Germany has confirmed its intention to provide financial assistance for green energy initiatives in Ukraine, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
“The German Chancellor confirmed Germany’s intention to fill with specifics and financial assistance initiatives for green transformation, decarbonization and development of renewable energy in Ukraine. Our state is ready to offer great prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of green energy,” he said at a joint briefing with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Kyiv on Monday.
The vessel Wadi safaga (https://u.to/uBMBHA) with 78,000 tonnes of Australian coal for PJSC Centrenergo moored in the Odesa port Pivdenny last Friday, unloading is underway, the company’s press service reported.
According to it, this is already the sixth vessel with imported thermal coal for the needs of Centrenergo since the end of November last year.
The press service recalled that the total volume of contracted imported coal for February-March 2022 is 677,000 tonnes. By the end of February, three more ships with 374,000 tonnes of coal from Australia, Colombia and South Africa are expected.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky calls on businessmen and politicians who left the country to return to Ukraine within the next 24 hours, as this is “an important moment of the country’s unity.”
“I would focus on our management, on our country, on the people who today, some of them, are abroad, members of some parties, I don’t even want to say their names, you all understand what kind of people they are. It seems to me that this is a serious challenge. I think we should give them a signal – a fair one. First of all, from the Verkhovna Rada, from the speaker, from the state, and on my own behalf I would like to ask them to bring some of their relatives within 24 hours, to return to the country after all,” Zelensky said at a joint briefing with the German chancellor in Kyiv on Monday.
He stressed that this is an important moment, “the moment of the country’s unity.”
The American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine continues to operate in Kyiv, member companies of the business association also continue to do business and have business continuity plans in place already for several years, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine Andy Hunder has said.
“The American Chamber of Commerce team continues to operate in Kyiv. We are constantly in touch with our members, Ukraine’s government, and the US Embassy. This continuous dialogue and communication have been a strategic pillar of the American Chamber of Commerce for the past 30 years in Ukraine,” Hunder said in a commentary to Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that American Chamber of Commerce member companies have had business continuity plans in place already for several years, which are being regularly reviewed and updated.
“American Chamber of Commerce member companies continue to operate in Ukraine, contributing to the country’s economy, having already invested over $50 billion in the country, employing people, and contributing to the state budget,” the president of the business association said.
The main staff of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine has moved to Lviv, a U.S. State Department official said.
“The main staff of the embassy has moved to Lviv to continue our important work in supporting Ukraine and finding a diplomatic solution to this crisis, which, of course, Russia has created,” the official told Interfax-Ukraine on Monday.
A free trade agreement with Turkey may make some types of Ukrainian agricultural products uncompetitive in Ukraine and in foreign markets, since Turkish food products have already taken a strong position around the world, and similar Ukrainian products may not find markets there.
Head of the Ukrainian Agricultural Export Association (UAEA) Dmytro Kroshka told Interfax-Ukraine on Monday about the impact of the FTA agreement with Turkey signed on February 3 on the export of Ukrainian agricultural products.
“Competition between Ukraine and Turkey is most visible on the markets of third countries. We have already determined that Turkish tomato on the Ukrainian market will be cheaper than domestic. Our producer understands that if he cannot make money on the Ukrainian market, he will seek sales in Europe or somewhere else, where it turns out that Turkey is exactly the same in those markets. And sooner or later, a manufacturer that cannot reorient itself will have to reduce production or abandon it, this is very likely,” the head of the association said.
He said that the key risk for the Ukrainian agribusiness from the zeroing of customs duties is the export orientation of Turkish producers, supported and controlled by the state.
“In Turkey, there is a huge infrastructural and financial support for exporters. The state establishes KPI there, and a manufacturer is supported, whose products are not just produced, but exported. And for a manufacturer to export, its products must meet the quality requirements that the market requires, and not only increase the volume. The effect of Turkish policy has become actively noticeable to us in recent years, when the active expansion of Ukrainian products to world markets began,” Kroshka said.
The head of the UAAE said that Ukrainian producers of apples, nuts and other products of the fruit and nut group will definitely benefit from the actions of the FTA, which Turkey will be able to re-export to the countries of the Middle East and Africa, taking advantage of its favorable geographical location. However, this is guaranteed to have a negative impact on vegetable and egg producers.
“We just need to look at the news about the FTA between Ukraine and Turkey as news that we will sell more there and the trade turnover will certainly increase. But at the same time, I believe that this agreement will reveal a wave of internal Ukrainian economic problems in agriculture, which are linked to the production of agricultural goods common with key Turkish products,” the expert said.
He also said that in 2022, Ukrainian agricultural producers were faced with an increase in energy costs, a review of existing taxes and the introduction of new ones, fiscalization of business, which, along with an increase in Turkish food imports, will lead to a wave of bankruptcies of small agricultural enterprises if the latter do not receive proper support from the state.
He said that the agreement on the main terms of trade in food products between Ukraine and Turkey took place simultaneously with the approval of the Export Strategy of Ukraine and the sectoral export strategy for food products, the implementation plans of which were provided, including reducing the tax burden on producers. However, this decision was never implemented, which will affect the state of the market in the near future.
“It seems to me that many manufacturers simply will not survive this stage of development of Ukraine. 2022, taking into account these factors, will be the beginning of a wave of bankruptcies, especially for small enterprises,” the head of the UAEA said.
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, FOREIGN MARKETS, FTA, TURKEY, UNCOMPETITIVE
