Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba states that the strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United States will develop regardless of who wins the American presidential election.
“My only wish regarding the American elections is that they end as soon as possible, the U.S. president-elect take the oath and we could move on in developing a strategic partnership between our countries, which, I am sure, will develop under any president. The only question is the speed of development,” said the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
He stressed that Ukraine was, is and will be on the sidelines of the U.S. presidential campaign. “We were, are and will be on the sidelines of this campaign. We believe that American democracy is mature enough to make decisions and make choices that are in the interests of the American people,” Kuleba said.
The minister also pointed out that Ukraine’s largest asset in the United States is bipartisan support.
“In fact, there is a clear position of the president, which has been stressed many times, there is a clear position of the Foreign Ministry that Ukraine’s largest asset in the United States is bipartisan support. This is the fundamental principle of our policy towards the United States. The president’s surname or party affiliation does not matter as long as Ukraine is equally supported by both democrats and republicans,” Kuleba added.
Kharkiv Palace five-star hotel belonged to businessman Oleksandr Yaroslavsky and Vertex Hotel Group, which operates President Hotel in Kyiv and Bristol, Londonskaya and Formula Wellness Spa in Odesa, are developing projects to launch casinos in their premises.
“The casino project we have been working for a long time, it is necessary that the legislative framework has come to a logical conclusion. We have experience on the use of our premises with potential investors. And this crisis does not stop these plans,” General Manager of Kharkiv Palace Hotel Atis Zaharans said during the online conference entitled “Hotel Market in Crisis.”
The facility has 171 rooms, three restaurants, and large conference rooms.
“At present, we continue to work, but we have removed part of the rooms to save money. We have saved only those rooms that are necessary. We serve all guests through the room service, since all the restaurants and bars are closed, as well as the spa center… Only several rooms are occupied, no more than a dozen or two,” Zaharans said.
According to Regional Director of Vertex Hotel Group Olena Varivoda, the company is also working on a project to open a casino in the hotel’s area, without indicating which one.
“We have the opportunity to open a casino in the hotel. There is a project that we are working on, an additional service – a casino – in our area. Project work is underway to prepare this part of the hotel,” she said.
She also added that since the beginning of quarantine in Ukraine, Vertex Hotel Group immediately closed hotels such as Londonskaya and Formula Wellness Spa. At the end of March, the President Hotel in Kyiv was closed, and at the beginning of April, the Odesa Bristol was closed too.
Representatives of the American Chamber of Commerce (ACC) and adviser to the president of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov have discussed the problematic issues of work in Ukraine and the prospects of development of digital economy, according to the official website of the president of Ukraine.
American business representatives focused, in particular, on searches at IT companies, IT industry taxation and access to infrastructure to install the telecommunications equipment of providers, as well as the key interests in the development of mobile and fixed broadband Internet, electronic court and the adoption of priority bills necessary for the IT industry.
The report says that all the above mentioned proposals will be considered by the Office of the President of Ukraine in order to attract innovative American business to the development of the digital sphere in Ukraine.
“We are very interested in attracting the capabilities of members of the American Chamber of Commerce to the development of joint projects in the field of broadband Internet, electronic identification, and so on,” Fedorov said.
ACC representatives expressed interest in the development of digital economy in Ukraine.
Fedorov presented a digital action plan during the meeting.
“The development of digital economy should be priority number one for Ukraine. We must implement the digital transformation of the existing sectors of the economy and create favorable conditions for the emergence of new ones. Otherwise, we risk lagging behind the leading economies of the world forever. Together with the core business and the public, we have defined clear objectives and goals until 2024,” he said.
Kyiv is interested in developing defense cooperation with Cairo and offers Egypt cooperation in modernizing its air defense system.
The press service of the Ukroboronprom state concern reported on Thursday that cooperation plans were discussed by Ukroboronprom Head Pavlo Bukin and Director for Production of the National Organization for Military Production (NOMP) of the Egypt’s Ministry of Military Production Hassan Ahmed Abdel-Mageed at the IDEX 2019 international defence exhibition held in Abu Dhabi (the UAE).
“In accordance with the agreement, the Ukrainian side will provide proposals for the modernization of anti-aircraft missile systems and other air defense systems used by the Egyptian Armed Forces. Comprehensive modernization may include a complete replacement of the outdated element base with modern solid-state elements: along with the modernization of anti-aircraft missiles, this will allow increasing the range of target detection and destruction by several times,” the concern said.
According to the press service, the prospects for cooperation in the ammunition sphere were also discussed at the meeting.
“Currently, the parties are considering a project to establish a joint production of precision and conventional ammunition for artillery systems of various calibers,” the concern said.
First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development and Trade Stepan Kubiv and Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Francis Gurry have reached an agreement on a joint project to develop the National Strategy for Intellectual Property in Ukraine. “I just met with Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization Francis Gurry. It is nice that his organization has highly and positively appreciated our work in reforming our intellectual property domain. We agreed on a joint project to develop the National Intellectual Property Strategy and continue to form an extensive network of innovation support centers in Ukraine,” Kubiv wrote on his Facebook page.
Also, he said, together with WIPO, Ukraine will continue to introduce alternative procedures for resolving disputes in the field of intellectual property.
DEVELOPING, HELP, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, NATIONAL STRATEGY, UKRAINE
