KYIV. Aug 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – A total of 5,000 standards are to be drawn up and approved by 2020 to harmonize the Ukrainian standard system with the European one.
This is stipulated in the technical regulation system development strategy for the period until 2020 approved by cabinet resolution No. 844 of August 19.
According to the strategy, its goal is to modernize the Ukrainian economy and provide for competitiveness of Ukrainian products via gradual integration of Ukraine into the EU market, overcome technical barriers in trade between Ukraine and the EU and strengthen its positions on the global market thanks to the recognition of the technical regulation system of Ukraine on the European and international levels.
According to the document, small volumes of Ukrainian products exports to the EU shows that the quality and safety of products and relevant technologies used in Ukraine should be improved.
“The important task is the increase of efficiency and competitiveness of the economy, in particular, industrial production. The proper quality and safety of product is to be retained, as the EU laws pay special attention to this,” reads the strategy.
The key directions of the realization of the strategy is the adaptation of Ukrainian law in the technical regulation area to EU laws; the adoption of the European standards as national with the synchronous revoking of GOST standards; removal of doubling functions in state supervision (control) over the compliance of products to the requirements; and the provision of the full correspondence of the Ukrainian technical regulation system to the EU requirements. The strategy also foresees the improvement of the existing material and technical base to assess the compliance of products to the requirements, securing the reorganization letters of accreditation issued by the National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine at the European and international levels, securing the integration of the information exchange system in the area of state market supervision with the EU systems.
The strategy includes 58 clauses and the Economic Development and Trade, Finance Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Justice Ministry, Infrastructure Ministry, Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Economy Ministry, National and state scientific metrological centers, etc are responsible for the implementation of the strategy.
KYIV. Aug 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Egypt wants to import 12,000 tonnes of Ukrainian poultry, Agricultural Policy and Food Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Pavlenko has said.
“Today we’ve received an offer to export 12,000 tonnes of poultry to Egypt,” Pavlenko said at a meeting with agricultural traders in Kyiv region on Friday.
He said that agreements were reached during his working visit to Egypt on August 5 through August 7, 2015. During his visit, Pavlenko met Minister of Agriculture and land Reclamation of Egypt Salah El-Din Helal.
As reported, PJSC Berezan poultry farm (Kyiv region) and PJSC Avis agrofirm (Khmelnytsky region), which are under the control of Avangard agroholding, have received a permit to export shell eggs to Israel.
PEREYASLAV-KHMELNYTSKY (Kyiv region). Aug 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry of Ukraine has said that Ukrainian grain exports have totaled 4 million tonnes since the early 2015/16 agricultural year (July-June), Minister Oleksiy Pavlenko has said.
“Since July, grain exports totaled around 4 million tonnes,” Pavlenko said at a meeting with grain traders with the participation of Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk in Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky on Friday.
Pavlenko said that Ukraine has finished harvesting early grain crops.
The minister said that despite the decline in grain prices, Ukraine could export 36 million tonnes of grain this season.
“At present, exports of agricultural products to the Customs Union countries is less than to African countries. We export products worth $2.6 billion to Africa and $2 billion to the Customs Union countries. Now $5 billion is total earnings from exports [of agricultural products] to the EU,” Pavlenko said.
As reported, in the 2014/15 agri-year Ukraine exported 34.8 million tonnes of grain crops.
KYIV. Aug 25 (Ukraine-Ukraine) – Ukraine and Egypt have agreed to deepen cooperation between the customs agencies, which will simplify export and import operations and customs clearance, as well as liberalize the customs procedures in Ukraine for Egypt-made farm produce, the Ukrainian Economic Development and Trade Ministry said.
The agreement was made at a meeting of Ukraine’s Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister, who is also Ukraine’s Trade Representative, Natalia Mykolska and Egypt’s Minister of Industry and Trade Mounir Fakhry Abdel-Nour during Mykolska’s visit to Egypt on August 18-19.
Mykolska drew attention to the fact that Egypt had used safeguards against Ukrainian steel bars and might also increase import duties on this type of products, which may become a considerable obstacle to sales of the Ukrainian produce on the Egyptian market.
The sides also discussed the possibility of arrange joint economic business forums for both countries entrepreneurs and the establishment of a dialogue between the Federation of Industrialists of Egypt, the Egyptian Chamber of Commerce and their Ukrainian peers. In particular, the sides decided to exchange information before September 15 about ways to implement potential projects to facilitate further cooperation.
Mykolska also met with the head of the Association of the Egyptian Chambers of Commerce to consider the possibility of the creation of joint projects in shipbuilding (modernization and retrofitting of the industrial fishing fleet), cosmetic medicine, production of pharmaceuticals, machine-building, cooperation in research and engineering. What is more, the sides touched upon the introduction of innovation technologies in medicine, the sector of IT services and tourism.
KYIV. Aug 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Аccor Group, Europe’s largest hotel group and one of the top hotel groups in the world, has opened its second Ibis chain hotel in Ukraine: Ibis Styles Lviv Center.
A representative of the hotel told Interfax-Ukraine that the hotel opened on August 22 in the historic center of Lviv.
According to a post on the website of the hotel, the new three-star plus hotel is for both tourists and business travelers. The prices per room start from EUR 42 (UAH 990). The hotel has 77 rooms, including seven suites and two rooms for guests with disabilities.
The first hotel of the international brand in Ukraine – Ibis Kiev Shevchenko Boulevard – was opened on August 15, 2011.
The Ibis international hotel brand belongs to France’s Accor Group, which unites travel agencies, restaurants, casinos and over 4,000 hotels, including 831 under the Ibis brand, in 90 countries.
KYIV. Aug 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – If there is no military escalation in eastern Ukraine in the near future the country could recover economic growth, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has stated.
“Economic growth could recover in the coming months. It will only be due to no military escalation,” the president said at the celebrations on occasion of the Independence Day of Ukraine.
The head of state also said the government is now looking for opportunities to carry out indexation of wages and pensions.
According to the president, there are cautious grounds for believing that the economy has overcome the deep stress the war has brought.
“Businesses are adapting, finding new markets to replace the Russian one that was completely closed for us. Russia is continuing the economic war against us, seeking to exhaust us,” Poroshenko said.
He noted the country’s leadership is looking for opportunities to carry out the key reforms in the country, including law enforcement and judicial systems, the reform of the prosecutor’s office and power decentralization.
“After a week the Verkhovna Rada is likely to adopt at first reading constitutional changes in part of decentralization, and the lion’s share of power and responsibility will be passed to local authorities, territorial communities and executive committees,” the president said.
He also noted the importance of providing the holding of fair local elections scheduled for this fall.
