NEWS

Cherkasy up in arms over price hike

Cherkasy has seen ordinary people putting… yokes on their necks. Not just yokes, but the yokes of new prices. Some representatives of national patriotic forces staged a protest action on the city’s central square. They were joined by Cherkasy residents who expressed indignation over the price hikes on gas, public utilities, and foodstuffs. Leonid Datsenko, head of the Ukrainian People’s Party’s Cherkasy branch, told The Day that this event is the beginning of a campaign aimed at defending the social rights of Ukrainians and against the current government’s price outrage. In his words, prices have risen in Cherkasy oblast by 12 percent on bread items, 46 percent on cereals, 41 percent on potatoes, 31 percent on dairy items, and 92 percent on sugar, in comparison with last year.

Mykolaiv building another ship for a Dutch company

The Mykolaiv-based Black Sea Shipbuilding Plant state-run joint-stock holding company, one of Ukraine’s largest shipyards, has begun to build a new ship, ordered by the Dutch Damen Shipyard Bergum. The company’s press release says that the all-purpose 3,800-ton-deadweight vessel, designed to carry dry cargo and containers, has been laid down. The ship’s rated speed is 12.3 knots and its maximum load capacity is 193 TEU-type containers. The vessel is 88.6 m long, 12.5 m wide, 7 m high, and 5.4 m in draught. They plan to hand the vessel over to the customer in June 2011. The first ship of this series was transferred to the Dutch company last March. According to the press release, the new ship differs a little from the first one: there will be changes in some shipboard mechanisms and pipelines. The vessel will have a new superstructure, grain partitions, and special onboard sleeves for the installation of tweendeck platforms in the hold. In compliance with a new International Maritime Organization (IMO) resolution, the vessel will be painted under new regulations. The plant is going to introduce IMO standards, which demand special personnel training and enhanced preparation of the surface for painting.