KYIV. May 16 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine and Israel want to extend bilateral economic cooperation and are working on signing the Free Trade Area (FTA) Agreement by the end of this year, Ukrainian and Israeli prime ministers, Volodymyr Groysman and Benjamin Netanyahu, said.
“I am glad that the general trade in commodities has been growing over the past few months, we are working together to create a free trade area between the countries,” the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine quoted Groysman as saying after a meeting with the Israeli prime minister.
Groysman said he hoped the relevant negotiations will finish by the end of 2017.
In addition, the Ukrainian prime minister called on the Israeli counterpart to consider additionally the possibility of liberalizing access to the Israeli market for agricultural products, especially cereals, dairy products, fish, meat, honey, vegetable oil, vegetables and industrial products.
In turn, Netanyahu stressed that Israel is interested in speeding up the talks on the establishment of the FTA with Ukraine. “We want to speed up the negotiations on the signing of an agreement on a free trade area, develop commerce, trade, tourism, economic exchanges between our countries,” the Cabinet’s press service quoted Netanyahu as saying.
Groysman also reported on the steps taken by the government to improve the investment climate in Ukraine and urged Israeli companies to invest in Ukraine. He invited representatives of the Israeli business to take part in the privatization of state-owned companies in Ukraine.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in a telephone conversation with the prime minister of Israel also expressed the hope the negotiations on concluding the FTA agreement will be completed by end of 2017.
KYIV. May 16 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman has urged Israeli businessmen to invest in the Ukrainian economy.
According to the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Groysman held a meeting with representatives of Israeli business during his official visit to Israel.
“We are very interested in investing in Ukraine. But I also do not need investments that will not be successful. We need successful investments,” the prime minister said.
According to Groysman, Ukraine is working to improve the business environment and stimulate the inflow of investments: the UkraineInvest office to attract and support investments, the National Committee for Industrial Development and the Office for Exports Promotion have been created.
“Business representatives noted that during the past year they felt that the situation in Ukraine began changing for the better,” the report says.
The premier said the government of Ukraine and he personally are ready to do everything to make investments in the country successful.
Polish parliamentarians will help Ukrainian counterparts, representatives of civil society to prepare a strategy for Ukraine’s transformation. They are not only willing to share their own experience, but also promote the involvement of the European Union in this process. At the end of May, Warsaw will host an Interparliamentary Assembly, which will attract, beside Ukraine and Poland, Lithuania and representatives of the European Union.
This was discussed during a meeting of the delegation of the National Forum “Transformation of Ukraine” represented by ULIE President Anatoliy Kinakh and Coordinator of the Forum Mykhailo Kharkiy with Speaker of the Polish Sejm Marek Kuchciński.
The parties stressed the importance of political and economic partnership – both bilaterally and in the framework of specific programs of cooperation with the EU.
The speaker of the Polish Sejm praised the role of civil society in the development of the state and stressed that the success of reforms, policy of modernization depends on the consolidation of all forces – the government, community, businesses, etc. – around the national interests. Currently, such a communication platform between the Ukrainian government and society is the National Forum “Transformation of Ukraine” that has been developing a comprehensive plan for the country’s development.
The corresponding transformation strategy will be a long-term response to systemic challenges, including the economic crisis. The Copenhagen criteria are used as its benchmarks: the rule of law, developed market economy, competitiveness, and others. The Polish side supports this direction of reforms and is ready to share experience as a country that has passed its European integration path and achieved GDP growth and solvency of the population.
Late in May, Warsaw will host an Interparliamentary Assembly, which will be attended by representatives of Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, and the EU.
The Assembly will address such issues as the adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to EU standards and regulations, as well as the expansion of the “circle of the friends of Ukraine,” namely Germany, the United States, Canada, and others, ULIE President Anatoliy Kinakh said.
Prior to that, a delegation of the National Forum met with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė, representatives of the Lithuanian Seimas and the government in Vilnius. Former Prime Minister of Lithuania, now a member of the Seimas and one of the authors of the so-called “Marshall Plan for Ukraine” Andrius Kubilius supported the initiative of Ukraine’s civil society to draft the Ukrainian development strategy and expressed confidence that the parliaments of other EU countries would support it.
The Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE) and the Spanish Confederation of Employers’ Organizations (CEOE) have signed a cooperation agreement to set up the Spain-Ukraine Business Council.
The press service of the Export Support Center under the ULIE reported this on May 4.
The main goal of the signed agreement is to promote the development of partnership of entrepreneurs of Ukraine and Spain, as well as to expand opportunities for economic cooperation between the two countries’ businesses.
According to the report, the facilitation of trade and investment will be implemented in the form of providing technical assistance in various spheres of partnership, taking into account the professional specifics of the companies of the two countries. Particular attention is given to the exchange of up-to-date information on the current economic situation and regulatory and legal aspects. In addition, business contacts will be supported by the exchange and dissemination of information on business proposals and exports of goods, as well as assistance in finding potential partners.
“The Spanish market is potentially very interesting for Ukrainian entrepreneurs, while the main articles of Ukrainian exports to Spain are farm produce, namely fodder grains and sunflower oil, but in the foreseeable future, our export-oriented commodities can be expanded at the expense of high value-added products,” Coordinator of the Export Support Center under the ULIE Denys Krasnikov said.
According to him, Spanish investors are now interested in investing in the agrarian sector of Ukraine.
KYIV. May 15(Interfax-Ukraine) – PJSC Zhydachiv Pulp and Paper Mill in Lviv region, which stalled in autumn of 2014, has resumed work, Lviv Regional State Administration has said on its website.
“Ukraine has seen fewer examples when, after 2.5 years of idle time, an enterprise has not turned into a heap of scrap metal and has resumed work and launched production. Furthermore, over $1 million has been invested in its equipment,” Lviv Regional Governor Oleh Syniutka said at an official event devoted to the re-launch of the enterprise on Friday.
As of today, the corrugated cardboard and paper enterprise’s personnel numbers 539 people, and in the next four months the factory’s management plans to reach full production capacity, increasing the number of employees to 750 people.
Zhydachiv district administration invited qualified personnel to the enterprise, as some of the factory’s former workers have found new jobs at other enterprises in Lviv region over the 2.5 years of idle time.
Among the problematic issues the enterprise has is the wage backlog estimated at UAH 28 million. Moreover, its tax debts as of May 1, 2017 was UAH 21 million.
