KYIV. May 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Deputy Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Economy Minister Eduard Kruhliak has been appointed coordinator for investment projects “Urban Infrastructure Project 2” and District Heating Energy Efficiency Project implemented using loans from the World bank.
The press service of the ministry reported that the ministry’s selection panel selected new consultants for the key groups for investment project management at an open tender.
The tender was announced in late March 2016. The candidates were selecting using the consultant hiring rules of the World Bank.
The agreement between Ukraine and the World Bank on a loan as part of the six-year investment project Urban Infrastructure Project 2 worth $350 million was launched in December 2014.
The following companies signed the agreements for taking part in the project: public joint-stock company Kyivvodokanal (Kyiv), Kramatorsk Vodokanal (Kramatorsk, Donetsk region), Dnipro-Kirovohrad regional municipal enterprise (Kirovohrad), Kolomyiavodokanal (Sheparivtsi, Kolomyia district of Ivano-Frankivsk region), Zhytomyrvodokanal (Zhytomyr), Ternopilvodokanal (Ternopil), Ivano-Frankivskvodoekotekhprom (Ivano-Frankivsk), Kharkivvodokanal and Waste Treatment Municipal Company (both based in Kharkiv).
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) in 2014 provided a $382 million loan to implement the project introducing energy saving solutions in heating area at 10 companies.
Vinnytsiamiskteploenergo, Miskteplovodenergia (Kamianets-Podilsky, Khmelnytsky region), Donetskmiskteplomerezha, Kharkivski Teplovi Merezhi, Ivano-Frankivskteplokomunenergo, Mykolaivoblteploenergo, Khersonteploenergo, Dniproteploenergo, Kirovohradteplo and Chernihiv combined heat and power plant were selected as participating companies.
KYIV. May 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine and the United States on Monday signed an intergovernmental agreement on mutual assistance between the two countries’ customs authorities.
Head of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine Roman Nasirov signed the document on behalf of Ukraine, while incumbent U.S. Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Richard Gil Kerlikowske represented the United States.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, who announced after the official signing ceremony that “Ukraine’s customs system requires structural change.”
“We hope very much for your support and assistance. I’m sure that the customs reform will be our next success after the reform of the national police,” Groysman told Kerlikowske.
The U.S. Commissioner said in turn that signing the agreement “will let us continue building our cooperation in that sector.”
In his words, the agreement creates the necessary legal basis for the exchange of information and helps our countries implement laws concerning customs rights. “This agreement enables us to share experience and further improve our relations,” Kerlikowske added.
KYIV. May 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Union intends by the end of this year to provide EUR 20 million for development of infrastructure projects.
An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, Ambassador Jan Tombinski gave the information at a briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday.
He added that some more issues are to be settled. Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry is to present relevant documents that would enable the country to get the funds.
Acting Director of the European Investment Bank (EIB) representative office for Ukraine Guido Prudhomme said that the bank has approved a new grant for the infrastructure program and is completing the preparation of two important programs in urban transport and railway modernization. Relevant financial programs will be signed by the end of the year.
Asked about the terms of the introduction of the visa free regime for Ukraine, Tombinski said that as far as he knows foreign ministers are holding a meeting in Brussels on the issue.
“We are waiting for positive messages,” he said.
KYIV. May 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a meeting in Istanbul have reached a series of agreements on protection of investments and avoidance of double taxation.
“First: final harmonization of an agreement on mutual investment protection and an agreement on avoidance of double taxation that opens mutual investment opportunities for Turkish investors in Ukraine and for Ukrainian investors in Turkey,” the presidential press service quoted Poroshenko as saying.
The parties also agreed to step up the talks regarding the free trade area in order to reach a compromise and to remove any obstacles in bilateral economic cooperation.
The Ukrainian president also said that they reached an agreement to increase the term of validity of national visas for the uninterrupted stay of Ukrainians in Turkey up to 90 days.
The two presidents also discussed new projects in the fields of mechanical engineering and aircraft construction, as well as defense industry.
KYIV. May 23 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Head of Zakarpattia Regional State Administration Hennadiy Moskal has announced the creation of temporary customs control zones in two mountain passes at the entrance to Zakarpattia region for more effective fight with smuggling.
“Zakarpattia takes enhanced measures for cargo flows control not only directly at the state border, but also at the entry to the region from neighboring areas for a more effective fight against smuggling of excise goods (primarily cigarettes),” Moskal’s official website reports on Thursday.
The Zakarpattia regional governor held a special meeting with customs heads, border guards, law enforcement bodies and heads of district state administrations where he gave them a task to create a temporary zone of customs control at checkpoints in the village of Nyzhni Vorota in Volovets district, Zakarpattia region and in the village of Lazeschyna in Rakhiv district of Zakarpattia.
“The bulk of goods go through these check points from other Ukrainian regions. Henceforth, cargo traffic will be monitored not only by police and tax officials, but border guards and customs officers that have the right to remove the truck seals, inspect the goods and seal them again at the entrance to the region. Enhanced goods control over two mountain passes is necessary in order to reduce the number of cigarettes brought to us for the purpose of further smuggling not through check points, but through other sections of the border,” the report says.
The police have been given the task to take additional measures for preventing illegal migrants and criminals from coming into the region.
KYIV. May 23 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian Agricultural Policy and Food Minister Taras Kutovy has presented the three plus five strategy for developing the agricultural sector to parliament.
“There are three key directions we want to focus on: the land reform and transparent land turnover, the second – the government support reform and focus on small and medium farmers, and the third – the reform of state-run enterprises, increase of their profits, efficiency and their privatization if we see that this is the sole effective way of development,” he said speaking in parliament on Friday.
The core five vectors of the ministry’s operation are linked to the development of rural areas, expansion of sales markets, organic production and niche crops, irrigation, safety and quality of foods (the launch of the effective operation of the State Service for Food Safety and Protection of Consumer Rights).
