KYIV. April 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Frunze Plant (Kharkiv), the leading Ukrainian manufacturer of fencing systems, first entered the Austrian market after shipping a batch of punched screens for Austria’s Fa Biokorn.
The company said in a press release on Friday that the punched screens are of innovative design made jointly with Kharkiv National Technical University of Agriculture.
The screens are made for screening buckwheat. The holes are epicycloidal instead of triangular. The solution helps increasing screening efficiency by 40%.
The press service said that Frunze Plant is the world’s only producer of these punched screens.
Fa Biokorn bought a test batch and the contract could be signed after the tests.
Frunze Plant, founded in 1885, produces screens for agriculture machinery, flooring grills, netting and fencing systems for the construction industry, elements of urban environment (waste baskets, benches), storage racks and others.
KYIV. April 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Zorya-Mashproekt (Mykolaiv) is extending military and technical cooperation with India.
According to the plant’s press service, during the ninth International Defense Exhibition DEFEXPO 2016, held in South Goa (India) on March 28-31, Zorya-Mashproekt and the Ministry of Defense of India signed two new contracts for the supply of energy equipment for Indian Navy ships.
“The parties have achieved agreement on the launch of a vast program of engine overhauls under the existing contracts. The first batch of equipment from the Indian Navy will come to the plant in the second quarter of 2016,” the press service said, adding that the work on the new contracts will allow to increase load on the plant’s production capacity.
At present India is the leading partner of Zorya-Mashproekt in the field of military-technical cooperation. The parties have been cooperating for more than 20 years: the company supplies equipment to India on a number of projects, both for equipping new ships of the Indian Navy and in the framework of servicing the existing fleet, reads the report.
KYIV. April 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine and India seek to expand defense cooperation.
The press service of the Ukroboronprom State Concern reported last week that during the negotiations with Indian top defense sector managers held at the Defexpо India 2016 Land, Naval & Internal Homeland Security Systems Exhibition (March 38 through March 31) in South Goa, India. Mutual interest was expressed in developing cooperation with India on upgrading the military and transport aviation of Indian Armed Forces and development of Indian Naval.
Indian partners are also interested in joint implementing projects in the production of radars and naval inspection systems, modernization of armored vehicles, air defense systems and aircraft weapons, the press service said.
The Ukrainian delegation at the exhibition held talks on cooperation with over 30 Indian defense companies, including Reliance Defence Ltd, Tata Power Company Ltd, Punj Lloyd and Larsen Turbo. A total of 15 memorandums of cooperation have been signed.
Defexpо India 2016 is the largest weapon exhibition in South Asia.
Ukraine exhibited armored vehicles, military and transport aviation and high-accuracy weapon and aircraft weapons.
The business community of Ukraine has appealed to the peers and civil society in the Netherlands to support the ratification of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU at a referendum on April 6. An open joint statement was adopted at the Ukrainian Business Forum, which was recently held in Kyiv and presented the consolidated position of the majority of domestic enterprises.
“Ukraine is a European country that shares common history and values with the EU countries. It has already sustained considerable losses in the struggle for the irreversibility of European integration. The main purpose of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU is to establish modern European standards, the rule of law, protection of private property, equal competition,” participants in the Forum said.
Co-initiator of the Forum, President of the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Chairman of the Anti-Crisis Council of NGOs Anatoliy Kinakh said that the introduction of a free trade zone, which is a significant part of the Association Agreement, is aimed at streamlining trade legislation, eliminating most of existing limitations, expanding trade relations between Ukraine and the European Union.
“This allows any EU company to enjoy the same access to the Ukrainian partners and market as, let say, to partners and the markets in Belgium, Italy, Sweden, and Poland. Under the Agreement, Ukraine also undertakes to implement a series of reforms, the fulfillment of which will substantially change the current legislation of Ukraine in the field of trade, environmental standards, social security. These reforms will bring Ukraine closer to EU legislative standards,” reads the joint statement by the business community of Ukraine.
Representatives of Ukrainian businesses and the public urged his colleagues from the Netherlands to support Ukraine’s European aspirations and in every way possible to encourage the positive results of the referendum on April 6.
As is known, the Parliament of the Netherlands ratified the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU on July 7, 2015, after which the document was signed by the King of the country. The initiative to hold the referendum was put forth by members of the public who managed to collect the required number of signatures for it. The Dutch electoral council scheduled an advisory referendum for April 6, 2016.
The Ukrainian business forum brought together about two hundred associations and organizations of industrialists, entrepreneurs, employers, scientists and experts who have consolidated their forces for the sake of overcoming the crisis and the economic growth of the state.
The co-organizers of the Forum include large and influential business and public organizations: the Council of Entrepreneurs under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Anti-Crisis Council of NGOs, the Federation of Employers of Ukraine, the “Ukrainian Business Initiative” Association, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine, the Nova Kraina civic platform, NGO “UA is Me.”
The main document of the Forum – a plan of urgent measures to overcome the emergency situation in the economy of Ukraine – is currently being finalized.
Business and public organizations of Ukraine, representatives of the clergy, international institutions have developed a draft concept of a large-scale qualitative transformation of the state. It is based on current domestic realities and an analysis of successful experience of positive change in Central and Eastern Europe, namely Poland. The Polish government has confirmed its readiness to help Ukraine make a breakthrough in development and involve EU partners in this process. This issue was discussed at a meeting of the Third National Forum “Transformation of Ukraine.”
For several months, a special monitoring group had actively been exploring the experience of Central and Eastern Europe ‒ Poland and other countries ‒ as for the process of transformation. The experts emphasize: in the early 90s, the economy of Ukraine and Poland was almost at the same level. Last year, Ukraine’s GDP amounted to $86 billion, while Poland’s was estimated at $500 billion. However, Ukraine has managed to partly save the industrial, technical, innovative potential. The IT sector has been developing actively – the Ukrainians are the first in Europe in terms of proving IT services.
“It’s a paradox that there are possibilities, but there is no development, and it must be tackled as soon as possible,” President of the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Chairman of the Anti-Crisis Council of NGOs Anatoliy Kinakh said.
He stresses that the Ukrainian authorities and society will have to solve pressing issues that are indispensable for an economic breakthrough and tangible improvements. They include the security of doing business, the protection of the rights of owners and investors, the creation of conditions for equal competition, development and implementation of programs for industry, IT, agriculture, and others.
“The system of reform is inefficient in Ukraine, as it hinders the international development of the country’s economy,” head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Jan Tombinski said. “Ukraine is now slowly moving in that direction. You have set accession to the EU as a strategic goal, but the question is how to make it the fastest and most efficient way. Our goal is help Ukraine realize its potential. And believe me ‒ the EU is interested in this.”
Other representatives of the National Forum also pointed to the sluggish and inconsistent reform in the country. They unanimously stressed that Ukrainian society, the government, businesses should as soon as possible consolidate efforts around a single concept of the country’s development and work on it.
Earlier, the Forum’s ad hoc monitoring group, which included domestic and international experts, had been examining and evaluating programs, strategies of Ukraine’s development and prospects for their successful implementation for several months. Based on this analysis, it elaborated proposals aimed at overcoming the current social and economic crisis in Ukraine and drew up a draft concept of transformation of the country.
Participants in the Forum presented the recommendations to national experts and international partners as for the use of successful experience in Central and Eastern Europe, including Poland, for the effective transformation of the state. In particular, they recommend measures to develop Ukraine’s economic potential and improve the quality of its citizens’ life.
The Forum stressed the need to develop a national strategy for transformation. It should take into account the current situation and needs of Ukraine, based on the experience of “young” EU countries. It should also foresee the fulfillment of the Copenhagen criteria that are required for EU membership. The strategy will cover such areas as state security, a favorable business climate, the streamlining of the legal system, public finance, social policy, science, education as well.
All initiatives suggest joint efforts of this country’s leadership, parliament, active members of civil society and Western partners who take care of Ukraine’s future. The Forum and its developments have recently been presented to representatives of the European Parliament and EU delegates in Brussels and Lodz. The plans include the Forum’s participation as a strong national public platform in the most prominent international forums. These are namely the European Economic Summit, scheduled for June, and the July Warsaw Summit of NATO.
“For the NATO Summit, the Forum has been preparing its proposals concerning security not only in Ukraine but also in the entire Europe,” Anatoliy Kinakh said.
KYIV. April 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has adopted the law on amendments to some laws of Ukraine on the promotion, creation and operation of family farms.
Some 262 deputies voted for relevant draft law No. 1599.
The document provides a simplified procedure for the transformation of personal peasant farms into family farms, simplifies registration and organization of their business activities, as well as the procedures for obtaining permits.
The document foresees amendments and additions to the law on farms and personal peasant farms in order to create legal, economic and social preconditions for the transformation of personal peasant farms into family farms, obviating the need to receive the status of legal entity or individual entrepreneur. The measure ensures the full participation family farms in the agricultural market and strengthens the social protection of members of such farms, stimulating the creation on their basis of a viable system of agricultural service cooperatives and the integrated development of small farms in rural areas.
