President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez discussed areas of cooperation between the countries, including energy, infrastructure, digitalization and cybersecurity.
“Energy, infrastructure, digitalization, cybersecurity – there are many areas in Ukraine for cooperation with Spain. I am glad to speak with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, our mutual understanding is a step towards warm and effective relations between the two countries. I wish you health! I will be glad to see you in Ukraine!” Zelensky wrote on his Twitter page.
The interlocutors noted the importance of holding the fourth meeting of the Ukrainian-Spanish Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic and Industrial Cooperation this year in Kyiv, the presidential press service reported.
The leaders also discussed the development of trade and economic cooperation between the two states.
“Spain is one of Ukraine’s main trading partners in the European Union and maintains its position as Europe’s largest importer of Ukrainian grain. We are ready to continue being a reliable strategic supplier of grain products to Spain,” the Ukrainian President said.
The Spanish Prime Minister said that he would assist Ukraine in obtaining the vaccine both at the level of bilateral relations and at the EU level.
In addition, particular attention was paid to the signing of the Common Aviation Area Agreement between the European Union with Ukraine. “I am grateful to the Spanish party for its efforts and willingness to facilitate the signing of this long-awaited and mutually beneficial agreement. I expect a positive decision from the EU in the coming weeks,” Zelensky said.
Subsidiary of the state-owned company (SOE) Ukrspecexport – SOE Ukroboronservice and the design company of the Qatari port operator QTerminals W.L.L. – QTerminals Olvia LLC signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation in the presence of Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Vladyslav Krykliy.
The press service of the Ministry of Infrastructure said on Tuesday evening, the parties will work intensively to ensure proper implementation of the concession agreement and further efficient and profitable operation of the port.
“Olvia specialized seaport is our second concession project, under which we hired the world’s leading operator – Qatari company QTerminals, which manages the largest commercial port of Qatar – Hamad with the value of more than $7 billion. Today, the design company of the concessionaire QTerminals Olvia and Ukroboronservice signed the first memorandum of understanding and cooperation within the framework of this concession, which is an important achievement of the transition period,” the ministry’s press service said, citing Krykliy.
The minister said that, among other things, the document regulates issues related to the common use of infrastructure facilities, and will help the parties to unite efforts to develop strategic infrastructure around the port.
According to him, QTerminals Olvia LLC and SOE Ukroboronservice will jointly make efforts to carry out reconstruction and dredging works, increase the capacity of approach roads and the railway that leads to the port. And the Ministry of Infrastructure, as a concessionaire, will provide ongoing support to the concessionaire in establishing cooperation in the concession project with other state-owned enterprises.
The memorandum also provides for measures aimed at cooperation of the parties with local authorities and public authorities of Mykolaiv region, state-run enterprises and departments in order to ensure sustainable development, as well as the investment attractiveness of the region in which the project is being implemented.
Ambassador of Ukraine to Australia Mykola Kulinich held a number of meetings in Melbourne, the purpose of which is to expand the Ukrainian-Australian cooperation in the trade and economic sphere, the press service of the Ukrainian Embassy in Australia said.
“The meeting with President of the Australian-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce Eugene Hawryszko was devoted to the discussion of the prospects for increasing trade between the two countries, the possibility of entering the Australian market for new types of Ukrainian products, as well as the establishment of joint ventures,” the statement says.
In addition, according to the press service of the embassy, during a meeting with head of the Australian-Ukrainian Business Council J. Epp, they discussed attracting Australian investments and technologies to Ukraine, as well as further organizational restructuring of the business council.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Senik has held talks via videlink with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman Ahmed Yousuf Al-Harthy. These are the first talks at the level of deputy foreign ministers in the history of bilateral relations, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported.
It is noted that the main topic of the conversation was practical steps that will enable intensification of the development of Ukrainian-Omani cooperation in the political, trade, economic and investment spheres.
“Ukraine and Oman have significant potential for expanding trade and economic cooperation. In particular, an increase in the supply of Ukrainian agricultural and food products to the Omani market will increase the level of food security of the Sultanate,” Senik said.
The parties noted the importance of maintaining a political dialogue between Ukraine and Oman, in particular in the format of regular consultations between the foreign ministries. In this regard, Senik invited Al-Harthy to visit Kyiv.
The Omani side also welcomed the initiative of the Deputy Minister to organize a visit of a business delegation to Muscat in order to intensify contacts between commodity producers.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, trade in goods between Ukraine and Oman amounted to $89.1 million (domestic exports accounted for $79.45 million) in 2019. In January-August 2020, it was equal to $78.88 million (of which Ukrainian exports was $63.78 million).
In December 2018, an export mission of Ukrainian producers visited Muscat. In April and October 2019, Ukrainian-Omani business forums were held with the participation of delegations from regional chambers of commerce and industry of North Ash-Sharqiyah and Al-Buraimi provinces. On November 6, 2019, the first round of political consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Sultanate of Oman took place in Muscat.
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.
