KYIV. April 9 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Japanese government has confirmed it plans to provide a JPY 108 billion loan to reconstruct the Bortnychi aeration station in Kyiv, Kyivvodokanal Board Chairman and Director General Andriy Bilyk said at a roundtable talk in Kyiv on Wednesday, with reference to tentative information from the Japanese Embassy in Ukraine.
“This is the official confirmation of plans of the Japanese government to support the financing of the project on the reconstruction of the Bortnychi aeration station in the amount of JPY 108 billion,” he said.
Bilyk said that the agreement is an important stage in the project to reconstruct the Bortnychi aeration station. It precedes the signing of the intergovernmental credit agreement.
“It would pass no more than two months from the approval and publication of the pledge to the signing of the intergovernmental credit agreement,” he said.
He said that the provision of funds by Japan to Kyivvodokanal would not affect tariffs for water supplies and sewage services for Kyiv residents.
“This credit is the largest credit in the utilities sector in Eastern Europe. It would not affect the tariff in the near future, as the financial conditions are unique and we have 10 years of vacation period,” he said.
KYIV. April 9 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Hadz horticultural business (Ternopil region) plans to build a fruit storage, sorting and packaging complex worth some EUR 10 million.
“We’ll invest in refrigerators, packaging line, logistics to orient not only to the domestic market, but the foreign one… Investment will total around EUR 10 million. This year we start building [the complex]… Next year equipment will be brought,” the owner of the business Petro Hadz said at the fifth financial agribusiness forum “Situation in 2015: Where to Take Money?”
He said that the facilities will be commissioned in 2016. The complex will be located in Buchach (Ternopil region).
Over the past three years the business planted a garden on 600 hectares where apples, pears and plums are growing. In three years Hadz plans to harvest 40,000-50,000 tonnes of fruit.
In 2016, Hadz plans to start exporting apples.
The deployment of an EU police mission or a UN peacekeeping force to Ukraine is the exclusive prerogative of the Ukrainian state, Petro Poroshenko stated.
“This is the territory of Ukraine. And we hate the idea that any other state will decide if the United Nations’ peacekeepers should be there or not. And we are very much interested, that it should be also a possibility for the European Union police mission – or in the United Nations Security Council, peacekeeping mission would be mostly represented by the European Union. We trust them, these are our partners. And we think this is a very effective way to solve the question,” Poroshenko told Euronews in an interview.
As the peacekeeping mission decision may be vetoed at the UN Security Council, Poroshenko suggested: “And that’s why we would need to have that discussion the same way that we have in Minsk, that would be a unanimous decision, to have peacekeepers.”
“Yes we have support, we have a confirmation” from the European Union and NATO, Poroshenko continued.
“Where do we need these peacekeepers? First, on our border, because the border is a key element of the sovereignty and we need peacekeepers to close these borders to stop supplying troops, ammunition and weapons to Ukrainian territory, very simple. And second, the peacekeepers alongside the buffer zone, with the touch line which was set here just to guarantee peace and stability,” he said in conclusion.
Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko has said that the international financial aid for Ukraine will total $40 billion.
“With aid from the World Bank, international financial institutions, the United States, the European Union, Canada, Australia, Japan, Switzerland, and Turkey, the total sum, including funds from the IMF (International Monday Fund) will amount to $40 billion,” Poroshenko said. He recalled that recently the IMF has approved a new $17.5 billion aid program for Ukraine.
“We have already held the first stage of reforms, and made a decision about the legislation to ensure implementation of our memorandum with the IMF, and I want to say that as a result of very difficult talks with the IMF we managed to defend our key positions on support, including social protection, and to prevent our poorest social groups from being increasingly worse off,” the Ukrainian president said.
The European Union and Ukraine agreed the updated Association Agenda with 10 Ukrainian priority reforms at the EU-Ukraine Association Council.
“Being agreed between the Ukrainian Government and the EU and its Member States, this document constitutes the main political tool for the implementation and monitoring of the Association Agreement,” the European Council’s press service reported.
The Association Agenda outlines ten short-term reform actions that Ukraine should address as a matter of priority in the areas of constitution, elections, judiciary, anti-corruption, public administration, energy, deregulation, public procurement, taxation and external audit.
By 2020, Ukraine must fulfill all conditions for joining the EU, Chairman of the Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) of Ukraine Volodymyr Hroisman has said.
“Our task is to do our best so that by 2020 we could fulfill all the conditions for joining the EU,” Hroisman said in an interview with “Das Parlament!” weekly (German).
Chairman of Ukrainian parliament noted that “accumulation of reforms that Ukraine needs to conduct today is the result of failures of previous years.” He noted that “some reforms will be painful,” but Ukrainian citizens would treat them with understanding.
“I believe Ukrainians will show understanding of the necessity of the reforms,” Hroisman said.
According to him, Ukraine’s facing many tasks to fulfill.
