During a working visit to Japan Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Shinichi Kitaoka, the press service of the head of state reported on Wednesday. “Cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is extremely important for our country, especially in the context of implementing large-scale reforms that are taking place now. Recently, the government approved an action plan for the next five years. We really believe that this program will not be implemented in theory, but in practice. This includes the development of human capital and economy, European integration and improving the security and welfare of Ukrainian citizens,” Zelensky said during the meeting, adding that the implementation of this plan will create a million additional jobs in the country.
The head of state said that the priorities of the current authorities of Ukraine include launching the land market, large-scale privatization, deregulation and simplification of all procedures with the transition to online services, elimination of the shadow economy and corruption schemes, solving infrastructure problems, optimizing the tax system, quickly and comprehensively introducing European and international standards.
The president thanked the agency for supporting Ukraine under the Official Development Assistance (ODA) program.
“We appreciate the technical assistance of Japan to support democratic institutions, ensure macroeconomic stability and concessional lending for important infrastructure projects in Ukraine,” Zelensky said.
The president said that one of the striking results of Ukraine’s joint work with JICA was the successful completion of the modernization of the Boryspil International Airport (Kyiv) through a soft loan. At the same time, Zelensky noted the importance of implementing the second project, namely, the modernization of the Bortnychi wastewater treatment plant, which will help prevent environmental pollution and increase the safety of people’s lives.
“I hope that in the near future a contract will be signed with the general contractor and construction work at the facility will begin from early next year,” he said.
The president announced Ukraine’s interest in continuing fruitful cooperation with JICA. Important promising infrastructure projects, in particular, may be the construction of a bridge over the Pivdenny Buh River in Mykolaiv as part of the improvement of the southern transport corridor; and preparing a project for the processing of solid household waste.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a meeting with Chairman of the Japan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association Eysuke Mori has discussed possibilities for deepening economic and investment cooperation between Ukraine and Japan, the press service of the Office of the President has reported.
At the meeting, the parties discussed cooperation in the implementation of infrastructure projects in Ukraine, mutually beneficial projects in the fields of energy, transport, agriculture, and environmental protection.
“Today we need to modernize and unite Ukraine. To this end, our parliament adopts many laws. For example, a concession law, because we need to restore and modernize the Ukrainian infrastructure: ports, railways, roads, bridges, and dams,” Zelensky said.
He also said that a new parliamentary group has been established for inter-parliamentary relations with Japan, which includes 117 deputies, 80 of whom, including the co-chair of the group, represent the Servant of the People political party.
The parties exchanged experience on overcoming the consequences of nuclear emergencies. Zelensky noted the effectiveness of the Ukrainian-Japanese joint committee on cooperation in improving the response to emergencies at nuclear power plants.
“We confirm our intention to continue cooperation on overcoming the aftermath of the accident at the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant through interaction between our countries within the so-called Fukushima-Chornobyl mechanism. A promising area of activity is the development and implementation of new technologies for the disposal of radioactive waste,” the head of the Ukrainian state said.
The Japanese side praised the results of their visit to Ukraine in September 2019. It was noted that this visit gave a new impetus to the development of inter-parliamentary dialogue and the full range of cooperation between the countries.
In turn, Zelensky thanked for the consistent policy of the government and parliament of Japan to support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, in particular within international organizations, as well as for large-scale humanitarian and financial assistance from Japan for the implementation of structural reforms.
“We greatly appreciate your country’s assistance in restoring Donbas and supporting internally displaced persons from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. I feel your friendly attitude towards us,” he said.
Shakhtar Donetsk has tied the score (2:2) with the Croatian Dinamo (Zagreb) in the match of the third round of the Champions League group stage.
On the 16th minute, the score in the match was opened by Ukrainian midfielder Yevhen Konoplianka. But on the 25th minute Spaniard Dani Olmo equalized the score.
On the 60th minute, midfielder Mislav Oršić put the guests ahead from the penalty spot, which was appointed after goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov’s foul on forward Mario Gavranović.
But on the 75th minute, the replacing Brazilian flank defender Dodo, after a good pass from his compatriot Alan Patrick, evened the result on the scoreboard.
Hungary’s low cost airline Wizz Air Holdings Plc plans to carry around 2.4 million passengers to/from Ukraine in 2019, which is 60% more than in 2018, Wizz Air Holdings Plc Chief Marketing and People Officer Johan Eidhagen said at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.
He said that in January-September 2019, the airline carried 1.8 million passengers, which is twice more than a year ago.
Currently, the airline flies from four Ukrainian cities: Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv and Odesa, but from March 2020 also plans to start flying from the Zaporizhia airport.
Wizz Air, the largest low cost carrier in Central and Eastern Europe, offers flights on more than 600 routes from 25 bases, connecting 145 destinations in 44 countries. The airline fleet consists of 120 Airbus A320 and Airbus A321 aircraft.
By the end of 2019, the company intends to carry 40 million passengers.
Ukrainian farmers received 1,238 crop receipts for the amount of UAH 8 billion since the beginning of 2019, which is 721 receipts and UAH 4.8 billion more than a year ago, the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture has reported.
According to the ministry, since the introduction of the project in Ukraine in 2015 a total of 2,116 crop receipts were registered for the amount of UAH 14.5 billion. Over 130 companies lend using crop receipts, both Ukrainian and international.
By the number of the receipts 60% are financial ones, providing for relations in cash. The average size of liabilities for one financial crop receipt is UAH 5.8 million, for a commodity one – UAH 8.4 million.
Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture Inna Meteleva on October 21 at a meeting with representatives of the Crop Receipts Project in Ukraine of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) discussed the issue of changing the nature of relations on the use of crop receipts from contractual obligations for operations with securities by introducing separate legislative changes.
“Changes in the legislation will strengthen the balance of interests of the debtor and the creditor, as well as expand the business opportunities of working with crop receipts, which will provide the prerequisites for the development of refinancing,” Head of the Crop Receipts Project in Ukraine Leah Soroka said.
In the near future it is planned to submit these changes for discussion with stakeholders and interested central executive bodies to form a consolidated position.
The Crop Receipts project in Ukraine is being implemented by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, in partnership with the Swiss Confederation. The practical application of crop receipts began in 2014 in Poltava region. Soon other regions of the country joined this financial tool.
JTI Ukraine, one of the largest tobacco companies in Ukraine, has submitted an application to the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine (SFS) seeking to withdraw 16 million excise labels for which the company paid UAH 350 million in connection with the adoption of bill No. 1049 containing a requirement of regulating the cigarette markup, the company told Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.
“We are withdrawing UAH 350 million of excise tax paid due to the adoption of a bill establishing a fixed markup for cigarettes by the Verkhovna Rada,” the press service of the tobacco company said.
According to JTI Ukraine, the company reduced production by 73% in the second half of October compared to its plans.
As reported, British American Tobacco (BAT), a large global tobacco manufacturer, halted production at the B.A.T.-Pryluky factory in Chernihiv region on October 11, 2019. The company said that the reason was bill No. 1049 adopted by the Verkhovna Rada with the requirement on the government regulation of the markup on their goods. Then the company applied to the SFS with the purpose of withdrawing 25 million excise labels and returning UAH 505 million paid for them.
Earlier Philip Morris Ukraine, British American Tobacco, JTI and Imperial Tobacco in Ukraine are mulling the possibility of decreasing production and later closing the tobacco factories on the territory of Ukraine over the adoption of the legislative requirement on the government regulation of markup on their goods by the Verkhovna Rada.
Bill No. 1049, passed at second reading, introducing a single account for paying taxes and duties, the single social security contribution, sets a fixed markup for wholesale and retail traders of tobacco products at 7% and 13% of the maximum retail price per package.
Later, the Council of Entrepreneurs under the Cabinet of Ministers has asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to veto bill No. 1049 introducing a single account for paying taxes and duties, and the single social security contribution, as it deprives enterprises of the right to set prices for tobacco goods.
