Federal Minister of Digital Technologies and Transport of Germany Volker Wissing says that the flow of refugees from Ukraine has significantly decreased and stressed that the German state does not intend to impose any restrictions on the admission of Ukrainian refugees.
“The number of refugees traveling to Germany by train has dropped significantly from its peak at the beginning of the war, from around 8,200 to the current around 2,500 people a day. However, we maintain logistical and transport structures because we cannot predict the course of the war at any moment may face an increase in the number of refugees. We must expect further escalation and be prepared. Those in need in Ukraine should be able to find asylum in Germany,” Wissing said in an interview with the German Editorial Network (RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland, RND).
When asked if there is an upper limit for accepting refugees from Ukraine, the minister replied: “This question does not arise. Germany cannot and will not reject refugees from Ukraine.”
He also noted that Germany is working on accepting Ukrainian refugees who were previously settled in the EU countries neighboring Ukraine, and is also working to ensure that other EU countries are involved in this, recalling that a number of Polish cities have reached the limit of their capacity to accommodate Ukrainians.
“We quickly became convinced that people traveling from Ukraine could be transported from Poland to Germany. There are distribution centers in Hannover, Cottbus and Berlin…. If there is a threat of congestion in neighboring Ukrainian countries, we must again campaign for their distribution throughout the EU .I am in constant contact with my European colleagues,” Wissing said.
Asked about his attitude to the energy embargo against Russia, the minister noted that Germany “very quickly launched a comprehensive package of sanctions together with its European partner countries and the United States, but the impact on our society must also be taken into account when deciding on sanctions.” “Nothing would be more beneficial to Mr. Putin than if we took action that would lead to a quarrel and ultimately divide our society,” he stressed.
“Germany is very aware of its role and acts responsibly. We avoid acting alone and act in close coordination with our European partners,” Wissing concluded.
French Ambassador Etienne de Ponsin has returned to the Ukrainian capital, Tudor Alexis, Consul General of France in Toronto, reports.
“French Ambassador to Ukraine Etienne de Poncins raised the French flag to reopen our embassy in Kyiv and says: “Kyiv was not conquered, Ukraine withstood the aggression and we want to be as close as possible to the authorities to show support and express solidarity” , he tweeted Friday night.
As the French Foreign Ministry reported on April 14, the embassy will soon return to its permanent base in Kyiv.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the attraction of concessional funds from the Japanese government in the amount of 13 billion yen (about $103.75 million at the current exchange rate), Prime Minister Denys Shmygal announced.
“Today, at a government meeting, we finalized agreements with the government of Japan to raise aid in the amount of 13 billion yen,” Shmygal said in his address on Friday evening.
According to him, these preferential funds will be used to finance the priority needs of the country and the Ukrainian people.
Ukraine has been provided with basic food products for several years, as well as raw materials for the production of animal feed, so no food problems are expected in the country in the near future, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Mykola Solsky told the Ekonomicheskaya Pravda publication.
“We have stocks of basic products for several years. Vegetable oil – at least for 10 years. Separately, we need to add, since we have a lot of grains, and some of them are animal feed, we definitely have meat and dairy products. And special There is no reason to worry here,” he said.
According to him, Ukraine annually consumes 5-7 million tons of grain crops, while 20 million tons of grain have already been placed in the country’s granaries since last season and 30 million tons of this season’s harvest are expected. Taking into account the elevator capacities available in the country, the main problem will be the export of crops to foreign markets in the conditions of the blockade of Ukrainian seaports by Russian warships, the head of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy stressed.
“We don’t see any problems with food in Ukraine now. They exist where it cannot be delivered, but this is different. Everyone sees that goods, their range in stores has decreased, but it exists. I have a feeling that the situation has begun to gradually recover “, – summed up Solsky.
As reported, before the Russian military invasion, Ukraine monthly exported up to 5 million tons of agricultural products through the ports of Odessa and Nikolaev, but now, due to their naval blockade by Russia, the country can transport about 500 thousand tons of grain monthly. This leads to a monthly shortfall of about $1.5 billion in export earnings.
Earlier, on April 13, UN Secretary General António Guterres said that the war in Ukraine could doom more than 1/5 of humanity to poverty, want and hunger unprecedented for decades.
On April 11, the Prometey group of companies resumed the work of its Kiev office, while its main office in Nikolaev has not stopped working since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the grain trader’s website reported on Friday.
The owner of the holding, Rafael Goroyan, noted in a message that the Kyiv staff of Prometey is returning to the production process, since now the city is calm and safe.
The grain trader clarified that he still does not have access to 3 thousand hectares in the Snigirevsky district of the Nikolaev region due to the occupation of part of the region by Russian troops, while the total land bank of Prometey is 20 thousand hectares.
In the territory controlled by Ukraine, out of 17 thousand hectares, 10 thousand hectares have already been sown with winter crops, sunflower is being planted in the remaining areas.
“Prometey” recalled that in mid-March, Russian invaders attacked the offices of the production companies “VK Prometey” (Peski village) and Agro Capital Center LLC (AKC, Dobraya Krinitsa village, both – Mykolaiv region), where they destroyed / x and office equipment, documentation, weighing and monitoring systems. Despite the attack, the company has already reopened branches.
GC “Prometey” provides services for the storage, processing and logistics of grain and leguminous crops on the basis of 29 elevators in Mykolaiv, Kirovograd, Kiev, Khmelnytsky, Zaporozhye, Sumy, Odessa, Kherson and Dnepropetrovsk regions.
At the end of 2021, Prometey Group plans to receive $45 million in EBITDA, while in 2020 this figure reached $32.6 million, and in 2019 – $30.5 million.
The founder and owner of Prometey Group of Companies is Rafael Goroyan.
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) deepens cooperation with Ukraine in the context of the blocking of its maritime agricultural exports by warships of the aggressor country of the Russian Federation, the issue of the organization’s purchase of Ukrainian grain and its subsequent delivery to countries that are threatened hunger.
The relevant issue was discussed by Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Mykola Solsky and WFP Executive Director David Muldow Beasley during a meeting in Kyiv, according to the website of the Ukrainian department on Friday.
“The possibility of purchasing surplus grains in Ukraine at the expense of the World Food Program was discussed in order to provide food for the countries of Africa and the Middle East and prevent global famine in these regions, the threat of which is very real,” the ministry said in a statement.
The agency stressed that WFP has deployed large-scale humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians affected by the war. In particular, contacts have been established with bakeries, flour mills and food industry enterprises in Ukraine for the purchase of goods from them and subsequent delivery to the regions affected by the Russian military invasion.
“We are talking about about 40 thousand tons of food products. Seven warehouses have been opened in Kyiv, Lvov, Dnipro, Vinnitsa, Chernivtsi, Odessa and Kropyvnytskyi. And in Lviv, Vinnitsa and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, financial assistance is provided to immigrants,” Beasley quotes press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.
In turn, Solsky during the meeting focused on the need to unblock Ukrainian seaports and shipping routes in order to ensure the export of agricultural products from Ukraine.
“In order to stabilize the situation, it is important to ensure the logistics of supplies of agricultural products from Ukraine through unblocked ports and alternative routes. In addition, small and medium-sized Ukrainian farms and agricultural enterprises, which play a big role in ensuring national and global food security, need urgent help,” – quotes the department of its head.
As reported, on April 13, UN Secretary General António Guterres said that the war in Ukraine could doom more than 1/5 of humanity to poverty, want and hunger unprecedented for decades.
Deputy Minister of Economy – Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka stressed that the reason for the threat to world food security and rising prices for agricultural raw materials is the blockade of Ukrainian ports by Russian warships, therefore the lifting of the naval blockade of Ukraine is more effective for the food security of the world than the creation of new special funds. He stressed that Ukraine must repulse the aggressor at sea and on land, so that Ukrainian grain and oilseeds would reach the world market in full.
To date, the capacity of alternative logistics routes bypassing Ukrainian seaports is estimated at 600,000 tons of crops per month. This figure can be increased to 2-3 million tons of agricultural crops per month by increasing the capacity of railway and logistics crossings at the borders with the EU countries.
Before the Russian military invasion, Ukraine monthly exported up to 5 million tons of agricultural products through the ports of Odessa and Nikolaev, but now, due to their naval blockade by the Russian Federation, the country can transport about 500 thousand tons of grain monthly. This leads to a monthly shortfall of about $1.5 billion in export earnings.
