• Jug is now on display at the Culture Summit showing global solidarity with Ukraine

A cockerel-shaped ceramic jug gifted to the Prime Minister in Kyiv has gone on display to delegates at the Edinburgh International Culture Summit.

The jug, which has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance, is being displayed at the biennial event to demonstrate the ongoing international solidarity with Ukraine following the illegal invasion of the country by Russia.

The Prime Minister and Volodymyr Zelensky received a pair of matching jugs from a woman in Kharkiv while walking through the streets of the Ukrainian capital in April.

This type of jug became emblematic of Ukraine’s strong resistance against the invading Russian forces after photographer Elizaveta Servatynska captured an image of a similar jug sitting undamaged on a kitchen cabinet in a high-rise apartment block in March. The building, in Borodyanka, had been badly hit by Russian bombing.

In Ukrainian folklore, cockerels are believed to have powers of protection. When the image of the undamaged jug went viral on social media it quickly became a symbol of the country’s stand against the Russian invaders.

The jug gifted to the Prime Minister is now on display at the Edinburgh International Culture Summit where it will be visible to delegates.

Arts Minister Lord Parkinson said:

As we meet in Edinburgh, this jug will serve as a powerful reminder of Ukraine’s unflagging strength and resistance in the face of Russia’s barbaric invasion.

The Ukrainian people and the preservation of their unique cultural identity will be at the forefront of our minds as ministers and cultural leaders from around the world  meet to discuss  international cultural collaboration.

The jug was made in the 1960s by prominent ceramists Valerii and Nadiia Protoriev from Vasylkiv, a town near Kyiv. The glazed earthenware jugs are an example of majolica pottery that were produced by a Vasylkix factory during the Soviet era.

The biennial Edinburgh International Culture Summit is attended by politicians, artists and cultural leaders from around the world. It aims to promote international cultural and artistic exchange. Delegations from countries across the world will be in attendance at this year’s event.

This year’s summit will have a particular focus on Ukraine through discussions on culture and freedom, which has been prompted by Russia’s invasion. The Ukrainian Institute and British Council are also convening a special Culture Leadership Dialogue event, which aims to forge partnerships between the cultural sectors in the UK and Ukraine in response to the challenges being faced as a result of the ongoing conflict.

Arts Minister Lord Parkinson will be representing the UK Government at the summit.

The Government Art Collection (DCMS) has assisted with the display of the jug and facilitated the loan between the PM and Scottish Parliamentary Building.

ENDS

More on the jug and its symbolism can be found at https://govart.uk/ceramic-rooster.

Micasa WW Ltd, together with Remultex Ltd, have been wound up by the High Court in the public interest, and the Official Receiver has been appointed liquidator of the companies.

An Insolvency Service investigation found that Micasa had seen around £1.3 million pass through its accounts from February 2019, when it started operating, until December 2020.

The company had been identified as potentially involved in a cryptocurrency scam, although the lack of accounting records meant it was not possible to verify whether its business was legitimate trading activity.

Investigators did identify that it had secured a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan (BBL), although there was also no evidence that the company was eligible under the scheme rules.

Nearly all the BBL was transferred to Remultex Ltd, which appears to have started operating in December 2019. Remultex also received its own BBL of £30,000, although it was similarly not possible for investigators to confirm that the company was entitled to the BBL. In addition to the Bounce Back Loan funds received from Micasa, Remultex received payments from three other companies, totalling nearly £250,000 by December 2020. Almost all of this was withdrawn from the business in cash.

As with Micasa, there were no accounting records to explain Remultex’s transactions.

Given the that both companies traded with a lack of commercial probity and had taken public money to which they may not have been entitled, Judge Woodward sitting in the High Court in Manchester agreed that closing down the companies was in the public interest.

As part of their duties, the Official Receiver as Liquidator will seek to recover and realise the assets of the company to make returns to creditors.

David Hope, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

These companies failed to operate in a transparent fashion and failed to maintain proper accounting records.

There is no evidence they were entitled to taxpayers’ money through the Bounce Back Loan scheme, and it is probable that Micasa was funnelling funds as part of a cryptocurrency scam.

Notes to editors

Micasa WW Ltd, company number 11673352.

Remultex Ltd, company number 12284381.

All public enquiries concerning the affairs of the companies should be made to: The Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit, 16th Floor, 1 Westfield Avenue, Stratford, London, E20 1HZ. Telephone: 0300 678 0015 Email: piu.or@insolvency.gov.uk.

Company Investigations, part of the Insolvency Service, uses powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Further information about live company investigations is available here

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available here.

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

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Yesterday I visited Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, where staff have significantly ramped up the number of cataract operations they can do in a single week – thanks to two of the 91 surgical hubs that are already enabling our NHS to carry out more operations quickly and efficiently under one roof.

I want to reassure Times readers who are waiting for vital operations, or have a friend or loved one who is, that we are taking action. Today, I announced that hundreds of thousands of people across the country will benefit from more than 50 new surgical hubs, backed by £1.5 billion of government funding, to help us bust the Covid backlog.

So far, locations for 16 of these new hubs have been confirmed and existing hubs are being expanded with new facilities. Bids for the remaining hubs will be considered over the coming weeks and months.

From the Midlands to the South West, these new hubs will be located on existing hospital sites, speeding up the waiting times for common operations such as cataract surgeries and hip replacements that make up a large part of the waiting list.

For example, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is using its surgical hubs to reduce the length of time that patients undergoing hip and knee replacements stay in hospital by about two days — meaning more people can recover in the comfort of their own home the day after surgery.

Crucially, these new surgical hubs will deliver almost two million extra routine operations over the next three years – expanding on the progress we are already making.

Thanks to the hard work of NHS staff, waits of over two years for routine treatment have already been virtually eliminated, the first target set out in our elective recovery plan. There has also been a drop of almost one third in people waiting 18 months or more for care since January.

These new hubs will help us maintain this momentum and ensure more people can access life-changing operations more quickly.