The countries contributing to the International Cooperation Account for Chernobyl have announced the allocation of about EUR7 million for the development of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukrainian Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Svitlana Hrynchuk said on Facebook.
“Canada has announced its plans to transfer EUR 5 million from the fund that was recently closed in Russia. The European Commission is adding EUR 1.7 million to the EUR 5 million that was previously provided. Belgium’s contribution will also be added. “The meeting adopted important decisions, namely the creation of a Project Management Group for more effective implementation of grant agreements, and agreed on the direction of work on dismantling unstable structures of the Shelter,” the Minister said about the results of the meeting of the Assembly of Account Holders organized by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
She clarified that the depositors’ funds will be used to restore the equipment of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant destroyed and damaged during the Russian occupation.
Hrynchuk reminded that these are not the first contributions to the account. Earlier, Ukraine has already received more than EUR 26 million from 18 contributing countries.
The Minister assured that work on the restoration of the Chornobyl zone will continue. Thus, on June 5, the law of Ukraine on ratification of the Framework Agreement between Ukraine and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on the operation of the International Cooperation Account for Chornobyl came into force. In addition, Ukraine has a wide range of opportunities for partnership in nuclear safety. Plans for 2025 include signing new grant agreements and implementing joint projects.
A large-scale post-war program to rebuild Ukraine’s infrastructure should be based on FIDIC contracts, says Mykola Tymofeev, CEO of Ukraine’s largest infrastructure construction company, Avtomagistral-Pivden.
“International donors prefer FIDIC contracts because they provide for a clear division of responsibilities between the client and the contractor, prevention of corruption risks, transparent dispute resolution practices, and professional arbitration. The investor is confident that the financed contract will be implemented on time – there will be no legal conflicts or lengthy litigation,” he said during the FIDIC Users Conference in London.
FIDIC is the largest international organization in the field of construction consulting, which unites more than a million practicing consulting engineers in 104 countries. The main goal of FIDIC is to regulate the relationship between the client and the construction contractor through standard forms of contracts. Infrastructure construction contracts financed by the World Bank, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are executed under FIDIC model contracts.
The main topics of the conference in London included new practices for appointing dispute resolution boards, the use of AI technologies for tender preparation and project management, and reducing carbon emissions in construction projects. The event also included the awarding of the winners of the FIDIC Contract Users’ Awards 2024.
According to Mykola Tymofeev, Avtomagistral-Pivden is the only contractor from Ukraine invited to the conference. More than a decade ago, Avtomagistral-Pivden representatives became the first Ukrainian certified FIDIC consulting engineers. Currently, there are more than 20 such engineers in the company. FIDIC membership requires compliance with the FIDIC Charter on the norms of professional ethics and behavior of consulting engineers.
“The fact that we were invited to the conference is further evidence of the international recognition of our company, confirmation of the high professional level of our consulting engineers. “Avtomagistral-Pivden works under FIDIC contracts both in other countries and on international projects in Ukraine. But we are ready to implement all Ukrainian infrastructure projects under the same FIDIC rules to stop pressure and interference in our work from law enforcement agencies that do not exist in any other European country once and for all,” Tymofeev summarized.
He also noted that almost all of the experts with whom he spoke at the conference hope that next year our country will be able to launch a large-scale recovery program with international support. “Which, of course, should be based on FIDIC contracts,” Timofeev said.
Avtomagistral-Pivden LLC has been on the market since 2004. It designs and builds highways, bridges, interchanges, airfield complexes, and hydraulic structures. The company’s owner is listed in Opendatabot as Oleksandr Boyko. According to the financial results for 2023, the company’s net profit amounted to UAH 624.9 million, and revenue was UAH 8.215 billion.
During the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin, Ukrhydroenergo and the international corporation AECOM signed a memorandum of cooperation in the implementation of projects aimed at restoring and reconstructing hydropower facilities.
According to the website of the operator of Ukrainian hydroelectric power plants and pumped storage plants on Tuesday, AECOM will act as a technical consultant for the restoration of Ukraine’s hydropower infrastructure.
“AECOM has many years of professional experience in the development, design and reconstruction of hydropower facilities and dams around the world. The signing of the Memorandum and our cooperation will be another important step in the restoration of the damaged Ukrainian energy infrastructure in general, and hydropower generation in particular,” said Ihor Syrota, CEO of Ukrhydroenergo, as quoted in the company’s statement.
According to him, the signing of the memorandum will also help create incentives and guarantees at the state level to attract investment and innovative technologies in the energy sector.
“We are proud to cooperate with Ukrhydroenergo, and we are strengthening our role in supporting the restoration of Ukraine’s critical infrastructure,” AECOM CEO Troy Rudd said, as quoted by the press service of Ukrhydroenergo.
AECOM, hydropower generation, MEMORANDUM, RESTORATION, UKRHYDROENERGO
An agreement was signed between Italy and UNESCO, according to which Italy will contribute EUR 500,000 to carry out priority restoration work in the Transfiguration Cathedral, the Odesa mayor’s office reported on Friday.
It is also reported that an Italian government delegation chaired by the Special Envoy for Restoring and Strengthening the Resilience of Ukraine, Davide La Cecilia, is in Odesa on an official visit.
In October 2023, Italy took patronage over the restoration of Odesa and began active cooperation with UNESCO on this matter. La Cecilia noted that with the beginning of Italy’s presidency of the G7, from January 1, 2024, the issue of the restoration of Ukraine was also included in the priorities of the G7.
UNESCO Coordinator in Ukraine Chiara Dezzi Bardeschi presented the main areas of cooperation, including the urgent stabilization of damaged monuments and the creation of a Master Plan for the management of cultural heritage sites. Also in the future – the development of recommendations and protocols for the protection and development of Odesa in accordance with the principles of sustainable development.
It is planned to sign a trilateral Memorandum of Cooperation on the restoration of Odesa (Italy – Ukraine – UNESCO), as well as separately between Italy and Ukraine, where areas of cooperation will be outlined.
Earlier it was reported that Odesa authorities warned about the danger of further destruction of the Transfiguration Cathedral, which suffered from a Russian missile attack on the city on July 23, 2023, and on the night of November 11 last year was flooded after heavy rain.
Canada will provide expert support on social and economic recovery to 19 Ukrainian communities under the Community-Led Inclusive Recovery (CLIR) initiative, the press service of the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure said.
“The assistance of the CLIR initiative will allow communities to better understand the priorities of recovery, get the necessary knowledge and tools to develop effective inclusive recovery projects taking into account the needs of all groups of residents,” the press release quoted Deputy Prime Minister for Recovery – Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov as saying.
Communities in Kyiv region (Baryshevka, Glevakha, Boyarka, Velyka Dymyrka), as well as in Dnipropetrovsk region (Sofiyivska, Pershotravenska, Apostolivska, Zelenodolska) have been selected to participate in the program, Nikolaev (Bashtanka, Berezneguvatoe), Odessa (Shabovka, Belgorod-Dnestrovska), Chernigov (Kholmska, Korpska, Menska), Donetsk and Kharkiv (Bliznyukivska, Saventsy, Balakleya) oblasts.
The experts will provide the selected communities with support in strategic management and planning, building partnerships with international organizations and attracting external investments, developing social services, implementing sustainable development principles, and developing recovery plans and strategies.
The CLIR initiative is implemented by the SURGe Project, an international technical assistance project “Supporting Government Reforms in Ukraine” funded by the Government of Canada.
SURGe is a project on inclusive governance in Ukraine, implemented by Alinea International and funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Canada.
Kyivstar specialists and our partners have done everything possible to restore the network from the consequences of an unprecedented cyberattack for the global telecom.
As of 18.00 on 13.12.2023, our specialists have started to restore voice communication throughout Ukraine. The restoration of services will be gradual, so short-term difficulties are still possible until the end of the day. In this case, we recommend that subscribers restart their phones and disable the VoLTE service in the phone settings.
Currently, the company’s specialists are working to restore data and SMS services and we hope that they will also be restored within a day.
After the network is fully restored and stabilized, Kyivstar will start preparing and providing compensation to all subscribers and corporate clients who could not use the company’s services due to the hacker attack.
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