KYIV. Oct 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine Hugues Mingarelli believes that effective coordination of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU requires a strong coordination of ministries, the involvement of the Verkhovna Rada and communication with citizens.
“Our experience tells us that four conditions have to be met for the effective implementation of this agreement. The first condition is that there’s a need for a strong coordination of various ministries involved, which means that the deputy prime minister in charge of European integration and the government office in charge of European integration must be given the possibility to coordinate the work of all ministries in this regard,” he said at a government meeting on Wednesday, October 25.
The EU ambassador added that the second condition concerned the involvement of the Verkhovna Rada in this process, which means that every year there should be a common “roadmap” for the government and the parliament on priority actions to be implemented.
At the same time, Mingarelli believes that ahead of each session of parliament it would be necessary for government members to spell out clearly the priority legal acts that need to be adopted.
Also, he said, all stakeholders such as the Government Office for European Integration, various ministries and committees and the EU Delegation should meet on a monthly basis to discuss the implementation process, as well as identify and eliminate possible obstacles.
“The last condition is the need for an effective communication around the Association Agreement, which would explain to ordinary Ukrainian citizens the benefit that this Association Agreement can bring to the country,” Mingarelli said.
KYIV. Oct 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved a draft agreement with the government of the United Arab Emirates on cooperation in the cultural sphere.
The corresponding decision was made at a government meeting on Wednesday, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.
The Cabinet authorized Ukraine’s Culture Minister Yevhen Nischuk to sign this agreement.
The agreement provides for the promotion of cultural exchanges between countries for the popularization of national culture.
The agreement is planned to be concluded for a period of five years with automatic extension for subsequent five-year periods in the absence of objections from the parties.
KYIV. Oct 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – State-owned enterprise Energoatom and Japan’s Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation have signed a memorandum of understanding in the nuclear power industry with a view to developing cooperation on upgrading turbo generator equipment at Ukraine’s nuclear power plants (NPP).
According to the press service, the document on cooperation in the issues of increasing the capacity, efficiency and safety of NPP power units through modernization of turbine equipment was signed by Energoatom President Yuriy Nedashkovsky and Vice President of Toshiba ESSC Goro Yanase in Kyiv on October 25.
“We are convinced that our joint work will not only help increase the capacity of turbine generators at Ukrainian NPPs, but will also give an additional impetus to the development of domestic technologies for nuclear power plants,” the Energoatom head said.
“We are confident that the establishment of mutually beneficial relations between our companies will enable Energoatom to achieve modernization of nuclear power plants, increase capacity and stable electricity supplies, and Toshiba to expand its business of supplying nuclear equipment to Ukrainian nuclear power units and contribute to the achievement of Energoatom’s goals,” the Japanese expert said.
KYIV. Oct 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – South Korean Posco Daewoo Corporation has expressed its interest in building a grain complex at the Chornomorsk seaport (Odesa region), the press service of the Ukrainian Sea Port Authority.
A delegation of Posco Daewoo visited the Chornomorsk port on October 23, 2017.
“The Korean delegation was especially interested in the possibility of developing a second terminal using berths Nos. 7, 8 and 9. Representatives of Posco Daewoo Corporation are interested in cooperation and consider this territory as promising for the construction of a complex for transshipment of grain cargo and processed products,” the authority said.
The authority recalled that the development program of the Chornomorsk seaport provides for the development of the facilities of the second terminal. Currently, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine is looking for a potential investor.
KYIV. Oct 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The space agencies of Ukraine and Canada are planning to secure their partnership plans in the world space market by signing a bilateral memorandum of understanding in cooperation in the field of exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, a well-informed source in the space sector has told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to the source, the document is to be signed as part of Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman’s visit to Canada, which is scheduled for late October.
“The Ukrainian and Canadian sides have already completed the drafting and approval of the document, which is to be signed as part of the visit to Canada by the head of the Ukrainian government, which is scheduled for late October,” the source said.
He said that Ukraine and Canada were working out plans to expand promising partnership in the world space market.
“The document, which is to be signed, is intended to provide legal framework for the development of cooperation between Ukrainian and Canadian companies in the space sector, as well as to ensure the implementation of projects and initiatives of mutual interest for scientific, technical and industrial investment activities of both countries in this area,” the source said.
The visit by the Ukrainian government delegation led by Prime Minister Groysman to Canada is scheduled for the end of October. According to the Canadian side, a meeting between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Groysman is to be held in Ottawa on October 31.
KYIV. Oct 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The EBITDA of Kernel, one of the largest Ukrainian agricultural groups, could increase to $495 million in the 2021 fiscal year (FY, July 2020-June 2021), reads a report by the company on the website of the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
According to the report, such data were presented during a conference call with investors.
In 2017 EBITDA was $319 million.
According to Kernel forecasts, production of bulk sunflower oil by 2021 will grow by 41%, to 1.877 million tonnes, sales by 38%, to 1.753 million tonnes, EBITDA in this segment by 2.1 times, to $176 million compared to 2017 FY.
EBITDA in the segment of bottled sunflower oil by 2021 FY will increase by 15%, to $20 million, while production volumes will remain at the level of 2017, at 131 million liters.
The company expects EBITDA in the agrarian segment in 2021 FY to increase by 5% compared to 2017 FY, to $151 million, in transshipment by 1.9 times, to $90 million, grain trading by 1.7 times, to $40 million, in the elevator direction by 1.5 times, to $60 million.
According to the report, the development strategy of the company until 2021 provides for an increase in grain transshipment from 4.5 million tonnes to 8.9 million tonnes, and grain sales from 4.5 million tonnes in 2017 FY to 8.9 million tonnes in 2021 FY.
