IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi will lead a team of experts who will visit the Chernobyl nuclear power plant next week, according to a statement posted on the organization’s website on Friday.
“International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will lead an expert mission to Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) next week to step up assistance to prevent the danger of a nuclear accident during the current conflict in the country,” the statement said.
It is noted that a group of IAEA employees will arrive in Chernobyl on April 26 to deliver the necessary equipment and conduct radiological and other surveys of the area.
In March, Grossi visited the South Ukrainian NPP, where he discussed IAEA assistance to Ukraine with the Minister of Energy of Ukraine German Galushchenko, the head of the nuclear regulator of Ukraine Oleg Korikov, the head of the State Enterprise NNEGC Energoatom Petr Kotin and the general director of the South Ukrainian NPP Igor Polovich. Then he noted, that the personal presence of IAEA specialists on the ground would help prevent the risk of a nuclear accident in the face of Russian military aggression, It was noted that such an accident could lead to serious consequences in the field of health and the environment both in Ukraine and abroad.
At a meeting with Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Mathias Cormann, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal welcomed the intention of the OECD to open a regional office in Kyiv.
“I informed the OECD Secretary-General about the creation in Ukraine of a plan and a fund for the restoration of our state. We strive to change the country and the economic model, based on the best world standards. Our goal is based on the principles promoted by the Ukrainian people: a European future, a transparent state and an open economy,” Shmyhal said on his Telegram channel following the meeting.
The prime minister said it is important for Ukraine to use the best practices of the OECD and implement them in the near future.
“I welcomed the intention to open a regional office of the OECD in Kyiv, this is an excellent opportunity to strengthen and accelerate our cooperation,” Shmyhal said.
Shmyhal also said the ‘green’ economy is the basic principle of the new economic model of Ukraine.
“Russia has destroyed and continues to destroy our infrastructure. There is no point in returning to the old models, so we intend to restore it according to modern principles and the latest technologies,” he said.
In addition, the prime minister said that Ukraine intends to make corporatization even more efficient, and in this matter counts on active assistance from the OECD.
Japan will increase financial assistance to Ukraine from $100 million to $300 million, Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said after a meeting with Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki on Friday.
“We already had the decision of the Japanese government to provide financial assistance to Ukraine – $100 million. During a personal meeting, the Japanese finance minister supported our request to increase funding to $300 million,” Marchenko wrote on Facebook after the meeting.
He also met with Italian Finance Minister Daniele Franco and discussed with him a new loan program, the details of which Marchenko has not yet disclosed.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called an additional $500 million financial aid package to Ukraine, previously announced by U.S. President Joe Biden, “only the beginning,” the Associated Press said.
“We plan to deploy this direct aid to Ukraine as soon as possible, to be used on the most urgent need. This is only the beginning of what Ukraine will need to rebuild,” she said.
Thus, this package will be provided in addition to the $500 million that Biden announced in March, the agency notes.
Speaking of sanctions against Russia, she noted that the U.S. continues to “tighten the vise of our economic pressure campaign.”
“Europe clearly needs to reduce its dependence on Russia in respect to energy. But we need to be careful,” Yellen said.
Yellen met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko on Thursday.
Earlier, Yellen and several other officials, including European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, left the room during the speech of Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov at the G20 meeting in Washington. So did U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Yellen stated that Russia should be excluded from the G20 and that she intended to boycott events where Russian officials would speak.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday reiterated that Ankara is ready to organize a meeting of the heads of Russia and Ukraine, Anadolu said.
“Turkey is making efforts to continue the Istanbul process between Russia and Ukraine, and is ready to organize a dialogue at the level of heads of state,” the agency said.
Erdoğan also expressed hope for progress in the Ukrainian-Russian negotiations.
“There is progress. However, they are far from desired. We hope for progress. We do not lose hope,” Anadolu said, citing the Turkish leader.
The World Bank will provide Ukraine with $4.8 billion for recovery following a roundtable talk held in Washington on April 21 along with the Ukrainian government, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
“Yesterday, during a ministerial roundtable talk, I turned to the World Bank. The result is $4.8 billion for the restoration of Ukraine,” the head of state said on Instagram.
He thanked that Ukraine “is heard and supported.”
“With such help, we will be able to quickly restore the country,” Zelensky said.
As reported, the president of Ukraine, in his speech at this roundtable talk via video link, said the country needs support in the amount of up to $7 billion monthly, while Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that $4 billion to $5 billion is needed to cover the budget deficit.
