Ukraine and the UK are planning to conclude an agreement on digital trade, which will remove barriers to trade and provide support to Ukrainian businesses, the UK has previously concluded such an agreement only with Singapore, the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Digital Transformation report.
The Ministry of Economy in a press release on Wednesday clarified that the day before, First Deputy Prime Minister, Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov discussed this document – Digital Economy Agreement – with Secretary of State for International Trade of Great Britain Anne-Marie Trevelyan.
“The Digital Economy Agreement is a new type of trade agreement that will open up new opportunities for Ukrainian and British businesses through the use of modern technologies that will reduce bureaucratic procedures and promote the use of electronic payments, digital signatures and electronic contracts,” Svyrydenko said.
According to the release of the Ministry of Economy, the agreements involve the creation of digital infrastructure to level restrictions on cross-border data transfer, the opening of a single window for traders and government agencies, the growth of trade in services, proper protection of personal data and improved access to public resources.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation added that among the main areas of cooperation were financial technologies and payment systems, open digital markets and technical cooperation.
The Ministry of Economy clarified that the agreement on digital trade would supplement the agreement on political cooperation, free trade and strategic partnership between Ukraine and the UK, concluded on October 8, 2020.
President of the state enterprise NNEGC Energoatom Petr Kotin said that the company is preparing for corporatization and that the Ukrainian government has already submitted the relevant draft law on the specifics of the formation of the National Nuclear Energy Generating Company Energoatom to the Parliament.
As reported in the Energoatom Telegram channel, he informed the ambassadors of the G7 countries and other officials of foreign diplomatic missions about this during a meeting in Kyiv on Wednesday, August 24.
In addition, Kotin outlined plans for the development of Energoatom and the state of implementation of joint projects with the American company Westinghouse.
“We have put an end to any dependence on Russia, first of all, it concerns the rejection of its nuclear fuel, technologies, services and components. At the same time, we are strengthening cooperation with our long-term partner Westinghouse: we will purchase nuclear fuel for all Ukrainian nuclear power plants and build 9 new power units based on AP1000 technology,” he said.
As reported, in September 2021, Energoatom and Westinghouse signed a memorandum on the construction of five nuclear power units in Ukraine. At the beginning of June 2022, the companies signed agreements to increase the number of nuclear power units to be built using AP 1000 technology in Ukraine from five to nine units, and to establish the Westinghouse Engineering and Technology Center in the country.
Energoatom is the operator of all four operating nuclear power plants in Ukraine. Operates Zaporozhye, South-Ukrainian, Rivne and Khmelnytsky stations with 15 power units equipped with water-cooled power reactors, with a total installed electrical capacity of 13.8 GW.
A number of EU regions will experience an unprecedented drought for another three months, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday, citing an EU report.
Drought and high air temperatures are expected in the western Mediterranean until November 2022, the report says.
It is noted that in particular this will affect Portugal and Spain.
Nearly half of the EU countries currently have a drought warning in place. In addition, the deterioration of the situation is observed in Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg and others.
Earlier it was reported that, according to the Joint Research Center of the European Commission, the current drought seems to be perhaps the worst in the last 500 years. Final data at the end of the season may confirm this preliminary estimate.
The countries of Europe, which this summer are suffering from wildfires associated with abnormal heat and drought, broke a sad record in 2022: 662.8 thousand hectares were devastated by fire.
Among the states most affected by fires this year are Spain (246 thousand hectares of burned forests), Romania (150 thousand hectares), Portugal (75 thousand hectares) and France (61 thousand hectares).
Shareholders of the VUSO insurance company completed the purchase of UASK ASKA (operating under the ASKA brand) in order to create a major player in the insurance market with Ukrainian capital.
“Despite the war and what seems like a bad time to invest, we are determined to see our goal of merging the two companies through. We believe in the victory of Ukraine and its future! We hope that Ukrainians and Ukrainian enterprises will continue to use the services of VUSO as a large Ukrainian company. It is symbolic for us that the date of the transaction, as well as the date of the beginning of the association, is August 24 – the Independence Day of our country!
After the transaction is completed, it is planned to merge UASK ASKA and IC VUSO under a single VUSO brand by the end of 2022.
The future merger will increase VUSO’s presence in the corporate insurance segment through ASKA’s longstanding relationships with large corporate clients.
The amount and terms of the deal were not disclosed.
VUSO insurance company has been operating on the Ukrainian market since 2001. According to Insurance TOP, its assets as of December 31, 2022 amounted to UAH 940.5 million, insurance premiums for 12 months of 2021 – UAH 1.719 billion (8th place in the ranking of insurers). Holds 50 licenses: 33 for voluntary and 17 for compulsory types of insurance. The company specializes in motor, medical and travel insurance for private and corporate clients, has more than 30 representative offices throughout Ukraine. He is a Member of the ITIBU (since 07/01/22 – Full Member), the Nuclear Pool, a participant in the Direct Settlement project. Member of the National Association of Insurers of Ukraine. The company has been assigned a financial stability (reliability) rating of uaАА. The shareholders of VUSO are the Altitude Fund, the ultimate beneficiaries are Mikhail Nazarchuk and Alexey Shuba.
UASK ASKA is the first private insurance company that appeared in independent Ukraine and has been operating for over 30 years. It was included in the portfolio of the international investment company SCM.
At the beginning of 2022, ASKA had 2,900 corporate and more than 200,000 private clients throughout Ukraine. He is a member of MTIBU, one of the founders of the Nuclear Pool. The insurer has a license to carry out insurance activities for compulsory insurance of civil liability of car owners (including the Green Card). During its work, ASKA has repeatedly made the largest payments in the history of Ukrainian insurance.
The state will partially compensate exporters for interest accrued and paid this year on loans insured by the Export Credit Agency (ECA), the website of the Ministry of Economy reported on Wednesday.
The corresponding decision was made by the Cabinet of Ministers at a meeting on August 23.
It is indicated that the state will partially compensate the rate on export credits, which are taken for a period of two to 12 years and amount to no more than 85% of the amount of the foreign economic contract.
Such loans should be used to replenish working capital, purchase equipment, fulfill the terms of a foreign economic contract, and build and reconstruct production facilities.
It is noted that the borrower must be a FOP or a legal entity registered on the territory of Ukraine (except for the temporarily occupied territories), not have open bankruptcy cases and not be in the process of liquidation.
The Ministry clarified that if the borrower violates the terms of interest payment for more than 15 days, compensation will be temporarily suspended.
Mining enterprises of Ukraine in January-July this year reduced the export of iron ore raw materials (IORM) in physical terms by 28.8% compared to the same period last year – up to 18 million 571.940 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (STS), over the specified period, foreign exchange earnings from the export of iron ore decreased by 49.8% – to $ 2 billion 357.073 million.
Iron ore was exported mainly to Slovakia (19.80% of deliveries in monetary terms), China (16.07%) and Poland (15.6%).
During the reporting period, IORM was imported to Ukraine for $14 thousand in a total volume of 25 tons, while in January-July 2021, iron ore for $130 thousand was imported in a total volume of 1,134 thousand tons. Imports for January-July 2022 were carried out from Britain (78.57%), Italy (14.29%) and the Russian Federation (7.14%).
As reported, Ukraine in 2021 reduced the export of iron ore raw materials (IORM) in physical terms by 4.2% compared to 2020 – up to 44 million 357.727 thousand tons, but increased revenue by 62.8% – up to $6 billion 899.816 million The export of iron ore was carried out mainly to China (41.90% of supplies in monetary terms), the Czech Republic (9.65%) and Poland (7.99%).
Last year, IORM was imported to Ukraine for $184 thousand in a total volume of 1.202 thousand tons, while in 2020 123 tons of iron ore for $75 thousand were imported. Imports for 2021 were carried out from Egypt (55.98%), the Netherlands ( 21.2%) and Poland (7.07%).
