KYIV. Sept 2 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Canada will provide Ukraine with a grant of EUR200,000 to support the National Reforms Council, Senior Communications Adviser at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Anton Usov wrote on his Facebook page.
“The funds are provided by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD). They will help financially support highly qualified Ukrainian professionals who work in the government, as well as to attract new staff,” he wrote.
According to Usov, the agreement on providing the grant was signed by Ambassador of Canada to Ukraine Roman Waschuk, Vice President of Agriteam Canada Consulting Ltd. Gayle Turner, and EBRD Director in Ukraine Sevki Acuner.
KYIV. Sept 2 (Interfax-Ukraine) – A court ruling on revoking the agreement between Boryspil International Airport and a contractor – public joint-stock company Construction Department 813 (both based in Kyiv) – to build a parking zone at the airport, would allow the airport to finish building the important infrastructure facility and open it, the acting director general of the airport, Yevhen Dykhne, has told Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that the airport plans to return advance payments of over UAH 93 million. The decision would ensure that relations with the unfair contractor would be officially terminated and a new contractor could be selected.
“Under the order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine potential investors to complete the parking zone are being searched for. The information is posted on the airport’s website. Understanding the importance of launching the facilities, the airport foresees the possibility of finishing construction using its own funds as a fallback, and investment in the draft financial plan of the company for 2016 is foreseen. The project would be soon revised with the purpose of the gradual launch of the facility,” Dykhne said.
He said that under the project approved in 2012, additional financing of the project by around UAH 180 million would be required.
He said that the launch of the parking zone depends on the path that would be chosen to settle the problem.
“Anyway, the airport would do its best to finish the works in 2016,” he said.
KYIV. Sept 2 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine has become a member of working groups of Belarus, Iran and Serbia for their joining to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
“If we do not take into account the hard-core developing countries, Belarus, Iran and Serbia are the most important countries for us. We entered working groups of these countries for their joining WTO,” Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister and Trade Representative of Ukraine Natalia Mykolska said in an interview with TOP-100.
She said that Belarus has some trade restrictions for Ukrainian goods, in particular, ecological tax on cars, and now and then sanitary measures against Ukrainian goods are introduced. Mykolska said that there are some problematic issues for Ukraine with the Eurasian Economic Union, and they could be settled at the level of liabilities on Belarus’ joining WTO.
KYIV. Sept 2 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Union supports the entry into effect of the economic section of the Ukrainian-EU Association Agreement on January 1, 2016, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said.
“Good talk with @MalmstromEU [EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom] Pleased that we are on the same page: Ukraine-EU Association Agreement will be fully applicable as of 01.01.2016,” Klimkin said via Twitter.
It was reported earlier that Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk had anticipated that Russia would impose an absolute embargo on Ukrainian agricultural exports starting in 2016, as the Ukrainian-EU free trade agreement takes effect.
KYIV. Sept 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The financial plan of Illichivsk maritime merchant port (Odesa region) in 2015 predicts a net profit of UAH 487.705 million.
According to the plan, which has been posted on the website of the Infrastructure Ministry, the forward-looking indicators foresee a net profit of the company in 2016 in the amount of UAH 478 million, UAH 374.8 million in 2017, UAH 346.9 million in 2018, and UAH 366 million in 2019.
The port’s net income in 2015, according to the plan, will stand at UAH 1.631 billion, UAH 1.599 billion in 2016, UAH 1.199 billion in 2017, UAH 1.079 billion in 2018, and UAH 1.025 billion in 2019.
The EBITDA in 2015 will amount to UAH 679.8 million, UAH 695.3 million in 2016, UAH 546.5 million in 2017, UAH 499.2 million in 2018, and UAH 504.8 million in 2019.
The EBITDA margin will come to 42% in 2015, 43% in 2016, 46% in 2017-2018, and 49% in 2019.
In 2015, the port, according to the financial plan, will pay various fees and contributions to the state in the amount of UAH 783.6 million, UAH 597.7 million in 2016, UAH 529 million in 2017, UAH 481.9 million in 2018, and UAH 479.2 million in 2019.
Capital investment of the port in 2015 is assumed to total UAH 264.2 million, UAH 566 million in 2016, UAH 149 million in 2017, UAH 115 million in 2018, and UAH 115 million in 2019.
KYIV. Sept 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Ukrainian government has decided to raise its social standards in agreement with the IMF three months ahead of schedule (from September 1 instead of December 1), as it has received confirmation of non-random increased revenues to the budget and the improving economic situation in the country, Minister of Finance Natalie Jaresko has said.
“We are very cautious about the resumption of economic stability and would not like to make any moves until we have assurance that we really have non-equity resources to improve social standards,” Jaresko said at a briefing at the Cabinet of Ministers in Kyiv.
“In late August we put together the puzzle that the economic situation has stabilized and positive trends in the budget fulfillment are not random,” she added.
She said that the stable hryvnia exchange rate, the slowdown of inflation and the pace of economic decline, the better than expected performance of the central and local budgets, as well as the restructuring of external debt were all taken into account.
Jaresko clarified that this premature rise was negotiated with the IMF.
“We are staying within the framework of the program,” she said.
According to her, the 2015 national budget deficit after such an increase will remain within the planned framework.
