• All duties on Ukrainian exports have been abolished
• Rental benefits during martial law
• Restoration of customs payments is being prepared
• We furnish Ukraine
• Modern hotel with the natural stone in Lviv

Read everything that happened last week in Ukraine and around the world that is relevant and interesting for the furniture maker in our digest:

1. On 19 May, MEPs approved the abolition of EU tariffs on all Ukrainian exports for one year. The EU Council is also expected to adopt a decision shortly. The Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union abolished one component of the duty levied by the EU. And according to this decision, the second component, the so-called price adjustment, will also be cancelled.

2. In Ukraine, the program of leasing state property has been renewed – with benefits and discounts during martial law. The government’s decision simplifies the leasing procedure and provides tenants with discounts of up to 100% and preferential terms.

By the end of the year, tenants were completely exempted from rent in places where hostilities were taking place, and by September 30 – in those areas affected by the war. Until May 30, the lease of state property will not be paid in areas with a threat of hostilities. In all other regions, tenants of state property receive a 50% discount, and tenants of single property complexes will pay 25% less.

3. The list of critical imports and the collection of customs duties may be abolished in the near future. The NBU and the Ministry of Economy support this initiative.  The list of critical imports today covers 90% of all goods, and the remaining 10% of goods do not have a significant impact on the stability of the hryvnia. Statistics show that Ukrainian imports grew tenfold faster than exports in April.

4. The Ukrainian Furniture Factory Association addressed the Office of the President of Ukraine, regional state administrations, and the Union of Architects of Ukraine and offered a meeting to present the project “Removing Ukraine” and include furniture makers in the project of reconstruction of Ukraine.

UAFM called on the representatives of the authorities and the architectural community to pay attention to the participants of UAFM, and Ukrainian furniture makers when it will be necessary to choose furniture for reconstruction projects. The mission of the project can be realized by providing furniture with temporary, rebuilt, new housing and public facilities.

5. The historical place of Lviv will get a new life in the form of a modern hotel made of natural stone. The building will be erected in the southwestern part of the former city in ants. It was here that part of the High Wall, built in the XIV century.

In the basement of the hotel, there will be an exposition of fragments of the wall, discovered by researchers at the centre of the Institute of Archeology “Rescue Archaeological Service”.

The building will be designed by the Polish architectural studio Kuryłowicz & Associates, which has a successful experience in integrating modern hotels into the historic buildings of Gdańsk.

The hotel, 25 meters long, in addition to the main purpose, provides for the arrangement of administrative and commercial premises. UAFM appeals to the architectural studio with a proposal to cooperate in furnishing the hotel with companies participating in UAFM.