The Kyiv analytical center Experts Club hosted the first of a series of events dedicated to the popularization of Ukrainian wine and the prospects for the development of the Ukrainian wine industry, as well as the analysis of the products of the best producers of domestic wine. The event was held with the participation and support of the Odesa National Technological University and the Ukrsadvinprom association.
During the meeting, the participants heard the report of the Doctor of Agricultural Science, Professor of the Odesa National Technological University Natalia Kameneva on the topic “Sensory analysis – an innovative tool for the development of the wine sector.”
During the presentation, the results of the activities of the wine industry in 2020 were presented. So, last year, Ukraine exported 14.4 million liters of wine, which is twice as much as in 2019, while the import of wine to Ukraine in 2020 increased by 22% compared to 2019.
In addition, Natalia Kameneva presented a scientific and educational laboratory for sensory analysis of wines, opened at the National Academy of Food Technologies and successfully accredited in accordance with international quality standard ISO 17025: 2019.
“Today the laboratory meets all requirements and standards, it was created for sensory analysis of food products in accordance with international standards, training and education of experts in sensory analysis, research of consumer preferences in the field of sensory analysis of food products,” he scientist explained.
The founder of the Experts Club, Maksim Urakin, stressed that the center is ready to become a platform for the popularization of Ukrainian wines.
“I believe that many varieties of Ukrainian wine remain underestimated in the consumer market. Within the framework of this project, we will try to change the situation,” he said.
The head of the Ukrsadvinprom association, in turn, added that state support for domestic winegrowers and winemakers is still at a low level, which leads to the filling of the market with imported wines, including low-quality ones.
“We have the largest association in the country, which includes 80% of Ukrainian wine producers, we would like the state to systematically work on programs to support Ukrainian producers, both the consumer and the budget will benefit from this,” Volodymyr Pechko said.
Also, within the framework of the meeting, an organoleptic analysis of the quality of eight samples of leading Ukrainian wine producers was carried out. The wines of such Ukrainian producers took part in the tasting: SHABO, Artwinery (Artemivsk Champagne Factory), Prince Trubetskoi Winery, Frumushika, Beykush winery, Villa Tinta, Stakhovsky Wines, Leleka wines.
The event was held in partnership with the leading international tasting competition Odessa Wine Week. The next Odessa Wine Week festival will be held in Odesa from May 24 to May 29, 2022.
EXPERTS_CLUB, UKRSADVINPROM, URAKIN, WINE, WINE_TASTING, КАМЕНЕВА, ПЕЧКО
The premiere of the first program devoted to summing up the results of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence in the economic and social spheres took place on the Experts Club Youtube channel.
In the pilot issue devoted to the demographic situation in our country, the founder of the Experts Club, PhD in Economics Maksim Urakin and the leading researcher at the Ptoukha Institute for Demography and Social Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, PhD in Economics Lidiya Tkachenko, analyzed the main trends in changes in the population of Ukraine over the past 30 years, studied the historical data and UN forecasts for the next century.
The guest of the program noted that Ukraine has one of the worst demographic indicators in the post-Soviet space. According to her, this is primarily due to a sharp decline in the birth rate in the second half of the 1990s, early 2000s.
“Since Soviet times, one of the biggest problems of increasing the birth rate has been mass abortions, which have actually become a tool for regulating the population. At the same time, the birth rate until 1990 remained relatively high – on average 2-3 children per family on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR,” the expert noted.
She also added that today the birth of a child in a Ukrainian family is a “heroic act” due to the difficult socio-economic situation, so a surge in the birth rate cannot be expected in the coming decades.
Tkachenko stressed that since the 1960s, there has been practically no positive dynamics in life expectancy in Ukraine. The average age of both men and women in our country is now about the same as it was 60 years ago, despite a significant global progress in the field of medicine and health care.
“This situation is typical for both the late USSR and the post-Soviet period. At the same time, the countries of both Western and Eastern Europe, even those that were part of the socialist camp, showed much more positive dynamics,” the scientist added.
For more details on the analysis of the demographic situation in Ukraine, see the video posted on the Experts Club channel:
You can subscribe to the Experts Club channel here.
DEMOGRAPHY, EXPERTS CLUB, LIDIYA TKACHENKO, POPULATION, URAKIN, ВІДЕО
Dragon Capital has downgraded its forecast for Ukrainian economic growth in 2021 from 4.6% to 3.5% due to unexpectedly worse-than-expected preliminary GDP data for the second quarter of this year, the founder of the company Tomas Fiala has said. The growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) of Ukraine in January-July 2021 became stronger, reaching 2.1%, the Ministry of Economy has said. The President’s Office estimates the growth of Ukraine’s GDP in 2021 at 3.8%, Deputy Head of the President’s Office Yulia Svyrydenko has said.
The real gross domestic product (GDP) of Ukraine in the second quarter of 2021 increased by 5.7% compared to the same period in 2020, the State Statistics Service reported.
The deficit of Ukraine’s foreign trade in goods in January-July 2021 decreased by 26.2% compared to January-July 2020, to $1.725 billion from $2.339 billion, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine has reported. The surplus of Ukraine’s balance of foreign trade in the first half of 2021 fell by 46.3% compared to the first half of last year, to $0.41 billion.
The growth of consumer prices in Ukraine in annual terms in August 2021 remained at the level of 10.2%.
Receipts of the state budget of Ukraine in August 2021 amounted to UAH 142 billion, which is 8.7% higher than the target and 41.7% more than August 2020, according to the data of the Treasury Service.
The total public debt of Ukraine in August 2021 in U.S. dollars decreased by 0.5%, or by $440 million, to $92.53 billion, the Ministry of Finance said on its website.
Industrial production in Ukraine in August 2021 increased by 0.6% compared to August 2020, while in July the growth was 0.2%, in June – 1.1%, in March – 5.4%, and in April – 13%.
Real wages in Ukraine in August 2021 compared to August 2020 grew by 10.9%, compared to July of this year it fell by 2.2%, the State Statistics Service has said.
The volume of construction work performed in Ukraine in July 2021 increased 0.5% compared to the same period in 2020.
Publisher of “Open4Business”, PhD in Economics, Maksim Urakin
Higher education institutions have been able to adapt to new working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has accelerated the digital transformation.
“We can say that COVID-19 even had a positive impact on the activities of the university. In what way. It accelerated the transition to digital technologies, to create new communication platforms between teachers,” head of the educational department of the Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture Andriy Shpakov said during the press conference at the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine information agency.
At the same time, he said that the negative side of the issue is that the remote format requires more preparation time.
“Coronacrisis is not only challenges and problems, but also a new window of opportunity and new horizons,” Vice-Rector for Scientific and Pedagogical Work of the Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman, Anatoliy Kolot said.
At the same time, Deputy First Vice-Rector, Head of the Scientific and Methodological Department of Ihor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute Serhiy Hozhiy said that their university laid the foundations for distance learning even before the coronavirus pandemic, which made it possible to quickly adapt to the new conditions of the educational process.
Also, head of the Department of Management and Economics of the International European University Yulia Remyha said that the university has fully adapted to the challenges that the pandemic has brought, in particular to distance learning.
COVID-19, HOZHIY, INTERNATIONAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY, KNUBA, KOLOT, KPI, KYIV NATIONAL ECONOMIC UNIVERSITY, REMYHA, SHPAKOV, TEACHERS, URAKIN
Teachers of Ukrainian universities are actively getting vaccines against COVID-19, the activity of students in vaccination is somewhat lower, the participants of a roundtable entitled “Results of the admission campaign and realities of higher education in Ukraine amid the pandemic at leading Kyiv universities” at Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.
Head of the educational department of Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture, PhD in Technical Sciences Andriy Shpakov, in particular, said that the university is currently preparing the fourth wave of vaccination of teachers.
“We have a fairly high percentage of teachers who are vaccinated and this percentage will increase when we conduct the fourth wave of vaccination. We invite mobile teams that come and vaccinate everyone,” he said.
Shpakov said that the vaccination of both teachers and students is voluntary.
At the same time, he said that “in the recent wave of vaccination, the majority of those vaccinated were exactly students, although students do not really want to be vaccinated in large numbers, so we are conducting explanatory work.”
In turn, Head of the Management and Economics Department of the International European University Yulia Remyha said that the university began to vaccinate teachers in April, inviting mobile vaccination teams for this.
“Vaccination is voluntary, but the teachers take it responsibly. Today, out of all our staff, about 86% have already been vaccinated,” she said.
At the same time, according to Remyha, early September, the university organized vaccinations for students.
“On the part of the administration, both for teachers and for students, everything is done to get vaccinated conveniently, so that health is preserved,” she said.
For his part, Deputy First Vice-Rector, Head of Scientific and Methodological Department of Ihor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (KPI) Serhiy Hozhiy said that the university during the summer invited vaccination teams for voluntary vaccination of teachers and students.
“In KPI, more than 80% are already vaccinated,” he said.
Commenting on the living conditions of nonresident students, Hozhiy said that “special rooms and blocks, isolation wards have been organized in the hostels, where sick students are accommodated, but no one is forcing them to vaccinate.”
Vice-Rector for scientific and pedagogical work of Vadym Hetman Kyiv National Economic University Anatoliy Kolot said that this university is also conducting explanatory work on the need for vaccination.
“Nobody is forcing. We appeal to conscience. We have involved public and trade union organizations, student government. There have already been two waves of centralized vaccination, we are conducting another wave on September 29-30,” he said.
At the same time, Kolot said that universities need more detailed explanations regarding the vaccination rate for 80% of employees.
“Obviously, there should be more explanations from our central authorities, because everything is limited to the 80% standard. But explanations are needed, what to do if there are people who are contraindicated in vaccination, and there are people who have been ill and they have antibodies,” he said.
Kolot said that the university is currently collecting information on the number of employees who have been ill.
At the same time, he drew attention to the fact that “it is not clear what to do if the whole family has been ill, but only one family member has turned to the family doctor and has a confirmation of the illness.”
“Where can those family members who have been ill get a certificate, if only one family member is recorded? There are such cases,” he said.
COVID-19, HOZHIY, INTERNATIONAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY, KNUBA, KOLOT, KPI, KYIV NATIONAL ECONOMIC UNIVERSITY, REMYHA, SHPAKOV, TEACHERS, URAKIN
Ukraine’s accession to the European Convention on a Common Transit Procedure is expected at the end of the second quarter of 2022, already in the third quarter Ukrainian enterprises will be able to go in transit through 35 countries on the principle of one vehicle – one transit declaration – one guarantor’s undertaking, Director of the Department for the Implementation of the International Transit System of the State Customs Service Serhiy Demchenko has said.
During a roundtable entitled “Implementation of customs procedures in accordance with EU practice: what changes may Ukrainian business expect? Practical aspects” held at Interfax-Ukraine, he said that these are all EU countries, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries, Turkey, Serbia, North Macedonia and the U.K.
The expert recalled that joining the Convention is stipulated by the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement and shall intensify international trade due to the establishment of joint transit procedures by Ukraine with the countries-members of the Convention and their use of a single technology – the New Computerised Transit System (NCTS) system. This system allows the member countries to exchange customs data in real time and monitor goods at every stage of transportation.
“The common transit system provides for four main special transit simplifications for enterprises: the authorized consignor, the authorized consignee, special sealing and a guarantee,” Demchenko said. He added that new approaches are being applied to the standard guarantee amount, which will reduce the amount when it is used by 50%, 70% or 100%.
To obtain simplifications in NCTS, the legislation provides for a special procedure. The guarantee can be provided by companies that have received the financial guarantor status. To submit a transit declaration to NCTS, a company needs to register on the Trader’s Portal in the “personal account” on the “Single Window for International Trade” portal.
“Ukrainian legislation on common transit has already been generally shaped and is in line with the best European practices,” International Key Expert on Customs reform of the EU4PFM Programme to improve Public Financial Management (PFM) in Ukraine, former Deputy Chairman of the Lithuanian Customs Service Vytenis Ališauskas said during the roundtable.
To date, more than 3,000 customs officials are registered in the system, more than 180 companies have access to the Trader’s Portal, about 300 T1UA declarations have been submitted, three companies have received the financial guarantor status, and the Helpdesk operates.
As reported, NCTS is still used in Ukraine on a national scale. However, as a representative of the State Customs Service said, “enterprises that use NCTS (have submitted 50 or more declarations) can submit documents to the State Customs Service for simplifications, which will be valid even after Ukraine joins the Convention, that is, with the international application of the system.”
ANISCHENKO, CUSTOMS, EXPORTERS_CLUB_OF_UKRAINE, LITVINOVA, UKRAINIAN_CHAMBER_OF_COMMERCE_AND_INDUSTRY, URAKIN, ДЕМЧЕНКО, МОСКАЛЕНКО, ЧИЖИКОВ
