KYIV. June 11 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Representatives of the General Directorate of the European Commission examined the Ukrainian grain seed control and certification system from May 26 to June 4, 2015 and its compliance with the requirements of the European Union.
“In general, EU experts have approved the official grain seed control and certification system and their compliance with the requirements of the EU. After receiving positive conclusions of the European Commission Ukraine will have good opportunities for entering the global seed market,” Deputy Agricultural Policy and Food Minister for European Integration Vladyslava Rutytska told Interfax-Ukraine.
She said that the audit was conducted under the request of Ukraine which was first made in 2011.
She said that representatives of the European Commission visited farms in Kyiv, Cherkasy and Khmelnytsky regions.
KYIV. June 11 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Experts from the Agency for the Modernization of Ukraine plan to draw up a program on the country’s modernization by September, a representative of the agency, Austrian politician and former Foreign Minister and Finance Minister of Austria Michael Spindelegger has said.
“We’ve started work in late March. We hope that by the middle or end of September the program on Ukraine’s modernization will be ready and we will be able to present it to the public,” he said during a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.
He said that firstly, the program will be presented to the agency’s partners – the Federation of Employers of Ukraine and the Federation of Trade Unions, and then it will be presented to the public and then to the Ukrainian parliament.
“Our plans after September are to create the Fund for the Modernization of Ukraine. The fund would invest in small and medium-sized companies and infrastructure development,” he said.
When asked about the sources of financing for the agency, he said that the agency signed a contribution agreement with the financial group of Dmytro Firtash. However, the agreement states that the agency acts independently, he said.
“No director or section head feels pressure,” he said.
Spindelegger said the agency is currently expanding the platform of partners who will provide financial aid to the institution.
He said that Agency for the Modernization of Ukraine was founded in March 2015. It is based in Vienna (Austria).
KYIV. June 11 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in June revised upward the forecast for wheat harvest in Ukraine and its exports in the new agricultural year by 1 million tonnes compared to the previous month forecast, to 23 million tonnes and 11.5 million tonnes respectively.
Fodder grain harvest forecast was revised slightly downward compared to May – from 33.325 million tonnes to 33.125 million tonnes, while the forecast for fodder grain exports has not changed, being 18.18 million tonnes.
In particular, corn harvest would total 26 million tonnes and exports – 16 million tonnes.
USDA said that in the 2014/2015 agricultural year Ukraine would export 11.5 million tonnes of wheat with 24.75 million harvest, 20.885 million tonnes of fodder grain with 39.345 million harvest (including 18 million tonnes of corn with 28.45 million harvest).
Ukraine’s State Statistics Service reported that the grain and leguminous crops harvest in Ukraine in 2014 totaled a record high of about 63.8 million tonnes, including 24.1 million tonnes of wheat, 9.04 million tonner of barley, and – 28.45 million tonnes of maize.
Ukraine’s Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry projects grain exports in the current marketing year to reach 32 million tonnes.
KYIV. June 10 (Interfax) – Ukraine has every chance to see the completion of the ratification of an Association Agreement with the European Union by all member countries by the end of 2015, Ukrainian deputy presidential chief of staff Valeriy Chaly said.
“We have every chance to get the ratification [of the Association Agreement with the EU] by the end of 2015,” Chaly said at a news conference in Kyiv on Wednesday.
“Everything is following an optimistic scenario,” he said.
At the present time, the agreement has been ratified by 20 EU member countries, in four others the agreement has been ratified by one of the two parliamentary chambers, and another four are preparing to ratify it, he said.
KYIV. June 10 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and Israeli Honorary Consul in Lviv Oleg Vishnyakov share the view that Ukraine and Israel should promote the process of setting up a free trade area, Vishnyakov’s press service said in a statement circulated on Tuesday.
“The policymakers shared the opinion that the process of setting up a free trade area between the countries should be promoted. While raw materials make up the principal share of Ukraine’s exports [about $800 million a year], a significant quantity of technologies are bought in Israel,” it said.
Not only would the existence of a free trade area significantly increase trade turnover between the two countries, but it would also boost Israeli investments in Ukrainian projects, Vishnyakov said.
A joint economic forum planned for the end of October should serve as an important step toward “familiarization of Ukrainian and Israeli businesses with each other” and an opportunity “to find partners or investors, familiarize Israelis with Ukraine and its specifics, and enable Israeli investors to see personally that western Ukraine is a region that is economically attractive and safe for investments,” it said.
KYIV. June 10 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine plans in 2015 to commission several new trade centers with a total area of 570,000 square meters, while in case of commissioning this volume the index of retail space per 1,000 residents in the country will increase to 85 square meters from 59 square meters at the end of the first quarter of 2015.
According to a press release from Jones Lang LaSalle international consulting firm (JLL), in terms of the planned retail space commissioning this year Ukraine for the first time entered the top three states and ranks third after Turkey with 1.2 million square meters and Russia with 1.7 million square meters.
“The Ukrainian commercial real estate market, in our view, has a great potential for development in the future – perhaps one of the highest in Europe, which is due to the immaturity of the market, a small number of high quality shopping centers, especially in regional cities, and a low representation of global retailers,” the head of the retail space department at JLL in Ukraine, Hanna Chubotina, said.
At the same time, she said that during the last year there had been observed a decreased activity in the Ukrainian commercial real estate market.
JLL noted that in the current economic situation in Ukraine, the timing of many projects could be postponed and the figure of retail space commissioning over 2015 will be lower.
According to JLL, Europe as a whole plans in 2015 to commission about 6.3 million square meters of retail space.
In the first quarter of 2015, the average retail space index per 1,000 residents in European countries was 199 square meters, while in Western Europe – 260 square meters, in Eastern Europe – 134 square meters.
According to JLL, Ukraine by the end of the first quarter of 2015 on this indicator ranked 23rd (59 square meters per 1,000 residents).
