Business news from Ukraine

KYIV. March 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Ukrsadprom association and state-run China Haisum Engineering Co, Ltd. have signed a memorandum of understanding. Some $515 million of investment into Ukrainian gardening projects is envisaged under the memo.

“With the help of the Chinese corporation Ukrainian gardeners will be able to receive $515 million of investment in coming two years,” Head of Ukrsadprom association Dmytro Kroshka said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.

He said that the planned investment from the partners will be spent in 16 regions of Ukraine.

“All infrastructure projects of our members [the Ukrsadprom association] will be discussed. I hope that most of them will be financed. Today 18 projects have been selected. Investment is from $200,000 to $25 million,” Kroshka said.

He also said that the sides determined the directions for investment in the memo signed on February 28. The memo concerns fruit and berry processing, construction of fruit storage facilities, additional processing facilities and processing of up to 500,000 tonnes of fresh fruit and berries. Some $130 million [could be invested] in fruit storage facilities. The smallest capacity we are to reach is an additional 500,000 tonnes to what we have now. Today we have around 280,000 tonnes of the storage capacity,” he said.

Kroshka said that one of the Ukrainian state-run banks could act as a financial operator of the project.

Manager of the international department of China Haisum Engineering Co. Gong Jun said that it is planned to sign the official general investment document between representatives of Ukraine and China at the forum in Beijing on May 14 and May 15, 2017. One of the projects will be gardening.

KYIV. March 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Representatives of the European Parliament and the EU Council have agreed on visa-free travel for Ukrainians to the EU member states.

“Ukrainian citizens will be able to travel to the EU visa free under an informal deal struck by Parliament and Council negotiators on Tuesday,” the European Parliament’s press service said in a statement posted on its website on Tuesday evening.

The document says that once the change enters into force, and provided they have biometric passports, they will be able to enter the EU for up to 90 days in any 180-day-period for business, tourist or family purposes.

The deal will now have to be endorsed by the Civil Liberties Committee and Parliament as a whole, before being formally approved by the Council of Ministers, the press service said.

The legislation will be signed by European Parliament’s President Antonio Tajani and representatives of the Maltese Presidency of the Council on Wednesday, March 1, and enter into force 20 days after it is published in the EU Official Journal.

The visa waiver will apply to all EU member states except Ireland and the United Kingdom. It does not confer a right to work in the EU.

Before granting this visa waiver, EU member states revised the visa waiver suspension mechanism to allow visas to be reintroduced more easily in exceptional cases. This revision was approved on Monday by the Council.

KYIV. March 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Elvorti manufacturer of sowing and tillage machinery equipment (Kropyvnytsky, formerly Chervona Zirka) tentatively saw a 5.5-fold rise in net profit in 2016, to UAH 170.43 million.

According to a report on the agenda of the general meeting of shareholders scheduled for April 12, its undistributed profit as of early 2017 was UAH 518.86 million (UAH 348.387 million as of early 2016).

As reported, in 2015 the company saw a 13.7% fall in net profit, to UAH 31.17 million.

Last year Chervona Zirka cut its current liabilities by 15%, to UAH 90.65 million and noncurrent liabilities – by 14.2%, to UAH 154.9 million.

Total debt of the company as of January 1, 2017 totaled UAH 220 million, or twice more than a year ago. Its assets grew by 19.5%, to UAH 786.53 million.

PJSC Elvorti, part of Elvorti Group of businessman Pavlo Shtutman, manufactures sowing and tillage machinery.

Its production facilities can produce 10,800 sowing equipment, 4,156 planter-cultivators and 868 disc harrows.

A division of the Paneuropean Union may be created in Ukraine that will strengthen not only economic but also political and cultural relations of our country with European states. The importance of the role of Ukraine in Europe in general and the EU as a political institution was discussed during a meeting between President of the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE) Anatoliy Kinakh and Head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, President of the Austrian branch of the Paneuropean Union, Karl von Habsburg.

The latter is now best known as a public figure, who, along with his father Otto von Habsburg, has done much to create a united Europe and facilitate the integration of Eastern European countries in the EU.

The parties discussed, among other things, cooperation between Ukraine and the EU and key reforms for the country’s integration into the European space.

Karl von Habsburg stressed that Ukraine is as important to the EU as the EU is important to Ukraine, and therefore both sides should honor their commitments and do their “homework.”

“Ukraine is important not only because it is a large state with strong economic potential: it is also a key component of the collective security system in Europe. So we are interested in creating a Paneuropean organization here, assisting an NGO that will be able to maintain good contacts in various fields,” he said.

In turn, the ULIE president stressed Ukraine’s European integration being supported by the whole society is inevitable. According to him, it is not so much about a date for Ukraine to become an EU member, but about the introduction of European and other international standards in Ukraine, namely the rule of law, equality before the law, the protection of human rights, owner’s rights and others. However, the EU should also be aware that Ukraine now protects not only its territorial integrity, but also a civilization-defining choice.

“We are working on this at the international level, maintaining good relations with the European Parliament, the European Commission, Europe’s most powerful business association BUSINESSEUROPE through the ULIE’s representative office in the EU, and at the national one, holding a dialogue with the president, government and parliament. Our sovereignty and territorial integrity should not be traded on the world stage,” Anatoliy Kinakh has stressed.

The “Transformation of Ukraine” National Forum will facilitate the adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to European standards through its representatives in parliament and will also seek the adoption of state-building decisions on the country’s social and economic development. The “Transformation of Ukraine” inter-factional parliamentary group has prepared a plan of joint actions with the Forum’s Supervisory Board. The latter includes a series of meetings with the leaders of the parliamentary factions, the head of parliament, the prime minister and the president to discuss the initiative of the Forum. This issue was on the agenda of a joint meeting of the parliamentary group and the Forum’s Supervisory Board in parliament.

Lawmakers from all parliamentary factions, including the opposition ones, representatives of the National Forum’s Supervisory Board – Patriarch Sviatoslav, President of the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE) Anatoliy Kinakh, Chair of the Center for Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Khariy, and a number of public figures took part in the meeting.

They stressed the need for the consolidation of civil society’s efforts around state-building initiatives, the implementation of the best European and international experience in reforming the economy, maintaining technical and scientific potential, as well as the country’s cultural heritage. It was also noted that such a thorough and responsible mission would succeed only if there is a close dialogue with the authorities, the international community and if it is based on national interests and priorities.

The said plan foresees negotiations between representatives of the forum, the parliamentary group with partners from the parliament and government of Poland, the U.S. Congress, the Parliaments of Canada and Lithuania. Co-initiator of the Forum, President of the ULIE Anatoliy Kinakh informed about plans to conduct the fifth session soon, where this and other initiatives of civil society, government and international partners will be presented.