KYIV. July 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers has approved a concept for development of rural areas, the implementation of which would improve the quality of life and welfare of rural residents.
According to the decision made at a meeting on Wednesday, the concept will help to implement measures aimed at reforming the rural areas development governance system, stirring up proactivity and responsibility of rural territorial communities in the regions and increasing employment rate in rural areas.
The government will provide support to residents who decide to build houses in rural areas, develop healthcare center network and improve medical care, draw up and approve local sports development programs, regional cultural and historic heritage maintenance and restoration programs and ensure their financing, restart and modernize engineer networks and water purification facilities.
The action plan will be implemented using national and local budgets funds.
Central and local executive power agencies are to inform the Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry every year before April 1 on the implementation of the plan. Generalized information is to be submitted to the government by April 15.
KYIV. July 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian lawmaker Maksym Mykytas (not a member of any parliamentary faction) has proposed to the Verkhovna Rada to approve the procedure for duplication of land auctions on the electronic platform and allow bidders to take part in online auctions.
The bill amending the Land Code of Ukraine was registered on July 14, 2017.
“The bill proposes amending Chapter 21 of the Land Code of Ukraine, envisaging the duplication of the auctions in the electronic land trading platform and the possibility of taking part in the auctions online,” the explanatory note to the bill said.
The author of the document believes that the absence of the online trading create conditions for corruption and restricts competition among bidders.
The lawmaker also registered a bill proposing the publication of announcements on the start of land auctions not only on the official website of the central executive power agencies, but also on websites of local self-government agencies and the executive agency of the administrative and territorial unit where the land parcel is located.
He said that this would allow raising public awareness about land auctions.
KYIV. July 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman at a government meeting on Wednesday said that a new targeted program to support farms could be launched.
“Financial support of agriculture via cheapening of loans [in the amount of UAH 300 million] is not enough, but this step was right. We plan to approve a new program to support farms in August. This would allow developing agriculture in the small and medium segments and in the micro business segment,” he said.
Groysman added that in 2017, agricultural producers would be able to receive partial compensation for purchase of agricultural machinery in the amount of 20% of its cost if the production localization level for sophisticated machinery in Ukraine exceeds 35%. UAH 550 million was allocated for these purposes in 2017, and in 2018 the government support under this program could expand to UAH 1 billion.
The prime minister said that in January-March 2017 capital investment in agriculture grew by 60%, to UAH 10.9 billion. In January-May exports of agricultural products rose by 31.4%, to $7.5 billion.
He said that agriculture accounts for 12% of Ukrainian GDP, with processing it is almost 17%, but the potential of the sector remains huge.
KYIV. July 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Pojazdy Szynowe PESA Bydgoszcz Spółka Akcyjna (Poland) has won a tender to supply 40 low-deck 26-meter tram wagons to Kyiv city proposing to make them for UAH 1.813 billion with the expected cost of UAH 1.946 billion.
According to the tender on Monday in the ProZorro e-procurement system, the second bidder – Ukrainian-German JV Electrotrans (Lviv) offered tram wagons for UAH 1.813 billion and did not decrease the price during the tender, while initially Pesa offered the tram wagons for UAH 1.846 billion.
Kyiv city early April 2017 announced a first tender to supply 40 tram wagons for UAH 1.96 billion. At the end of May 2017 the tender was annulled, as Pesa was the only bidder in the tender.
In the middle of June 2017 Electrotrans won a tender to supply seven 30-meter low-deck tram wagons to Kyiv city for UAH 301 million.
