Swiss pharmaceutical company Acino became a partner of the project “Mobile hospitals for Victory” implemented by Charitable Foundation for Reconstruction and Development of Ukraine.
According to the press release from the Foundation, within the framework of this project Acino shipped to the pilot mobile medical complex 1600 packages of drugs from its own product portfolio for the total amount of UAH 150 thousand.
The “Mobile Hospitals for Victory” project provides for purchasing 52 mobile hospitals. The cost of one such medical complex on wheels is EUR 240 thousand.
Currently 14 organizations in Ukraine and abroad have joined the project.
Mobile hospital is a complete hospital on wheels equipped with modern medical equipment. It consists of an admission room, a laboratory, an X-ray room, an operation room and also technical rooms, toilets and showers. The hospital is equipped with its own generator. Two medical teams can work there at the same time, with the ability to save up to 100 lives a day, based on the “golden hour” principle.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Acino pharmaceutical company has donated more than 67 million UAH for humanitarian purposes, including over 200 thousand packages of medicines to hospitals and hospitals in the country.
Germany has joined an international project to restore Ukrainian cities #UN4Kharkiv-Mykolaiv and allocated EUR5 million.
As it was informed, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has created working groups #UN4Kharkiv and #UN4Mykolaiv and invited international architects to help these cities develop future master plans. The British architect Norman Foster Foundation helps Kharkiv, while the global design and architectural company One Works (Italy) coordinates the work in Nikolaev.
It became known about the German side joining the projects during the online meeting of the working groups, which was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine, UNECE, the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, local governments of Mykolaiv and Kharkiv and other international organizations.
“Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale aggression, we have been sending the most necessary aid to Ukraine. And at the same time we are thinking about how to support you in rebuilding after the end of the war, because it is necessary to prepare for this now. I personally received a task from the German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz to represent our country in this work,” said State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development Jochen Flasbart.
He recalled that the G7 countries met last December, during which the member states expressed their understanding that Ukraine needed comprehensive assistance.
Flasbat said that the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development will provide the international project #UN4Kharkiv-Mykolaiv with financial support of EUR5 million.
“We are giving the “green light” and preparing funds so that these projects can be successfully implemented. We hope that the terrible war will end as soon as possible, and we will start rebuilding Ukraine,” Jochen Flasbarth makes plans for the future.
The United States, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing up to $20 million to the Grain from Ukraine initiative announced by President Vladimir Zelensky at the G20 Summit earlier this week to help feed people around the world, USAID said in a release Friday.
“USAID will provide support through the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) to facilitate the delivery of additional shipments of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” the release said.
The U.S. agency recalls that before Putin’s invasion, Ukraine was one of WFP’s largest grain suppliers and the fourth largest commercial exporter of wheat in the world.
Today’s announcement builds on WFP’s existing $173 million support to date to buy Ukrainian grain to feed people in countries facing the most severe food crises, including Ethiopia, Yemen, and Afghanistan. Thanks to U.S. funding, 210,000 tons of food was purchased, enough to feed an estimated 12.6 million people for one month.
All told, since the start of Putin’s war against Ukraine in February, the U.S. has provided more than $11 billion to combat the global food crisis, including nearly $8.6 billion in humanitarian aid, the release indicated.
According to it, USAID also continues to help Ukrainian farmers who risk their lives to feed the world through the Agricultural Sustainability Initiative-Ukraine (AGRI-Ukraine). The initiative focuses on four areas that are critical to supporting Ukraine’s agricultural exports and its contribution to global food security: providing critical resources for farmers; improving export logistics and infrastructure; improving farmers’ access to finance; and addressing the needs of drying, storing, and processing crops. USAID has invested $100 million in the initiative, and the agency seeks to raise at least $150 million in additional funding from other donors, foundations and the private sector.
NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine is implementing in Lviv, together with the city council, a project for the construction of a CHP plant on wood chips, which is planned to be put into operation by February 2023.
“I am sure that by February the CHPP will be operational. It will take a few months instead of a year and a half. NAC helps with the implementation of this project both in financing and in development. several months,” Naftogaz head Yuriy Vitrenko said at a briefing during a visit to the Lviv region on Friday.
As the correspondent of “Energoreforma” reports, according to Vitrenko, the NAC, which is implementing a number of similar projects in Ukraine, is ready to support other cities in this direction. ‘We have an interest in investing in such projects in order to import less gas at enormous prices. The implementation of such projects is beneficial both economically and in terms of ecology,” Vitrenko explained.
At the same time, he noted that both the Lviv authorities and the NAC itself also have a number of agreements in order “to then attract funds from IFIs for such projects.”
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovoy noted that this would be the city’s first powerful thermal power plant running on alternative fuels, which would cover about a quarter of its heat needs. “We planned such a project with the EBRD for a long time, but according to their classical procedures, we could only start it next year. But the Russian aggression intensified the thought process so much that we came to an agreement with Naftogaz,” Sadovoy explained.
According to him, the participation of the national company, which is the market leader, gives more opportunities and priorities, including in obtaining equipment.
Canadian mining company Black Iron Inc. with assets in Ukraine, despite the ongoing war, continues to promote the Shimanovsky iron ore project through negotiations with the Ministry of Defense regarding the transfer of land, the execution of an investment support agreement with the government of the country and obtaining permits for the extraction of minerals and their processing.
According to the company’s press release, the land adjacent to the Shimanovsky ore body, necessary for the location of the future processing plant, waste rock warehouses and tailings, belongs to the government of Ukraine and is used by the Ministry of Defense for training purposes. Discussions with the Department of Defense led to an agreement on a preliminary amount of funds that Black Iron would have to pay as compensation for obtaining this piece of land for its use.
“Efforts are now focused on drawing up a binding agreement on the transfer of this land (to the use of Black Iron – IF) after peace is established in Ukraine,” the press release states.
In addition, Black Iron is also negotiating with the government of Ukraine on an investment support agreement that will include several benefits, such as the permanence of legislation (company operating conditions – IF) and exemption from import duties on equipment needed for the project.
In turn, Black Iron management prepared an extensive report covering several aspects of the project, such as the proposed new jobs, tax payments and social benefits. Before submitting this document, it will be necessary to make some changes to the legislation of Ukraine in order for Black Iron to comply with the requirements, and work in this direction is currently in full swing, the press release emphasizes.
“In order to keep our permits valid, work is currently underway in Ukraine to update the geological and mining plans. Finally, while Black Iron stakeholders wait for peace in Ukraine to bring the Shimanovsky project to the construction stage, management is considering new potential projects to increase shareholder value “, – summed up in a press release.
As reported, in October 2010, Black Iron acquired the Cypriot subsidiary of Geo-Alliance Ore East Limited from EastOne investment group of Ukrainian businessman Viktor Pinchuk, together with licenses, for $13 million, then renaming it BKI Cyprus. The main assets are 99% in LLC “Shymanovskoe Steel” and “Zelenovskoe Steel” (both – Dnipro).
In July 2013, after a series of problems with the implementation of the Black Iron project, it announced an agreement with Metinvest, the largest Ukrainian mining and metallurgical group, to develop its iron ore assets. Metinvest B.V. paid to Black Iron Inc. $20 million and acquired 49% in BKI Cyprus. Later, however, Metinvest withdrew from the project.
The Shimanovskoye iron ore deposit is surrounded by five other operating mining enterprises, including the ArcelorMittal iron ore complex. The existing infrastructure, including access to electricity, railway and port facilities, according to Black Iron, will allow the project to be quickly implemented to the production stage.
According to a presentation dated May 2021, the expected capital investment in the launch of the first stage is estimated at $452 million, the second – $364 million. the first stage and 8 million tons per year – at the second.
Ukrainian farmers have received 50 combines, 49 tractors and various farming equipment as charity assistance under the Harvest of Victory project funded by American philanthropist Howard Buffett, and mobile granaries are also on their way to Ukraine.
According to a Wednesday statement on the website of the Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry of Ukraine, on August 30, Ukrainian farmers and representatives of the ministry met with Buffett at the Khreschatyk metro station in Kyiv, which is temporarily closed for passengers.
The Howard G. Buffett Foundation has already allocated $90 million for Ukrainians in the territories that had been liberated from the Russian occupation, notably, for the spring sowing campaign there.
During the meeting, Buffett said that today assistance and investment in Ukraine’s agriculture is a contribution to food safety of millions of people all over the world, adding that the problems Ukraine is facing today are the problems of not only Ukrainians, but also of the U.S., the EU and other states, according to the ministry.
The philanthropist also said that his foundation is also working on programs of assistance for small farmers for the next year. It also supports the investigation into the consequences of Russia’s aggression for agriculture, as well as the development of a damage recovery mechanism.
Buffett said that he saw in the pictures and videos how the Russian troops and the war in general affect the fields. The farmers are unable to collect harvest safely. When Russia tries to hit the world by limiting food resources, this is a crime against the whole world, he stressed.
In turn, Agrarian Policy and Food Deputy Minister of Ukraine Taras Vysotsky thanked the guest for his support to Ukraine, and especially its agricultural sector.
The parties discussed the issues of irrigation, possible introduction of the No-Till technology in Ukraine, food security, as well as further steps to prevent worsening of the situation with food security in the world and a negative impact of the war on the environment.
