivskyi (35 LCD) and Sikhivskyi (32 LCD) areas.
In Odessa and the region a square meter in new buildings during the year of war increased by an average of 48.4%. Here are active 131 out of 180 construction sites before the war (72.8%).
Prices, like in other regions, were rising during the summer, in October the growth stopped, and in December there is even a decrease in prices, an average of 2.3% for two months.
Over the year a square meter more expensive in the segments of economy and elite – 59% and 57%, respectively. The average price increase in new buildings in the comfort class was 46.1%.
“The most interesting dynamics is in the business class: during the year the cost per square meter increased by an average of 39.5%, but it is in this class we observe the largest price decrease during September 2022 – February 2023, which was 5.1%,” – said Danylenko.
The majority of proposals in Odessa new buildings are in comfort and business segments in the price range of 24-38 thousand UAH.
The leader by the number of new buildings is Primorsky district, where now the apartments are sold in 30 residential complexes, of which 16 are positioned in the elite class. In Kievsky district 25 Residential Complexes are under active construction, 12 of which belong to comfort class.
Founded in February 2020, Ukrainian proptech company M4U specializes in the development and implementation of complex intelligent solutions in real estate development.
