The Canadian Mint has decided to direct the net proceeds from the sale of its annual Pysanka 2023 gold and silver coin issue to humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
“Your Fine Silver Pysanka 2023 is designed in a Tripolitan artistic style based on the drawings of prehistoric earthenware and executed in natural colors,” the description of the silver coin notes.
“And on the 99.99% pure gold gold peeing coin, the beloved floral emblem of the Ukrainian people (sunflower) is surrounded by symbols that celebrate the return of the sun, and with it the arrival of spring,” the Mint of Canada pointed out.
Coins in the traditional pysanka form were issued in 7,500 and 275 pieces, respectively, and at a face value of CAD 20 and CAD 250 respectively, and were offered at CAD 139.95 and CAD 6999.95.
“Yesterday the Royal Canadian Mint released an incredibly beautiful coin depicting a Ukrainian pysanka… The entire collection, which is 7500 coins, was completely sold out for the day”, – said, in turn, the Ukrainian Ambassador Yulia Kovaliv.
The total amount of coins sold at declared value – 2.97 million Canadian dollars (about $ 2.23 million at current exchange rate) at a total denomination of $ 0.150 million Canadian dollars.
Japan has already provided Ukraine with $1.1 billion in financial, humanitarian and military aid and intends to allocate another $500 million, the Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine Kuninori Matsuda said.
“As for the assistance, we have already provided $1.1 billion and we intend to provide another $500 million in aid. We are also considering other aid packages,” the ambassador said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
The ambassador stressed that since the first days of the full-scale invasion by Russia, Japan started to provide financial, humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine.
Regarding military aid, he noted that by law Japan cannot directly provide weapons, but for the first time the Japanese government has decided to provide non-lethal equipment, including drones, helmets, body armor, winter clothing, as well as first-aid kits and rations.
“We continue to expand the list. And now we are in talks with our Ukrainian counterparts about the possibility of providing dual-use technology,” the ambassador added.
Matsuda also stressed that Japan also supports Ukraine through diplomatic efforts.
“We are reaching out to those countries that have not yet decided their position on this war, or to those countries that are still remaining neutral. These are the goals of our diplomatic approach. That’s how we try to convince them to support Ukraine or participate in international sanctions regimes,” he said.
An exclusive interview with Japan’s ambassador to Ukraine Kuninori Matsuda will be published on the Interfax-Ukraine website.
U.S. President Joe Biden will announce about $2 billion in aid to Ukraine on Wednesday, the White House said.
“President Biden will announce a significant new aid package to Ukraine of approximately $2 billion,” the White House said in a statement.
As part of the package, the U.S. will reportedly provide Ukraine with a battery of Patriot SAMs, “which will be an important asset to protect the Ukrainian people from barbaric Russian attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.”
“We will train the Ukrainian military on how to operate a Patriot missile battery in a third country. It will take some time, but the Ukrainian military will return after training to their own country to operate that battery,” a senior White House official stressed.
The U.S. will also continue to prioritize other forms of air defense support, including NASAMS, HAWKs, Stingers, and anti-drone equipment.
In addition, the official said the visit will also be an opportunity to note work with Congress to pass a significant supplemental funding package for Ukraine for 2023.
“And we expect a bipartisan package of more than $40 billion in funding for Ukraine,” he said.
Zelensky said earlier that he had traveled to the United States to strengthen Ukraine’s resilience and defense capabilities. “In particular, with Joe Biden will discuss cooperation between Ukraine and the United States. I will also speak in Congress and hold a number of bilateral meetings,” he wrote on Twitter.
This is the first visit of the President of Ukraine abroad since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia.
For its part, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing sources, that the Ukrainian delegation during the visit to the USA will ask for ATACMS missiles, as well as drones Gray Eagle and Reaper.
European Union finance ministers will discuss a proposal of the European Commission to provide EUR18bn to Ukraine in 2023 in a specially created “macrofinancial support plus” format. It is not yet known whether a decision will be made.
This was told to journalists on the eve of a meeting of the Council on Economic and Financial Affairs, which will be held on Tuesday in Brussels, a European diplomat on the right of anonymity.
He explained that three legislative proposals will be discussed: macrofinancial aid plus (MFA+) and an amendment to the financial regulations, which must be passed by a qualified majority, and an amendment to the multiyear financial scheme, which must be passed unanimously. “Ministers will discuss these proposals and then decide whether or not to bring them to a vote. Tomorrow (Dec. 6 – IF-U) will be decisive. No decisions have been made as of today. We have to see tomorrow morning and decide how we will move forward, we have to see if there is an opportunity for the ministers to decide whether to put these issues to a vote or not,” detailed the interlocutor to the journalists.
He also recalled that the loans, which will be granted to Ukraine in 2023 in the amount of EUR18bn, will have a 10-year grace period. It is proposed that member states will cover the major part of interest expenses, while guarantees for these loans will be provided from the EU budget.
Relevant proposals were officially presented by the European Commission on November 9, followed by a vote in the European Parliament on November 24.
At the same time this proposal was opposed by Hungary. Thus, on December 2, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that he “doesn’t want the European Union to become a community of debtor-states instead of a community of cooperating states. Instead, he suggested that all EU members use funds from their own budgets to help Ukraine through bilateral agreements.
It is not ruled out that it is at Budapest’s suggestion that the vote may be postponed to a later date.
As of November 24, the volume of financing actually allocated to Ukraine by international partners since the beginning of the war to cover the state budget deficit totaled $25.731 billion, and another $1 billion – for reconstruction, or 71% of the declared aid totaling $37.581 billion, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine reports.
According to the data published on its website, grants accounted for less than half of the received funds – $10.49 billion, or 39.2%.
A month earlier, as of October 26, the funding was $23.123 billion to cover the budget deficit and $1 billion for reconstruction, or 65% of the announced aid for a total of $36.959 billion, and the grants were the same.
As indicated by the Ministry of Finance, the largest support to Ukraine was announced by the U.S. and the European Union – respectively, $12.99 billion and $11.5 billion. The U.S. allocated $8.49 billion, or 65%, of this amount, all in the form of grants, the EU – $7.367 billion, or 64%, of which only $626 million in the form of grants.
According to the table, the five largest donors of pledged aid are close to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Investment Bank (EIB) and Canada – $2.71 billion, $2.32 billion and $2.021 billion respectively. The IMF has allocated all the funds, while the EIB and Canada – $1.72 billion and $1.521 billion respectively, all as loans. At the same time, the EIB is so far the only one that has provided financing for the recovery.
Next comes the World Bank, Germany and Britain – $1.765 billion, $1.373 billion and $1.076 billion, respectively, of which Germany and Britain provided $1.049 billion and $128 million in grants respectively. These countries have allocated all the pledged funds, while the WB only 56%.
The donor to Ukraine’s budget of over $500 million since the start of the war is also Japan – $581 million: these funds have already been received, and all in the form of loans.
France announced support for the Ukrainian budget of $432 million, of which it received 77%, while Italy and the Netherlands gave $332 million and $330 million, respectively (of which Italy gave $125 million in grants). Italy has already provided all the funds, while the Netherlands has so far allocated one-third – $106 million.
Another nine countries have pledged a total of $172.5 million, of which $149.5 million has already been received, including $80.5 million in the form of grants. Sweden and Denmark are the largest: $49 million and $53 million, respectively, but Denmark has so far given only $53 million, but all in the form of grants.
The Ministry of Finance also pointed out that since the beginning of the war, the National Bank of Ukraine has covered the budget deficit by 355 billion UAH, or $11.246 billion in equivalent, through direct purchase of war bonds.
The monthly need to finance the state budget deficit this year because of the war, according to the Ministry of Finance and the government, is about $5 billion. Next year, the government plans to reduce the state budget deficit by $3-4 billion a month (a total of $38 billion for the year), counting on its financing by the United States, IMF and EU, and intends to raise $17 billion for emergency reconstruction.
Emission financing through the purchase of government bonds by the National Bank in the approved state budget-2023 has not yet been included, although such an option, as noted by Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko, remains. The NBU also admitted that next year the emission financing may still be needed, but insisted that its volume should not exceed 200 billion hryvnias per year.
The State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine has signed a memorandum of technical assistance with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), head of the State Geology Service Roman Opimakh said on his Facebook page on Wednesday.
“The document provides for work on digitization of secondary geological information, the development of IT architecture and the functionality of the State Geology Portal,” Opimakh wrote.
The memorandum was signed with EBRD First Vice President Jürgen Rigterink as part of the Raw Materials Week, which is taking place in Brussels with the support of the European Commission and the Ministry of Natural Resources of Ukraine. The signing took place in the presence of the Vice President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič and the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Ruslan Strilets.
According to the document, the EBRD is the executor, the State Geology Service is the key beneficiary, and specialists of the State Research and Development Enterprise State Geological Information Fund of Ukraine (Geoinform of Ukraine) are the contractors of the project, the head of Ukraine’s Geology Service noted.
“The work is designed for three years and provides for the purchase of equipment and the arrangement of a server room in the first half of 2023 – ventilation, physical access, uninterrupted power supply,” Opimakh informed.
Also next year, at least 20,000 geological information storage units will be digitized and published on the State Geology Portal in accordance with the best world practices.
“The implementation of the project will not only digitize and place secondary geological information in the public domain, but also significantly improve the interface for searching geological reports through interactive maps that will be posted on the State Geology Portal,” the head emphasized.
At the same time, the translation of abstracts, reports and an English-language search engine will become convenient tools for foreign investors interested in the development of Ukrainian subsoil.
According to Opimakh, the key objectives of the project are, in particular, digitization of at least 60,000 units of storage of geological reports, the development of IT infrastructure, the creation of English-language services of databases for managing geological information, the arrangement of a server room, as well as the development of the functionality of the State Geology Portal by creating sets of geological maps and cartographic services of the geological knowledge of the territory of Ukraine.
“The next step will be the signing of an agreement on the provision of technical assistance and the coordination of parameters for the volume and time of work,” the head said.
