South African President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed a team of business and finance experts on Monday to hunt the globe for $100 billion in investment to boost the ailing economy. The team of economic envoys includes ex-finance minister Trevor Manuel as well as a former top banker. Ramaphosa became president in February after winning the leadership of the ruling African National Congress last year on promises to revive the economy and crack down on corruption. Monday’s appointments to the team also include economist Trudi Makhaya, who becomes special economic adviser to the president, former Treasury Director General Lungisa Fuzile, ex-Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas and former Standard Bank chief executive Jacko Maree. “These are people with valuable experience in the world of business, investment and finance and they have extensive networks across a number of major markets,” said Ramaphosa before leaving Johannesburg for a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London. Ramaphosa said the envoys would travel to Europe, Asia and across Africa to build an “investment book” to help plug a substantial shortfall of foreign and local direct investment. “We are modest because we want to over-achieve,” Ramaphosa said, explaining why the government was targeting $100 billion rather than a much larger sum. Political and policy uncertainty damaged investment and business confidence during nine-year presidency of Ramaphosa’s predecessor, Jacob Zuma, when South Africa’s credit rating was slashed to junk by two of the top three agencies and economic growth slowed to a crawl. The tide has begun to turn under …
Russia’s Drive to Replace Western Power Technology Hits Snag
Russia’s drive to build a large power-generating turbine to lessen its dependence on Western technology has suffered a major set-back after a prototype broke beyond repair, two sources familiar with the project told Reuters. In the past few years Russia has imported the large-capacity gas turbines required to run modern power stations from firms such as Siemens, GE and Alstom. After Western sanctions were imposed on Russia over the conflict with Ukraine four years ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged officials to replace imported technology with home-grown substitutes in energy, software, aerospace and medicine. The mishap with the 110 Megawatt turbine, a capacity large enough to power a sizeable town, underlines the technical challenges. Testing was underway on a prototype 110 MW turbine at the Saturn engineering plant in Rybinsk, central Russia, in December last year according to one of the two sources, who are both in the energy sector and familiar with the results of the tests. “The turbine fell apart,” said the first source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. “They tried to repair it in time for March, but they did not manage it.” March was the target date for completion of tests on the turbine. Putin, in power since 1999, won a second consecutive term in an election on March 18. The first source, and a second source, both said it was not possible to rebuild the prototype turbine and the project would have to start again with new …
Wall Street Rises as Strong Netflix, Goldman Earnings Impress
Wall Street indexes rose on Tuesday as strong earnings from Netflix, Goldman Sachs and healthcare companies boosted optimism over what is expected to be the strongest earnings season in seven years. Netflix shares surged 6.2 percent after the video-streaming pioneer smashed analysts’ quarterly subscriber estimates, helped by a blitz of original content. Goldman Sachs rose 0.6 percent after the investment bank’s quarterly profit blew past Wall Street’s expectations, powered by a surge in trading revenue and higher fees from debt and equity underwriting. “The reports were pretty good and should help the overall market,” said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist at SlateStone Wealth in New York. “As you go forward, financials seem to be one of the logical places to be invested in, especially in a rising interest rate environment. It’s the matter of markets finally having attention drawn away from the political [news].” Analysts expect profit at the S&P 500 companies to rise 18.6 percent in the first quarter, the biggest increase in seven years, according to Thomson Reuters data. At 9:41 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.92 percent at 24,799.54. The S&P 500 gained 0.67 percent to 2,695.89 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.92 percent to 7,222.07. Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, led by a 1.3 percent gain in the consumer discretionary index. UnitedHealth jumped nearly 5 percent after the largest U.S. health insurer raised its earnings forecast and posted results that beat Wall Street estimates. J&J fell 0.4 percent, …
US Senator Sanders Introducing Bill Targeting Opioid Manufacturers
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders will introduce a bill on Tuesday that would fine opioid drug manufacturers for deceptive marketing and implement the harshest penalties yet on drugmakers found responsible for contributing to the drug epidemic. Sanders, an independent who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, said the bill aimed to hold opioid manufacturers accountable for their role in the epidemic and force them to help pay for the crisis, which the White House Council of Economic Advisers has estimated cost more than $500 billion in 2015. The legislation, called the Opioid Crisis Accountability Act of 2018, would ban marketing that falsely suggests an opioid does not have addictive qualities or risks and would fine companies that are found liable for contributing to the epidemic $7.8 billion. Companies that violate the marketing provision would be fined 25 percent of the profits from their opioid products. The legislation would also create criminal liability for top executives of pharmaceutical companies that are found to have contributed to the epidemic. “At a time when local, state and federal government are spending many billions of dollars a year, those people will be held accountable and asked to contribute to help us address the crisis,” Sanders said in an interview. “It shouldn’t just be the taxpayer that has to pay for the damage that they did.” The bill does not yet have any co-sponsors, and with Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress and the White House, it is unlikely to move forward …
China Confused About Trump Currency Manipulation Charges
China has responded to U.S. President Donald Trump’s charges China and Russia are manipulating the value of their currencies. Monday, Trump tweeted, “Russia and China are playing the Currency Devaluation game as the U.S. keeps raising interest rates. Not acceptable!” His charge came just days after the U.S. Treasury Department declined to label China and Russia as currency manipulators in its latest report. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Tuesday the messages coming from the United States are confusing, and China will continue to promote the reform of its currency exchange rate mechanism. Trump said Russia and China are devaluing their currencies amid a possible new round of sanctions against Russia and a simmering trade war with China. In general, when a country artificially devalues its currency, its exports become cheaper and more competitive in the global marketplace. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the administration is closely watching China’s currency practices. “That’s something that the Treasury Department is watching very closely and we’re continuing to monitor it,” she said Monday. In a semiannual report titled “Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States” released Friday, the Treasury Department did not designate China as a currency manipulator, but put it as one of the six countries on a monitoring list. The other five countries on the list are Japan, Korea, India, Germany, and Switzerland. Russia is not on the monitoring list. The Chinese currency, the Renminbi, has appreciated about three percent against the …
Top EU Court: Poland Broke Law by Logging in Pristine Forest
The European Union’s top court has ruled that Poland violated environmental laws with its massive logging of trees in one of Europe’s last pristine forests. The ruling Tuesday by the European Court of Justice said that, in increasing logging in the Bialowieza Forest, Poland failed to fulfil its obligations to protect natural sites of special importance. Poland had argued that felling the trees was necessary to fight the spread of bark beetle infestation. Environmentalists say the large-scale felling of trees in Bialowieza was destroying rare animal habitats and plants, in violation of regulations. They held protests and brought the case before the court last year. Poland has since replaced its environment minister and stopped the logging. Warsaw has said it will respect the EU court’s ruling. …
US Bans American Companies from Selling to Chinese Phone Maker ZTE
The U.S. Department of Commerce has banned American companies from selling components to Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp for seven years after breaking an agreement reached after it was caught illegally shipping goods to Iran, U.S. officials said Monday. The U.S. action, first reported by Reuters, could be devastating to ZTE since American companies are estimated to provide 25 percent to 30 percent of the components used in ZTE’s equipment, which includes smartphones and gear to build telecommunications networks. The ban is the result of ZTE’s failure to comply with an agreement with the U.S. government after it pleaded guilty last year in federal court in Texas to conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions by illegally shipping U.S. goods and technology to Iran, the Commerce Department said. The Chinese company, which sells smartphones in the United States, paid $890 million in fines and penalties, with an additional penalty of $300 million that could be imposed. “If the company is not able to resolve it, they may very well be put out of business by this. Many banks and companies even outside the U.S. are not going to want to deal with them,” said Eric Hirschhorn, a former U.S. undersecretary of commerce who was heavily involved in the case. As part of the agreement, Shenzhen-based ZTE Corp promised to dismiss four senior employees and discipline 35 others by either reducing their bonuses or reprimanding them, senior Commerce Department officials told Reuters. But the Chinese company admitted in March that while it …
Global Warming Mixing Up Nature’s Dinner Time, Study Says
Global warming is screwing up nature’s intricately timed dinner hour, often making hungry critters and those on the menu show up at much different times, a new study shows. Timing is everything in nature. Bees have to be around and flowers have to bloom at the same time for pollination to work, and hawks need to migrate at the same time as their prey. In many cases, global warming is interfering with that timing, scientists said. A first-of-its-kind global mega analysis on the biological timing of 88 species that rely on another life form shows that on average species are moving out of sync by about six days a decade, although some pairs are actually moving closer together. While other studies have looked at individual pairs of species and how warming temperatures have changed their migration, breeding and other timing, the study in Monday’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences gives the first global look at a worsening timing problem. These changes in species timing are considerably greater than they were before the 1980s, the study said. “There isn’t really any clear indication that it is going to slow down or stop in the near future,” said study lead author Heather Kharouba, an ecologist at the University of Ottawa. For example in the Netherlands, the Eurasian sparrow hawk has been late for dinner because its prey, the blue tit, has — over 16 years — arrived almost six days earlier than the hawk. It’s most noticeable and crucial in …
Trump Accuses China and Russia of Manipulating Their Currencies
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday it is unacceptable that Russia and China are devaluating their currencies, days after the Treasury Department declined to label these countries as currency manipulators in its latest report. Amid a possible new round of sanctions against Russia and a simmering trade war with China, Trump tweeted Monday morning, “Russia and China are playing the Currency Devaluation game as the U.S. keeps raising interest rates. Not acceptable! In general, when a country artificially devaluates its currency, its exports become cheaper and more competitive in the global marketplace. During his presidential campaign, Trump has repeatedly accused China of lowering the value of its currency and vowed to formally label China as a currency manipulator, but so far has failed to do so. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders says the administration is closely watching China’s currency practices. “That’s something that the Treasury Department is watching very closely and we’re continuing to monitor it,” she said Monday. In a semiannual report titled “Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States” released last Friday, the Treasury Department did not designate China as a currency manipulator, but put it as one of the six countries on a monitoring list. The other five countries on the list are Japan, Korea, India, Germany, and Switzerland. Russia is not on the monitoring list. The Chinese currency, the renminbi, has appreciated over 3 percent against the dollar since the beginning of this year, after strengthening by over 6 …
Ramaphosa Team to Seek $8 Billion Investment for South Africa
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed a team of business and finance experts on Monday to hunt the globe for 100 billion rand ($8 billion) in investment to boost the ailing economy. The team of economic envoys includes two former finance ministers — Trevor Manuel and Pravin Gordhan, who now holds the state firms portfolio — as well as a former top banker. Ramaphosa became president in February after winning the leadership of the ruling African National Congress last year on promises to revive the economy and crack down on corruption. Monday’s appointments to the team also include economist Trudi Makhaya, who becomes special economic adviser to the president, former Treasury Director General Lungisa Fuzile, ex-Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas and former Standard Bank chief executive Jacko Maree. “These are people with valuable experience in the world of business, investment and finance and they have extensive networks across a number of major markets,” said Ramaphosa before leaving Johannesburg for a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London. Ramaphosa said the envoys would travel to Europe, Asia and across Africa to build an “investment book” to help plug a substantial shortfall of foreign and local direct investment. “We are modest because we want to overachieve,” Ramaphosa said, explaining why the government was targeting 100 billion rand rather than a much larger sum. Political and policy uncertainty damaged investment and business confidence during nine-year presidency of Ramaphosa’s predecessor, Jacob Zuma, when South Africa’s credit rating was slashed to junk by two of …
Immune Therapy Scores Big Win Against Lung Cancer in Study
For the first time, a treatment that boosts the immune system greatly improved survival in people newly diagnosed with the most common form of lung cancer. It’s the biggest win so far for immunotherapy, which has had much of its success until now in less common cancers. In the study, Merck’s Keytruda, given with standard chemotherapy, cut in half the risk of dying or having the cancer worsen, compared to chemo alone after nearly one year. The results are expected to quickly set a new standard of care for about 70,000 patients each year in the United States whose lung cancer has already spread by the time it’s found. Another study found that an immunotherapy combo — the Bristol-Myers Squibb drugs Opdivo and Yervoy — worked better than chemo for delaying the time until cancer worsened in advanced lung cancer patients whose tumors have many gene flaws, as nearly half do. But the benefit lasted less than two months on average and it’s too soon to know if the combo improves overall survival, as Keytruda did. All of these immune therapy treatments worked for only about half of patients, but that’s far better than chemo has done in the past. “We’re not nearly where we need to be yet,” said Dr. Roy Herbst, a Yale Cancer Center lung expert who had no role in the studies. Results were discussed Monday at an American Association for Cancer Research conference in Chicago and published by the New England Journal of Medicine. The …
EU Demands Compensation for US Steel Tariffs at WTO
The European Union is seeking compensation from the United States for U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum, despite Washington’s assertion that they are not subject to World Trade Organization rules, a WTO filing showed Monday. In a step already taken by China, the EU said it did not accept the “national security” justification for the U.S. tariffs but said they had been imposed just to protect U.S. industry. “Notwithstanding the United States’ characterization of these measures as security measures, they are in essence safeguard measures,” the EU statement said. Safeguard tariffs can be imposed on imports of a particular product if a country’s own industry is at risk of serious damage from a sudden surge of imports. In the U.S. case, critics of Trump’s policy say there is no such threat. The EU said it wanted to hold consultations with the United States as soon as possible. U.S. President Donald Trump announced the tariffs last month, causing a global outcry because the penalties were seen as unjustified and populist. Countries can claim exemption from many international trade rules if they can show they are imposing tariffs to protect their national security. But those exemptions do not apply for safeguard sanctions. The EU and other U.S. allies are not only worried the tariffs will limit the amount of their goods getting into the United States. They also fear steel barred from the United States will flood back into their markets, causing a glut. China had said it will retaliate by putting …
Scientists: Plastic-Eating Enzyme Holds Promise in Fighting Pollution
Scientists in Britain and the United States say they have engineered a plastic-eating enzyme that could help in the fight against pollution. The enzyme is able to digest polyethylene terephthalate, or PET — a form of plastic patented in the 1940s and now used in millions of tons of plastic bottles. PET plastics can persist for hundreds of years in the environment and currently pollute large areas of land and sea worldwide. Researchers from Britain’s University of Portsmouth and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory made the discovery while examining the structure of a natural enzyme thought to have evolved in a waste-recycling center in Japan. Finding that this enzyme was helping a bacteria to break down, or digest, PET plastic, the researchers decided to “tweak” its structure by adding some amino acids, said John McGeehan, a professor at Portsmouth who co-led the work. This led to a serendipitous change in the enzyme’s actions — allowing its plastic-eating abilities to work faster. “We’ve made an improved version of the enzyme better than the natural one already,” McGeehan told Reuters in an interview. “That’s really exciting because that means that there’s potential to optimize the enzyme even further.” The team, whose finding was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, is now working on improving the enzyme further to see if it could be capable of breaking down PET plastics on an industrial scale. “It’s well within the possibility that in the coming …
Consumers in China Weigh Options as Trade Frictions Simmer
Simmering U.S.-China trade frictions have stirred up a furious debate among American farmers who are already facing increased tariffs from Beijing on a wide range of products from pork to fruit and nuts. In the Chinese capital, Beijing, however, discussion of the topic is muted by comparison. Chinese state media are publishing lengthy articles about how China will stand its ground, with some even arguing it’s time for Beijing to teach America a lesson. Consumers are watching the dispute closely. Some are concerned about the impact the trade tensions could have, but most that VOA spoke with were convinced they could weather the storm by buying products from other countries and sources. At an open-air market in downtown Beijing, U.S. imported fruits and nuts are now still competitively priced. But when tariffs start to hit, they are likely to cost even more. One vender VOA spoke with said he is already weighing his options. “I can just stop buying U.S. goods and stop selling products from America,” he said. “I can just buy goods from China. Chinese should eat products made in China.” Tit for tat tariffs The United States has said it will place tariffs on more than 1,300 Chinese goods if Beijing does not take steps to further open its markets, address American concerns and do more to protect intellectual property rights. Chinese authorities have repeatedly voiced confidence they are prepared to fight to the end if Washington goes ahead with its tariffs, but …
На біржі триває обвал акцій компанії Дерипаски: UC Rusal втрачає ще чверть вартості
Акції російської алюмінієвої компанії UC Rusal, що потрапила під американські санкції, на торгах 16 квітня продовжують оновлювати історичні мінімуми. Станом на 8:40 за Києвом цінні папери UC Rusal подешевшали на 24% до 1,55 гонконгського долара (це менш як 20 американських центів), свідчать дані Гонконзької біржі. У перебігу торгів акції російської компанії опустилися до найнижчої вартості з моменту виходу на IPO в 2010 році. Тоді акції UC Rusal розміщувалися по 10,8 гонконгського долара. Акції російської компанії дешевшають на тлі обіцянок Вашингтона оголосити в понеділок про нові санкції проти Росії. Обмеження стосуватимуться компаній, що займаються поставками до Сирії, відзначила посол США в ООН Ніккі Гейлі. Міністерство фінансів США внесло UC Rusal і її основного власника Олега Дерипаску до списку санкцій 6 квітня. Санкції передбачають повну ізоляцію компанії від американської фінансової системи, в зв’язку з чим компанія оголосила про можливі технічні дефолти. …
New AG School Teaches Secrets to Conserving Farmland
Doug Fabbioli is concerned about the future of the rural economy, as urban sprawl expands from metropolitan areas into farm fields and pastureland. The Virginia winery owner decided to be part of the solution and founded The New AG School. As Faiza Elmasry tells us, the school’s mission is raising the next generation of farmers. Faith Lapidus narrates. …
China Eyes Australian Donkey Exports
The Northern Territory government in Australia says it has been approached by nearly 50 Chinese companies looking to buy land to start donkey farms. Demand for donkey products, especially donkey-hide gelatin is increasing in China, while global supplies are falling. The Northern Territory government has bought a small herd of wild donkeys for its research station near the outback town of Katherine. Earlier this a month of delegation of Chinese business people visited the facility, and up to 50 companies from China have expressed interest in buying land to set up donkey farms. It is estimated there are up to 60,000 wild donkeys in the Northern Territory. Donkeys were brought to Australia from Africa as pack animals in the 1860s, and many were released when they were no longer needed. For years feral donkeys have been considered a major pest by farmers.The animals trample native vegetation, spread weeds and compete with domestic cattle for food and water. Now the authorities believe there are economic benefits in captive donkey herds. Alister Trier, the head of the Northern Territory’s department of primary industry believes the donkey trade has a bright future. “My feel[ing] is the industry will develop but it will not displace the cattle industry, for example, I just do not think that will happen.What it will do is add some diversification opportunities for the use of pastoral land and Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory,” said Trier. In China, donkey skins are boiled down to make gelatin, which is then …
Full Steam Ahead for Mozambique’s Rail Network
Dozens of passengers line up in single file along the platform in the dead of night, ready to gather their luggage and pile into the ageing railway carriages. At the small railway station in Nampula, in northeastern Mozambique, the 4:00 a.m. train to Cuamba in the north west is more than full, as it is every day, to the detriment of those slow to board and forced to stand. In recent years, the government in Maputo has made developing the train network a priority as part of its economic plan. But mounting public debt has meant that authorities had no choice but to cede control of the project to the private sector. Seconds before the train — six passenger coaches coupled between two elderly US-made locomotives — leaves Nampula station, the platforms are already entirely empty. No one can afford to be late. Inside, the carriages remain pitch dark until the sun rises as the operator has not installed any lighting. A blast of the horn and the sound of grinding metal marks the train’s stately progress along the 350-kilometre (220-mile) line to Cuamba — more than 10 hours away. Five or six passengers cram onto benches intended for four without a murmur of complaint. “The train is always full,” said Argentina Armendo, his son kneeling down nearby. “Lots of people stay standing. Even those who have a ticket can’t be sure of getting on. They should add some coaches!” ‘Enormous growth potential’ “Yes, but it’s not expensive,” insists the conductor Edson Fortes, …
‘Make America Smart Again’: Hundreds Rally for US Science
Gesturing towards the White House, home to President Donald Trump who has called himself “a very stable genius,” Isaac Newton begged to differ. “Knowing many geniuses, and being one myself, I would venture to say that was rather a boastful claim on his part,” said “Newton,” actually Dean Howarth, a Virginia high school physics teacher in period dress. Howarth was among hundreds of people who turned out to a “March for Science” Saturday in Washington to “create tangible change and call for greater accountability of public officials to enact evidence-based policy,” according to organizers. That was the formal message of the rally, one of more than 200 events being carried out around the world. But as keynote speaker Sheila Jasanoff said, the signs carried by people like Howarth told a more direct and simple story. Many of those messages, while more restrained than Howarth’s, carried implicit criticism of Trump, who withdrew from the global Paris Agreement on climate change, has defended coal-fired power plants, seeks to roll back environmental regulations, and has yet to name his top science advisor. “Make America Smart Again,” said a placard carried by one demonstrator, giving an alternative take on Trump’s “Make America Great Again” pledge. “We’re here because no one wants to be led by the gut feelings of our elected officials,” Jasanoff, a Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Harvard, said in her opening address without specifically referring to Trump’s widely-reported tendency to govern by instinct rather than analysis. “Good science depends …
Taxi Driver Offers Free Rides to Cancer Patients & Cancer Survivors
Auntie Caterina is a regular taxi driver, who offers free rides to cancer patients in the Italian city of Florence. She inherited the taxi when her partner died of cancer 17 years ago and says this is a way to honor his legacy. To show gratitude and support of the Tuscany Region, she was recognized for her work last month as its “Solidarity Ambassador”. VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo reports. …
NASA’s New Planet Hunter Ready to Launch
The search for new worlds outside our solar system will enter a new phase (April 16), when NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, takes off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are working with NASA on the mission. Faith Lapidus reports. …
Pence Says NAFTA Deal Possible in Several Weeks
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said Saturday that he was leaving a summit of Latin American countries in Peru very hopeful that the United States, Mexico and Canada were close to a deal on a renegotiated NAFTA trade pact. Pence told reporters it was possible that a deal would be reached in the next several weeks. The vice president also said that the topic of funding for U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed wall on the U.S. border with Mexico did not come up in Pence’s meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. …
India’s Federal Police File Case Against Former UCO Bank Chairman
India’s federal police said Saturday that they had filed a case against a former chairman of state-run UCO Bank and several business executives alleging criminal conspiracy that caused a loss of 6.21 billion rupees ($95.17 million). Police said officials at the bank had colluded with private infrastructure firm Era Engineering Infra Ltd. and investment banking firm Altius Finserve Pvt. Ltd. to siphon bank loans. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said in a statement that Arun Kaul, the bank’s chairman from 2010 to 2015, had helped clear the loan. Kaul did not respond to Reuters’ calls for comment. Era Engineering and Altius Finserve did not respond to calls outside regular business hours. The case revealed yet another case of alleged bank fraud in India since February, when two jewelry groups were accused of using nearly $2 billion of fraudulent bank guarantees in what has been dubbed the biggest fraud in India’s banking history. That case put the banking sector under a cloud, with the CBI unearthing a string of other bank frauds since then. In the UCO Bank case, it charged Kaul and several officials and accountants at the two companies with criminal conspiracy with intent to defraud the bank of about 6.21 billion rupees by diverting and siphoning loans, according to the statement. “The loan was not utilized for the sanctioned purpose and was secured by producing false end use certificates issued by the chartered accountant and by fabricating business data,” the CBI said. The offices of the companies, accountants and the residences of the accused are being searched, the CBI said. …
На ремонт і будівництво українських доріг буде виділено 300 мільярдів гривень впродовж 5 років – прем’єр
В найближчі 5 років на ремонт і будівництво українських доріг буде виділено 300 мільярдів гривень. Про це прем’єр-міністр Володимир Гройсман написав у своєму Twitter. «Ми будемо зменшувати ямковий ремонт доріг і робити капітальний ремонт – це пріоритет уряду». За 5 років ми з’єднаємо всі обласні центри дорогами хорошої якості. Будуть робитися не тільки державні, але і місцеві дороги. За 5 років ми виділимо на дороги 300 мільярдів гривень», – написав Гройсман. У держбюджеті на 2018 рік на ремонт доріг закладено 44 мільярди гривень (з яких 32,6 мільярда гривень – бюджет Державного дорожнього фонду). Читайте також: Асфальт «зійшов» разом зі снігом. Які причини катастрофічного стану доріг? 10 квітня компанія «Укравтодор» заявила, що на ремонт доріг місцевого значення виділять 11,5 мільярда гривень субвенцій. Як повідомила прес-служба компанії, це – рекордна для України сума, яка буде адресно спрямована на дороги місцевого значення, найбільшу субвенцію, 1,15 мільярда гривень, отримає Київ. В «Укравтодорі» зауважують, що розподіл субвенцій відповідає протяжності доріг місцевого значення, зокрема, понад 600 мільйонів гривень отримають Харківська, Вінницька і Житомирська області, а понад 500 мільйонів – Полтавська, Донецька, Дніпропетровська і Київська області. У межах децентралізації з 1 січня 2018 року автомобільні дороги місцевого значення передали до сфери управління обласних державних адміністрацій. Читайте також: Омелян про Ryanair, українські дороги та Керченський міст Напередодні в ефірі Радіо Свобода міністр інфраструктури України Володимир Омелян заявив, що «ямковий» ремонт на автомагістралях Київ-Одеса і Київ-Чоп мають завершити на початку травня. За словами Омеляни, у 2018 році в Україні відремонтують близько 4 тисяч кілометрів доріг паралельно з моніторингом якості вже відремонтованих. Міністр повідомив, що цього року «Укравтодор» отримав …