Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov and a government delegation have arrived in Ukraine on a visit, Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reports.
The delegation also includes the ministers of justice, environment and energy – Atanas Slavov, Yulian Popov and Rumen Radev, deputy ministers of defense and foreign affairs – Stanimir Georgiev and Tikhomir Stoychev, as well as the head of the Defense Ministry, Admiral Emil Eftimov.
Details of the visit were not disclosed.
Geographic structure of Ukraine’s foreign trade in 2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
The issue of resetting the government in Ukraine depends on the financial deficit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a press conference in Kyiv on Sunday.
“We have a conversation with the Prime Minister. And it is based solely on the deficit of money. If the corresponding deficit continues, we will do everything to ensure that the infrastructure, and this is not just the Cabinet of Ministers, that the infrastructure of our state’s management is reduced,” he said.
“Reducing the number of ministries, reducing the number of ministers, coordinated management. That is why we have an absolutely open dialog here, and we are ready for it. I think the indicator will be an understanding of what we will have in the spring. A little later, in a month or two, we will understand everything,” Zelensky said.
At its plenary meeting on February 21-23 in Paris, the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) once again ignored Ukraine’s call to add Russia to the list of high-risk jurisdictions – the so-called “blacklist”.
The FATF merely recalled its statement condemning Russia’s actions a year ago and added that “members note with concern the potential risks to the international financial system, including Russia’s growing financial ties to countries subject to FATF countermeasures, the risks of financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and malicious cyber activity and ransomware attacks.”
The organization noted that, given the seriousness of these risks, many FATF members are taking proactive measures to protect themselves and the global financial system, and reiterated its call for all jurisdictions to remain vigilant in relation to the above risks.
“As we have done since the outbreak of Russia’s aggressive war, FATF members will continue to monitor the situation and the risks to the global financial system. As a suspended member of the FATF, the Russian Federation remains responsible for fulfilling its obligations to implement FATF standards,” the updated statement reads.
The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, for its part, welcomed these expanded comments, but emphasized that they do not comprehensively address the Kremlin’s continued and deliberate disregard for FATF standards and principles since its membership was suspended a year ago.
“The Ministry understands the political problems associated with reaching a consensus on further measures, but the facts show that more needs to be done to counter the threats that Russia poses to the integrity of the global financial system,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
The Ukrainian ministry recalled that last year Russia increased its arms trade with FATF blacklisted states Iran and North Korea, and since December, evidence has continued to emerge that Russia is purchasing North Korean missiles for use on the battlefield against Ukraine, in violation of UN sanctions.
Kyiv believes that at its next plenary meeting, the FATF should adopt tougher restrictive measures to mitigate these serious threats. The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine also called on individual countries not to wait for the FATF’s decision, but to add Russia to their national lists of high-risk jurisdictions, which will require a more thorough examination of all transactions related to Russia and other restrictive measures.
“The FATF, an organization charged with ensuring the safety of the global financial system, must fulfill its mandate. The absence of more stringent restrictive measures dangerously plays into the hands of the Kremlin, giving it and possibly other malicious actors the green light to continue the gradual destruction of the rules-based international structure,” commented Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko on the decision of the plenary session.
The FATF communiqué states that the plenary session chaired by T. Raja Kumar from Singapore was attended by delegates from over 200 jurisdictions. Among the key outcomes is new risk-based guidance on the implementation of Recommendation 25 on beneficial ownership and transparency of legal entities.
The Plenary also agreed to publish for public comment a number of options for potential changes to Recommendation 16 and its Interpretive Note on wire transfers. The proposed amendments are aimed at adapting the FATF standards to changes in payment system business models and messaging standards, as well as at ensuring that they remain technology-neutral.
The organization added Kenya and Namibia to the list of jurisdictions under enhanced scrutiny that are working with the FATF to address strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering regimes, while removing Barbados, Gibraltar, Uganda and the UAE from the list due to significant progress.
The plenary agreed to appoint a new FATF president for a two-year term starting in July 2024: Elisa de Anda Madrazo of Mexico, who served as FATF vice president from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2023, will take over from Elisa de Anda Madrazo.
Ukraine is ready to fix the level of exports of eggs, chicken meat and sugar to Poland at the level of 2022-2023, Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said.
“We have already introduced a verification and control mechanism for four groups of cereals on September 16. We are also ready to go in terms of setting the export level for eggs, chicken meat and sugar at the level of 2022-2023. These are quite large volumes. We are ready to fix them and move within these boundaries,” Shmygal said at the forum “Ukraine. Year 2024” on Sunday.
Prime Minister also said that representatives of the Ukrainian government were at the Ukrainian-Polish border on Friday and talked to Ukrainian carriers who were returning by grain carriers from Europe.
Commenting on the protests of Polish farmers on the Ukrainian-Polish border, the Prime Minister reminded that they were taking place against the background of Russia’s hybrid warfare in Europe. “This should not be forgotten. There is support for radical and pro-Russian political forces throughout the European Union, particularly in Poland. This leads to terrible things that we see when they pour out grain and act illegally,” he emphasized.
Shmygal noted that the Polish government and the police react to these violations adequately, and appropriate cases are initiated. The first violators have already been brought to court, they face up to five years in prison.
According to the prime minister, the Ukrainian government announced five steps to unblock the Ukrainian-Polish border, and also notified the European Commission about Ukraine’s proposed “plan of mutual understanding” with Poland. Now Ukraine will start implementing them jointly with the European Commission.
As reported, Ukraine on February 23 on the Ukrainian-Polish border announced five steps for the de-blockade of the border. In particular, Ukraine agreed to limit the entry of poultry meat, eggs and sugar to Poland and will export them to the EU without quotas and duties in volumes no more than the average in 2022 and 2023. In addition, Ukraine is ready to continue the mechanism of verification of exports of grain, corn, sunflower and rapeseed, which means that these four groups of goods will not enter the Polish market without Polish authorization.
The second step will be Ukraine’s appeal to the European Commission with a proposal to conduct urgent screening of clusters 4 and 5, which include agrarian policy and transportation.
The third step is a proposal to the Polish government to adopt a joint appeal to the European Commission to stop Russian agricultural exports to the EU.
The fourth step was the creation of a “Trilateral Headquarters: Ukraine, Poland, European Commission” co-chaired by the agrarian ministers of Ukraine, Poland and a representative of the European Commission.
The fifth step is to expand free passage across the border not only for ammunition and humanitarian aid, but also for Ukraine’s critically needed fuel.
