Partners news

Friday, September 10

Shmyhal’s working visit to Poland. On September 9 the Prime Minister traveled to Poland on a working visit to meet with the President of the Council of Ministers of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki, and the Prime Minister of the Republic of S...

Ukrposhta sees growth in the volume of partner deliveries. The CEO of Ukrposhta Ihor Smelyansky says cooperation with corporate clients is expanding and showing good results. For example, OLX had 500,000 parcels delivered in one and a half months. “We will so...

The number of new cases of coronavirus spirals to over 3,600. 3663 new cases in the country were confirmed on September 9 during the previous 24 hours. This is triple the average number two months ago. Quarantine measures are expected to be strengthened shortly,...

Editor’s Note: The NBU has raised the interest rate again in response to galloping inflation and concern about recession. The Government is hoping parliament will agree to regulate e-commerce and thereby help reduce...

Thursday, September 9

ACCU urges the Verkhovna Rada, PM, to discuss legislation relevant for investors with business. The American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine has called on the Verkhovna Rada and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to formulate a fair and predictable state policy and legislative process and, in particula...

Dragon Capital downgrades Ukraine’s GDP growth forecast for 2021 from 4.6% to 3.5%. Dragon Capital’s CEO, Tomas Fiala, says this is due to unexpectedly worse than expected preliminary GDP data for the second quarter of this year. Surprisingly, wholesale trade fell to 5.7% in the firs...

Demand for used cars up 56% in August 2021. Ukrainians registered 51.3 thousand used cars imported from abroad in August 2021, which is 56% more than in August 2020, according to the Ukrainian Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association (Ukrautopro...

Passenger traffic at Boryspil Airport grows 66% this year. Not surprisingly, given the former restrictions responding to the COVD-19 pandemic, in January-August 2021, Boryspil International Airport served 5,816,254 passengers, which is 66% more than in the sa...

The most popular flights from Boryspil this year have been Turkey, Egypt, and Greece. The total share of travelers on flights to these countries amounted to 46% of the total number of passengers. More specifically, the most popular destinations have...

Editor’s Note: Strong new signals have been sent from the business community that to create the proper confidence and cooperation needed for attracting investments from abroad greater openness, the credibility of th...

Wednesday, September 8

Nord Stream 2 completed. The controversial Nord Stream 2 Russian-German pipeline has been completed. The last pipe section was welded into place on September 6. The operating company remains vague on the timing for the commen...

Ukraine seeks visa-free travel, FTA with U.S. Ukraine is promoting the idea of concluding agreements on visa-free travel and a free trade area with the United States. On September 6, US Senator Lindsay Graham, who was in Kyiv Monday as part of a ...

Government concentrating on deregulation to ease conditions. It’s stepping up work in the sphere of deregulation to simplify working conditions for entrepreneurs. According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal: “We already have the first results of the interre...

Single treasury account balance grows sixfold in August reaching UAH 57.5 billion as of September 1st. According to the Prime Minister, the state budget received UAH 28 billion more than budgeted during the first eight months of this year and UAH 106 billi...

Parliament passes laws on industrial parks. On September 7, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a bill on industrial parks. 290 MPs supported the legislation. The Cabinet of Ministers will allocate at least UAH 2 billion in the state budget for 2022 for...

Zakarpattia region budget receives almost UAH 7M in tourist tax revenues. Since the beginning of 2021, Zakarpattia region local budgets received UAH 6.9 million in tourist tax payments, which is 36.1% more than in the pre-pandemic period.

Ukrzaliznytsia’s passenger traffic picking up. The national rail operator carried 9.1 million passengers in June-August 2021, which is 130% of what was recorded last summer and 70% of those figures in the summer of 2019. 7.4 million passengers wer...

Ukraine records one of its hottest summers and the implications of global warming. With temperatures regularly rising above 40C, this threatens its agriculture sector that accounts for “Water unavailability and heat stress during periods of increased temperature already impact the y...

Editor’s Note: A new session of the Verkhovna Rada has opened, and a top priority is adopting a state budget for 2022. This will be complex enough, but another critical issue is the second reading of a bill introduc...

Tuesday, September 7

Ukrainian PM & EBRD Managing Director hold consultations. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Managing Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, Matteo Patrone, met on September 6 to discuss the state of refo...

Switzerland carries out the largest ever aid operation to eastern Ukraine. On September 4 the first convoy of a total of 144 lorries carrying Swiss relief supplies crossed the line of contact bound for Donetsk, accompanied by six members of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (S...

Finance Ministry proposals for 2022 spending on health and education. The Finance Ministry has proposed that spending on health care is budgeted at 4.5% of GDP, and at 7.2% on education. Deputy Finance Minister Roman Yermolychev has emphasized the need to improve the ef...

Large-scale privatization is underway . The process was unlocked by the parliament in March 2021. According to Deputy Head of the President’s Office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a four-fold increase in state budget revenues from privatizatio...

Thousands of Hasidim pilgrims converge on Uman. About 50,000 pilgrims are expected to arrive in Uman in central Ukraine to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, from September 6 to 8. Some 27,757 pilgrims from 10 countries had already regis...

New quarantine restrictions and then a lockdown? If the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic does not improve, Ukraine may move to the “yellow” zone of quarantine restrictions starting from September 13, Health Minister Viktor Liashko ha...

World Bank may provide $150 mln for an emergency response to COVID-19. Health Minister Liashko says that after a meeting in Washington last week with World Bank Director for Human Development in Europe and Central Asia Fadia Saadah he received “assurances of the possibil...

Editor’s Note: With the number of new Covid-19 rising sharply again, Ukraine seems headed for new quarantine restrictions and possibly even a new lockdown. This would be another setback to hopes of getting economic ...

Monday, September 6

President Volodymyr Zelensky concluded his working visit to the US in California with numerous meetings aimed at promoting cooperation and investment in Ukraine. He met Apple CEO Tim Cook, with founders of startups, employees of large Silicon Valley-based companies from Ukraine, a...

Key agreements signed during President Zelensky’s US visit recapitulated. Summarizing the takeaways, the President’s official website notes that important documents were signed by Ukroboronprom, the Agrarian Policy Ministry, the Health Ministry as well as a bilateral MOU on...

Modernization of main checkpoints on the border with EU. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration has outlined the next steps for the development of border infrastructure. The following priority checkpoints are to be modernized –- Ya...

The number of Covid-19 new cases in the country is continuing to rise. On September 4, the figure had reached 2,614 during the previous 24 hours, with 339 registered in Kyiv. Ukraine currently has the sixth-largest death toll in Europe from the pandemic.

Ukraine proudly takes sixth place in Tokyo Paralympics. Ukrainian athletes took sixth place, winning a total of 98 medals: 24 gold, 47 silver, and 27 bronze. Well done Team Ukraine!

Some forthcoming events. The Odessa Business Forum will be held on September 17. It’s a standing platform and an annual event. Its key objective is to present mid-term and short-term plans to implement the main vectors of the...

Editor’s Note: Ukraine’s parliament – the Verkhovna Rada reconvenes on September 7 after its summer recess. The new political season is likely to see intensified political infighting and acrimony. President Ze...

Friday, September 3

President Zelensky’s other meetings in Washington. On September 1 the President met with representatives of US business circles, US think tanks, and journalists. At the meeting, he presented Ukraine’s Transformation Plan, which aims to attract a...

The US to provide Ukraine with $463 Umillion to support democracy, human rights. According to a joint statement on the two countries’ strategic partnership, “The U.S. government plans to allocate to Ukraine over $463 million in assistance this year, including for progr...

Ukroboronprom and US defense companies conclude multi-billion-dollar agreements . Fruitful negotiations were held with Lockheed Martin Corporation, Harris Global Communications Inc (a member of the L3Harris Technologies group of companies), Global Ordnance, and Day & Zimmerma...

US to provide Ukraine with innovative medicine for COVID-19 worth almost $20 million. According to Ukraine’s Health Ministry, some 20,000 bottles of Bamlanivimab and 40,000 bottles of Etessevimab are being sent to Ukraine

President Zelensky awarded Morgan Williams, the President of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council, the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise of the V degree during the official opening ceremony of Ukraine House in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 1, 2021. I...

Qatar’s Minister of Commerce and Industry in Kyiv. The Acting Minister of Finance of the State of Qatar, HE Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, met with Prime Minister Denys Smyhal on September 2 and discussed strengthening cooperation in trade and investment co...

Sky Up launches flights to Poland. The Ukrainian low-cost carrier SkyUp Airlines will start operating flights on the Kyiv-Lodz (Poland)-Kyiv route from September 20, 2021.

Covid 19 cases rise again sharply. Ukraine registered 2,477 new cases of COVID on September 2. In the previous 24 hours, 23,522 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and 7,954 antibody tests were carried out. Over 12 million PCR tests ...

Editors Note: The more good news about deals reached in the US during President Zelensky’s visit to Washington with his team. He’s now in California and we await the details. At home, the increase in COVID 19 cases...

Thursday, September 2

Main takeaways. On September 1 the two presidents finally had the opportunity to meet, clear the air and establish a personal relationship. It appears that mutual trust and confidence have been restored and bilateral...

US-Ukrainian Strategic Defense Framework agreement signed on August 31 in the presence of the President Zelensky. It defines a new stage of cooperation between Ukraine and the US in the field of defense and security. It reaffirms the unwavering support of th...

Key components of the Strategic Defense Framework. During the next five years, bilateral defense relations will include a full training program to help Ukraine counter Russian aggression; assistance in carrying out reforms in the defense sector in acc...

MOU on space-related cooperation concluded between Ukraine’s State Space Agency and the US Department of Defense Space Command. Corresponding to Ukraine’s participation in the US-led Artemis space program, it covers space fligh...

Secure bilateral communication line established. The agreement on the Establishment of a Secure Communication Link was concluded by the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine and the US State Department.

US-Ukrainian border security cooperation enhanced. Ukraine’s State Border Service and the US Customs and Border Protection concluded an agreement on the use of information about travelers. Ukraine will be assisted in the deployment of the ATS-GLOBAL A...

European Commission ready to discuss the format of consultations on Nord Stream 2 . Responding to a note verbale from the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs received on July 22, in which Kyiv requested consultations referring to Articles 274 and 338 of the EU-Ukraine Association...