Dnister power plant to export electricity
The second unit of the nation’s biggest ongoing electric industry project, the Dnister pumped storage power plant, which is being built on the Bukovynian section of the Dnister River, should be ready next year. Construction is going as planned and the deadlines will be met, says the head of the regional state administration’s infrastructure and tourism department Dmytro Pavel. In the last month alone, JSC Ukrhydroenergo allocated half a million hryvnias to the project, one million hryvnias were borrowed, and the same amount was provided by the plant itself. The total cost of the construction of the plant’s first stage (three generators) is estimated to be nine billion hryvnias. Pavel also points out that since the plant is located near the border with Moldova and Romania, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is negotiating with these states on cooperation and the export of electricity.
Observatory opened in Rivne
The students of the Rivne Minor Academy of Sciences will now be able to observe celestial bodies through a telescope. There was no such equipment on the territory of western Ukraine until now. “Today, it is important to give our disciples an instrument of research and teach them how to use it. Thus, chemical-biological and physics-technical laboratories, along with an astrophysical observatory, have been opened at the Rivne Minor Academy of Sciences. This cost 210,000 hryvnias, allocated from the regional budget,” Oleksandr Andreiev, the academy’s director, explained, “The Rivne Minor Academy of Sciences is the second one in Ukraine to get its own observatory. It is equipped with a 1.76 meter long telescope with the mirror diameter of 302 millimeters. This allows one to explore close space.” Soon, the observation of celestial bodies through the telescope will be available not only to curious pupils, but to everyone. The establishment’s direction is planning to broadcast images received through the telescope on a screen.
Good Deeds in Lviv: do you speak English?
As part of the ongoing social responsibility campaign “Good Deeds,” the internal policy department of the Lviv City Council and the Helen Doron Early English Learning Center have launched a joint project. In June the center’s staff members will hold free classes in English for children aged six to eight from 18 poor and/or numerous families. During the classes, the children will not only learn grammar and pronunciation, but also play specially-designed games and sing songs. The course will include 40 lessons. “The Helen Doron Early English Center is well-known for its achievements and innovations in 30 countries,” the company’s regional manager Natalia Pyets told The Day. “Our centers use a unique technique, which is based on teaching the language in the same way as the children would learn their native language, that is, through listening, reproduction and consolidation of the material. We gladly joined the ‘Good Deeds’ campaign and are confident that we will be able to help in preparing children for the future, since the knowledge of English is now very much a necessary skill.” “There are many opportunities now in Lviv for learning to speak foreign languages fluently, but the costs are prohibitively high for most residents,” adds head of the city council’s internal policy department Volodymyr Schneider. “Thus, Lviv’s citizens need Helen Doron’s help.” Let’s recall that the project “Good Deeds” is a social campaign that was launched in December 2009 by the Schneider-led department. The campaign has been joined by 68 businesspeople who have helped 286 Lviv families. Their aid includes food, clothing, shoes, appliances, books, stationery, tableware, furniture, etc. Additionally, each week poor and/or numerous families are given free tickets to theaters.
