The draft law “On the Use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies” (No. 13638) could radically change the provision of medical services in the field of reproductive technologies and lead to Ukraine losing its status as the “reproductive hub of Europe.” It requires significant revision with the involvement of the professional expert community, according to experts surveyed by Interfax-Ukraine.
“According to various estimates, up to 40-60% of patients in large reproductive medicine clinics are foreigners (especially from the EU, the UK, the US, Canada, Israel, and China). If the law does not provide for transparent mechanisms for foreign patients, such as official medical visas or agreements between countries, Ukraine may lose its status as the “reproductive hub of Europe,” said Dmytro Biletsky, head of the assisted reproductive technology department at the Adonis Medical Gynecological Center (MGK) Adonis Medical Gynecological Center (MGK).
According to him, Ukraine is currently among the top 10 global destinations for reproductive technologies, thanks in particular to “affordable prices: an IVF cycle in Ukraine costs three to five times less than in most EU countries or the US,” the high level of specialists and technologies, the certification of many clinics according to international standards, and the fact that “Ukrainian legislation allows virtually all ART methods — donor eggs, sperm, embryos, IVF programs for married couples and single women.”
“In Ukraine, anonymous donation and the creation of embryos for storage are permitted, which is not acceptable everywhere,” he said.
Predicting the impact of the bill if it is passed, Biletsky expects that in the short term (one to two years), Ukraine may lose some of its patients for reproductive technology (ART) programs, although overall demand will remain high because IVF, donation, and embryo banking procedures will remain permitted, and Ukrainian clinics have an internationally recognized reputation and competitive prices.
However, he predicts that in the medium term (three to five years), “if the rules for foreigners remain strict (especially regarding embryo transportation, donation, and surrogacy), demand will decrease by 20-40%.”
At the same time, commenting on the impact of the bill’s proposed ban on embryo donation on the development of reproductive prospects in general, Biletsky noted that “the ban on embryo donation will result in some patients simply losing the opportunity to treat infertility, as well as an increase in the number of ‘unused’ embryos in clinics.”
“Currently, some couples voluntarily give their frozen embryos to others. If this is banned, embryos will either have to be stored (which is expensive) or destroyed. This raises the ethical question: ‘What to do with embryos that could give life?’” he said.
According to his estimates, donor embryo programs may account for up to 10-15% of all IVF procedures, so clinics specializing in “full cycles” (creation, donation, surrogacy) will lose a significant share of their clients.
“Many foreign patients came specifically for donor embryo programs — this was a unique Ukrainian advantage, because in many countries (for example, Germany and Italy) this is prohibited. The ban will mean the loss of one of the key areas of reproductive medicine. Ukraine is effectively losing one of the most humane mechanisms for helping infertile couples,“ he said.
For her part, Svitlana Shiyanova, head of assisted reproductive technologies at the Dobrobut medical network, also predicts that ”the adoption of this bill will lead to a sharp decline in international demand, as it contains two critical restrictive provisions: a ban on surrogacy services if one of the spouses is a citizen of a country where this method is prohibited, and a requirement that one of the spouses be a citizen of Ukraine (for surrogacy).”
“These provisions effectively close the international surrogacy market, which has brought significant investment to the medical sector. A sharp drop in international demand is expected,” she said.
In addition, Shiyanova noted that the ban on embryo donation provided for in the bill “is one of the most restrictive and controversial provisions of the bill,” which, also contradicts the principles of evidence-based medicine (European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, ESHRE) and takes away the last chance for the most vulnerable category of patients, forcing them to seek this service abroad.
“For clinics, this means excluding an important service from the list, which limits the ability to provide a full range of ART and comprehensive patient care,” she said.
According to Shiyanova, the following aspects of reproductive medicine currently require regulatory regulation: the definition of infertility, the determination of who is eligible for ART, the need to ensure the anonymity of donations, the regulation of compensation, as well as the lack of a clear mechanism for creating a single national ART registry and standardized performance monitoring.
As reported, representatives of the Ukrainian Association of Reproductive Medicine (UARM) believe that government bill No. 13683 “On the Use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies” will limit Ukrainians’ access to such technologies.
Tags: Government bill on reproductive technologies may lead to Ukraine losing its status as “Europe’s reproductive hub” – experts
The draft law “On the Use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies” (No. 13638) could radically change the provision of medical services in reproductive technologies and lead to Ukraine losing its status as the “reproductive hub of Europe,” It requires significant revision with the involvement of the professional expert community, according to experts surveyed by Interfax-Ukraine.
“According to various estimates, up to 40-60% of patients in large reproductive medicine clinics are foreigners (especially from the EU, the UK, the US, Canada, Israel, and China). If the law does not provide for transparent mechanisms for foreign patients, such as official medical visas or agreements between countries, Ukraine may lose its status as the “reproductive hub of Europe,” said Dmytro Biletsky, head of the assisted reproductive technology department at the Adonis Medical Gynecological Center (MGK) Adonis Medical Gynecological Center (MGK).
According to him, Ukraine is currently among the top 10 global destinations for reproductive technologies, thanks in particular to “affordable prices: an IVF cycle in Ukraine costs three to five times less than in most EU countries or the US,” the high level of specialists and technologies, the certification of many clinics according to international standards, and the fact that “Ukrainian legislation allows virtually all ART methods — donor eggs, sperm, embryos, IVF programs for married couples and single women.”
“In Ukraine, anonymous donation and the creation of embryos for storage are permitted, which is not acceptable everywhere,” he said.
Predicting the impact of the bill if it is passed, Biletsky expects that in the short term (one to two years), Ukraine may lose some of its patients for reproductive technology (ART) programs, although overall demand will remain high because IVF, donation, and embryo banking procedures will remain permitted, and Ukrainian clinics have an internationally recognized reputation and competitive prices.
However, he predicts that in the medium term (three to five years), “if the rules for foreigners remain strict (especially regarding embryo transport, donation, and surrogacy), demand will decrease by 20-40%.”
At the same time, commenting on the impact of the bill’s proposed ban on embryo donation on the development of reproductive prospects in general, Biletsky noted that “the ban on embryo donation will result in some patients simply losing the opportunity to treat infertility, as well as an increase in the number of ‘unused’ embryos in clinics.”
“Currently, some couples voluntarily give their frozen embryos to others. If this is banned, embryos will have to be either stored (which is expensive) or destroyed. This raises the ethical question: ‘What to do with embryos that could give life?’” he said.
According to his estimates, donor embryo programs may account for up to 10-15% of all IVF procedures, so clinics specializing in “full cycles” (creation, donation, surrogacy) will lose a significant share of their clients.
“Many foreign patients came specifically for donor embryo programs — this was a unique Ukrainian advantage, because in many countries (for example, Germany and Italy) this is prohibited. The ban will mean the loss of one of the key areas of reproductive medicine. Ukraine is effectively losing one of the most humane mechanisms for helping infertile couples,“ he said.
For her part, Svitlana Shiyanova, head of assisted reproductive technologies at the Dobrobut medical network, also predicts that ”the adoption of this bill will lead to a sharp decline in international demand, as it contains two critical restrictive provisions: a ban on surrogacy services if one of the spouses is a citizen of a country where this method is prohibited, and a requirement that one of the spouses be a citizen of Ukraine (for surrogacy).”
“These provisions effectively close the international surrogacy market, which has brought significant investment to the medical sector. A sharp drop in international demand is expected,” she said.
In addition, Shiyanova noted that the ban on embryo donation provided for in the draft law “is one of the most restrictive and controversial provisions of the draft law,” which, also contradicts the principles of evidence-based medicine (European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, ESHRE) and takes away the last chance for the most vulnerable category of patients, forcing them to seek this service abroad.
“For clinics, this means excluding an important service from the list, which limits the ability to provide a full range of ART and comprehensive patient care,” she said.
According to Shiyanova, the following aspects of reproductive medicine currently require regulatory regulation: the definition of infertility, the determination of who is eligible for ART, the need to ensure the anonymity of donations, the regulation of compensation, as well as the lack of a clear mechanism for creating a single national ART registry and standardized performance monitoring.
As reported, representatives of the Ukrainian Association of Reproductive Medicine (UARM) believe that government bill No. 13683 “On the Use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies” will limit Ukrainians’ access to such technologies.
ADONIS, Biletsky, BILL, reproductive, Shiyanov, TECHNOLOGIES
Business can cope with the problem of staff shortage in Ukraine by investing in technological products and process automation, says Ruslan Shostak, owner of Eva and Varus chains and president of TERWIN Corporation.
“I don’t see a big problem (with staff shortage). Yes, it exists, you can’t turn a blind eye to it, but according to statistics, not so many people left Ukraine. Our whole business was inefficient in terms of human resource utilization, which made us uncompetitive with similar businesses in Europe and the world. But there is one solution for this: money. We don’t have money to reconstruct our production facilities and enterprises. If we have money, software products, new robotic equipment, we will be able to solve this issue,” Shostak told Business Wisdom Summit in Kyiv on Wednesday.
According to Shostak, despite a slight outflow of customers, his business is showing growth: last year’s growth was almost 100% in online and 30% in retail. In addition, new logistics hubs are being built in Kyiv, Lviv, and Dnipro.
Shostak noted, while in Ukraine business development is slowed down due to the war and difficult economic situation, global business is undergoing changes and using new opportunities, including artificial intelligence.
“Now we are focusing on geopolitics, but in the next 20 years we will face global economic problems, change of specialties, professions. It is artificial intelligence that is driving the most powerful changes right now,” Shostak believes.
As reported, in October 2023, 17 companies managed by Shostak, which collectively employ 30 thousand people, merged into TERWIN (TERWIN). We are talking about Omega LLC, Rush, Tervin Group, Tixid, Tavria Hub, Instant, Formsite, Digamma, Milton Group, Saltora Plus, Firma Ariant, New Construction 2017, Altair D, Apex N, Aspect D, Lattero, Charitable Foundation Ruslan Shostak BU. The total assets of the corporation are estimated at $1.6 billion. The combined revenue of the companies reached $2 billion in the pre-war period and was expected to reach $1.7 billion in 2023.
In November 2023, Shostak and UkraineInvest CEO Serhiy Tsivkach signed a memorandum on further support of the project for the construction of logistics hubs in four regions of Ukraine (Odessa, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv) with a total investment of more than $500 million.
BUSINESS, INVESTMENTS, staff shortage, TECHNOLOGIES, TERWIN Corporation, UKRAINE
Ukraine can become a better supplier of raw materials and components for future technologies for Europe than China, Vice-President of the European Commission for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight Maroš Šefčovič has said.
“I think you can do better than China. I understand the President, the Prime Minister and your business leaders who want to ensure that Ukraine builds an entire vertically integrated value chain around critical raw materials and that as much value added as possible remains in Ukraine […] Ukraine clearly could be the key supplier of raw materials and components for these future technologies for Europe,” Šefčovič said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
Acting Energy Minister Olha Buslavets intends to sign in Germany a memorandum on a new energy partnership, providing for the development of hydrogen technologies in Ukraine, said chairman of the Ukrainian Hydrogen Council Association Oleksandr Repkin.
“On August 25-27, head of the Ministry of Energy Olha Buslavets will visit Germany, where it is planned to sign a memorandum on a new energy partnership, of which hydrogen energy is a part. Ukraine is going there to propose certain pilot projects with a scale of 100 MW, similar to the project being implemented in Morocco – a solar-hydrogen plant with a capacity of 100 MW,”Repkin said during an online discussion on the prospects for the development of hydrogen energy in Ukraine, organized by the energy committee of the Ukrainian Venture Capital Association on Tuesday.
He said Germany considered that it would not have enough of its own resources for the production of renewable hydrogen, therefore it considers Ukraine as a partner for obtaining this resource.
He also announced on August 14 the first meeting of the expert working group under the Ministry of Energy under his leadership, at which, in particular, the issue of adapting Ukraine’s energy strategy regarding hydrogen technologies will be considered.
“We are starting concrete steps to keep up with the EU countries,” Repkin said.
He also noted that according to the European Hydrogen Strategy, recently presented by the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, Europe regards Ukraine as a partner, but it is necessary to develop the internal hydrogen market for this.
“In Europe, they see us as a 10GW partner. What does this mean? There is such an opportunity, and they will support us. But there is one thing, which is not spelled out, but it is said. They will support only those countries that create an internal hydrogen market in their country. “Timmermans made it clear: friends, we are ready to help you with 7.5 GW so that you create and import them, but for 2.5 GW you must create your own market,” Repkin said, noting that by the end of 2023, “We are expected to half a million tonnes of import of renewable hydrogen, and in the future – 3 million tonnes annually.”
According to him, in order to enter the European market in Ukraine, conditions must be provided, in particular for the use of hydrogen transport, there must also be the use of hydrogen in the metallurgical and chemical industries.
He said that in Ukraine there is already an example of the construction of the first hydrogen filling station in partnership with the Danes.
“Entrepreneurs from Kharkiv have joined our association. Their idea is to convert all public transport to hydrogen,” said the head of the association.
At the same time, he predicted that the development of hydrogen technologies in the country will proceed more actively than expected.
As reported, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Ukraine can become a reliable supplier of hydrogen to the EU, in particular to Germany.
In July, the European Union adopted a strategy for the introduction of renewable hydrogen. It involves the addition of an integrated energy system with a massive industrial production of renewable hydrogen. It can serve as a source of energy where the use of electricity is difficult. In the future, it will be produced mainly using wind and solar energy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said about his vision of how to make Ukraine the really rich country and called on business to invest money, time and ideas in Ukraine.
“We are carefully studying the experience of countries that are successful. We understand that they, first of all, invested in education, technology and infrastructure. Ukraine will do the same. Therefore, the role of the state in the economy in the next five years will be reduced to three things: do not interfere business; to build an excellent infrastructure for business and create conditions for doing business in Ukraine was simply convenient; third, focus on education, science and technology,” he said at a meeting with the business community in Kyiv.
Zelensky said that he was not used to catching up, therefore he is looking for creative breakthrough and innovative solutions for Ukraine with his team, and will tell more about them in the near future.
The president said that “to turn from a poor country into a middle-income country is not so difficult.” “The recipes are simple, success stories are known. All these is a mandatory program for us, and we will do it in the next five years,” he said.
At the same time, Zelensky is convinced that Ukraine needs to become a “truly rich country.”
“According to the World Bank, in 1960 there were 101 countries that are developing, and only 13 of them were able to become developed rich countries. In addition, most of them did it at the expense of natural resources. Economists have a special term: “middle income trap.” Its essence is very simple: poor countries compete with cheap labor. As soon as a country receives an average level of income, competitive advantages disappear and the country ceases to develop rapidly. According to this scenario, the country almost never becomes rich, the highest level is “medium,” he explained.
“Half a year ago I decided to invest the most precious thing I have – my time – in Ukraine. I urge you to do the same: invest time, money, ideas in Ukraine. Let’s change Ukraine together!” Zelensky said, addressing business at the end of his speech.
BUSINESS, EDUCATION, INVEST, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGIES, ZELENSKY
The system implementation of BIM (Building Information Modeling) in the construction industry of Ukraine could help reduce the cost of building and operating facilities by up to 33%, Olena Shuliak, a member of the board of the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO), the co-owner of Midland Development Ukraine, has stated. “The use of BIM for design, construction and operation of industrial, infrastructural, civil construction objects has become a de facto mandatory practice in the developed countries. As international practice shows, the use of BIM allows optimizing construction terms by 20%, increasing control over expenses by 30% and more, reducing construction costs by 20%, and in some cases up to 33%,” the expert believes.
Shuliak explained BIM assumes the collection and complex processing during the design process of all architectural, design, technological, economic and other information about the building, when the building and everything related to it are considered as a single object.
According to her, BIM allows exporting design services of Ukrainian companies abroad, and in future the export of these services could grow by 1.5-2 times.
“Foreign investors entering or planning to work in the Ukrainian market are interested in a fast and high-quality project implementation with transparent control over all processes. BIM could become a serious competitive advantage for domestic
BIM, CONSTRUCTION, INDUSTRY, OPERATING FACILITIES, TECHNOLOGIES
