The European Commission begins negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the Life for Climate and Environment Program, which will allow receiving EU support in restoring the ecosystem after the war waged against it by Russia.
“Today, the European Commission begins negotiations with Ukraine to offer the country the opportunity to join the Life for Climate and Environment Program,” European Commission spokesman Adalbert Janz said at a briefing on Thursday.
According to him, by joining the Life Program, Ukraine will benefit from European support in rebuilding its environment after the destruction caused by the Russian attack. In particular, we are talking about heavy pollution and damage caused to the ecosystem. “This will be useful in order to secure the long-term well-being of the country and its sustainability,” he stressed.
The British Ferrexpo plc, which controls in Ukraine, in particular, the Poltava and Yeristovo mining and processing plants (PGOK and EGOK), together with international partners, will intensify the provision of humanitarian assistance in Ukraine within the framework of the Group’s Humanitarian Fund.
According to a press release from the company on Tuesday, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is creating a serious humanitarian crisis within the country. The Group continues to provide assistance through the Fund, which includes the implementation of individual projects ranging from $10,000 to more than $1 million.
At the same time, it is specified that support is provided both to communities located directly next to the territory of the industrial activity of the group, and in other regions of Ukraine. So far, Ferrexpo has provided housing and assistance to more than 1,400 refugees displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Among the main projects implemented are the following: provision of temporary housing for internally displaced persons, namely, the provision of rollaway beds, blankets, installation of lighting and the purchase of batteries to charge phones, as well as computer equipment for local authorities coordinating refugee assistance. Also providing fire brigades with radios, satellite phones and protective equipment for search and rescue in communities directly affected by the invasion, the purchase of batteries for cars and batteries for remote charging of mobile phones for public organizations responsible for helping residents of communities.
In addition, medical supplies are supplied to local hospitals from international suppliers.
Ferrexpo notes that the company’s international business partners, including suppliers, customers and contractors, quickly responded and responded to the call to help Ukraine. A number of the group’s partners have already provided direct humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, in particular, food, medicine, baby food and other household goods. The companies also provide financial support to communities living near the territory of the industrial activity of the group.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jim North in his comment noted that the situation in Ukraine is very difficult and continues to deteriorate and Russia continues to invade Ukraine, which leads to a massive resettlement of people to the west of Ukraine, further from the conflict zones. The support of international organizations is indispensable, and every effort is made to provide direct assistance or to coordinate it where possible.
“We are proud and grateful for the response from our business partners who provided funding to meet the humanitarian needs of Ukraine, in particular, goods and services to the population of Ukraine, provided direct support to projects in the region where we operate. We thank our partners for they responded to Ukraine’s request for help, which is vital today for those affected by the Russian invasion,” North was quoted in a press release.
At the same time, he added that the safety of workers in Ukraine remains Ferrexpo’s number one priority: “I would like to thank our colleagues for their support during these times, as well as for helping to ensure the humanitarian needs of the country.”
Ferrexpo is an iron ore company with assets in Ukraine. Ferrexpo owns 100% of the shares of Poltava GOK, 100% of Eristovsky GOK and 99.9% of Belanovsky GOK.
The production of grains and oilseeds in 2022 in Ukraine is preliminary estimated at 53.3 million tons, which is 51% lower than the record figure of the previous season, due to the Russian military invasion and ongoing hostilities, this year’s harvest may be the lowest in the last 10 -15 years.
“We estimate the total production of grains and oilseeds in 2022 at 53.3 million tons, which is 51% lower than the record figure of the previous season. At the same time, for grains, the harvest may be minimal over the past 15 years, and for oilseeds – over the last decade,” such harvest estimates are given on the website of the APK-Inform agency on Thursday.
The organization clarified that for the 2022 harvest, the area under winter grain crops decreased by 7% compared to last year – to 7.6 million hectares, which practically coincides with the figure for 2020. At the same time, the area under spring grain and leguminous crops, the sowing of which began this month, due to the occupation of part of the territories and hostilities by Russian invaders, can be reduced much more significantly – by 39%, to 4.7 million hectares.
In turn, the total area sown with oilseeds in Ukraine in 2022 may be about 6.8-6.9 million hectares, taking into account the areas already sown under winter rapeseed.
At the same time, a change in the structure of oilseed crops is expected. In particular, the share of sunflower acreage is projected to decrease from 73% in 2021 to 61% in 2022, while the share of rapeseed will increase from 12% to 21%, and soybean from 15% to 17%.
It is specified that as a result of hostilities, the sowing campaign in nine regions of the country looks very dangerous: Chernihiv, Sumy, Kiev, Kharkov, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye, Kherson and Nikolaev. Partially risky areas for sowing are currently noted in Zhytomyr, Poltava and Dnepropetrovsk regions.
The agency emphasized that in addition to a decrease in the area under crops, a general decrease in crop yields is expected in Ukraine due to the limited access of farmers to the necessary resources, such as fuel, fertilizers, plant protection products, etc. However, even the projected volumes of crop production are enough to meet the domestic food needs of Ukraine .
As reported, as of March 25, Ukraine sowed 150,000 hectares of agricultural land in regions where there are no active hostilities against the troops of the Russian invaders.
Due to the military aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, a decrease in the acreage of high-margin crops (sunflower and corn) is expected this season, while increasing the acreage of crops that are easier to produce, but important in terms of food security, peas, barley and oats.
In 2021, during the spring sowing season, Ukraine sowed 14 million hectares of agricultural land, including sunflower – 6.5 million hectares, corn – 5.3 million hectares, barley – 1.35 million hectares, peas – 0.242 million hectares, sugar beet 0.227 million ha, oats – 0.194 million ha, spring wheat – 0.176 million ha.
Volodymyr Klitschko, as part of the Ukrainian delegation, left for Germany, where negotiations are planned on political and economic support for Ukraine, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said.
“Vladimir went with a delegation from Ukraine to meetings in Germany. Meetings are planned with German politicians and officials for political support of Ukraine – economic, humanitarian and military assistance to our state,” Vitali Klitschko wrote on his Facebook page
The mayor of Kyiv stressed the importance of consolidating all efforts to support the country.
“Today it is very important to unite all forces – both in Ukraine and to consolidate the positions and actions of the partner countries of our state,” he said.
US President Joe Biden, in a conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky, announced Washington’s plans to provide Ukraine with $500 million in direct financial assistance, according to a White House press release.
“President Biden informed President Zelensky that the United States intends to provide the Ukrainian government with $500 million in direct budget support,” the document says.
The two leaders also discussed how the US is working with allies and partners to identify additional opportunities to provide defense assistance to the Ukrainian military. It was also about how the United States is trying to “satisfy the basic needs of Ukraine in the field of security.”
In addition, Zelensky provided Biden with information on the state of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, the press release also says.
Negotiations with the Russian delegation in an online format will resume on April 1, said the head of the Ukrainian delegation at the talks with the Russian Federation, David Arakhamia.
“At the talks in Turkey, we also announced that a meeting of the leaders of the two states was now required. The Russian delegation replied that first we need to have a more coordinated draft treaty. In a week we will work out what depends on the participants in the negotiation process,” he wrote in his telegram channel.
At the same time, Akharamiya expressed the assumption that after that the presidents of the countries would meet. At the same time, according to him, Ukraine insists that such a meeting take place not on the territory of Russia or Belarus.
