The Ukrainian delegation during the WTO ministerial conference held about two dozen bilateral talks on possible trade liberalization and removal of existing barriers, in particular, in trade in agricultural products, Deputy Economy Minister – Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka said.
“The main conclusion is that the world believes in Ukraine and is ready to open markets for Ukrainian products. This means that the world believes in our victory over the aggressor,” he wrote on Facebook after the conference.
Kachka also said that Ukraine has sent a request to the European Free Trade Association (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) to update the free trade agreement, and it will be considered next week within the framework of the EFTA institute.
According to the trade representative, he discussed further steps to liberalize trade, having carried out preparatory work right at the conference, with Canadian Minister of International Trade Mary Ng.
Kachka added that he agreed with the Minister of Trade of Australia in a few days after the conference to discuss in detail the possibilities of liberalizing bilateral trade (GSP and FTA).
The Ukrainian trade representative also said that he had discussed the conclusion of an agreement on digital trade with UK Secretary for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan.
“The same issue – trade liberalization and digital trade – were relevant in a conversation with the Minister of Trade of Singapore. Singapore is ready to become a hub for trade in Ukrainian products in Asia,” Kachka added.
According to him, at a meeting with the Minister of Trade of Senegal, he emphasized that Ukraine is doing everything to increase exports and feed Africa.
“Senegal is chairing the African Union this year and their understanding of the true causes of food problems is very important,” the Ukrainian trade representative said.
AUSTRALIA, CANADA, ICELAND, LIECHTENSTEIN, NORWAY, SWITZERLAND, TRADE LIBERALIZATION
The situation with the reinsurance of Ukrainian risks in international markets has worsened since the beginning of the war, and a rather small circle of reinsurers who worked with Ukrainian companies has also narrowed, the director of the representative office of Oakeshott Insurance Consultants Ltd. (Britain) in Ukraine, Tetiana Babko, told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to her, many reinsurers are not ready to see the risks due to the war and the fall of the economy, since in such cases the quality of the risks themselves is sharply reduced. Others see a danger to themselves in compliance, which is very complicated due to restrictions and sanctions, so they simply exclude not only Belarus and the Russian Federation, but also Ukraine from their business. Some reinsurers prolong old contracts, but do not write new business.
In addition, there were also difficulties for obligators with a renewal date of April 1. Few insurance companies in Ukraine managed to get a renewal for a year, more often reinsurers offered to prolong the current contract for two or three months.
“It is difficult for obligators to adequately assess the situation and their ability to continue working in Ukraine. Now, on July 1, the situation will be even more aggravated, as forecasts about the duration of the war are getting worse, the volume of premiums in obligators is declining, and there is little economic sense for reinsurers. And this is against the backdrop of a lack of insurers’ and brokers’ opportunity to buy foreign currency and pay reinsurance premiums,” Babko said.
The purchase of currency for reinsurance, in accordance with resolution No. 81 of the National Bank of Ukraine dated April 22, 2022 on amendments to resolution No. 18 of the NBU board dated February 24, 2022 is limited to a small list of risks. This has an extremely negative impact on the willingness of reinsurers to cooperate with the Ukrainian market.
According to Babko, the insurance business, primarily various associations, is actively coming up with their proposals and interacting with the authorities. However, the insurance market has not developed a unified position for discussion with the regulator.
Whole Europe must unite its efforts and act boldly in order to solve the problem of safe transportation and shipment or Ukrainian grain, Prime Minister of Italy Mario Draghi has said.
“We must do everything possible to not let the situation become dramatic… To avoid… a serious crisis, we must ensure safe transportation of grain. This must not cause a global disaster. For this we must focus on how to organize grain transportation through the Black Sea. Russia, unfortunately, does not make advances. We must fight against this problem bravely and boldly, just like President Zelensky. And we, the Europeans, must act together,” Draghi said during a press conference following a meeting of the leaders of Ukraine, France, Germany, Italy, and Romania in Kyiv on Thursday.
He added that there is some time to solve this problem as “the harvest will be ready mainly in September.”
The incidence of coronavirus in the world over the past week continued to decline, while mortality increased by 4%, follows from the weekly epidemiological bulletin of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Between June 6 and 12, the incidence of coronavirus decreased in all regions except the Eastern Mediterranean region, where the incidence increased by 58%, America (by 13%) and Southeast Asia (by 33%). The largest decline in cases was seen in the Western Pacific and Europe, at 8%.
In just a week, more than 3.2 million cases of COVID-19 were detected worldwide. Coronavirus deaths have decreased or remained unchanged in all regions except the Western Pacific, where deaths rose by 17%, and the Americas (21%). Mortality fell the most in the Eastern Mediterranean (by 35%). In general, more than 8.7 thousand deaths caused by COVID-19 were recorded worldwide during the week.
Over the entire period of the pandemic, about 535 million cases of coronavirus infection and more than 6.3 million deaths from the consequences of the disease have been detected in the world.
Elon Musk and his companies Tesla Inc. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) filed a $258 billion lawsuit in connection with their promotion of the Dogecoin cryptocurrency, reports Bloomberg.
The plaintiff – Keith Johnson – alleges that Musk and his companies created a fraudulent scheme to inflate the value of Dogecoin.
“Defendants falsely claimed that the Dogecoin cryptocurrency is a prudent investment even though it has no value at all,” the lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court says.
Johnson, who claims he “lost money because of the crypto pyramid created by the defendants,” expects his lawsuit to become a class action, with other people who have also lost money trading Dogecoin since April 2019 joining him.
In addition to damages, he demands that the court prohibit Musk and his companies from promoting Dogecoin.
The cryptocurrency, created in 2013 in honor of the Internet meme Doge with a Shiba Inu dog, is trading on Thursday at $0.057, since the beginning of this year its rate has fallen by 67%. Last year, the value of Dogecoin rose to $0.74.
Musk has previously stated that Tesla and SpaceX will sell their merchandise for Dogecoin. In January, he suggested that McDonald’s start accepting the cryptocurrency, tweeting that he would “eat the Happy Meal on TV if McDonald’s accepts Dogecoin.”
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that he had met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to discuss support for Ukraine and assistance.
“Friends! I met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. We talked about the support of Ukraine by European partners and the necessary assistance. Weapons, economic, financial assistance and more powerful and more effective sanctions against the Russian aggressor. And also – support by the European community for Ukraine’s candidacy for EU membership,” – wrote Klitschko on Facebook.
He emphasized the importance of the fact that world leaders visit Ukraine and see for themselves the consequences of the barbaric actions of the Russian Federation.
“International partners must understand that appeasing the aggressor will only whet his appetites. And the war will spread to the EU countries. Therefore, Ukraine, which has taken the blow of imperial evil and is heroically defending itself, needs help today and now!” the mayor added.
According to the published video, boxer Wladimir Klitschko was also present at the meeting.
