The Japanese government will allocate over $500,000 in grant aid to Ukraine in 2018 for the implementation of seven health, rehabilitation and education projects in Zhytomyr, Kherson and Kirovohrad regions and in the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv, the press service of the Japanese Embassy in Ukraine has reported.
According to the report, financial aid will be provided as part of the second stage of financing the Kusanone program for supporting human security projects.
The ceremony of signing seven grant agreements with charitable and public organizations on the Kusanone project will be held on March 15 with the participation of Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine Shigeki Sumi.
A branch of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Argentine Republic has been opened in Santiago de Chile (Chile) – the first Ukrainian diplomatic mission in Chile.
Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile, Mario Luis Silva, opening the ceremony, stressed that the opening of the Ukrainian diplomatic mission is an important stage in the development of bilateral Ukrainian-Chilean relations, since it will give new impetus to the development of relations in all spheres.
In his turn, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Serhiy Kyslytsia also expressed belief that the opening of the Ukrainian institution will contribute to the intensification of cooperation between the parties. “Taking into account the important reforms that are currently taking place in our countries, we now have an additional instrument for intensifying our relations, first of all in the trade, investment and scientific and technological spheres, where there is a significant potential for development of cooperation,” he said.
The Ukrainian official thanked the Republic of Chile for supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine in the conditions of Russian aggression.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said he hopes that an anti-corruption court will be created in the next few months.
“We hope that this court will be created by the Verkhovna Rada within several months,” the prime minister said following a meeting with High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and European Commission Vice President Federica Mogherini in Kyiv on Monday.
Groysman said his government will do everything possible to support the creation of this court. In addition to the anti-corruption court, Mogherini and Groysman discussed the implementation of the association agreement between the EU and Ukraine and cooperation plans for 2018, the prime minister said. They also addressed the decision of a Stockholm arbitration court on gas contracts between Naftogaz Ukrainy and Gazprom and the situation in Donbas, he said.
During the briefing, Mogherini said the anti-corruption court should be independent and should be created in line with the conclusions of the Venice Commission. The creation of such court will promote investment in Ukraine and further reforms, especially privatization and land reform, she said.
JV Poltava Petroleum Company (PPC) seeks to attract a partner to enter the retail liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market, Director General Viktor Hladun has said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“According to experts (ExPro), in 2017, our company occupied 2.5% of the Ukrainian LPG market. Taking into account a new commercial strategy of the company, one of the closest goals is the attraction of strategic partners to enter the retail market – sales to end consumers,” he said.
Hladun also said that PPC plans to increase loading of its LPG plant thanks to purchase of raw materials on the market.
“Our team is working on the additional loading of the LPG plant and the increase in the depth of refining. The plant was built in 2010 and launched in 2011, taking into account the volumes of production the company then had. Now it is loaded only by 30%. The obvious decision is to buy raw materials on the market and additionally load the plant,” he said.
As reported, PPC belongs to Britain’s JKX Oil & Gas Plc.
The State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU) has offered to build a cosmodrome outside the Curtin Air Base in Australia, according to the West Australian edition. According to it, the bid, first proposed to the State and Federal governments in 2016. “Ukraine has the technical expertise, supply chain and a long history in the global space race to back its offer,” Ukraine’s Ambassador to Australia, Mykola Kulinich, told The West Australian.
The SSAU says it needs 5000 sq km to 7000 sq km of land on a commercial lease, preferably around the Curtin air base near Derby, to establish a spaceport.
It wants State and Federal government support to investigate land availability and tenure, environmental approvals, native title issues and other basic building blocks of the project.
According to the article, “construction of launch pads, hangars and support facilities could be funded through private investment, as well as contributions from Australia’s neighbours and allies.” “An initial study could be finished in a relatively short time frame, and for less than $500,000. A feasibility study to determine how much it would cost could be done within two years,” the on-line newspaper said.
The Board of Directors of Myronivsky Hliboproduct (MHP) has approved payment of an interim dividend of $0.7492 per share, equivalent to approximately $80 million. According to a report of the company on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), the dividend will be paid to shareholders by the end of April 2018. As reported, net profit of MHP grew 3.3-fold last year, to $230 million compared with 2016. Revenue grew by 13.4%, to $1.288 billion.
MHP is the largest poultry producer in Ukraine. It is also engaged in production of grains, sunflower oil, and meat. The company supplies cooled halved carcasses of hens to the European market. They are processed there, including at its enterprises in the Netherlands and Slovakia.
