As of the end of November, agrarians of all regions of Ukraine harvested 78.3 mln tons of grains and oilseeds: 57.56 mln tons and 20.74 mln tons respectively.
As reported by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, grain and legumes were harvested on the area of 10 mln 471 thsd ha with the yield of 55.0 c/ha.
Compared to the same date a year ago, the total harvest is 32.9% higher, or 19.41 million tons, including 37.4% higher, or 15.66 million tons, of grains and 22.0% higher, or 3.74 million tons, of oilseeds. At the same time, it should be taken into account that this year corn has been harvested from almost 88% of the area, while a year ago – from 70%.
In addition, 11.80 mln tons of sugar beet were harvested from 248.0 thou hectares. And although its yield this year, unlike grains and oilseeds, is lower than last year, due to the expansion of the area by 38.1%, the yield is 31.1% higher than last year.
It is noted that only corn threshing will continue, while harvesting of all other crops has already been completed.
As reported, this season’s winter wheat plantings amounted to 4166 thousand hectares (-834 thousand hectares compared to the previous one), winter barley – 536 thousand hectares (-255 thousand hectares), and rapeseed – 1374 thousand hectares (+110 thousand hectares).
According to the newly revised forecast of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, in 2023, farmers will be able to harvest 81.3 mln tons of grains and oilseeds, including 59.7 mln tons of grains and 21.6 mln tons of oilseeds.
As part of its European integration obligations under the Espoo Convention, Ukraine has closed a 20-year dispute with Romania over the implementation of its requirements during the construction of the Danube-Black Sea Canal on the sidelines of the Ninth Meeting of the Parties to the Espoo Convention, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strilets said.
“We have done our homework and come a long way in bringing the project in line with the requirements of the Convention. After all, Ukraine cares about good neighborly relations and compliance with international law. We are willing and able to find common ground and correct the mistakes of the past,” he wrote on Facebook from the meeting in Geneva.
Strelets thanked Romanian Minister of Environment, Water and Forestry Mircea Fechet for supporting this historic decision and Moldovan Minister of Environment Iordanca Iordanov for his professional and diplomatic chairmanship of the meeting of the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention.
The Ukrainian minister added that the Ukrainian delegation in Geneva also managed to achieve two more victories, including the refusal to elect a representative of Belarus to the working bodies of the Espoo Convention, which was supported by 34 countries.
“At the 43rd session of the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, Moscow was deprived of the status of host of the Meteorological Center “Vostok” of the EMEP program. This was voted for by 33 countries out of 35 member states. The international environmental research center will now be based at the Jožef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia. We hope that it will soon work in the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center!” – Mr. Strelets also wrote.
The Espoo Convention is an international agreement initiated by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, which entered into force in 1997 and is named after the Finnish city of Espoo (or Espoo), where it was signed in 1991. According to the document, the procedure for assessing the environmental impact of potentially hazardous projects should be carried out not only within the state, but also in neighboring countries that may be affected by the impact of these facilities.
As reported, in August 2004, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma opened the first part of the canal to traffic. At the same time, on September 1, the European Commission protested to Ukraine over the continuation of the construction of the canal in the Danube Delta, which is under UNESCO protection. The European Commission called on Kyiv to stop construction until an assessment of the impact that the canal could have on the environment in the river delta is conducted. In addition, Romania said it would challenge the construction of the canal.
According to the decision of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, in June 2005, work on deepening the Danube-Black Sea Canal through the Bystryi Estuary was suspended to allow for an expert assessment. The examination by the commission of the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Ukraine found that the canal did not cause any harm to the environment.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry emphasized that Ukraine proceeds from the premise that the resumption of navigation in the lower Danube is a sovereign right of the state and is aimed at restoring the situation that historically existed in this region before 1994.
At the time, the Ukrainian side claimed that its position was confirmed by international experts during a visit to the actual site of the work in the Danube Delta. Thus, since the beginning of the restoration work, representatives of the Ramsar, Berne, Aarhus, Espoo, International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, European Commission, Council of Europe, and World Wildlife Fund have visited the lower Danube. The mission’s recommendations contained three main requirements for Ukraine: not to start work on the second stage of the project until the environmental impact assessment of the second stage is completed; to hold public hearings on the environmental impact of the project; and to conduct systematic environmental monitoring during the project, which should involve international experts and representatives of Romania. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine has fulfilled all three requirements.
However, the dispute continued, and Ukraine also put forward counterclaims to Romania under the Espoo Convention regarding its projects in the Danube Delta.
JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” (UZ) has built at its own facilities a grain carrier adapted for transportation both on the Ukrainian gauge of 1520 mm and on the Euro gauge of 1435 mm, the company reported on Friday.
“For the first time in the history of Ukraine made a grain carrier at the production facilities of “Ukrzaliznytsia”, maximally adapted for transportation of cargoes on the territory of Ukraine and the gauge 1435 mm of the European Union countries,” – the release quotes the words of the head of the board of directors of UZ Evgeny Lyashchenko.
According to him, Ukrzaliznytsia plans to launch serial production of such cars.
According to the UZ release, the new development is a hopper car of model 19-8005-U, designed for transportation of grain and other bulk food cargoes. Its load capacity is 70 tons, body volume 104 cubic meters, 02-VM gauge, five loading and six unloading hatches, design speed of 120 km/h.
UZ noted that the use of the new car will reduce the cost of logistics and simplify the procedure for approval of international rail transportation, as it meets the requirements applicable to the infrastructure of EU countries.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is optimistic on the allocation of EUR50 billion for Ukraine, Reuters reports.
“We have other ways to help Ukraine, but we have not given up the goal of finding a solution here,” Scholz said.
German Chancellor and French President Emmanuel Macron hope that Ukraine will receive help from the EU.
As reported, an extraordinary meeting of the European Council, which is to decide on the revision of the EU budget, as well as on the continuation of EUR50bn funding for Ukraine until 2027, will be held at the end of January-February, but there is no specific date yet. At the same time, the European Commission intends to work on a contingency plan that will make it possible to do so.
On Friday, Lithuania handed over a new batch of military aid to Ukraine, the Defense Ministry said.
The Lithuanian Armed Forces sent several million rounds of ammunition and several thousand shells for short-range portable anti-tank grenade launchers to Ukraine. The aid shipment also includes about a thousand folding beds, the statement said.
“We hear the urgent requests of Ukraine and continue to provide assistance in accordance with the stated needs. We actively encourage our allies to do the same,” Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said.
According to the Ministry of Defense, in addition to the regular transfer of military equipment, Lithuania also actively trains Ukrainian servicemen, provides medical treatment and rehabilitation, expert advice, and allocates funds to international funds for Ukraine.
As noted, for the period of 2024-2026, Lithuania will provide Ukraine with a military assistance package of EUR 200 million to counter Russia’s full-scale military aggression.
In January-November this year, Ukraine reduced pig iron exports in physical terms by 3% compared to the same period last year, to 1 million 190.442 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), pig iron exports in monetary terms amounted to $450.576 million in the period under review (down 25.2%).
At the same time, exports were carried out mainly to Poland (53.49% of supplies in monetary terms), Spain (22.4%) and the United States (9.95%).
In the first eleven months of 2023, Ukraine imported 79 tons of pig iron worth $132 thousand from Germany (50.38%) and Brazil (49.62%), while no pig iron was imported in November. In the same period last year, 40 tons of pig iron worth $23 thousand were imported.
As reported, in 2022, Ukraine reduced exports of processed pig iron by 59% in physical terms compared to the previous year – to 1 million 325.275 thousand tons, and by 61.1% in monetary terms – to $638.774 million.
In 2022, Ukraine imported 40 tons of pig iron worth $23 thousand, while in 2021 it imported 185 tons of pig iron worth $226 thousand.
Exports were made mainly to the United States (38.47% of supplies in monetary terms), Poland (32.91%), and Turkey (8.12%), while imports were made from Germany (100%).
