New rules: Ukraine’s small businesses are resuming work on May 11–12. The lifting of some coronavirus quarantine measures started on May 11 for certain businesses, including for cafes with summer terraces, barbers and beauty salons – they can resume work. “This day has come because the majority of us followed the rules,” Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said. “However, it does not mean we can disregard safety precautions.”
Ukraine’s president offers loan repayment holidays to small businesses. Small businesses affected by the lockdown restrictions should receive loan repayment holidays, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. “We should help them now and after the quarantine so that they can recover quickly,” Zelensky said.
The government promises to provide businesses with affordable loans. Officials are going to roll out their Affordable Loans 5-7-9% program and another program titled New Money, under which entrepreneurs will get loans at a very low-interest rate, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said. “These programs will help Ukrainian businesses withstand the difficult economic conditions caused by the epidemic, as well as guarantee the preservation of jobs.”
140,000 people lost their jobs in May. The Cabinet of Ministers has allocated $222 million from the anti-COVID-19 fund to help the people who have lost their jobs during the pandemic, the press service of the State Employment Center stated.
As EU farmers struggle without Ukrainian seasonal workers, governments are easing travel bans. The season of fresh fruit, vegetables and berries has come, but farmers across Europe are lacking seasonal workers due to travel restrictions. Some Ukrainians, however, continue to receive working visas and move abroad for jobs that bring them more money than they can earn in Ukraine, despite higher risks of spreading the virus.
Meanwhile, Zelensky vows to let migrant workers leave Ukraine if there’s a diplomatic request. The Ukrainian government does not prevent its citizens from going abroad for work if they have a labor contract for at least three months, Zelensky said. “We let all migrant workers go when a country contacts us through diplomatic channels and undertakes obligations to provide the person with employment, accommodation and medical insurance, and we can be sure that if something happens to this person, they will not throw him or her out on the street,” Zelensky said. He also said that Ukraine has received such diplomatic requests from Germany, Italy, Finland and Poland.
Germany is testing Ukrainian drugs for treating COVID-19. Ukrainian medicines that could be used for the treatment of COVID-19 are undergoing laboratory testing in Germany, Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk said. “In such a way, we are trying to establish a dialogue between our scientific institutions… and the leading centers of Germany,” Melnyk told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. “I hope there will be joint initiatives on vaccine development.”
Ukrainian nuclear power plants have reduced energy production to the lowest ever level. The generation capacity of nuclear power plants as of May 10 has fallen to 7,410 megawatt, which is 53% of the total installed capacity of nuclear power plants in Ukraine, state energy firm Ukrenergo has stated. The decline in nuclear power generation comes amid a general decrease in power consumption in Ukraine due to reduced production during the coronavirus pandemic and warm weather.
