Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Subcommittee on Security and Defense will travel to Ukraine from January 30 to February 2 to gather information on the current crisis.
As reported on the website of the European Parliament on Wednesday, a delegation of eight MEPs led by Foreign Affairs Committee Chair David McAllister (Germany) and Security and Defense Subcommittee Chair Nathalie Loizeau (France) will carry out a fact-finding mission to Ukraine on Sunday.
“During the visit… MEPs will observe the situation on the ground, and demonstrate the European Parliament’s solidarity with the Ukrainian people and its opposition to any steps by Russia to further escalate the crisis. The visit is part of large-scale diplomatic effort to de-escalate the situation and avoid the disastrous consequences of a possible war in Ukraine,” the European Parliament said.
The delegation of the European Parliament will meet with the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and has requested meetings with the President, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Affairs and Defence Ministers and the deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration. They will also hold talks with the Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council and Members of the Verkhova Rada’s Committees on Foreign Affairs, on Ukraine’s Integration into the European Union, and on Security and Defence.
According to the statement, in the resolution adopted in December on Ukraine, the European Parliament expressed support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) will consider a possibility of the acquiring of agro-trading firm Agro-Dilo LLC (Pervomaisk town, Mykolaiv region), a subsidiary of the international holding ED&F Man, by Deimanivsky Dar LLL (village of Deimanivka, Poltava region), part of the agricultural holding A.G.R. Group.
The relevant issue is contained in an agenda of a meeting of the state regulator on January 27.
According to the A.G.R. Group, Deimanivsky Dar is part of the Hrebinka cluster in Poltava region. In addition to this region, the group of companies cultivates land in Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions, all grown products are sold on foreign markets.
The total land bank of the agricultural holding is up to 33,000 hectares, it includes 20 companies. The main activity is cultivation and storage of grain crops, mainly corn and soybeans, as well as animal husbandry.
The founder and sole shareholder of A.G.R. Group and its member companies is Armenian citizen Misak Khidiryan.
ATF Agro-Dilo is a subsidiary of the international holding ED&F Man, one of the world’s largest suppliers of food, sugar, spices, coffee, animal feed and other types of food products. Agro-Dilo is mainly engaged in cultivation of grain crops.
In the company’s charter capital with a total amount of UAH 808.1 million, some 78.06% belongs to British company ED&F Man Treasury Management PLC, and 21.93% belongs to ED&F Man Ukraine Investments BV (the Netherlands).
ED&F Man Ukraine has been working in Ukraine since 2007. The company owns Zasilsky sugar refinery (Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv region) with a production capacity of up to 50,000 tonnes of sugar per year. ED&F Man is also implementing a comprehensive investment program for land irrigation in Kherson and Mykolaiv regions.
During its work in Ukraine, the company has invested more than $150 million in Ukrainian agribusiness.
Among the company’s clients in Ukraine: Coca-Cola Ukraine, Sandora LLC, Conti Group, Rosynka, Pervomaisk Dairy Products Canning Plant and others.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 27/01/22
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of January 27
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
A Ukrainian delegation headed by First Deputy Prime Minister, Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko is on an official visit to Paris, it is planned to pay special attention in the talks to joint infrastructure projects, as well as the participation of French companies in the Big Construction program and the creation Ukrainian national air carrier.
“During the one-day stay of the delegation, the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine will meet with Minister of Economy, Finance and Recovery of France Bruno Le Maire. In addition, a number of meetings are planned with French partners, in particular, leading French companies Airbus, Alstom and Bouygues,” the Economy Ministry said on its wesite on Wednesday.
The visit takes place in order to implement the agreements between the leaders of Ukraine and France and in the context of the planned visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Ukraine, the ministry said.
Svyrydenko said on Facebook that among the issues of French-Ukrainian cooperation are the attraction of financial guarantees or a direct loan from the French government, the development of promising nuclear energy projects: cooperation between the Ukrainian Energoatom and EDF is essential, as well as consultations on holding the World Exhibition EXPO in Ukraine 2030.
In addition, within the signed memorandum of understanding, the parties will touch upon the issues of cooperation between the national air carrier and Airbus, under the signed intergovernmental agreement on the supply of 130 locomotives manufactured by Alstom for Ukrzaliznytsia, the organization of the conversion of Airbus passenger aircraft into cargo aircraft on the basis of SOE Antonov (Kyiv).
