Ukraine expects Pope’s visit, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“I really wanted him to come from the very beginning, to support our people in the east of the country. I wanted him to try to unblock the humanitarian corridors to Mariupol,” said Zelensky.
According to him, the Ukrainian side addressed the Holy See with such a request.
“It is too early to tell, but we are waiting for him. We are waiting because he has a mission – a mission from God. He is trusted by a large number of people, I think this is important,” said the President at a press conference in Kyiv Saturday.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 25/04/22
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Ukraine and Poland will create a joint logistics venture designed to dramatically increase the volume of rail transportation of Ukrainian exports to the EU and to world markets through Europe, Ukrzaliznytsia said on Saturday evening. The corresponding memorandum was signed on that day by the prime ministers of the two countries Denis Szmigal and Mateusz Morawiecki in Krakow.
Ukrzaliznytsia noted that the creation of such a joint venture is the answer of the railway workers to the challenges posed by Russia’s aggression to both countries. In particular, we are talking about the need to expand railroads for goods that cannot be delivered through ports blocked by the Russians and part of the railway network of Ukraine, which today no longer has links with Russia and Belarus.
“We started preparing the concept of a joint venture with our Polish colleagues as early as a week after the start of the war. Combining the experience and knowledge of Ukrzaliznytsia managers and Polish colleagues will allow us to formulate unique logistics proposals for the European and world market, which refuses Russian deliveries and Russian logistics,” the statement says. in the release of the words of the head of the board of the company Alexander Kamyshina.
The parties also agreed to work together to increase cargo transportation across the western border of Ukraine, jointly solving technical and organizational problems: various customs rules, the use of different railway lines, and the search for free rolling stock.
The situation with the import of goods after the abolition of VAT and duties discredits Ukraine in front of neighboring partner countries and indicates abuses when importing goods under the guise of “humanitarian aid”, therefore, amendments to the regulatory framework will be proposed in the near future, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure said Mustafa Nayem.
“I think that in the near future, my colleagues from the Ministry of Finance and the Customs Service will propose to the Cabinet of Ministers appropriate changes to the regulatory framework in order to correct this situation without harming real volunteers,” he wrote on Facebook. Nayem noted that 14.3 thousand cars were imported into the country in eight days after the abolition of customs duties. “Our partners in Poland, Slovakia and Romania are a little surprised by such an active renewal of the vehicle fleet of a warring country for which the whole world is raising funds for humanitarian assistance. For example, they are shocked by the industrial scale of imports” for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine “luxury cars,” the deputy minister said..
According to him, there are dozens of BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, 2022 Audi Q7 and even Cadillac Escalade for UAH 3.1 million among them. Nayyem added that over the same period, “humanitarian aid” was imported into the country completely legally, without any customs payments, in the form of various fabrics – for UAH 360 million, mobile phones for almost UAH 200 million, and so on.
“Unfortunately, this is how some of our fellow citizens interpreted the government’s initiative to help volunteers and the army,” the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure stated.
As reported earlier, the head of the profile committee of the Verkhovna Rada, Danil Getmantsev, said about the need to revise the introduced preferential regime for imports.
Ukraine and Poland have signed a Memorandum on strengthening cooperation in the railway sector, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said. “I met with the great friend of Ukraine, Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki. We discussed the resumption of our country from the consequences of Russian aggression. We signed a Memorandum on strengthening cooperation in the railway sector. After Russia unleashed a full-scale war, Poland became a key logistics center for helping Ukraine. Particularly close cooperation takes place at the level of iron roads of the two countries, and such interaction should be strengthened,” Shmygal wrote on the Telegram channel.
According to him, the memorandum provides for the creation of a joint logistics venture between the two countries, which will dramatically increase the volume of rail transportation of Ukrainian exports to the EU and world markets through Europe.
British-Ukrainian Aid (British-Ukrainian Aid) and volunteers donated two ambulances and medicines to Ukraine.
On April 17, volunteers-citizens of Ukraine and the public organization British-Ukrainian Aid (British-Ukrainian Aid) handed over two ambulances to Ukraine and representatives of the Armed Forces. In addition, medicines were handed over from English friends. Now such cars are one of the most necessary types of transport both at the front and at the rear, because minimizing damage to citizens and timely medical care will save lives.
The organizer of the delivery of cars Valery Polshkov, Alexander Bobylev and the construction company “Liko-Holding”. According to Valeriy Polshkov, prompt delivery of the car from Britain became possible thanks to the joint efforts of volunteers and the well-coordinated work of the state bodies of Ukraine.
“I am grateful to the State Border Service and the State Customs Service for their efficient work. The cars crossed the border in 20 minutes and have already been handed over to representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” V. Polshkov emphasized.
Also, Oleg Chomko and his company “Badzinger Auto” were directly involved in the escort and transfer of cars from Britain to Ukraine.
British-Ukrainian Aid, bringing together the efforts of the UK and Ukraine, offers humanitarian and medical assistance to the wounded, veterans, orphans, the elderly, internally displaced persons, refugees and families who have lost their military breadwinner. All members of the group are volunteers and work on charitable projects after their main work.
