KYIV. Sept 8 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Kyiv-based Bank Credit Dnepr has become partner of the USAID project Agriculture and Rural Development Support (ARDS).
The parties signed a memorandum of cooperation on Thursday, the bank said in a press release.
Under memorandum, the parties signed plans for interaction with the aim of developing agrarian financing, raising awareness of small- and medium-sized agricultural producers in the segment of vegetables, berries, fruits, meat and dairy products about banking products.
The memorandum also stipulates that Bank Credit Dnepr will act as an advisor to the grant committee of the USAID project, which will consider applications from small- and medium-sized agricultural producers for project grants for the purchase of equipment for the production, processing and storage of vegetables, berries and fruits, as well as meat and dairy products.
As the USAID ARDS office told Interfax-Ukraine, the memorandum also provides for a partnership between the bank and the USAID project to improve the access of small- and medium-sized agricultural producers to lending. In particular, experts from Bank Credit Dnepr together with the USAID ARDS project will conduct consultations and training for small- and medium-sized agricultural producers on issues related to the preparation of a package of documents for attracting bank financing.
The USAID ARDS project was launched in September 2016 and will last until the end of July 2020.
The project will support broad-based, resilient economic growth through a more inclusive, competitive, and better governed agriculture sector that provides attractive livelihoods to rural Ukrainians. It will create a better enabling environment for agricultural small and medium enterprises by strengthening the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture to implement sector reforms, by developing a transparent legal framework for agricultural land markets, and by implementing reforms that attract irrigation system modernization investments. The Agriculture and Rural Development Support Project will improve agriculture sector competitiveness by supporting agricultural SMEs to introduce international quality and safety standards. ARDS will support rural development by expanding employment and income opportunities and supporting target rural communities to develop viable economic strategies that stimulate economic growth.
KYIV. Sept 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Zaporizhia Titanium and Magnesium Combine LLC has certified its products with one of the largest Chines consumer of titanium sponge – GoldSky, the enterprise said in a press release on Wednesday.
The combine is permitted to supply titanium sponge after a complex audit conducted by GoldSky.
GoldSky is a titanium division of China’s XiangTou Holding Group. The company has been operating on the market for over 10 years. It is among top five largest consumers of titanium sponge in China with assets of almost $700 million.
According to the press release, the special certification of Zaporizhia Titanium and Magnesium Combine consisted of several stages. At the first stage, the plant’s products passed a qualitative audit in the laboratories of the GoldSky concern in China. Then, authorized specialists of GoldSky personally visited the combine and conducted a comprehensive audit of the work of all departments of the plant, including the company’s compliance with international environmental and safety requirements.
Zaporizhia Titanium and Magnesium Combine Director Volodymyr Syvak said that GoldSky is not the first serious global player with which the enterprise starts to operate.
“Since 2015, the enterprise has entered an entirely new segment, and the company has begun to supply titanium sponge to the largest consumers in the United States, Europe and China for the aerospace industry,” the top manager said.
KYIV. Sept 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Sumy-based dairy factory, which is part of Milkiland, a dairy group with assets in Ukraine, the Russian Federation and Poland, received permission to export dairy products to the European Union.
Relevant permission comes into force on September 12, 2017, according to materials posted on the website of the European Commission.
In addition, the permit to export fish products to the EU was given to LLC Busky canning plant (Lviv) and private company Bester Caviar House (Kyiv region).The permit is also valid from September 12.
All three enterprises sent relevant requests in July this year.
KYIV. Sept 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The share of the European Union (EU) of Ukraine’s foreign trade has reached 40%, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.
“Recently the [Ukraine-EU] Association Agreement took effect. Thanks to consent of the European Union the year before last to temporarily apply it we can enjoy the preliminary results as growth of our export to the European Union. In particular, in H1 2017, this export grew by 23%, and the EU’s share of Ukraine’s foreign trade has finally reached 40%,” the president said delivering the annual message to the Verkhovna Rada on Thursday.
He also recalled that in 2012, the EU’s share of Ukraine’s foreign trade was 30%, and in 2009 – 25%.
“This is evidence of the start of the integration of the Ukrainian economy into the EU market,” he said.
KYIV. Sept 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved a project on construction of a passenger terminal and servicing facilities of municipal enterprise Zaporizhia International Airport.
The decision is stipulated in a government resolution passed at the meeting on August 6.
The land parcel where the terminal will be built will be 33.1 ha and the construction site will be 6,657 square meters.
It is planned that the capacity of the terminal will be 400 passengers per hour, including 250 passengers of the international flight sector and 150 passengers of the domestic flights sector. This will be a three-story building. A gas boiler, a pump station and a transformer substation will be also built.
The total estimated cost of the project in the prices as of May 22, 2017 is UAH 543.159 million, including UAH 207.214 million for construction cost, UAH 234.944 million for equipment, furniture and tools and UAH 101 million for other expenses.
It will take two years to build the terminal.
KYIV. Sept 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine should begin preparations for the future introduction of the 5G mobile communications standard and follow Europe to release the 700 MHz band from television broadcasting, Volodymyr Korsun, the director of state enterprise Ukrainian State Center of Radio Frequencies, has said.
“The range to be used for 5G introduction is 700 MHz. This range is almost released from television broadcasting in Europe. We need to move in this direction, and the Ukrainian State Center of Radio Frequencies does everything possible for this,” he said in an interview with the Novoye Vremia (New Time) edition.
Korsun specified this process has been launched in Ukraine, but it will move “a little bit slower” than in Europe.
The expert said the launch of the 5G standard is expected at the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2019, which should determine the frequency range for this standard.
Commenting on the deployment of 3G communications, Korsun noted over two years this standard has been launched in all the regional centers, while operators, according to licenses, have time until 2021 to cover settlements with the population exceeding 10,0000 people.
