Antonov An-225 Mriya is a part of Antonov Airlines and the world’s largest and heaviest cargo aircraft, designed and assembled in Ukraine. After being on modernization for 2 years, the iconic aircraft took off to carry a large amount of medical equipment and protective gear, vital in the fight against COVID-19. The plane has already delivered medical cargo from China to Poland and France. The aircraft itself can carry up to 250 tons of cargo at once, whereas to fulfill the same amount of load 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliners needed. Antonov Airlines are seeing a huge demand in large cargo transportation since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. The carrier operates five An-125 Ruslan heavy airlifts, which deliver medical cargo to the EU countries.
Meet the updated “Invest in Ukraine NOW” brochure
Find out more about the key facts about Ukraine, what place Ukraine takes in the international rankings, read on risk assessment of Ukraine as an investment destination, and open up the investment opportunities in the sectors of innovation technologies, agribusiness, infrastructure, manufacturing, and energy.
Bila Tserkva, Lviv and Khmelnytskyi are at the forefront of investment and economic development transparency
Transparency International Ukraine has published its annual rating of the most transparent cities in Ukraine. The leader in the most transparent cities in the sphere of investment and economic development became Bila Tserkva, gaining the highest score – 15.7 out of 16 possible. In 2019 the average indicator of investment and economic development transparency increased to 34%, compared to 22% in 2018. Among the most transparent regional centers are Lviv, Khmelnytskyi, Vinnytsia, and Kyiv. The availability of a separate section on the website of the city council in both Ukrainian and English languages about investment opportunities (investment passport, investment projects, etc) was one of the rating indicators.
COFCO to increase river terminal capacity
COFCO, a leader in the global grains, oilseeds, and sugar supply chains, plans to increase the storage capacity of its Unigrain Terminal in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Currently, the terminal can store up to 22.4 thousand tons and ship by river 2400 tons a day. The company intends to increase the storage capacity of up to 30 thousand tons. Additionally, COFCO installed the handling equipment in Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv region, to open up a direct shipment option. COFCO Corporation is one of the largest agricultural producers, processors, and traders in the world. The company has been represented in more than 140 countries and supplies cereals and oils to more than a quarter of the world’s population. In Ukraine, the company has been operating since 2008 and keeps the leading positions in exporting grain, oilseeds and processed products.
The Association of Gas Producers of Ukraine has published its 1Q 2020 Digest
According to the 1Q 2020 Digest published by the Association of Gas Producers of Ukraine, among the key updates in the energy sector were: the Interdepartmental Commission has announced the winners of three PSA tenders (the European Energy Holding EPH (Nafta) is recommended as the winner of the tender for the development of two oil and gas areas – Okhtyrska and Grunivska; the British company York Energy is recommended as the winner of the tender for the development of Ichnyanska block); simplification of access to oil and gas subsoil; the launch of the “Subsoil User’s E-Cabinet”; the State Geologic and Subsoil Survey of Ukraine is going to propose subsoil areas with the total area of 30,000 km2 for the auctions and tenders.
The future of farming lays in using robotics and machine learning
For the first time in Ukraine, the little harvest of potatoes was grown in the fully automated robotic farm. The Ukrainian company DroneUA used the farmbot to grow the potatoes without human interaction in the process of cultivation. The company keeps improving its lighting systems, plant breeding, and care algorithms. The future belongs to such kind of farms and other likewise developments that do not envisage the human part in the routine processes of farming, reports DroneUA. Drone UA is a leading integrator of unmanned technology in the Ukrainian market. The main areas of the company’s work are the development and implementation of industry solutions based on drone technology, the provision of services using UAVs, as well as the processing of data obtained using unmanned aerial vehicles. The increased demand for agri-tech is bringing together Ukraine’s large pool of IT specialists and mechanical design engineers to work together in the thriving agricultural sector in order to improve efficiency and enhance the capacity of Ukraine’s agricultural production chain.
World Bank and EU recognize Ukraine’s progress in the public financial management
The 2019 assessment conducted by the World Bank within the Parallel European Commission Partnership Program for the Reform of Public Administration and Finances (EUoPAF) indicates the progress in the application of international public sector accounting standards made by the Government of Ukraine. The report acknowledges the improvement of the macroeconomic and budget forecasting tools as well as increasing transparency in public financial management through the introduction of an open budget portal and e-procurement system – ProZorro. Compared to the 2015 PEFA Assessment, the 2019 report shows advancement in fiscal discipline, strategic allocation of the resources and the efficient use of the resources for service delivery.
Despite the quarantine, the great construction of roads will continue
The modernization of the country’s infrastructure will not be ceased even during the quarantine period, stated Vladyslav Krykliy, the Minister of Infrastructure, in his interview with UA Times. Ukraine’s State Agency of Automobile Roads (Ukravtodor) has launched the repair and construction of 4,000 km of roads. As of March 31, the reconstruction took place in 143 sites in 21 regions. The prioritization of sites is based on the traffic intensity and directions that are in great demand. During the last few years, Ukravtodor went through many reforms enabling it to create a much more transparent road construction market in Ukraine. Ukraine’s output is expected to grow a lot more efficiently with modernized roads – the arteries of any country’s.
Online food delivery services keep booming in Ukraine during the quarantine
Ukrainian online food delivery service Raketa expanded its presence in the ninth Ukrainian city – Zaporizhzhya. The company has been operating in Ukraine since 2018 and is already present in Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Odesa, Vinnytsia, Pavlograd and Vyshneve. The delivery is free despite the price of the order. Raketa is planning to dilate its services and deliver food from the supermarkets in Zaporizhzhya. Earlier the company reported a 30% increase in its number of orders since the COVID19 outbreak. As the quarantine measures amid COVID-19 deepen, e-commerce and online food delivery services are flourishing.
UberEats launched its food delivery services in the sixth Ukrainian city – Dnipro
UberEats keeps expanding its food delivery services as online food delivery flourishes since the COVID19 outbreak. Dnipro is the sixth Ukrainian city to host the service. Last week the company launched its services in Vinnytsia. UberEats first appeared in Ukraine in February 2019 and is currently present in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Vinnytsia, and Dnipro. Since the pandemic outbreak, the service provides the option of contactless delivery. Throughout 2019 the company delivered over 250 tons of food, the most popular cuisines people order are Ukrainian and Asian. Overall, the online food delivery services are experiencing an increase in the number of orders. Zakaz.ua reports an 80% increase, while Glovo – 35%.
