KYIV. May 30 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Bilateral meetings between Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif took place in Tehran on Sunday.
“The meetings addressed a broad range of vital issues on the agenda of bilateral relations. Agreements were reached on the intensification of Ukrainian-Iranian cooperation in all spheres,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a report released on Sunday.
In accordance with the report, “the Iranian side emphasized that no third party will have any influence on the development of bilateral relations between Ukraine and Iran.”
During the negotiations, Iran also “expressed its support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry earlier reported on the visit by Klimkin to Iran at the invitation of the Iranian foreign minister on May 29-30. “The purpose of the visit is to discuss the state and prospects of development of bilateral cooperation between Ukraine and Iran. Among other things, the parties will exchange opinions on vital regional issues and modern challenges in the global dimension,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has reported.
The ministry said that important changes involving Iran, specifically, the lifting of economic and financial sanctions, “create opportunities for fuller realization of the potential of this country, which is an important partner of Ukraine in the region, including for the intensification of Ukrainian-Iranian cooperation in the sphere of trade and economics.”
The European Business Summit is the largest annual business and political forum in the European Union, which has gathered leading European and world politicians, businesspeople and public figures for 15 years in a row. In 2016, honorary guests of the event will be President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz, President of the European Council Donald Tusk, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, more than ten EU commissioners, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde and representatives of European financial institutions, namely the EBRD, EIB and the ECB. Other guests include the King of Belgium, the representatives of the governments of France, Turkey, Greece, the Netherlands, the United States, Canada, Iran, and many other countries. The summit will be attended by thousands of representatives of European and international business circles, among them are CEOs and presidents of such companies as Heineken, Marcegaglia, Solvay, YouTube, PIMCO, DS Smith, BlaBlaCar, and others.
The Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE) is one of the major partners of the summit this year, and at the event, Ukraine will be represented by a large delegation of 50 members, including representatives of the Ukrainian business community, Members of Parliament, members of government agencies and local authorities.
The ULIE management at the summit will also be represented at the highest level: President of the ULIE Anatoliy Kinakh will be an honorary speaker at the panel “EU Trade Relations with Neighboring Countries,” which will also be attended by Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, as well as members of governments and business associations from Iran, Turkey, and the United States.
ULIE’s First Vice President Vasyl Khmelnytsky will be another honorable speaker from the organization. He will deliver his report during the panel “EU Regional Development” to represent a strategy for regional development of the town and district of Bila Tserkva. The EU Commissioner for Regional Policy and the President of the European Committee of the Regions will also participate in the panel.
The ULIE will hold the Ukrainian lunch “Ukraine as a New Economic Partner of the EU” on the first day of the summit, June 1. The event is scheduled to begin at 12:30 local time. More than 100 distinguished guests from among politicians and businesspeople participating in the summit have been invited. Senior officials from foreign governments and top managers from international corporations will be honorary speakers.
The EBS website: ebsummit.eu.
EBS accreditation is required, please follow this link: http://www.ebsummit.eu/media.
To get accredited for the Ukrainian lunch “Ukraine as a New Economic Partner of the EU,” please send an email to Iryna Kutsiuk: iryna.kutsiuk@gmail.com.
KYIV. May 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The creation of a state holding company and the transfer of state-run strategic enterprises from ministries is included in the list of top priorities of the new government for 2016.
“The formation of supervisory boards, the reduction of a list of facilities that are ineligible for privatization, conducting independent audits at 100% of state-owned enterprises,” First Deputy Prime Minister and Economic Development and Trade Minister Stepan Kubiv said presenting the government’s steps for 2016 at a meeting of the national Reforms Council.
The government seeks to receive up to UAH 20 billion from privatization with the budget target of UAH 17 billion. The government wants to sell Odesa Port-Side Plant and regional electricity supply companies at transparent tenders, liquidate at least 50 state-run enterprises and introduce free access to information about enterprises.
The document says that the state owns around 3,500 enterprises and only 1,800 of them are operating. 100 largest companies bring almost 90% of total assets and 80% of entire revenue.
A total of 345 companies are placed on the privatization list for 2016. The state potentially can transfer 723 companies for privatization.
KYIV. May 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine’s Ministry of Economic Development and Trade intends in the near future to include international tourism standards in the state plan of standardization.
“The state standardization plan in late May will include 12 international and European standards in the sector of tourism and hospitality,” the director of the ministry’s tourism and resorts department, Ivan Lyptuha, wrote on his Facebook page.
According to him, the decision was made on May 18, 2016 at a joint meeting of the profile department and the technical regulation department of the ministry with the heads of technical committees and national standardization authority UkrNDNC.
“The implementation of common international standards ISO and EN will allow to improve the quality of services in the tourism sector, contribute to the transparency of permitting and licensing systems, reduce corruption risks, as well as allow to more effectively protect the rights of tourism services consumers,” the expert said.
KYIV. May 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Public joint-stock company Ukrhydroenergo intends to sign a loan agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank to build Kaniv pump-storage plant (PSP) in September and October 2016, Ukrhydroenergo Head Ihor Syrota told reporters in Kyiv on Thursday.
“We are to answer all questions asked by the banks by June 28. In July or August we would hold a repeated public discussion… We seeks to have the project approved by the banks’ boards of directors [EBRD and the World Bank] in August and in September or October we would be able to sign the agreements,” he said.
Some $1.25-1.3 billion would be raised for the project. The loans are to cover 98% of the project cost.
Syrota said that in August or September 2016 the company intends to start preparations for the project using own funds. It will last for around one year.
KHARKIV. May 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Republic of Korea is interested in creating an industrial park in Kharkiv region, the Ambassador of Korea to Ukraine has said at a meeting with head of Kharkiv Regional State Administration Ihor Rainin.
“There is a good infrastructure and the environment in Kharkiv to implement the project of a technical park. You have good science, technology and industry… We can implement such a project. We are interested in it,” the ambassador said.
Rainin noted strong sectors in the Kharkiv region economy are industry and agriculture, while promising are the development of areas related to science and IT.
The Ukrainian official invited the delegation of the Republic of Korea to take part in the international investment forum to be held in Kharkiv region in September 2016.
The ambassador, in turn, invited the representatives of Kharkiv region to the investment forum to be held in Korea on June 14.
