KYIV. Oct 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry of Ukraine plans to raise EUR 400 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to develop projects in the agricultural sector.
“I hope that on October 23 we will sign the [agreement on] financing of EUR 400 million with the EIB in Germany during the forum, which would come via banks. We need cheap and long-term money,” Minister Oleksiy Pavlenko said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that the ministry is currently participating in discussion of the draft budget for 2016.
“Now, jointly with the Finance Ministry, we’re seriously working on support of agriculture. There is no position of the parliament on VAT. Our position in the issue is the following: if you want to remove something, we should offer something more adequate,” he said.
Pavlenko said that there are subsidies per hectare in European countries, and if the VAT regime is revoked, other options to support should be considered, for example, support for small and medium sized businesses via compensation of credit rates, support for livestock breeding, vegetable storage facilities and greenhouses.
KYIV. Oct 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – PJSC AvtoKrAZ (Kremenchuk, Poltava region), the only Ukrainian producer of heavy vehicles, in January-September 2015 produced 984 trucks, which is 10.1% more than in the same period in 2014.
According to a press release issued by the company, 71% of total vehicle production was ordered by Ukrainian customers, the rest was manufactured for exports.
In addition to automotive production, in January-September this year the plant produced and shipped 15 trailers and five semi-trailers, which is 7.5 times more than in the same period in 2014.
In September, AvtoKrAZ made marketable products worth about UAH 166 million, which is 4% more than in August 2015.
The company also reported that its staff is currently working on taking measures to prepare the plant for winter and is dealing with the issue of quality and optimization of production to reduce costs, as well as producing new models of KrAZ vehicles.
AvtoKrAZ makes 33 basic vehicle models, and more than 260 modifications and trim levels for civilian and military vehicles.
KYIV. Oct 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Reforms in Ukraine are not fast enough, Member of German Bundestag of the Christian Democratic Unity (CDU) and head of the German-Ukrainian Parliamentary Group Karl-Georg Wellmann has said.
“Both in your parliament, and in our German Bundestag, and among the German public, there are concerns that the reforms here are not fast enough and not deep enough,” he said during a meeting of the German-Ukrainian Parliamentary Group and the parliamentary group of the Verkhovna Rada on inter-parliamentary relations with Germany in Kyiv on Tuesday.
Wellmann stressed the need to resolve the conflict in the east of Ukraine, noting that the hostilities had already claimed the lives of a large number of Ukrainian soldiers, of more than 6,000 civilians, while a lot of Ukrainians were forced to leave their homes.
“No matter how important this topic [the resolution of the conflict in Donbas], it seems to me that Ukraine’s future is still decided in Kyiv,” the MP said.
KYIV. Oct 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Kyivstar plans to launch television services for fixed Internet users by the end of 2015, Kyivstar Marketing Director Sviatoslav Horban has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“All our Home Internet subscribers in more than 100 cities of Ukraine will be able to take advantage of this service. We will implement this project in partnership with Viasat,” he said.
According to Horban, customers will be offered more than 100 popular national and international TV channels, a library of movies and documentaries, and other television services.
“Today about 820,000 households of Ukraine are connected to the Home Internet service,” Horban said.
Kyivstar is a Ukrainian telecommunications operator, provides communications and data services through a range of mobile and fixed technologies, including 3G. The operator has more than 26 million mobile communications subscribers and around 820,000 fixed Internet customers.
KYIV. Oct 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Egypt’s General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) has bought 60,000 tonnes of Ukrainian milling wheat at a tender at the price of $199.30 per tonne with delivery in the period from November 1 to November 10.
GASC said on its website that Egypt also bought 175,000 tonnes of Russian milling wheat: 60,000 tonnes at $200.25 per tonne, 60,000 tonnes at the price of $199.44 per tonne and 55,000 tonnes of at $199.95 per tonne.
President of Tallage (France) Andree Defois earlier said that EU countries this agricultural year (July 2015-June 2016) would cut wheat exports by 5.9 million tonnes, to 26.8 million tonnes compared to 32.7 million tonnes.
She said that one of the key reasons in reduction of supplies is toughening of competition by Russia and Ukraine.
She said that wheat exports to Egypt this year would fall to 2.8 million tonnes from 4.4 million tonnes in the previous year.
Grain exports from Ukraine in the 2014/2015 agricultural year, according to preliminary data, amounted to 34.805 million tonnes, including corn in the amount of 18.837 million tonnes. Some 11.234 million tonnes of wheat, 4.46 million tonnes of barley and 280,000 tonnes of other grains were supplied to foreign markets.
KYIV. Oct 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Military transport short take-off and landing plane An-70, which has been a part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces since January 2015, has passed a direct test in Africa and transported military cargo, the press service of Antonov state enterprise (Kyiv) has reported.
“Board loading and unloading equipment of the An-70 was directly tested. All tasks were fulfilled to a high professional standard,” reads the report.
The press service said that the An-70 flew from Kyiv to Bangui (the Central African Republic) where it took on military cargo of 23.6 tonnes, which was delivered in six hours to Istres (France). The An-70 then flew to Leipzig (Germany) and returned to Kyiv. The An-70 spent more than 20 hours in the sky and flew 13,600 kilometers proving high flight, take-off and landing performance and low fuel consumption, reads the report.
An An-70 modified under NATO requirements, the AN7X is considered as a new basic European medium-haul transport aircraft. The An-70 exceeds its existing analogues; including the A400M (the purchase and operation costs of the An-70 are twice lower). The maximum weight capacity of the An-70 is 47 tonnes.
