Germany will send 50 Gepard anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine, Canada 8 armored vehicles, Britain additional anti-aircraft systems, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said.
“I want to especially welcome Germany’s significant decision as Minister Lambrecht announced today that Germany will send 50 Gepard anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine. Yesterday, the British government announced that it would also provide additional anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine. Canada today announced that it would send 8 armored vehicles to Ukraine. This is important progress, we see more every day,” Austin said at a press conference following a meeting of defense ministers from more than 40 countries regarding Ukraine’s current and future defense needs at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Tuesday.
All tariffs on goods coming to Britain from Ukraine under an existing free trade deal will be axed to help the Ukrainian economy, the British government announced on Monday.
London said tariffs would be reduced to zero and all quotas removed following a direct request from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, saying the move would provide a boost for Ukrainian businesses involved in key exports such as barley, honey, tinned tomatoes and poultry.
“We stand unwaveringly with Ukraine in this ongoing fight and will work to ensure Ukraine survives and thrives as a free and sovereign nation,” said British International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan.
Britain said currently the average tariff on Ukrainian imports was about 22%. It said the planned change had been offered on a non-reciprocal basis, but Kyiv was likely to match the British action
The growth in the volume of bilateral trade between Ukraine and the UK thanks to the free trade agreement has increased by 60% over two years, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said during a briefing with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for media representatives.
The President noted that the Agreement on Political Cooperation, Free Trade and Strategic Partnership signed the year before last is working successfully, which is proved by a 60% increase in bilateral trade between Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
He also added that the parties agreed to start negotiations on further trade liberalization.
Kormotech LLC (Lviv region), a large Ukrainian manufacturer of cat and dog feed, has made the first shipments of cat feed under a private label to the UK and Finland.
According to the press service of the company, 19 tonnes of dry cat feed were delivered to the UK and 5,000 tonnes to Finland. The company plans to supply wet feed to Britain, which makes up 75% of the feed market in this country, and export products under its own trademark to these countries after obtaining the necessary certification.
“Northern Europe has a very developed market, and the largest share in this market belongs to super premium feeds. The UK is among the ten most powerful pet food markets in the world. Our goal is to enter the top 50 industry leaders in the world by 2023. Now our product exports account for about 15%, and we need to triple this figure to achieve our goal,” Ihor Paraniak, the production director of Kormotech, said.
The company planned in 2019 to make the first private label shipments to the UK and Finland, as well as to enter U.S. retail chains (now products are sold through Amazon in this country).
Kormotech exports products to over 20 countries, including France, Estonia, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Poland.
