The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy informs that from May 15, passengers flying from Ukraine to Turkey do not need to present the results of PCR testing.
“From May 15, 2021, passengers flying from Ukraine to Turkey do not need to present the results of PCR testing. The Turkish government has canceled the requirement for them to present the results of PCR testing,” the press service of the Ministry of Culture said.
It is noted that this decision will enter into force on May 15, 2021 at 00:00 Kyiv time.
Cancellation of testing will also be implied to passengers from China, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Great Britain, Latvia, Luxembourg and Estonia.
Ukraine, as of May 5, imported 26,200 tonnes of raw cane sugar imported within the tariff quota of 260,000 tonnes, the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine reported on the website, citing data from the State Customs Service.
The agency clarified that the average cost of imported raw materials will be $480 per tonne, and the estimated cost of processed cane sugar, taking into account logistics costs and after paying mandatory payments, will be UAH 22,000-23,000 per tonne on the Ukrainian market. According to the Ministry of Economy, as of May 5, importers were issued licenses to import raw sugar from cane into Ukraine with a total volume of 170,000 tonnes.
The ministry specified that since the beginning of the 2020/2021 marketing year, imports of white sugar amounted to 67,000 tonnes with an average cost of $512 per tonne.
In January-April of this year, according to preliminary data, Ukrainian automakers produced 2,791 vehicles, which is 96% more than in the same period in 2020, according to the Ukrautoprom association’s website.
As reported, in January-March 2021, vehicle manufacturing exceeded production in the same period last year by 34%.
According to the association’s data, the growth in the production of motor vehicles was ensured by a 2.1-fold increase in the production of passenger cars, to 2,594 units.
At the same time, as reported, this happened after the resumption of production of cars at the Zaporizhia Automobile Plant (in September 2020), while in January-April last year, statistics on these cars concerned only the Eurocar plant.
At the same time, the production of commercial vehicles fell by some 33%, to 8 units (excluding AvtoKrAZ, which does not provide statistics), and the production of buses grew by 9%, to 189 units.
The association reported that in April this year, the production of vehicles grew by one third compared to March this year, and compared to April last year it rose 16 times, to 962 units.
Some 904 units of passenger cars were produced in April versus 59 units a year earlier, and compared to March 2021, almost 36% more.
A total of 56 buses were manufactured in April (one bus more than the March indicator, and in April 2020 not a single bus was made).
As for commercial vehicles, as in March, only two vehicles were assembled at the Cherkasy Bus plant (none in April last year).
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the creation of the State Biotechnological University in Kharkiv.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Kharkiv Petro Vasylenko National Technical University of Agriculture, Kharkiv State Zooveterinary Academy, V. Dokuchaev Kharkiv National Agrarian University and Kharkiv State University of Food Technology and Trade join the newly created State Biotechnological University.
It is noted that applicants for higher education and other persons who study at these educational institutions will continue their studies at the newly created university in the chosen specialties and sources of funding.
During the visit of French Finance and Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire to Kyiv on Thursday, four strategic intergovernmental agreements will be signed totaling EUR 1.3 billion.
“Indeed, during my visit, France will sign four strategic intergovernmental agreements with Ukraine for a total of EUR 1.3 billion. This is very significant! And I want to emphasize one key point: these projects will help improve the living conditions of Ukrainians. We are talking about drinking water, mobility, security and civil protection,” Le Maire said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that he was happy to come to Kyiv, meet with the Ukrainian authorities and have the opportunity to strengthen economic ties between the two countries.
“France and Ukraine have a lot in common: we are both industrial countries, we are countries with an important part of agriculture, we are European countries fully committed to strengthening Europe’s place in the international arena,” the minister said.
Le Maire also said that in 2020, the total trade volume between France and Ukraine reached EUR 1.6 billion.
“Our economic relationship is very dynamic and we are on the right track. I want to give you one single figure: in 2020, the total trade volume between France and Ukraine reached EUR 1.6 billion – a very important amount that remains stable despite the COVID-19 recession. Now we want to strengthen and accelerate economic cooperation between our two countries. This is the purpose of my visit to Kyiv,” he said.
The French concern Alstom is ready to increase the level of localization in the contract for the supply of electric locomotives to Ukraine, French Finance and Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire has said. “For example, with regard to the contract for the supply of electric locomotives, Alstom is ready to localize up to 35% of production and service in Ukraine. At the beginning of the discussion, Alstom planned to localize about 20% of production in Ukraine. We realized that this was not enough. This is a vivid evidence of our readiness to take into account the legitimate request of the Ukrainian authorities,” Le Maire said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that France fully understands the request of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, who wants French companies involved in contracts with Ukraine to locate a significant part of their production in Ukraine.
“This is a perfectly legal requirement, and we acted accordingly,” Le Maire said.
The Minister said that France has a long history with Ukraine, and he is determined to open a new chapter of this long journey from an economic point of view.
“There is a significant network of French companies in Ukraine: now there are 160 French companies in the country, employing 30,000 people. This makes French companies the leading international employers in Ukraine. We also want to strengthen our ties in very specific sectors: utilities with distribution of drinking water, energy, infrastructure and transport such as trains, healthcare and, of course, agriculture. In all these sectors, I think there are opportunities for deepening and expanding relations,” Le Maire said.
