The number of economic discussions will increase as Ukraine approaches EU accession, and they will mainly concern agriculture, as 40% of the legislative norms that need to be harmonized relate to the agricultural sector, said Mykola Solsky, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food.
“We need to understand that as we get closer to (Ukraine’s) accession to the European Union, the number of economic discussions will increase. We need to develop immunity to them, be smart and pragmatic,” he said on the air of the United News marathon.
The minister also noted that this year Ukraine received a list of legislative norms from the EU that need to be prepared and changed, and 40% of everything that needs to be adapted to join the EU is related to agriculture and food.
Solsky emphasized that in recent months, Ukraine has for the first time faced the need to defend its economic position to neighboring countries. “This is the first but not the last economic discussion,” he added.
The minister also emphasized that the grain dispute with neighboring countries is the first precedent for Ukraine that has caused such an emotional reaction among Ukrainian society and politicians.
“I propose to treat this as if we have taken half a step to the last line before joining the European Union. When we become a member of the European Union, it will always be like that. This is normal according to the rules of the European Union. This is a democratic association (…) This is a process that we will obviously go through many times,” the Minister of Agrarian Policy said.
Answering a question about the possible escalation of emotions around Ukrainian agricultural exports during the EU accession, Solsky said that there will definitely be such discussions, but “we should not be afraid of them, but should immediately prepare, learn something and take into account something.”
According to the minister, the work at the European Commission level over the past six months has shown that this association regularly holds meetings of agricultural ministers, where discussions are constantly taking place.
“Each state has its own farmers, its own processors, its own interests, which it considers national. They sometimes go against the opinion of other members of the European Union. (…) If we want to be a member of the European Union, we need to be ready to defend our interests publicly, sometimes not publicly,” the minister explained.
As reported, during the week, Solsky held telephone talks with the agriculture ministers of Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland to discuss the details of the introduction of stricter controls over the export of Ukrainian wheat, rapeseed, sunflower and corn to these countries after the European Commission lifted restrictive measures. Ukraine is obliged to provide written explanations to the neighboring countries on the implementation of the proposed procedures. Negotiations will continue next week.
Ukraine is entering the autumn-winter season with a sufficient amount of gas in underground storage facilities, while maintaining a stable pricing policy, said Oleksiy Chernyshov, CEO of Naftogaz of Ukraine, during the United News telethon.
“Gas prices for households and district heating companies remain stable. They will not change until the end of winter. Therefore, I have to reassure the population in this regard, as well as cities and district heating companies,” he emphasized.
The Head of Naftogaz Group also noted that the preparations for the heating season were at the proper level.
“We have to move forward, get through this winter and be absolutely confident of victory and further actions,” Chernyshov said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that electricity prices for household consumers would remain stable until the end of this heating season.
“As for resources, we will be provided with everything we need, both coal and gas. Due to high temperatures in the last two months of summer, coal stocks in warehouses have fallen slightly, but we have already signed relevant contracts, including imports, and we will be fully provided with coal in the required volume,” the minister said.
According to him, almost 15 billion cubic meters of gas have been accumulated in storage facilities so far, which is even more than planned for the beginning of the heating season.
Changes in revenue of the consolidated budget in 2021-2023 (%)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
Polish President Andrzej Duda has said that Prime Minister Mateusz Marowiecki’s words that Warsaw is “no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine” were taken out of context, TVN24 reported on Thursday.
“In my opinion, the prime minister simply said this: we are not going to transfer to Ukraine the new weapons that we are now buying as part of the modernization of the Polish army,” the Polish president explained.
According to Duda, “We both had the same position. We cannot hand over to someone else our new weapons, which we are now buying for billions of dollars for the Polish army to strengthen it, to strengthen Poland’s security. To anyone.”
Duda specified that those contracts on Polish arms, which Poland signed with Ukraine, will be fulfilled.
At the same time, he recalled that contracts with Ukraine have been signed, including for the delivery of Polish self-propelled howitzers Krab. “We need to fulfill this contract, and we are fulfilling it,” Duda said, adding that there are other contracts concerning ammunition and demining equipment.
“As we receive new armaments from Korea, from the United States, we will also replace the armaments that are now in storage,” Duda said, noting that such armaments could be sent to Ukraine “as we did before, transferring post-Soviet armaments.”
The United States will provide Ukraine with new security assistance worth $128 million, as well as $197 million in weapons and equipment as part of a previously authorized reduction, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said.
The package contains additional air defense munitions “to help strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses against Russian air attacks now and in the coming winter, when Russia is likely to resume its attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure,” Blinken said on Thursday, CNN reports.
“It also contains artillery munitions and anti-tank weapons, as well as cluster munitions that will further enhance Ukraine’s ability to continue its counteroffensive against Russian forces,” he added.
This statement was made during a meeting between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Joe Biden in Washington, DC.
Kormotech, Ukraine’s largest producer of cat and dog food, is setting up a venture capital fund that will invest in the development of petcare and petfood startups, the company’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine.
The UK-based Kormotech Ventures division will search for relevant startups and invest in innovative areas of the company’s development in international markets.
“We were once innovators when we were the first to produce cat and dog food in Ukraine. It is important for us to maintain these fundamental things – flexibility and openness to new knowledge. We want to preserve and multiply the bold entrepreneurial spirit with which we created Kormotech 20 years ago, and with which we became leaders in Ukraine and became one of the top suppliers in strategic export markets,” said Rostyslav Vovk, CEO and co-owner of Kormotech.
Kormotech Ventures will focus on finding innovative startups that are looking for seed investments in the pet care industry in Europe and the US. The company will also fully manage investment projects as a majority shareholder.
It is specified that the core of Kormotech’s business will remain unchanged – the development of high-quality pet food production and expansion of its presence in the pet food markets in Central and Eastern Europe.
The first investment of Kormotech Ventures was the acquisition of a controlling stake in Rocketo, a Lithuanian startup producing organic dog food by gentle drying at low temperatures.
Rocketo is scaling up its presence in the UK market by developing a multi-channel distribution system. In particular, in addition to direct sales through its own online store, Rocketo has been included in the Future Brands program of the Sainsbury’s retail chain and will present its organic dog treats.
“As a family business, we strive to increase the value of our partners’ products and share our experience in organizing business processes, as well as the potential of our best specialists, which will be involved in the structure of Kormotech Ventures,” added Vovk.
Kormotech LLC is a leading Ukrainian manufacturer of pet food for cats and dogs, ranked 51st in the global pet food ranking and 7th in the ranking of the fastest growing pet food brands. Kormotech sells products of its own and partner brands in 40 countries.
The company’s facilities include two dry and wet food production plants in Lviv region and a plant in Lithuania. The company produces products for cats and dogs under its own brands Optimeal, CLUB 4 PAWS (TM “Meow!” and “Woof!”) and private label. The product range includes more than 650 items.
In 2022, Kormotech’s turnover increased by 12% to $124 million from $110 million in 2021. The goal for 2023 is to reach a turnover of $150 million and increase the export/Ukraine ratio to 30%/70% from 24%/76% previously due to the synchronized growth of markets, the statement said.
The ultimate beneficiaries of Kormotech are Olena and Rostyslav Vovk.
