Egypt, according to forecasts, in 2021 will be visited by about 8 million foreign tourists, of which about 1.5 million are Ukrainians, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt Ayman Ahmed Mokhtar Elgammal told Interfax-Ukraine in an exclusive interview.
“Basically, Ukrainians choose Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada, beach hotels, from where they go for a maximum one-day educational trip – to see the pyramids and the main attractions of Cairo,” he said.
According to the ambassador, other tourist products are actively offered to Ukrainians.
“We offer to visit a variety of historical attractions, four-day cruises on the Nile from Luxor to Aswan, new areas for water sports, windsurfing. In addition, in the west of the desert there are unique mineral waters and salt lakes, useful for recovery. This year, Ukrainians began to convert attention to such attractions,” the diplomat said.
Elgammal also noted the growing demand for a longer stay of Ukrainians in Egypt. “Egypt is an excellent offer for Ukrainian employees working ‘remotely’: the weather is good all year round, it is close and easy to get to. And we stimulate such tourists: we provide a 20% discount on accommodation for a long period of time, 20 days or more,” he said.
The ambassador named some of the partnership programs to attract new Ukrainian tourists. “We have already launched joint campaigns with tour operators, which run until October 2021. We also have a flight incentive program for airlines, which includes visa facilitation, 50% discount on landing fees, accommodation, and 20% discount on ground handling fees. In addition, we have reduced fuel prices by $0.15 per gallon until the end of 2021,” said Elgammal.
Egypt has moved from the importers of natural gas to the category of producers due to the discovery of deposits on the Mediterranean shelf, therefore one of the promising areas of cooperation is the export of gas to Ukraine through barter deals for grain and other products, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt Ayman Ahmed Mokhtar Elgammal has said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine. He said this will improve the trade balance – there will be no need to attract foreign currency into the transaction, and will also allow to align the import/export balance, to correct the existing bias towards Ukraine.
At the same time, Ukrainian companies are encouraged to invest in renewable energy in Egypt. However, there are no specific agreements yet, the ambassador added.
At the same time, the official stressed that the Egyptian side is interested in investing in Ukraine.
The main interest of Egyptian companies in projects of agricultural production and animal husbandry, but projects in the energy sector are not yet discussed, he said.
The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine under the leadership of ex-minister Vladyslav Krykliy has failed to implement a program of state support for Ukrainian airlines that carried out evacuation flights during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
“We prepared the logic of compensation and relevant initiatives, submitted it to the Cabinet of Ministers. Then the Ministry of Finance refused with the classic explanation – there is no money. But they promised to return as soon as possible … But this is not even direct funding, but a loyalty program for airport and air navigation services … But even so we were not allowed to realize this,” Krykliy said in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
He also noted that the issue of compensation to air carriers for 2020 is “not about reforms, but about justice.”
According to Krykliy, absolutely all countries in Europe help their air carriers, but this item was not included in the priorities of the Ukrainian government.
As reported, earlier the Ministry of Infrastructure planned to provide targeted assistance to state airports to create discount programs for airlines that participated in the evacuation of Ukrainian citizens during the first wave of the pandemic lockdown.
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of June 8
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 08/06/21
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
The State Agency of Ukraine on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving intends to submit for approval by the government a program to support energy efficiency for 2022-2026 with the volume of UAH 10 billion, acting chairman of the agency Kostiantyn Hura has said.
“Since the insulation credit program is coming to an end this year, we have developed the concept of a new target program for 2022-2026 to support energy efficient measures in the amount of UAH 10 billion, which would include not only “warm loans” for individuals, but also apply to industry, the budgetary sector, transport and individual projects for the development of bioenergy,” he said in a comment to the Energy Reform portal at the all-Ukrainian forum Ukraine 30. Ecology.
He said the mechanism of the proposed program for loans to legal entities will differ from the program of “warm loans,” which consists in compensation for their part.
“We are now considering the possibility of launching such a mechanism as lowering the loan rate, in this case – at the double refinancing rate of the NBU, which is currently 6.5%. That is, the bank’s standard rate minus 13% if an entrepreneur takes out a loan for energy efficiency. The banks’ expenses will be compensated from the budget,” he explained.
According to the expert, the agency has coordinated the program with all interested bodies and is now awaiting approval from the Ministry of Energy.
“After that, we will send it to the government. I hope for its support,” Hura said, adding that such a program to stimulate energy efficiency will provide an opportunity not only to modernize housing, budgetary sectors, enterprises, but also have a positive effect on the economy, creating projects, jobs, increasing budget revenues.
As reported, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine extended until 2021 the state target program for energy efficiency and development of the sphere of energy production from renewable energy sources and alternative fuels, being in effect from 2010 to 2020.
