Ukreximbank (Kyiv) and China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure) on April 17 signed a framework agreement on cooperation in Kyiv, a press release from the bank said. The agreement foresees that Sinosure will provide insurance support for those projects for the which applications were filed through Ukreximbank and contracts were concluded by Chinese enterprises in Ukraine. In particular, the matter concerns the implementation of construction projects in Ukraine and other countries, in which Ukreximbank is involved, as well as projects in the field of infrastructure, agriculture, energy, transportation, oil, gas and chemical industries.
The total limit of Sinosure financial insurance for use by Ukreximbank will be $500 million. The loan term will be set depending on the parameters of each contract and could reach 15 years, the report said.
“An agreement on cooperation for the first time signed between the Ukrainian bank and China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation is a landmark event, as it opens up great potential for expanding external financing channels for the key sectors of the national economy,” the press service of Ukreximbank said, citing chairman of the bank board Oleksandr Hrytsenko.
Sinosure is the official export credit agency of China, founded in 2001. Sinosure is the only state-financed insurance organization.
AGREEMENT, CHINA, COOPERATION, EXPORT-CREDIT, INSURANCE CORPORATION, UKREXIMBANK
China in 2019-2020 will provide Ukraine with free technical and economic assistance for 200 million yuan ($29.7 million), most of which will be used to purchase special emergency rescue vehicles and equipment for the State Emergencies Service.
The corresponding intergovernmental agreement was signed in Kyiv on April 11, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade reported.
According to the report, the State Emergencies Service should receive more than 50 units of machinery, in particular, cranes, crawler bulldozers, motor graders, fire trucks with lifting platforms and fire trucks with a ladder for rescue operations.
The signed intergovernmental agreement also provides for the provision of equipment for simultaneous translation and conference systems of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, as well as the implementation of other coordinated Ukraine-China intergovernmental projects.
China has lifted a ban on imports of Ukrainian poultry products, the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumers Protection has said in response to Interfax-Ukraine’s inquiry.
“This information is true, but the State Food Safety and Consumer Protection Service has not yet officially received it. This is about lifting the ban on importing poultry and poultry products to China,” the authority said.
The authority explained that China banned imports of Ukrainian poultry products in 2005-2006 over the avian influenza.
“In fact, the lifting of the ban is one of the prerequisites for opening the market, and not the resumption of supplies of Ukrainian poultry and poultry products to China. Until now, Ukraine has not exported these products to China,” the authority said.
As reported, the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumers Protection expects that in 2019-2020, markets in 24 countries for Ukrainian poultry products will be opened.
China is planning investment projects for the creation of multimodal cargo terminals in the Ukrainian territory on the border with the EU as part of the development of transit with the European Union. Deputy Infrastructure Minister of Ukraine for European Integration Viktor Dovhan met with Chinese Vice Prime Minister Liu He, the leadership of the National Development and Reform Commission of China, and the Ministries of Transport and Commerce of China within the transport initiative “One Belt, One Road” in Beijing on November 8-9, 2018.
The parties noted the need to develop transit from China to the EU.
“The Chinese side noted that this year 6,500 containers have been transported to Austria, and cargo traffic along the Trans-Caspian international transport route is growing. Investment projects are planned for the creation of multimodal terminals on the border with the EU (Lviv, Kovel, and Uzhgorod),” the Ministry of Infrastructure said.
In addition, the ministry stated that agreements have been achieved on signing an agreement on road transport between Ukraine and China with Deputy Minister of Transport of the People’s Republic of China Liu Xiaoming until May 2019. This agreement will allow companies in both countries to transport goods in the territory of the other state regardless of the established routes, based on the needs of logistics and trade.
First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development and Trade Stepan Kubiv has proposed to Vice-Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Liu He to commence joint consultations about the possible creation of a free trade area (FTA). “I have offered Vice-Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Liu He to start joint Ukrainian-Chinese consultations on the prerequisites for creating a Ukraine-China free trade area,” he wrote on his Facebook page, following a meeting with Liu He during his working visit to Beijing (China) on Thursday.
According to a posting on the website of the Economic Development and Trade Ministry, after a long interruption in the work of the intergovernmental commission on cooperation between Ukraine and China, its activities were resumed, which favored increased trade and cooperation between enterprises of the two countries. “However, this volume of trade does not correspond to the existing potential. In the next five years, we can increase trade turnover to $20 billion a year,” the ministry said, citing Kubiv as saying.
As reported, trade turnover between Ukraine and China in January-August 2018, compared with the same period last year, grew by 21%, to $5.8 billion.
The opportunities for cooperation in agriculture, construction and energy sectors have been discussed by Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman with Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine Du Wei. “Ukraine and China plan to double mutual goods flow to $10 billion and are mulling new opportunities or cooperation in agriculture, construction, first of all infrastructure facilities, energy and other areas,” the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers reported after a meeting of the prime minister with the ambassador.
Groysman said that the potential of relations between Ukraine and China is deepening every year, and more and more spheres of mutual interest appear.
At the meeting the Ukrainian prime minster thanked the Chinese diplomat for the successful completion of a project providing ambulances for Ukraine. He expressed hope that China International Import Expo 2018 will be successful. A Ukrainian delegation will take part in the exhibition.
