Ukrcement proposes to exclude from the agreement on a free trade zone (FTA) with Turkey commodity items that are fully provided by its own manufacturer, head of the Ukrcement association Pavlo Kachur told the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
“The signing of an agreement on a free trade zone with Turkey for the cement industry poses a serious threat. We have transferred our position to the Ministry of Economy and the trade representative of Ukraine,” Kachur said.
The expert emphasized the need for a particularly balanced government policy in the context of the global economic crisis, so that under the slogans of free movement of goods not to lose their own manufacturer and not to leave tens of thousands of Ukrainians without work.
“The established production capacity for the production of cement in Turkey is 140 million tonnes of cement per year. In Ukraine, this figure is more than 10 times less. Turkey’s own cement consumption is about 60 million tonnes. This means that an importer with such capacities that Turkey has, playing with price policy, can easily destroy the production of cement in Ukraine,” said Kachur.
He emphasized the effectiveness and efficiency of the Big Construction program in the fight against the crisis.
“This program has become a lifeline for the entire construction industry during the global economic crisis. In the event of the signing of an FTA agreement with Turkey, the funds allocated from the budget of Ukraine, the funds of Ukrainian taxpayers, will support the producers of the neighboring state, instead of supporting their own,” he said.
He stated that the cement industry in Ukraine is able to fully provide consumers with high-quality cement that is competitive in the European market.
“The cement industry is developing and modernizing. Billions of dollars are invested to maintain high quality products, reduce emissions, reduce CO2 emissions. In March 2021, the cement plant in Balakliya resumed clinker firing, the kilns of which were shut down by the former Russian owners for ten long years. This will further strengthen the ability of the cement industry of Ukraine to provide its own market with cement,” Kachur summed up.
The head of the Ukrcement association expressed hope that the manufacturers’ arguments will be heard.
In September 2020, the Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade launched an investigation into the import of Portland cement and clinker cement from Turkey to Ukraine.
The import of these items in 2019 increased nine times, and according to the results of January-August 2020 – 13 times compared to the same period of the previous year.
According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, in 2020 the volume of exports to Turkey decreased slightly – to $2.436 billion (by 7% compared to 2019), imports increased slightly – 2.415 (by 2.5%).
An agreement on political cooperation, free trade and strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland may commence on January 1, Deputy Minister of Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture, Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka said.
“The agreement on political cooperation, free trade and strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has been ratified. The British Parliament has already completed its procedure. So we are working ‘at full steam’ so that the agreement will commence from January 1,” Kachka wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.
According to him, the agreement provides for the abolition of duties on industrial products, with the exception of fertilizers, electronics and cars.
“Small exceptions regarding fertilizers, electronics and cars may (but not necessarily will) be subject to a duty of no more than 1-2% over the next two years. And from 2023 there will be no duties on industrial products at all,” the trade representative said.
According to him, Brexit will also allow more flexibility in the anti-dumping and protective measures applied to Ukraine now. This applies to metallurgical products, hot-rolled products, sheet products and rods.
At the same time, all agricultural goods that are not subject to tariff quotas are exempt from duties, the trade representative said.
Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Taran signed agreements with Turkish companies on the transfer of technology and production of corvettes and unmanned attack aircraft systems for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on its website on Monday, the signing took place within the visit of the Turkish delegation to Ukraine, headed by President of Defence Industries of Turkey Ismail Demir.
According to Taran, first of all, this is about projects designed to radically enhance the combat capabilities of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to improve security in the area of the Black and Azov Seas.
The minister said these are the first in history foreign economic transactions for military goods concluded by the Defense Ministry of Ukraine.
The Defense Ministry said that in October, Taran and Demir signed a memorandum with the intention to start and implement joint projects for the construction of warships, unmanned aerial vehicles and all types of turbine engines.
Ukraine and France may soon sign an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation with ALSTOM for the implementation of a project for the supply of electric locomotives to a company with partial localization of their production and maintenance in Ukraine.
This was announced by Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, who is the head of the the Ukrainian-French Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation, during negotiations with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Ukraine Etienne de Ponsen and head of Ukrzaliznytsia JSC Volodymyr Zhmak on Friday, the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
“We have been working on the details of a common project with the French side for a long time and in the near future we can reach the signing of an intergovernmental agreement that will fully meet the needs of Ukraine,” the press service quoted Avakov as saying.
Zhmak, in his turn, said during the negotiations that Ukrzaliznytsia has a very old park and it needs to be strategically updated. At this stage, according to him, Ukrzaliznytsia is interested in 50 two-system electric locomotives capable of transporting from 5,500 to 6,000 tonnes of cargo.
“We need these locomotives with a long-term system of maintenance and localization of production in Ukraine. At the second stage, we are interested in getting single-system locomotives,” he said.
CEO of ALSTOM Henri Poupart-Lafarge assured that it could be a reliable and long-term partner for Ukrzaliznytsia and Ukraine.
“We have been working in the market for many years and we can satisfy the needs of Ukrzaliznytsia. ALSTOM has experience in working in markets with the localization of production and service capacities. This strengthens our cooperation and creates new jobs. In particular, we work in this way in Kazakhstan and South Africa,” he said.
The ministry also notes that this project was founded in September 2018, when ALSTOM and Ukrzaliznytsya signed a memorandum of understanding, which formalizes cooperation in the provision and maintenance of electric locomotives. The financial model of the project involves the attraction of credit funds from the French State Treasury and other sources.
As reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on October 27 met with CEO of ALSTOM Henri Poupart-Lafarge and discussed with him the prospects for the implementation of joint projects in the railway sector.
The French machine building company ALSTOM is one of the world leaders in the production of power equipment and railway transport.
Ukraine and France may sign an agreement within the framework of the Mixed Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation in the near future, Head of the Ukrainian side of the commission, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov has said.
“We have been working on the details of a common project with the French side for a long time and in the near future we can reach an intergovernmental agreement that will fully meet the needs of Ukraine. Including the requirements set by the President of Ukraine regarding the localization of production at Ukrainian enterprises,” Avakov said at a meeting with CEO of ALSTOM Henri Poupart-Lafarge on Tuesday, the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine reports.
At a meeting with the participation of the French Ambassador to Ukraine Etienne de Poncins and the general director of Ukrzaliznytsia Volodymyr Zhmak, the parties discussed the prospects for implementation of the ALSTOM electric locomotive supply project with partial localization of their production and maintenance in Ukraine.
“We have a very outdated fleet of locomotives and we need to strategically update it. At this stage, we are interested in 50 two-system electric locomotives capable of transporting from 5,500 to 6,000 tonnes of cargo. We need these locomotives with a long-term maintenance system and localized production in Ukraine. At the second stage, we are interested in obtaining single-system locomotives,” Zhmak said during the negotiations.
Poupart-Lafarge, in turn, assured that ALSTOM could be a reliable and long-term partner for Ukrzaliznytsia and Ukraine.
“We have been working on the market for many years and we can meet the needs of Ukrzaliznytsia. ALSTOM has experience in working in markets with the localization of production and service capacities. This strengthens our cooperation and creates new jobs. In particular, we work in this way in Kazakhstan and South Africa,” he said.
De Poncins said that over the past two years, taking into account the active implementation of helicopter (Airbus Helicopters) and ship (OSEA) projects of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, a humanitarian project to improve water supply in Mariupol with the prospect of its spread to Luhansk region, the total cost of all economic cooperation programs between Ukraine and France is EUR 800 million.
Ukraine and the Slovak Republic have signed an intergovernmental agreement on the provision of aviation operational services by their Ukrainian supplier in a certain part of the Slovak airspace relative to Uzhgorod airport.
According to Minister of Infrastructure Vladyslav Krykliy, the document was signed by him and Minister of Transport and Construction of Slovakia Andrej Dolezal.
“The full operation of Uzhgorod airport will be restored. Just now, together with my Slovak colleague, Minister of Transport and Construction of the Slovak Republic Andrej Dolezal, we signed an appropriate bilateral intergovernmental agreement. Finally, after so many months of inactivity, we will connect Zakarpattia by air service with other regions and with abroad,” he wrote on his Telegram channel on Thursday.
According to the press service of the Infrastructure Ministry of Ukraine with reference to the head of the department, the signing of this agreement will also help strengthen mutual bilateral relations in the civil aviation sector between the countries and in terms of expanding the possibilities of international air transportation.
However, Krykliy expressed hope for the early completion of the coordination of technical issues related to the implementation of the agreement and the signing by the parties of the implementation protocols within a month.
The ministry said that the agreement was initialed by both countries during negotiations in Kyiv on December 18, 2019. The document takes into account the security and defense aspects arising from the membership of Slovakia in NATO, as well as from the fact that the Ukrainian-Slovak border is also the external border of the Alliance.
According to the ministry, the agreement was concluded for an indefinite period and comes into force from the date of receipt through diplomatic channels of the last written notification of the completion of the domestic procedures necessary for its entry into force.
