Preparation of new framework projects “Lifting up Education And Results in Times of Need” (LEARN) and “Investing in Social Protection for Inclusion, Sustainability and Efficiency” (INSPIRE) was discussed by the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine and representatives of the World Bank on August 29.
According to the Ministry of Finance on its website on Wednesday, the estimated cost of these projects is $500 million and $1.2 billion, respectively.
It is specified that also in the center of attention was a new project “Strengthening the health care system and preservation of life” (Heal Ukraine), announced earlier this year in the amount of EUR 368 million.
The Ministry of Finance reminded that the projects “Improvement of Higher Education in Ukraine for Results” in the amount of $200 million and “Modernization of the System of Social Support of the Population of Ukraine” in the amount of $750 million are currently being implemented.
It is indicated that at the meeting Deputy Minister of Finance Roman Yermolichev noted the importance for Ukraine to implement measures aimed at the formation of human capital, in particular the development of health care, education and social protection.
“For us now one of the main challenges is to work out effective measures and incentives for our citizens to return to Ukraine and invest their capital in the development and restoration of the state. In addition, we also have to work out the necessary solutions to make school education qualitative and effective for children,” he said.
In his opinion, the new joint LEARN project will provide the urgent needs for the reconstruction of the education sector in Ukraine.
The deputy minister added that special attention was paid to the continuation of the New Ukrainian School reform.
The USAID AGRO Program announced the launch of a grant program to co-finance 15 flour vitaminization projects with a total budget of up to UAH 57 million to make Ukrainian products competitive and in demand in new international markets, expand the range of products, and increase processing volumes.
According to the report, fortification (enrichment) of flour with vitamins and trace elements to improve public health in the world has already become a common practice, implemented in more than 80 countries. International organizations speak out in favor of vitaminized flour and purchase it for humanitarian programs, in particular and to provide food for countries in Africa and Asia.
“In the context of war and limited exports, low grain prices, the production of vitaminized flour will help improve distribution channels and markets, increase access of micro, small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises (MSMEs) – grain producers to flour mills and establish long-term cooperation,” the donor organization’s press office wrote on Facebook.
Those wishing to participate in the grant program have until August 21 to register for a pre-application online workshop to be held on August 22. The deadline for applications (technical proposal, budget and supporting documents) is September 17.
Chervonograd Lviv region has developed a project of industrial park to attract investors in the development of new businesses that could replace the coal mines located in the community, to be closed as part of the transformation of coal regions, said Mayor Andriy Zalivskyy.
“We have worked out for potential investors a project of industrial park on 80 hectares plus there is 20 hectares of territories of mines themselves. In addition, we have found more than 110 hectares of land that will not be used in agriculture and can go under the SES location,” he said during a discussion on Ukraine’s transition from coal to clean energy at the conference on reconstruction in London (URC2023), scheduled for June 21-22.
Calling on investors to develop new businesses, he stressed that “the city is open to cooperation and investment, ready to give land on favorable terms, since the industrial park allows it.”
He also called the opening of a factory for the production of solar panels and a factory for the production of heat pumps “a small dream”. At the same time, Zalivsky pointed out that the production of related goods for maintenance of wind energy could also be interesting for investors, because, according to him, “it is consumables, which will be very important”. At the same time, he noted that next year two companies have promised to start building two wind power plants in the community.
“Also on the territory of one of the mines we are planning a plant for processing of solid waste, as there is a project, and it is possible to produce biogas and biomethane,” – said the mayor.
He has underlined, that in case of opening of productions the engineering and technical personnel of mines could be used and “we would retain these people”, and in general, the community has a large resource of labor force.
At the same time, he pointed out that the city is already working on training new personnel in educational institutions.
“Last year we started retraining or training young people in new specialties. We replaced one miner’s specialty with a specialty in solar panel repair. A week later we recruited a whole group. This year we also want to open new specialties, connected with alternative sources”, – told the mayor.
In addition, according to him, the city together with the GIZ Ukraine (German Society for International Cooperation), is working on the implementation of the Innovation Hub.
He stressed that people are already aware of the reality of the closure of mines, but they will be easier to move to another production than to leave their homes, so they need to provide jobs and infrastructure for life and recreation.
“Out of 12 mines in the community, there are six left, employing more than 6.5 thousand people. Of these, 1,500 are at war. Many have died. And we have to take care of their families if these enterprises close. Thank you to the Ministry of Energy and GIZ, who chose us and help us implement this project. We are faced with the task of deciding what to replace the mines with,” the mayor of Chervonograd described the situation.
He noted that in the strategy of the city it is called the industrial heart of the Lviv region, because “we are the only ones who choose industry as the basis for the development of its territory.
As it was reported, Chervonohrad was selected to implement a pilot project to transform coal regions of Ukraine as part of the project “Supporting Structural Change in Coal Regions of Ukraine” funded by the German government and implemented by GIZ Ukraine (German Society for International Cooperation, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit).
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Energy announced that Ukraine would create a fund for the transformation of coal regions with the provision of financial contributions to it for the implementation of projects, in particular on the physical closure of coal mines.
Industrial investors are looking for brownfield projects (on the former industrial zones) and are ready to invest in Ukraine now, said the managing partner of CBRE Ukraine Radomir Turcan during the architectural and construction business forum “Rebuilding the country. A Strategy for Change for Architects, Developers and Developers.”
“Active hostilities in the east of the country forced industrial businesses to leave the war zone and move to safer regions of western and central Ukraine. This has given a boost to the development of industrial real estate and the creation of new industrial parks in the region, and this trend will grow in the next three to five years,” he said.
According to the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, during 2022 800 enterprises were relocated to safer regions of the country, 623 of which have already resumed work in the new place. Most of the enterprises relocated to Lviv (24%), Transcarpathian (14.5%), Chernivtsi (9.8%), Ivano-Frankivsk (8.3%), Khmelnytsky (7.3%), Ternopil (6.3%) regions.
“Activation of demand for industrial plots and objects is especially noticeable in the western regions. In addition, we note the potential demand from international investors who are ready to develop industrial production in Ukraine, which will work for the EU market,” – said Tsurkan.
Headquartered in Los Angeles (USA), CBRE is the world’s largest commercial real estate consulting and investment firm, with revenues of $30.8 billion in 2022 and is listed by Fortune as one of the world’s 500 largest companies.
The shares of CBRE Group Inc. are traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
CBRE’s Ukrainian office opened in January 2008, is part of the company’s affiliated network.
OKKO Group (OKKO Group) plans to start practical implementation of an agro-processing plant expansion project and a renewable “green” energy project worth about $120 million and $200 million respectively in western Ukraine in the fall of 2023, CEO Vasyl Danilyak said.
“We have not abandoned the large projects with large investments that we had previously planned. We are continuing them. We want to start a big agro-processing project this fall,” – he said in “Business Dialogue” in Kiev on Thursday, organized by NV Media Holding.
Danylyak specified that in 2021-2022 this agrarian project, which is directly related to the business of the group, had been working with consultants, Ukrainian and international projectors, and it has not yet required investment.
CEO specified that geographically the enterprise is located in Ternopil region, where “OKKO” previously had a huge production site and managed to transform it for this project.
According to him, the renewable “green” energy project was bought from partners at the Ready To Build stage.
“Geographical “stops” for investments we have set ourselves, geographical safety we want to get,” Danilyak explained the choice of western Ukraine for the implementation of these projects.
OKKO Group includes more than 10 diversified businesses in manufacturing, trade, construction, insurance, services and other services. The agricultural business unit “OKKO-Agrotrade” and the concern “Khlibprom” work in the sphere of agriculture. The flagship company of the group is Concern Galnaftogaz, which operates one of the largest petrol filling networks in Ukraine under the brand “OKKO”.
The majority shareholder of the company is Vitaliy Antonov. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is among the minority shareholders.
Ukraine has invited French utility services operator Suez to join the country’s infrastructure rehabilitation projects.
According to the Ministry of Economy, First Vice Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko during the meeting with the leadership of the French company discussed opportunities for Suez to participate in the restoration and construction of water supply and wastewater treatment plants, construction of waste treatment plants, as well as restoration of ecological state of lands, water resources and environmental protection.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Economy, the French company is interested in cooperation including within the framework of state-private partnership mechanism.
“Russian aggression has led to significant destruction of Ukraine’s civil infrastructure. There are big problems with water supply in the liberated territories, in the regions where active hostilities took place. This is especially true for the south and east of Ukraine. The amount of work is extremely large, but we will restore everything and hope for Suez’s participation in this work,” Sviridenko noted.
According to her, Ukraine is also interested in the experience and capabilities of the company in the field of waste management.
“Ukraine will develop a green economy on the key principles of the EU. And we strive to ensure that the most advanced technologies existing in the world will be implemented in our country”, – she added.
