Biosphere Corporation has noted a sharp increase in demand from European countries for the TM Smile antibacterial wipes it produces in the context of the rapid expansion of the coronavirus epidemic, the corporation told Interfax-Ukraine.
“The increase in demand for antibacterial wipes is understandable: it’s easier to protect yourself from any virus than to cure. Observing the EU trends, we are ready for the predicted surge in consumer activity in Ukraine, especially with regard to the demand for Smile Antibacterial wipes with alcohol,” head of business product line Hygiene of Biosphere Corporation Oleksandr Lavrov said.
According to the corporation, the demand has grown seven times in Poland, 10 times in Bulgaria, three times in Lithuania and two times in Estonia.
The aviation authorities of Ukraine and Turkey have agreed to significantly expand regular flights, Ukraine’s Ministry of Infrastructure has said.
“Based on the results of successful negotiations at the level of the aviation authorities of Ukraine and Turkey, regular flights with the Republic of Turkey were substantially expanded. The weekly frequency for passenger transportation on most routes was almost doubled. The limit on the number of flights was removed for the Odesa-Istanbul route. Cargo transportation is also without restrictions,” Minister of Infrastructure Vladyslav Krykliy said.
According to him, now 11 cities of Ukraine have the opportunity of direct air communication with Turkey, namely Kyiv, Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Lviv, Chernivtsi, Vinnytsia, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Zaporizhia.
“This is an impetus for the development of regional airports. Thanks to the State Aviation Administration for a good work. We are not resting on our laurels. We are confidently stepping west towards the Open Sky,” the minister said.
The minister also emphasized that the expansion of regular international and domestic flights to/from Ukrainian cities is an important part of the integrated development of the aviation industry in Ukraine.
“We liberalize international air transportation, modernize regional airports, create equal conditions for airlines to enter and develop a transparent and competitive market for passenger and cargo transportation by air,” Krykliy said.
The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova have addressed the European Union together regarding the importance of support for the Eastern Partnership, according to the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine.
“On the margins of the Munich Security Conference the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova have signed a joint letter to the Members of the European Commission regarding importance of relevant financial support for the Eastern Partnership in the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027 that is currently being shaped by the EU institutions,” reads the statement.
The ministers called on the EU to take into account within its strategic budgetary planning for the next seven years the scale and ambitions of the reforms, which are being implemented and planned by Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova in the process of their European integration.
“The joint address of the Ministers is another sign of unity of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova in their approaches to future development of the Eastern Partnership, based on the differentiation principle, as well as to the idea of enhanced dialogue in the EU+3 Associated Partners format,” reads the statement.
Von der Heyden Group, an international investment firm on the European real estate market (Valletta, Malta), has opened its first regional office in Kyiv and plans to invest EUR 50 million in commercial and residential property in Kyiv and Lviv during its preliminary phase.
“Von der Heyden Group… has opened new offices in Kyiv in Q4 2019 to establish multi-million euro investments in Ukraine. The group… will invest around EUR 50 million in commercial and residential properties in Kyiv and Lviv during its preliminary phase, aiming to increase this to up to fourfold in its mid-term portfolio expansion in a favourable market,” the company said in a press release.
According to the report, the Von der Heyden Group has appointed a local expert team, formed to expand the group’s real estate portfolio led by Dmitry Havrylenko who assumes the role of Chief Executive Officer in Ukraine. Havrylenko until recently held the position of National Director and head of the Ukrainian office of global investment management firm, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). Ex-Head of Capital Markets at the Kyiv office of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Tatyana Yarmolitskaya joined the Von der Heyden Group as Investment Director. Ex-Associate with the tax practice of leading Ukrainian law firm, Arzinger, also joined the team as Legal & Tax Director.
Horizon Capital investment company to increase assets in Ukraine and Moldova to over $1 bln
DAVOS. Jan 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Horizon Capital, an investment company currently managing assets in Ukraine and Moldova in the amount of about $850 million, intends to exceed the asset level under management of $1 billion in the near future, Lenna Koszarny, the CEO of the company, has said. “Our main plans are as follows: we will manage more than $1 billion in the near future. These are our direct investments, co-investor funds and debt financing,” she told Interfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of the Ukrainian House, organized by the Pinchuk Foundation, WNISEF and Horizon Capital in Davos.
She said that Emerging Europe Growth Fund III (EEGF III) fund, worth $200 million, the formation of which was completed a year ago, has already made nine investments in Ukraine.
“And we are closing two more deals: the tenth and 11th investments are companies that are developing rapidly,” she said, without specifying the details before the completion of transactions.
She emphasized that the company intends to remain the leader in its sector.
Horizon Capital was founded in 2006 by four partners who began their cooperation with Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF), an investment fund created for the funds of the U.S. government in 1994 with a capital of $150 million for Ukraine and Moldova. Currently, the major shareholder and CEO of Horizon Capital is Koszarny. The company has offices in Kyiv and Chicago.
Ukraine has reduced its position in the ranking of world passports by two points at the end of 2019, according to the Henley & Partners Passport Index.
According to the report, over the past year, Ukrainian citizens received the right to visit Bahrain and Saudi Arabia without visas, but at the same time visa-free access for Ukrainians to Benin and Djibouti was stopped. Thus, the number of countries that Ukrainians can visit without a visa or with a visa upon arrival remained unchanged at 128, and the position in the ranking shifted from 41 to 43, which was shared with Nicaragua.
The leader of the rating for the third year in a row remains Japan, whose citizens can visit 191 countries without a visa. Singapore ranks second, while the third place is shared by South Korea and Germany.
Italy ranked fourth in the ranking, and three countries at once were fifth, including Denmark, Luxembourg, and Spain. The United States and the UK, who led the rating five years ago, fell to the eighth place.
The last place in the ranking was taken by Afghanistan, whose citizens can visit 26 countries without visas.
