KYIV. Aug 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Cattle numbers in Ukraine (excluding the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the ATO zone) as of August 1, 2015 amounted to 4.403 million animals, which is 7.1% less compared to the same period in 2014.
According to the State Statistics Service, the number of cows during this period decreased by 6.2% and amounted to 2.226 million animals.
The number of pigs fell by 3.3%, to 7.724 million animals, sheep and goats by 6%, to 1.726 million animals.
Poultry numbers in the country compared to August 1, 2014 decreased by 4.8%, amounting to 248.765 million birds.
KYIV. Aug 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Chinese investors intend to build a port elevator of 50,000-100,000 tonnes in Ukraine, First Deputy Minister of Agricultural Policy and Food Yaroslav Krasnolsky has said.
“As a result of our meetings, we do not have a signed protocol. Envoys have arrived in Ukraine and they are ready to build an elevator for 50,000-100,000 tonnes and raise $2.5 billion from the Chinese side. This concerns a port elevator,” he said at a briefing in Kyiv.
According to him, the relevant agreements were achieved during a visit of the Ukrainian delegation to China. In the near future representatives of Chinese state-owned companies are expected to come to establish cooperation with Ukrainian companies.
According to the ministry, in 2014 the share of agricultural products in the total goods turnover in China amounted to 29% (the total turnover stood at $2.7 billion).
KYIV. Aug 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine has applied for pumping 1,963 cubic meters of natural gas from Hungary on August 11, according to data from the Hungarian gas transportation system operator FGSZ.
Ukrtransgaz confirmed the receipt of an application for 100,000 cubic meters in August.
“One application in the amount of 100,000 cubic meters was received for August for the Hungarian direction. It is recorded on the balance sheet account, and as soon as the sufficient gas volume, at which it is possible to provide measurement, is accumulated, pumping will be performed,” the head of the PR department at PJSC Ukrtransgaz, Maksym Beliavsky, said.
As reported, Ukraine suspended gas imports from Hungary from July 1. In June, the daily gas transportation was 2.6-2.7 million cubic meters of gas.
Ukraine in January-July 2015 reduced natural gas imports by 27.2% compared to the same period in 2014, to 10.7 billion cubic meters. In particular, 6.9 billion cubic meters, or about two-thirds, were supplies from Europe, and 3.8 billion cubic meters, or about one-third, from Russia.
KYIV. Aug 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian government and European Space Agency (ESA) are preparing the agreement “On Ukraine’s acquiring the status of a European country cooperating with ESA,” which is a stage of realization of Kyiv’s plans for becoming a full member in European space structures.
According to the Cabinet of Ministers’ resolution No. 803-r as of August 5, Ukrainian government’s delegation, which is being formed and will be lead by Head of the State Space Agency of Ukraine Oleh Ursky, was ordered to conduct talks with ESA on agreeing on the draft of this agreement, in accordance with approved directives.
As approved by the document, the delegation consists of representatives of the State Space Agency, Justice Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Economic Development and Trade Ministry, Finance Ministry, government’s secretariat. If needed, the delegation head can replace delegation members and involve representatives of central government agencies in its work.
Signing of the above-mentioned agreement is one of Ukrainian Space Agency’s top priority tasks for Ukraine’s rocket-and-space industry in 2015. This is one of the stages of the roadmap of Ukraine’s integration into ESA developed by the partners.
Ukrainian rocket-and-space industry representatives believe that Ukraine’s membership in ESA will extend the country’s presence on European space market.
In July, Ukrainian State Space Agency and ESA started consultations on the cooperation of Ukrainian rocket-and-space industry enterprises with European companies within the ESA projects. Major prospect directions of bilateral cooperation at the given stage, which are being considered, include Earth’s remote sensing (ERS), rocket carriers, and scientific research. Earlier Ukraine stated its interest in the participation in the new European project of Ariane-6 rocket carrier. Europeans also showed interest in Ukrainian rocket engines. New European Vega-class, rocket carrier created upon the order of ESA is equipped with Ukrainian engine.
In 2008, Ukrainian government and ESA signed inter-governmental agreement on cooperation in researching and using space for peaceful purposes. At the beginning of 2014, the agreement was prolonged until 2019.
KYIV. Aug 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ristone Holdings agricultural group (Dnipropetrovsk region) has completed harvesting early grain crops on an area of over 20,000 hectares and harvested more than 142,000 tonnes of grain.
According to a press release, the average yield was 71 centners per ha, while the yield of winter wheat is estimated at 74 centners per ha, winter barley at 51.5 centners per ha, spring barley at 42.1 centners per ha.
The company plans to sow 22,000 hectares with winter crops for the harvest of 2016.
Ristone Holdings is an agricultural vertically integrated holding, which includes a flour mill, four bakeries, and three elevators. The company cultivates about 60,000 hectares of land in Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions.
KYIV. Aug 13 (Interfax) – The next trilateral consultations between Ukraine, the European Union, and Russia concerning the establishment of a Ukrainian-EU free trade area are planned for September, says Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin.
“The next consultations will be held at a ministerial level in September,” Klimkin said at a news briefing following a meeting with Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei in Kyiv on Wednesday.
Klimkin said he had informed his Belarusian counterpart of consultations with the European Commission and Russia regarding Russia’s claim that the implementation of the Ukrainian-EU association agreement would have a negative effect on Russian businesses.
Klimkin also said that the ministerial consultations scheduled for September would have to be held “with an approach toward how cooperation in various formats should be arranged.”
The parties also raised the issue of the Eastern Partnership, Klimkin said. “We have different short-term political goals. We will be moving consistently through association with the EU to carry out all reforms essential for filing an EU membership bid. Belarus is using the Eastern Partnership’s opportunities in its own way. Therefore, we have a lot of common points and a lot of projects,” Klimkin said.
The trade and economic section of the EU-Ukrainian association agreement would fully start working on January 1, 2016, when a free trade agreement between the EU and Ukraine takes effect. Russia has repeatedly claimed that the agreement’s implementation by Ukraine would jeopardize Russian producers, especially as concerns technical regulation and sanitary, phytosanitary, and veterinary control.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a government directive in September 2014 to extend most-favored nation treatment (that is, in fact, regular trade terms) to Ukraine, but its entry into effect has been suspended and tied precisely to the outcomes of the negotiations on eliminating risks for the Russian economy.
The participants in the EU-Russia-Ukraine ministerial negotiations on May 18 reaffirmed their commitment to the development of trade in the region as a way to secure inclusive economic growth, agreed to step up their efforts, and instructed their experts to complete practical resolution the problems raised by Russia, in particular, in customs cooperation, technical barriers in trade, and sanitary and phytosanitary issues, the document says. The experts were instructed to report the results of their work not later than in July.
Trilateral technical consultations at an expert level were held on June 4-5 and July 7-8 to discuss technical regulations, sanitary and phytosanitary problems, and customs cooperation.
Ukrainian Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Nataliya Mykolska said on July 7 that remarks by Russian officials on the intention to set quotas on exports of Ukrainian goods called into question Russia’s desire to look for practical solutions within the framework of a process agreed upon between the parties.
Following trilateral technical consultations at an expert level on July 7, Mykolska said: “There is no constructive element in Russia’s position, and it goes beyond the May 18 agreements between the ministers.” She also said Ukraine would insist on its positions at these negotiations, without giving more details.
The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Trade reported on its website on August 6 that the EU-Russia-Ukraine ministerial negotiations would take place in Brussels on September 7. The negotiations would be aimed at making further progress in practical decisions related to Russia’s concerns about the implementation of the EU-Ukrainian free trade agreement.
