Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Foreign Minister of Romania Bogdan Aurescu have agreed to establish a joint working group on cooperation in the energy sector.
“We discussed in detail the ambitious potential projects in the energy sector, primarily those related to electricity, gas and hydrogen. We decided to create a working group on energy issues and look forward to when our colleagues from the ministries of energy of Ukraine and Romania and the involved business companies will start a detailed substantive conversation on the issues that I have mentioned,” Kuleba said at a joint press conference with Aurescu in Bucharest.
He also noted that he had discussed with his Romanian colleague how to launch the Isaccea-Orlivka ferry service at a maximum capacity.
“I am absolutely sure that we can, we have every opportunity to create and implement ambitious projects that will make Ukraine, Romania, and our region as a whole stronger. It would be an unacceptable mistake not to use the opportunities that we have, primarily in energy and infrastructure sectors. And so today we’ve really discussed how we can launch the Isaccea-Orlivka ferry line at a maximum capacity and eliminate certain problematic issues,” the Ukrainian minister added.
First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Emine Dzhaparova during a video conference with her colleague, First Deputy Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Le Yucheng, agreed to step up cooperation in the political and economic plane. “The parties assured each other of the invariability of the fundamental principles of mutual respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence, enshrined in the political documents concluded since the establishment of diplomatic relations,” the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said.
In addition, among other topics that were in the spotlight became further interaction on the fields of international organizations, ways to intensify trade and economic cooperation, joint participation in the implementation of projects within the framework of the global Chinese initiative “One Belt, One Road.”
The parties also exchanged invitations to visit Beijing and Kyiv.
The likelihood of cooperation between the State Agency for Roads of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) and Alitalia in the development of road infrastructure and “smart roads” was discussed by Minister of Infrastructure Vladyslav Krykliy and Italian Ambassador to Ukraine Davide La Cecilia in Kyiv on Friday.
“The minister briefed the ambassador on a number of important investment projects that are planned in the industry, in particular, in the construction of highways, bridges, concessions of seaports and railway stations. The parties also discussed possible cooperation between Ukravtodor and Alitalia in the development of road infrastructure and ‘smart roads.’ In addition, they noted the importance of developing airports and container trains,” the ministry said in a message on its website.
Krykliy also stressed the interest of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine in the resumption of the work of the Ukrainian-Italian Council for Economic, Industrial and Financial Cooperation with the aim of enhancing relations in the field of transport and infrastructure.
He positively noted the long-term and mutually beneficial relations between Ukraine and Italy in the field of aviation and confirmed his readiness to act on the principle of reciprocity, positively considering all requests from air carriers that will be appointed by the Italian side.
In addition, the parties discussed further cooperation between the two countries in road traffic.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a draft decree on signing of the joint statement between the governments of Ukraine and Germany concerning the beginning of the energy cooperation and commissioned acting Energy Minister Olha Buslavets to sign it.
The respective decision was taken without a discussion at the government’s meeting on Wednesday.
“I hope this will give an impetus to our cooperation in the fields of renewable energy and energy efficiency. The experience of Germany in the fair transformation of coal regions is also important for us,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at a government’s meeting.
According to the text of the draft decree, the sphere of cooperation between the governments of Ukraine and Germany, in particular, are the development of renewable energy and its integration into the energy network, the development of energy efficiency, the improvement of conditions for private investment in sustainable energy, the exchange of innovations in this field.
An explanatory note to the draft decree states that Ukraine’s energy sector reform is being carried out as a part of its development and implementation of the New Green Deal initiative of the European Commission and in accordance with the Green Energy Transition Concept until 2050.
The signing of the joint statement will create a platform for establishing bilateral cooperation on the development of sustainable energy and will help reduce the use of minerals, reads the document.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine.
The ministry said in a statement on its website that the partnership was signed by UNICEF Representative in Ukraine Lotta Sylwander and Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation for European Integration Valeria Ionan.
The first joint project of the Digital Transformation Ministry and UNICEF was the educational series On Cyberbullying for Teens, which is already available on the Diia: Digital Education platform.
She said in the new reality caused by [coronavirus] COVID-19, millions of children are temporarily closed in their homes with gadgets and we must take care of their safety online. So they are very glad to do this in such an interesting way together with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.
Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar has held online talks with his Turkmen counterpart Berdyniyaz Miatiyev during which they agreed to sign a cooperation program between the foreign ministries of Ukraine and Turkmenistan for 2020-2021 in the near future, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine said. “The diplomats noted the importance of active development of political, economic and humanitarian cooperation. With this aim they agreed to sign a cooperation program between the foreign ministries of Ukraine and Turkmenistan for 2020-2021 in the near future,” the ministry said on Wednesday.
The deputy ministers also decided to hold important bilateral events, in particular a meeting between the foreign ministers of the countries and another meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission for economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation, after the quarantine.
The Ukrainian diplomat also said that the countries should unite their efforts in order to minimize a negative impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the economies of both countries and protect the rights and interests of their citizens.
“This will help us to ensure active inter-regional cooperation and successful activities of Ukrainian companies in Turkmenistan, as well as restore mutually beneficial energy cooperation,” the ministry said.
The diplomats also discussed promising areas of cooperation between their countries within international organizations, including the UN.
The sides also agreed on building of active cultural and humanitarian cooperation, learning opportunities for intensification of cooperation in the spheres of science, education and technology, training diplomats and holding online lectures during the quarantine, the ministry said.
