The European Commission (EC) has proposed to suspend for one year the collection of import duties on all Ukrainian exports to the European Union, the EC communiqué said on Wednesday.
“I discussed with President Zelensky ways to support the economy, in addition to the macro-financial assistance and grants that we provide. We both agree on the critical importance of a quick and wide suspension of import duties to boost the economy of Ukraine,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was quoted in the message.
According to her, the suspension of duties “will greatly facilitate the export of Ukrainian industrial and agricultural goods to the EU.” She promised continued economic assistance to Kyiv.
The EC proposal also provides for the suspension for one year of all EU anti-dumping and safeguard measures in force against Ukrainian steel exports. This move, explained in Brussels, is designed to help increase Ukraine’s exports to the EU, which will alleviate the plight of Ukrainian producers and exporters in the current situation in the country.
“The EU has never before taken such trade liberalization measures, which are unprecedented in their scope: giving Ukraine access to the EU market with zero tariffs, zero quotas,” said Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice President of the European Commission.
The European Commission points out that in the difficult conditions of the situation in Ukraine, the European Union wants to do everything possible to help the country “maintain its trade positions with the rest of the world and further deepen its trade relations with the EU.”
Brussels also reports that the EU is taking measures to facilitate land transport of goods to help export Ukrainian products outside the country. Thus, the European Commission has already begun liberalizing the conditions for Ukrainian truck drivers transporting goods between Ukraine and the EU, as well as actions to facilitate transit and use the EU infrastructure to direct Ukrainian exports to third countries.
The German chemical company BASF SE, one of the largest in the world, intends to curtail all activities in Russia and Belarus by July, except for the production of additives for the food industry.
“The Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE has also decided by early July 2022 to curtail the remaining business activities of the company in Russia and Belarus. Businesses that support food production are exempted from this decision, as the war risks provoking a global food crisis,” the company said in a statement.
In early March, against the backdrop of the war started by Russia in Ukraine, the company announced the abandonment of new projects in Russia and Belarus. The company is now developing detailed plans for an orderly winding down.
It is noted that in 2021, the revenue of the group’s companies in Russia and Belarus amounted to about 1% of the total sales of BASF Group (78.6 billion euros). Now 684 BASF employees work in these countries. The company intends to support them until the end of 2022.
BASF operates through six core business segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technology, Nutrition & Care, and Agricultural Solutions.
A representative office of Elon Musk’s SpaceX company – Starlink Ukraine – has been registered in Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Digital Transformation Mikhail Fedorov said.
“Starlink Ukraine (“Starlink Ukraine”), as a representative office of SpaceX, has just been registered in Ukraine,” he wrote on his Telegram channel on Wednesday.
About 23,000 km of public roads have been destroyed as a result of Russia’s armed invasion of Ukraine, of which 8,000 km are state roads; 302 artificial structures were also destroyed.
As Andriy Ivko, First Deputy Head of the State Agency for Highways of Ukraine (Ukravtodor), said on the air of the national telethon, Ukravtodor currently estimates the damage from the destruction of roads by the occupiers at UAH 900 billion.
“Today we are performing work almost throughout the country, but we are clearing and restoring temporary crossings in three regions – Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy,” he said.
According to Ivko, 500 km of roads have already been cleared – these are state roads and communal roads, of which 212 km are the streets of Irpen, Bucha and other cities. In addition, 18 temporary crossings, detours, detours have already been built.
“For example, the highway Kyiv – Chop M-06. A bridge was destroyed in the village of Stoyanka. Now there is already a detour, and we are already restoring it. In addition, I can say about R-30: this is the entrance to Irpen. A temporary crossing was made in less than a week, design and survey work is also being carried out there. We will make a new bridge in this place,” Ivko said.
Earlier it was reported that President Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting to develop a plan for the post-war renewal and development of Ukraine. Kirill Timoshenko, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office, said that the restoration of the country at all levels – economic, infrastructural, social – are the main directions included in the plan.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says the European Commission has proposed suspending all import duties on all Ukrainian exports to the European Union for a year.
“Today, the European Commission proposed to suspend for a year all import duties on all Ukrainian exports to the European Union. This is an unprecedented gesture of support for our country. The EU has never taken such massive trade liberalization measures in any country before. This opens up additional opportunities for our business, and our products become more competitive in the European market. We negotiated the abolition of duties with our European colleagues, and we are grateful that they heard us and supported Ukraine,” Shmyhal wrote on the Telegram channel.
Shmygal also said that the government has agreements and is negotiating with Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Germany and other countries to allow Ukrainian exports through the ports of these countries.
“We are working further so that, in addition to the EU countries and the UK, our other allies will also take the decision to abolish duties on Ukrainian products,” he wrote.
EUROPE, EUROPEAN COMMISSION, IMPORT DUTIES, UKRAINIAN EXPORT
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky received an invitation to participate in the G-20 summit.
“Thank you for the invitation to the G-20 summit,” he tweeted after a phone call with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday.
“I thanked for the support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, in particular, for a clear position in the UN. Food security issues were discussed,” he also wrote.
The G-20 summit will take place in autumn 2022 in Indonesia.
