Austria invested over $1.3 billion in the economy of Ukraine by 2018.
“Austria had invested $1.345 billion in the economy of Ukraine as of the end of last year, which was 3.4% of the total amount of foreign direct investment injected in our country’s economy,” the Ukrainian Cabinet’s press service said in a statement following a meeting between Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and Federal President of the Republic of Austria Alexander Van der Bellen.
During the meeting, Groysman stressed that European integration is Ukraine’s irreversible foreign policy choice, therefore Kyiv looks forward to intensifying the dialogue on a wide range of issues, taking into account Austria’s chairmanship of the EU in the second half of this year. The two officials touched on the situation in Donbas. “The annexation of the Crimea and the occupation of the east are illegal. This is a vivid violation of international law. Russia thinks everything will go unpunished. But we must prevent such opinions from existing,” the Cabinet’s press service quoted the Austrian president as saying.
As reported, Alexander Van der Bellen says Austrian investors are highly interested in Ukraine and underscores the need for a more intensified fight against corruption.
The Epicenter K Group, which was developing agricultural business under the Epicenter Agro brand in the past two years, plans to build two silos in Vapniarka and Vendychany (Vinnytsia region) with a grain storage capacity of 120,000 and 100,000 tonnes. “Five of our silos have a storage capacity of 360,000 tonnes, which is not enough for us. We will build a silo in Vinnytsia region with a capacity of 120,000 tonnes and in the town of Vendychany – 100,000 tonnes of grain, expand the Vinnytsia and Zakupne silos,” General Director of Epicenter K Petro Mykhailishyn said at a press conference devoted to the development strategy of Epicenter K in the Ukrainian agrarian market on Tuesday.
In addition, the group plans to invest in the purchase of three routes (one route consists of 50-60 grain wagons) in 2019 to provide access to the port elevators.
In the future, the group is planning the construction of a near port elevator.
The new agroholding with 110,000 hectares of land cultivates four main types of crops: winter wheat, sunflower, corn and winter rapeseed. In the crop rotation, corn occupies up to 50%, winter wheat – up to 25% depending on the region, sunflower – up to 25%, rapeseeds have a small share and it is grown mainly in the western region of the country. Epicenter Agro also has 6,000 pigs.
“We use loans to replenish working capital, purchase goods, and we send the funds that trade generates to agribusiness. We plan that agribusiness will come to self-sufficiency and profit-making in no more than two years,” the director general said. According to Mykhailishyn, in the village of Kalynivka (Kyiv region), a factory for production of ceramic tiles with an annual capacity of 12 million square meters is under construction.
Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada has passed at first reading two bills designed to adapt a number of legislative acts dealing with intellectual property rights to European legislation. An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported that the parliamentarians, in particular, passed the bill amending some legislative acts on improving the legal protection of geographical indications No. 6023, which 226 deputies supported at first reading.
According to the explanatory note to the bill, its adoption is required for “fulfilling Ukraine’s commitments in the field of European integration.” The document proposes that the Economic, Civil Codes of Ukraine, the law on protection of rights to identify the origin of goods, the decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on national duty are amended.
In the opinion of the authors of the bill, its adoption will ensure the achievement of the European level of protection of intellectual property rights, the fulfillment of the obligations taken by Ukraine in accordance with the Association Agreement, the implementation of Association Agreement’s provisions into national legislation, the adaptation of national legislative acts to the law of the European Union, the improvement of legal regulation of relations in the field of intellectual property for the protection of rights to geographical indications.
In particular, the bill clarifies the definitions of some terms (“geographical indication”, “name of the place of conforming goods”‘ and other terms); determines the conditions for granting the legal protection of identical geographical indications and the grounds for refusing to grant this protection.
The bill proposes that corresponding changes to the Civil Code and the law on protection of rights to the topography of integrated circuits is made. The adoption of this bill will ensure the achievement of the European level of protection of intellectual property rights, the fulfillment of obligations assumed by Ukraine in accordance with the Association Agreement, the implementation of Association Agreement’s provisions in national legislation and other things. “The Rada has adopted at first reading bill No. 6023 on the protection of geographical indications, and now we will be able to protect “Nizhyn cucumbers” or “Myrhorodska” just like the French protect their brands “cognac” or “champagne,” the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade said on Twitter.
Trade between Ukraine and Austria grew by 18.5% in 2017, to $1.2 billion, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.
“We have currently deepened the bilateral dialogue between Ukraine and Austria. In 2017, trade turnover between our countries grew by 18.5%, reaching $1.2 billion, and Ukrainian exports to Austria rose by 48%,” he said at a joint press conference with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen in Kyiv on Wednesday.
Poroshenko said that an attractive investment climate was his priority as head of state.
“I am convinced that the opening of today’s Ukrainian-Austrian business forum will open the door for many common and mutually beneficial business projects,” he said.
The Ukrainian businessman, the owner of DCH Group, Oleksandr Yaroslavsky, who previously reconstructed Kharkiv International Airport, will update the international airport in Dnipro.
Such information was confirmed by Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov.
“Yes, indeed, I’m doing this. Yes there will be new airport,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
In addition, a source close to the talks told Interfax-Ukraine that negotiations on participation in the renovation of the airport were also held with businessman Ihor Kolomoisky. The latter is the co-owner of Privat Financial and Industrial Group, which owns Galtera, to which in 2009 the State Property Fund sold 94.572% in Dniproavia, which manages Dnipro airport.
Filatov, among other things, said that the implementation of the project will be controlled by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.
DCH Group for the 20 years of work in Ukraine has developed various investment projects, including UkrSibbank, sold to the international group BNP Paribas, Cherkasy Azot, Kyivstar, the preparation of the Kharkiv infrastructure for Euro 2012. The current priority areas of the business group are finance, construction materials production, construction, development, hotel business. The structure of DCH’s assets is represented, in particular, by Kharkiv International Airport, Kharkiv Palace Hotel, and the Karavan trade and entertainment center network.
