The renewal of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine next year can give a new impetus to the development of the Ukrainian honey industry, strengthen the country’s position in the EU market and reduce its dependence on the supply of Chinese honey, which now forms about 40% of the total supplies in this direction, national consultant to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Hanna Burka has said.
Now the Ukrainian honey market depends on supplies to the European Union, whose share in the total volume of Ukrainian honey exports exceeds 80% (in 2019 – 86%, in 2018 – 80%, in 2017 – 74% ). The EU countries are considered the largest honey importers in the world and about 40% of honey needs are met by imports, she said on her Facebook page.
“The signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, within the framework of which a deep and comprehensive free trade zone began to function, contributed to an increase in purchasing countries and an increase in the export of Ukrainian honey, and, accordingly, the flow of foreign exchange earnings into the country,” Burka wrote.
So, in 2017, Ukraine exported 47,100 tonnes of honey to the EU, in 2018 – 41,000 tonnes, and in 2019 – 45,000 tonnes.
“A year after the signing of the Agreement, the number of enterprises that had the right to supply honey to the markets of the European Union increased to 52, and by the end of 2019 it was 72,” the FAO consultant said.
In addition, the share of Ukraine in the import of honey to the EU countries also increased, if in 2013 it was 10%, then in 2019 it reached 22% (in 2018 – 20%, in 2017 – 23%). Accordingly, Ukraine became No. 2 supplier of honey to Europe, with China ahead.
“During the FTA, Ukrainian honey exporting companies are actively using the possibilities of duty-free tariff quotas. Both the main and additional preferential quotas for honey were used in the first days of the month. Despite the fact that the extra-quota volume is subject to an import duty of 17.3%, the export volumes of Ukrainian honey continue to increase. The current export volume is seven-eight times higher than the annual volume of the total quota, which confirms the interest of European partners in Ukrainian honey,” Burka said.
According to her, it is obvious that the current volume of the quota (in 2017, the main quota was 5,200 tonnes, in 2018 – 5,400 tonnes, in 2019 – 5,600 tonnes, in 2020 – 5,800 tonnes; additional 2,500 tonnes was not revised) does not suit both the demand of Europe and the possibilities of the Ukrainian honey industry.
“The next Ukraine-EU negotiations should be aimed at both increasing the duty-free quota and reducing customs tariffs. As an example, the EU-Mexico cooperation model can be used, for which the preferential quota is 30,000 tonnes at a rate of 8.6%,” said the expert.
The amount of accrued insurance premiums under Green Card international insurance agreements concluded by the member companies of the Motor (Transport) Insurance Bureau of Ukraine (MTIBU) in January-June 2020 decreased by 36.37% compared to the same period of 2019, to UAH 562.176 million.
According to a report on the MTIBU’s website, the number of Green Card agreements concluded during this period decreased by 40.79%, to 296,900.
At the same time, the amount of compensations paid on claims increased by 37.33%, to EUR9.434 million, while the number of claims paid by 27.96%, to 3,263.
The MTIBU is the only association of insurers that provides compulsory insurance of land vehicle owners’ civil liability for damage caused to third parties.
PrJSC Ukrenergo saw a net loss of UAH 18.31 billion in January-June 2020 compared to UAH 1.765 billion of net profit over the same period in 2019.
According to a report presented by the national energy company, its net income increased by seven times (by UAH 21.698 billion), to UAH 25.299 billion, in H1, 2020. Its gross loss amounted to UAH 16.756 billion in January-June 2020 against UAH 2.93 billion of gross profit over the same time in 2019.
As reported, Ukrenergo in 2019 reduced its net profit by 28.4% (by UAH 738.63 million) compared to 2018, to UAH 1.864 billion. Its net income over the past year increased by 4.4 times, to UAH 26.326 billion, gross profit doubled to UAH 6.245 billion, EBIDTA rose by 20.4%, to UAH 4.062 billion.
Ukrenergo operates trunk and interstate power grids, as well as performs the centralized dispatching of the country’s combined energy system. It is subordinate to the Ministry of Finance.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has offered 5,000 Belarusian IT specialists an opportunity to migrate to Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister, Digital Transformation Minister of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov said.
“Some 5,000 quotas were distributed among Ukraine’s regions in which there is the largest number of IT companies. Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Lviv regions can attract 600 specialists each, Kharkiv region – 700 and Kyiv – 2,500,” the minister said on his Facebook page on Friday.
Recent serious disruptions to the Internet, mobile communication and banking services forced IT companies in Belarus to look for opportunities to move to another country, Fedorov said.
The minister also noted that Ukrainian companies can also offer jobs to such foreigners.
“Immigration within these quotas allows foreign IT specialists to find jobs with the same conditions as Ukrainian citizens,” he said.
Around 60 companies and at least 30 think tanks have united to set up the Economic Recovery Center, on the base of which the National Economic Strategy 2030 will be developed, a co-founder of the center, Andriy Dlyhach, said.
“The Economic Recovery Center has become the government’s platform for the development of the economic strategy of Ukraine,” he said on Facebook, following a meeting of the top managers and owners of the largest Ukrainian companies with Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Kyrylo Shevchenko on August 14.
According to the information on the Center’s website, the platform brought together 30 Ukrainian think tanks and 60 business representatives. The think tanks include the Institute for Economics and Forecasting of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Advanter Group, Razumkov Center, Ukrainian Institute for the Future, Ukrainian Industry Expertise, and EasyBusiness.
The companies that have joined the platform include Allseeds, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, DTEK, Energomashspetsstal, Interpipe, Lemtrans, Metinvest, MHP, Naftogaz, SmartEnergy, Galicia, Tedis Ukraine, TIS, Nibulon, UkrLandFarming, UNIT, and Darnitsa.
Public discussions will start in September, first developments will be ready in October, the final document and a series of the government’s instructions, bills and state targeted programs for 2021 with the launch of financing will be presented in December, Dlyhach said.
DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC, ECONOMIC RECOVERY CENTER, PLATFORM, STRATEGY
The schools in Ukraine in the new academic year will work in line with the adaptive quarantine rules, Health Minister of Ukraine Maksym Stepanov has said.
“I should recall that the schools will not work only in the cities or districts, where the red epidemiological hazard level would be introduced,” he told a Saturday briefing.
“In all other [residential locations] marked with green, yellow and orange, respectively, they will work as usual with strict observation of the rules approved for the school education process. They include wearing masks and some other restrictions introduced by the rules. I would like to recall once again that we must respect all of these rules for the sake of our children’s health,” the minister said.
