The presidential offices of Slovakia and Ukraine are working on a declaration recognizing Ukraine’s European integration aspirations, said Prime Minister of Slovakia Eduard Heger.
“Slovakia has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine and her European aspirations of Ukraine. This is one of my main messages today in Kyiv. And we are vocal on that in Brussels as well. Presidential offices of both countries are working on the declaration you mentioned,” Heger said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
He stressed that Ukraine’s European integration aspirations had already been officially recognized many times.
“For now, it is important to use all the provisions the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine offers,” the premier added.
He noted that during his visit to Kyiv on Friday, he would talk with Ukrainian interlocutors about the reforms.
“Indeed, transformation and modernization of the country is a prerequisite for becoming a member of the EU and NATO. The reform process in Ukraine is continuing and Slovakia believes it will be sustainable and successful. Btw, the changes are not about the EU and NATO, they need to be introduced be Ukrainians themselves to make Ukraine stronger, more resilient, to the benefit of all the Ukrainians,” Heger said.
The bilateral agreement on the use of the Slovak airspace by the international airport Uzhgorod will be in effect from June 5, said Prime Minister of Slovakia Eduard Heger.
“There are still some technical measures and procedures to be put in place and you simply cannot make shortcuts. It is about safety and established mechanisms in the air transportation, not about politics. I was informed that all the process will be finished in September,” Heger said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
The Slovak Republic has always been a reliable transit country for Russian gas to the West through Ukraine, and it is interested in maintaining this transit through Ukraine, said Prime Minister of Slovakia Eduard Heger.
“As for the Nord Stream 2 Project, it is not in the hands of Slovakia to decide. Slovakia has always been a reliable transit country for the Russian gas to the West through the territory of Ukraine and we are definitely interested in keeping this gas transit through Ukraine. We believe the transit contract between Russia and Ukraine will be fulfilled further on,” Heger said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
The Ukrainian government has banned aircraft registered in Belarus from using Ukraine’s airspace from midnight on May 29.
“The government has approved the official instruction of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the State Air Traffic Services Enterprise (UkSATSE) to ban aircraft registered in the Republic of Belarus from using the airspace of Ukraine from midnight on May 29,” a government source told Interfax-Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) will pay more attention to dredging, service functions, and berths and other infrastructure should go to concession through tenders, head of the supervisory board of the USPA Andriy Haidutsky said.
“As you know, investments in each berth are estimated on average from UAH 500 million to UAH 1.5 billion, depending on the type of berth, its length, depth, and so on. Of course, the USPA does not have such large funds, since we have revenue of about UAH 7 billion and about UAH 2 billion of profit, but the shareholder – the state – likes to take 50-70% of the funds as dividends. Thus, we have very limited capital investments, and there is demand for new berths and infrastructure renewal. The USPA is changing – it will pay more attention to dredging, service functions, and berths and other infrastructure should go to concession through tenders,” he said during the Ukrainian Ports Forum 2021.
He noted that pilot projects of concessions in the seaports of Kherson and Olvia are already being implemented, concession tenders are being prepared in the ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa and Berdiansk.
“In the future, we will move to the concession of individual berths – this is also a world practice. And thus the state will be able to continue to receive dividends, and the port infrastructure will be able to receive investments directly in the development of the industry,” he said.
As reported, with reference to acting head of the USPA Oleksandr Holodnytsky, the transfer of the integral property complex of Kherson seaport to the concessionaire will be completed in June 2021, the property complex of Olvia specialized seaport – in December 2021.
INDIVIDUAL BERTHS, UKRAINIAN SEA PORTS, UKRAINIAN SEA PORTS AUTHORITY
The negative balance of Ukraine’s foreign trade in goods in January-February 2021 decreased by 55.3% compared to January-February 2020, to $ 256.5 million from $ 573.2 million, the State Statistics Service has reported.
According to its data, the export of goods from Ukraine for the reporting period increased by 4.5%, to $ 8.475 billion, imports by 0.5%, to $ 8.731 billion.
The State Statistics Service clarifies that in February 2021 compared to January 2021, the seasonally adjusted export volume increased by 4.3%, to $ 4.625 billion, while imports decreased by 1.1%, to $ 5.04 billion.
The seasonally adjusted foreign trade balance in February 2021 was negative and amounted to $ 415.1 million, while in the previous month the balance was also negative and amounted to $ 665.1 million.
The ratio of coverage of import by export in January-February 2021 amounted to 0.97 (in January-February 2020 some 0.93).
The State Statistics Service clarified that foreign trade operations were carried out with partners from 201 countries of the world.
