President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he does not feel pressure from the United States on the economic interaction between Ukraine and China.
“I’m not saying that there are no signals from the United States regarding the relations of any countries in Europe with China. I’m not saying that there is no such thing, but we are a fairly independent country that chooses business partners for itself. If business is transparent and open and it creates additional jobs for Ukraine, this is a priority,” Zelensky said at the Yalta European Strategy Forum in the YES Brainstorming 2021 format in Kyiv on Friday.
Representatives of the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine, the China National Complete Engineering Corporation (CCEC) and the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine during a meeting on August 9 reached an agreement on the export of one million tonnes of grain to China by the end of this year, the state corporation wrote on Facebook.
“We plan to carry out purchases at our own elevators and use our own logistics and port facilities in order to make our partners the most profitable price offer,” the company quotes the acting chairman of the board of the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine, Andriy Vlasenko.
The corporation also cites data from CCEC President Yang Jing, who noted that the Chinese side is interested in developing cooperation, strives to fulfill the conditions of the existing contract for the 2021/2022 marketing year (MG, July-June) and is waiting for proposals from the Ukrainian side.
In turn, the Ministry of Economy proposed to hold weekly negotiations on the supply of grain between the Grain Corporation and CCEC.
As reported, in June 2021, the Grain Corporation discussed with CCEC representatives a possible delivery in the 2021/2022 MY of 2 million tonnes of early grain and 3 million tonnes of corn. The corporation clarified that it has completed a complex of preparatory work at the port facilities in Odesa and Mykolaiv, and also, at the request of the Chinese side, reached agreements with partners on the possibility of transshipment of an additional one million tonnes of grain at Chornomorsk seaport (Odesa region).
Ukraine and China have signed an intergovernmental agreement providing for the expansion of cooperation between the two countries and the promotion of joint projects in the infrastructure construction sector, as well as the raising of Ukrainian funds on concessional terms from the People’s Republic of China.
According to the statement on the website of the Infrastructure Ministry of Ukraine on Tuesday, June 30, the relevant agreement was signed by Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov and Minister of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China Wang Wentao.
Among the priorities of cooperation are rail transit, airports, ports, communications and municipal engineering.
Under the agreement, Ukraine and China will encourage companies and financial facilities in both countries to cooperate actively in the construction of infrastructure facilities, as well as to promote closer economic ties between the two countries and to provide necessary assistance and accompaniment in the implementation of joint projects.
The agreement also provides for the mobilization of funds on concessional terms from the Government of the People’s Republic of China necessary for the implementation of infrastructure projects.
As a result of the joint consultations, the sides will approve potential cooperation projects, which will be supported by PRC funds.
The Governments of Ukraine and China are working on the preparation of a visa waiver agreement between the countries, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Ukraine Fan Xianjun said.
“We are now actively working to sign an intergovernmental agreement on a visa-free travel between China and Ukraine,” the ambassador said at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday.
He said the signing of such a document would provide maximum travel facilities for nationals of the two countries and would promote mutual understanding and mutually beneficial cooperation between the states.
Mining enterprises of Ukraine in January-May this year reduced exports of iron ore raw materials (iron ore) in quantity terms by 1.8% compared to the same period last year, to 18.536 million tonnes.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service on Wednesday, during the specified period, foreign exchange earnings from iron ore exports increased 2.1-fold, to $3.132 billion.
Iron ore was exported mainly to China (45.44% of supplies in monetary terms), the Czech Republic (9.41%) and Austria (8.36%).
In January-May 2021, iron ore was imported to Ukraine for $127,000 in a total volume of 1,130 tonnes, while in January-May 2020, iron ore was imported from the Netherlands for $28,000, from Sweden for $10,000, from Germany for $1,000 and from Hungary $1,000 in the total volume of 84 tonnes.
In January-May 2021, iron ore was imported from Egypt (81.75%), Poland (10.32%) and Chile (2.38%).
China is interested in increasing the supply of Ukrainian soybeans, peas, barley, wheat, as well as poultry and other products, the Ministry of Economy said, following a meeting between First Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Economy Oleksiy Liubchenko and Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine Fan Xianrong on June 10. “Today we’ve heard from our Chinese partners confirmation of interest in deepening economic cooperation, increasing exports of Ukrainian agricultural products, building infrastructure and implementing joint investment projects in transport, construction, energy, IT and other areas,” the press service of the ministry said citing Oleksiy Liubchenko.
According to the report, the meeting was also attended by Deputy Minister Volodymyr Hryniuk and Deputy Minister-Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka, as well as representatives of the leadership of the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine.
The parties also noted the importance of signing an intergovernmental agreement on deepening cooperation in the construction of infrastructure in the near future, the ministry said.
“This step will allow starting preparatory work for the launch of investment projects, including the construction of the M-22 Poltava-Oleksandriya road and the first part of the Kyiv circular road – sections M05-M06, which will cost about $ 1.1 billion,” the ministry said.
It is also important to continue work on the development of freight traffic in the direction of China-Western Europe through the territory of Ukraine, the report notes.
In addition, the Chinese side stressed the importance of the implementation of the intergovernmental initiative of Ukraine and China “One Belt-One Road.” The matter concerns preparing a roadmap for the implementation of a program of cooperation between the two countries within the framework of the joint construction of the “Silk Road Economic Belt” and “21st Century Maritime Silk Road,” the ministry added.
