The volume of gas supplies from Russia to Europe has now halved compared to last summer, and their further decline is not ruled out, European Commission energy member Kadri Simson said on Monday.
“Gas deliveries from Russia now make up half of the volumes that we received at the same time last year. They may continue to decline,” Simson said before the EU meeting at the level of ministers of energy, transport and telecommunications.
With regard to gas supplies, the EU is ready for any developments, she stressed.
Simson added that at the meeting on Monday, she will present to the ministers concrete steps that, in her opinion, would help the countries of the union to be better prepared for the reduction in gas supplies. One such step is coordinating a reduction in demand for gas.
On Saturday, Simson said that 12 EU states were completely or partially left without gas from Russia. She added that last week the EU reached an agreement to increase gas supplies with Israel and Egypt, deepened cooperation with Norway, and final direct negotiations with Azerbaijan.
Simson stressed, BNS reports, that joint gas purchases require unanimity and coordination between member states, and that the work of the European Commission creates the necessary conditions for this.
“The good news is that in May, a record was once again set for the flow of LNG to Europe – 12.8 billion cubic meters – this is the largest monthly volume in history,” she said.
At the end of May, it was reported that Poland, Bulgaria, Finland and the Netherlands, due to their refusal to accept the new settlement system, had lost the opportunity to receive Russian gas.
Number of unemployed in Ukraine and job opportunities, Jan 21 – May 22
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine is working to extend the abolition of duties and quotas for the import of agricultural products to the EU countries for the entire period of its candidacy for the EU, as well as to harmonize Ukrainian legislation with the European one.
The integration prospects in the context of Ukraine obtaining the status of a candidate for EU membership were announced by First Deputy Minister Taras Vysotsky at a meeting with the European Business Association (EBA) on June 22, according to the EBA website on Friday.
According to the organization, in addition to the abolition of quotas and duties from the EU in early July, it is planned to cancel licenses for the export of Ukrainian wheat to the EU countries.
Also, in order to open alternative logistics routes, the ministry is negotiating with countries on the use of the Baltic and Polish corridors for the export of agricultural products.
“To support the dairy industry, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy is negotiating with the European Commission to provide grants of up to EUR 50 million to small farmers, and the possibility of submitting them to other international support programs is being considered,” EBA quotes Vysotsky.
The association noted that in the near future it is planned to separate queues for customs clearance of goods with perishable products at two checkpoints on the border with Poland – in Krakovets and Yahodyn.
As reported, on June 4, Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council No. 2022/870 on temporary trade liberalization measures, exempting Ukrainian exports from all duties and quotas for a year, came into force.
The Polish railway company PKP Intercity is canceling free travel for Ukrainian citizens from July 1, the company’s press service said.
“The current rules for issuing free tickets for refugees from Ukraine will be valid until Thursday, June 30. From Friday, July 1, these trips will be carried out according to the general rules included in the PKP Intercity regulations.
It is noted that free travel for citizens of Ukraine in the 2nd class of economy class trains TLK and IC was introduced on February 26. Until the last days of June, more than 2.3 million citizens of Ukraine used the services of PKP Intercity.
Businessman Rinat Akhmetov has filed a lawsuit against the Russian Federation with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.
This was reported by the press service of the SCM company.
“Evil cannot go unpunished. Russia’s crimes against Ukraine and every Ukrainian are egregious. The guilty must be punished. I – with the help of the best Ukrainian and American lawyers – filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights for damages. This lawsuit is one of the first international legal actions against Russia, the purpose of which is to stop the criminal activities of the Russian aggressor, the destruction of the Ukrainian economy and the plundering of Ukrainian assets,” Rinat Akhmetov said.
The businessman asks the European court to hold the aggressor country Russia accountable for the destruction of Ukrainian infrastructure, looting and theft of export goods. He is represented by the international law firm Covington & Burling LLP.
As the owner of Azovstal and many other industrial enterprises targeted by the Russian armed forces invading Ukraine, Akhmetov is doing everything possible to hold Russia accountable for the destruction it is wreaking on Ukrainian territory, SCM noted.
In addition to the lawsuit, the businessman asks the court to take urgent interim measures that will prevent further blockade of Ukrainian ports, looting, theft of grain, as well as steel produced by SCM enterprises.
“The looting of Ukrainian export commodities – including grain and steel – has already driven up the price of those commodities and increased the number of people in the world who are dying of hunger. This barbarity must be stopped and Russia must pay in full. I believe in justice and fight for it,” said Rinat Akhmetov.
He also urges other businessmen affected by Russian aggression to go to court.
The Cabinet of Ministers allowed for the period of martial law and within a year after it to build individual houses and farm buildings without obtaining a construction passport for the development of a land plot, Taras Melnychuk, a representative of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Verkhovna Rada, said on his Telegram channel.
According to him, the condition is valid for individual, garden, country housing no higher than two floors and an area of up to 500 square meters.
The construction of such houses shall be carried out in accordance with urban planning documentation at the local level, and in its absence – in accordance with the intended purpose of the land.
BUILDING INDIVIDUAL HOUSING, CONSTRUCTION PASSPORT, MARTIAL LAW
