•Canada has opened 98 percent of its market to Ukrainian goods and imports items from Ukraine at a clip approaching $420 billion, a deputy economic development minister said, according to Ukrinform. As a result, the Canadian market holds “very large opportunities for us.”

•Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said the Ukrainian pension system will be radically overhauled this year, and the government will offer the public a range of solutions. Pension reform is part of the reform program approved by the International Monetary Fund. But Ukraine and the IMF are at odds over an IMF directive that Ukraine raise the retirement age by three years.

•Kyiv mega-developer ADS Group has split up, according to a Liga.net report. Four of the company's nine properties in Kyiv – the Cosmopolitan hotel and shopping center, the Ultramarine amusement center and the MegaMarket building on Petrovka Street – were transferred to the control of Oleg Vishnyakov. The remaining five – the Terminal mall in Brovary, the Manufaktura outlet center and three other MegaMarket buildings – went to longtime ADS Group boss and senior partner Viktor Yushkovsky.

•The Czech government is doubling its quota for Ukrainian workers, Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek said Wednesday, Reuters reported. The decision was made in light of an acute labor shortage as the economy continues to grow strongly. The Czech Republic has the lowest rate of unemployment in the European Union.

•Ukraine hopes to repair the much-maligned runway at Odesa International Airport this year, Infrastructure Minister Vladimir Omelian said, Interfax Ukraine reported. Among the three busiest airports in the country, Odesa International has drawn criticism over the atrocious condition of its runway, even prompting former regional head Mikheil Saakashvili to speculate that the airport might have to shut down without the runway repairs.

•A negotiations hangup is stalling the appointment of a new head of Boryspil International Airport in Kyiv, according to Interfax Ukraine. A government committee selected former Transportation Ministry manager Pavlo Riabikin to fill the post, but Infrastructure Minister Vladimir Omelian alluded to some sort of tangle in the process.

•The British money transfer service WorldRemit has come to Ukraine and other CIS countries, Novoe Vremya reported. Customers can send and receive money at 3,000 WorldRemit locations in Ukraine.

•Kyiv authorities are looking to South Korean potential investors to participate in projects the city is touting, Ukrinform reported. City officials said the opportunity interests the South Koreans because Ukraine would be a new market. Among the projects that were pitched: construction of the Kyiv Business Harbor industrial park and a recreational zone on Trukhaniv Island, modernization of Central Heating and Power Plant No. 6 and construction of a waste incineration/recycling plant.

•Starting today, Polish transportation operator PolskiBus will launch international bus service along a Lviv-Lublin-Vilnius route, Ukrinform reported. The buses will have an assortment of amenities, including Wi-Fi, air conditioning, electrical outlets and a restroom.

•Ukrainians' real wages grew more than 11 percent in 2016, while their nominal wages rose by nearly a quarter, RBK Ukraine reported.

•More outbreaks of African swine fever have been confirmed. New cases were recorded in the Rivne, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions.

For comments and news tips, please email UBJ AM editor David Edwards at david.edwards@theubj.com.