New head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, Armin Laschet, supports the idea of expanding the EU and giving Ukraine a “European perspective”, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk said on Twitter.
“We must support Ukraine in its difficult path and at the same time also open up a European perspective,” Melnyk quoted Laschet.
According to Melnyk in an interview with Hromadske Radio on Monday, this is the first promising prospect.
“The announcement of the a leader of the CDU is extremely important. This is a real breakthrough […] It is too early to rejoice, this is just a good start. Now we are starting to work even more actively so that new important steps emerge from this announcement,” Melnyk said.
According to him, Ukraine has good chances of EU membership.
“If we succeed in the near future […] to do more, to enlist the support of the entire CDU-CSU faction in the Bundestag, as well as other influential members of this party, then we, generally, have good chances that the topic of Ukraine’s membership will sound more weighty in context of the elections to the Bundestag, which will be held in September this year,” the ambassador said.
At the same time, Melnyk said that the military conflict in Donbas influences European integration very strongly, and while it continues, there is no talk of membership [of Ukraine in the EU]
“Of course it does. And it affects very negatively. And this is precisely where, among other things, all the cynicism of this war unleashed by Russia lies. Since all the resources of Germany, more precisely, almost all the resources of Germany, which, as you know, acts as a mediator in ending the war, cessation of Russian aggression. They have so far focused primarily on a peaceful settlement in Donbas and on the reintegration of these territories. Therefore, as long as the conflict continues, as long as this war continues, it was impossible to talk about membership, because the main issue for the political establishment of Germany was the war,” the ambassador said.
He also said that, first, the issue of ending the war has to be resolved, and only then other possible projects will be discussed, including issues of European integration in the sense that it is enshrined in the Ukrainian Constitution.
DTEK Energy has agreed on the terms of restructuring eurobonds and the major bank debt with the committees of creditors-holders of eurobonds and banks, the group’s press service has said.
The company notes that the completion of restructuring will ensure the stable operation of the company in the long term, flexible debt service mechanics, taking into account financial forecasts and an unstable external conjuncture.
DTEK’s Strategy and Finance Director Oleh Tymkiv, whose comment is given in the report, indicated that DTEK was building the negotiation process “as a reliable partner fulfilling its obligations.”
“This allowed to maintain constructive relations and balance the company’s loan servicing capabilities and continue its development,” he stressed.
According to him, during the negotiation process, DTEK was able to make sure that the creditors fully understand the consequences of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, both on the country’s economy and on the energy industry.
“This was reflected in their balanced constructive position, aimed primarily at finding a compromise solution. As a result, we managed to reach the best conditions for both sides of the new agreement,” Tymkiv summed up.
The State Agency of Automobile Roads of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) has signed an agreement for the construction of a new bridge in Kremenchuk (Poltava region) for UAH 11.249 billion with the Turkish company Dogus Insaat Ve Ticaret.
On the part of Ukravtodor, the contract was signed by the head of the road service in Poltava region, Ivan Krapovnytsky, from Dogus Insaat Ve Ticaret – executive director Tolga Akkas.
Ukravtodor noted that the new bridge will improve the optimization of logistics routes in the center of Ukraine by reducing travel times for road transport. This will be achieved by increasing the speed limit for trucks from 36.8-53.3 km/h to 72.9 km/h, buses from 35.7-53.4 km/h to 71.1 km/h, passenger cars from 39.6-55.3 km/h to 81.5 km/h.
“All plots that fall under the construction zone will be bought for state funds. If these are private plots where people live, or some other private plots, they will be bought out, transferred to the state ownership, and people will receive monetary compensation for this,” Krapovnytsky said.
Vaccines against COVID-19 from four companies will arrive in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
“We have agreed to supply vaccines to Ukraine from Pfizer, Sinovac, AstraZeneca and Novavax companies. The first stage of vaccination will begin this month. Our doctors, the military and the National Guard will be the first to receive the vaccine,” Zelensky said at the opening of the “Ukraine 30. Coronavirus: Challenges and Responses” Forum on Monday.
At the same time, the president said that having already resolved the issue of vaccine supplies to the country, Ukraine faced a new problem, namely “lack of faith in vaccination, refusal to vaccinate by a significant part of the population.”
“This is a new but very serious issue that we all need to address. Personally I am ready, like most world leaders, to show that vaccination is important, safe and necessary,” the president said.
The president said that Ukraine will buy only safe vaccines from world manufacturers.
“There is no official information that the Russian vaccine has a 91% effect, neither from WHO nor from world experts. The head of WHO said today that there are several key points to pay attention to, one of them – fakes. Citizens of Ukraine are people and definitely not rabbits. We have no right to experiment on them,” Zelensky said.
“Today I will talk to Pfizer. We should get one million vaccines in February. In addition, there are agreements with the Chinese manufacturer. There are agreements with the U.K. and the United States,” he added.
The president said that Ukraine must purchase vaccines and provide an opportunity for all Ukrainians to be vaccinated. “As a state, we will lift the bans on people who are vaccinated or have contracted COVID-19,” Zelensky said.
The head of state also said that Ukraine has developed a vaccination roadmap, which provides for proper and equal access for all citizens of Ukraine.
“Its main task is to cover at least half of the population of Ukraine during 2021 and early 2022,” the president said.
The German government will provide Ukraine with EUR 13.1 million for energy-efficient modernization of medical care facilities, procurement of latest basic medical equipment and equipment for outpatient diagnosis and treatment of coronavirus (COVID-19) disease.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, the relevant grant and project agreement was signed on February 8 between Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Oleksiy Reznikov, Director of the KfW Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia Department Olaf Zymelka and Executive Director of the Ukrainian Social Investment Fund Andriy Laktionov.
The aim of the project is to counter the threats and consequences of the pandemic by means of their energy efficient renewal and provision of the necessary medical equipment.
The funds will be used to upgrade the infrastructure and equip 12 institutions of primary and secondary (reference) medicine in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia regions and in Donetsk and Luhansk regions controlled by the Ukrainian government with latest medical devices and protective equipment.
The project will be implemented by the Ukrainian Social Investment Fund (UFSI) within three years.
In addition, annexes were signed for other projects worth EUR 23.4 million, of which EUR 9 million was allocated to the construction of housing for internally displaced persons (13 facilities) and improvement of infrastructure (six schools and seven kindergartens) in communities hosting IDPs.
The second grant of EUR 14.45 million is aimed at improving the conditions for the provision of medical care. The purchase of new equipment and energy-efficient renovation of hospitals will advert at least 40 facilities in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia regions and in the Russia-occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The National Securities and Stock Market Commission of Ukraine in the last days of 2020 registered the issue of shares of JSC closed-end non-diversified venture corporate investment fund CIG, the beneficiary of which is managing partner of Chernovetskyi Investment (CIG) Volodymyr Kryvko.
According to the public register, the charter capital of the fund is UAH 706 million.
The asset management company (AMC) for the new CIG fund is AMC Univer, on the website of which it is listed among the other 25 similar venture funds.
Chernovetskyi Investment Group, president of which is the son of former Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky Stepan, is an investment company established in 2012, positioning itself as a venture investor in Eastern Europe and estimating its investment potential at $100 million.
