Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar has held online talks with his Turkmen counterpart Berdyniyaz Miatiyev during which they agreed to sign a cooperation program between the foreign ministries of Ukraine and Turkmenistan for 2020-2021 in the near future, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine said. “The diplomats noted the importance of active development of political, economic and humanitarian cooperation. With this aim they agreed to sign a cooperation program between the foreign ministries of Ukraine and Turkmenistan for 2020-2021 in the near future,” the ministry said on Wednesday.
The deputy ministers also decided to hold important bilateral events, in particular a meeting between the foreign ministers of the countries and another meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission for economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation, after the quarantine.
The Ukrainian diplomat also said that the countries should unite their efforts in order to minimize a negative impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the economies of both countries and protect the rights and interests of their citizens.
“This will help us to ensure active inter-regional cooperation and successful activities of Ukrainian companies in Turkmenistan, as well as restore mutually beneficial energy cooperation,” the ministry said.
The diplomats also discussed promising areas of cooperation between their countries within international organizations, including the UN.
The sides also agreed on building of active cultural and humanitarian cooperation, learning opportunities for intensification of cooperation in the spheres of science, education and technology, training diplomats and holding online lectures during the quarantine, the ministry said.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during Freedom of Speech of Savik Shuster program on Ukraine TV Channel later on Friday presented a brief strategy of gradual weakening of the quarantine for the period from early May by early July.
He also promised to report a more detailed plan, which is now being drawn up, in three or four weeks.
“This plan is under work, in fact we are working over it round the clock. As soon as it is ready and improved, it will be immediately presented to the public. Believe me, it would be one of the best [plan] among our neighboring states. It has credit holidays, and refinancing of loans, support for poor and unemployed,” the premier said.
According to his brief strategy, the first quarantine step called “Ukraine is going to work” is foreseen for early May – early June.
It involves the creation of 500,000 jobs, credit support for small and medium-sized businesses, partial removal of restrictions on public transport and a shifted work schedule.
The second stage named “New standards of social life” is scheduled for early June-early July.
During this period, it is planned to complete the 2019-2020 school year, restore the operation of public transport according to the new rules, allow access to recreation areas, subject to safety standards, and to weaken isolation conditions for older people.
Shmyhal emphasized that while Ukraine should adhere to the emergency regime in order to pass the epidemic according to the optimistic scenario with a drop in GDP to 5%, and not according to the pessimistic one, in which GDP fall is estimated at 15%.
In this emergency mode, according to the presentation presented by the prime minister, it is planned to support socially vulnerable segments of the population, to help the unemployed and those on forced leave, to mobilize medical resources and to support the medical staff and all those involved in the fight against the epidemic.
The An-225 Mriya aircraft belonged to Antonov State Enterprise flew to China on April 15 to deliver medical supplies to help in fight against the coronavirus disease COVID-19 pandemic in France.
The state-owned enterprise (SOE) Antonov said on its Facebook page that the Mriya aircraft will take on board a new batch of medical supplies in China to fight COVID-19 and will land at Chalons Vatry Airport in France on April 18.
The enterprise also said that Antonov Company continues manufacturing the An-178 aircraft under the contract concluded by SpetsTechnoExport with the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Peru. As of today, the preparatory works for jig assembly of the aircraft’s fuselage have been completed.
“Assembly of the fuselage nose part (F1) and the fuselage center section (F-2) are at the final stage in the production shop. Manufacture of the central part of the wing, left and right cantilever parts of the wing, empennage has been fully completed. Two engine pylons are ready for further integration into the aircraft,” the company said in the statement on its website.
According to the company, to date, Antonov Airlines has already transported more than 1,400 tonnes of cargo from China to various countries in Europe, the United States, and the Middle East.
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has decided that Ukrainian producers of thermally processed products from poultry, pork and eggs will be able to obtain permits for exporting products to the Singapore market, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine said.
“Any crises also bring new opportunities. The access of Ukrainian goods to the Singapore market will help our entrepreneurs increase exports, despite the coronavirus [COVID-19] crisis,” the Foreign Ministry’s press service said, citing Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Friday.
The Foreign Minister said that global markets and chains of goods supply are currently being transformed due to a pandemic, and Ukraine is able to use the changes to its advantage, first of all, revealing the hidden potential of exports to Asian markets.
Detailed explanations of the terms of export to Singapore can be obtained from the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection.
The Foreign Ministry said that Ukrainian exporters who use the new opportunities should fill the form of the Ukrainian exporter from the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Singapore (it concerns only the export of Ukrainian goods to the markets of ASEAN countries: Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand) at the link: https://goo.gl/forms/wL5iAZEOk82bfv3n2.
Ukraine in January-March 2020 increased its electricity exports by 33% or 548.9 million kWh year-over-year, to 2.211 billion kWh, the Energy and Environmental Protection Ministry of Ukraine has told Interfax-Ukraine.
Electricity supplies from the Burshtyn TPP energy island to Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania rose by 57.9%, to 1.622 billion kWh.
Exports to Poland grew by 11.9%, to 459.2 million kWh.
Exports to Moldova fell by 42.1%, to 130.3 million kWh.
Ukrainian electricity was not exported to Belarus or Russia in 2018 or 2019.
Ukraine imported 1.554 billion kWh of electricity in January-March 2020, including 909 million kWh from Slovakia, 371.8 million kWh from Hungary, 149.6 million kWh from Belarus, 70.2 million kWh from Romania, and 53.4 million kWh from the Russian Federation.
Due to crossflows related to the parallel work of the Integrated Power System (IPS) in Ukraine and systems in bordering countries (accounted for under contracts signed by Energomarket), Ukraine imported 14.5 million kWh of energy from Russia and 200,000 kWh from Belarus.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), under the Green Cities project, intends to provide Spetskomuntrans Communal Enterprise with a loan of EUR 28.5 million to finance the project for the rehabilitation and modernization of solid waste infrastructure in the city of Khmelnytsky, valued at EUR 36.5 million
According to information on the bank’s website, the decision on the project can be made on July 8, 2020. Now the project is under consideration.
The loan split into several tranches co-financed by up to EUR 5 million investment grant from the EU Neighborhood Investment Platform and up to EUR 3 million local contribution.
The project includes two phases. The phase I of the Project will address the city’s urgent investment needs with respect to the rehabilitation of the existing landfill, the construction of a new engineered sanitary landfill in compliance with the EU standards adjacent to the old one, the acquisition of new landfill equipment to ensure sustainable operation of the new landfill and improvements of the solid waste collection and transportation systems, co-financed from the city budget.
The phase II of the project includes the construction of a new material recovery facility for non-organic waste and a separate composting facility for pre-sorted organic waste. The EBRD said that this will reduce the share of solid waste going to the landfill.
Spetskomuntrans Communal Enterprise is responsible for the collection, treatment and disposal of municipal solid waste in Khmelnytsky. The company has contracts with more than 92,000 households and almost 3,000 commercial and public organizations for waste removal and disposal. The company is also an operator of the existing landfill located in the territory of the city.
EBRD, EUR, KHMELNYTSKY, LOAN, MLN
