The decision of the European Commission to increase import duties for maize from EUR 5.27 to EUR 10.40 per tonne is not a threat to export of Ukrainian maize, Prse of the Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) Mykola Horbachev has said.
“Changing the duties for maize is exclusively the market mechanism for protecting the domestic market, and not an administrative one. So, when the price for maize on the exchange grows, the duty is leveled, and when it falls, the duty increases. This practice works automatically and is not something new for the market, after all, at least it have existed for the past 20 years, or even more,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
The president of the UGA said that in Ukraine the potential for the export of maize has actually been exhausted in the current agricultural year.
“Today, about 26 million tonnes out of the expected 29-30 million tonnes have been exported. Thus, Ukraine has already managed to supply most of maize to the EU,” Horbachev said.
This decision will also not have an impact on maize exports in the next season, as crop prices may increase with a new crop. The association said that share of the total Ukrainian maize exports to the EU is about 45%. To date, Ukraine has already supplied about 10.5 million tonnes of maize to the EU.
The European Commission from April 27, 2020 fixed the import duties in the cereals sector. The import duties for maize, sorghum and rye are now fixed at EUR 5.27 per tonne and the automatic calculation lead to a new figure of EUR 10.40 per tonne on May 6.
The European Commission has announced its decision to provide EUR 1.2 billion of assistance to Ukraine during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
“This is an unprecedented amount of macro-financial assistance. The EU’s decision is not only a manifestation of solidarity in difficult times. This is evidence that Ukraine was not mistaken in making the European choice. Indeed, a friend in need is a friend in deed,” the head of state’s press service said, quoting Zelensky as saying on Wednesday.
The financing from the EU will help guarantee the macroeconomic stability of Ukraine.
“Thanks to such support, the state will be able to provide extra money to protect citizens and mitigate the negative consequences of the pandemic for people,” the press service said.
The European Commission is ready to cooperate with any candidate elected in the presidential elections in Ukraine, Katarina Mathernova, the Deputy Director-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations at the European Commission, said in a comment to Hromadske. She said it doesn’t matter whether Zelensky [showman Volodymyr Zelensky] or Poroshenko [incumbent President Petro Poroshenko] will be elected, they will work with any of them.
Mathernova said that Zelensky was not known in the political sphere, therefore, the voice of Ukrainian civil society should be especially heard and supported.
If there is Poroshenko’s second term, we know that the second term is still a slightly different mobilization, a new factor for civil society, she added.
Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of the Euro, Social Dialogue, Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union Valdis Dombrovskis will visit Ukraine on September 13-14, where he will take part in signing the EU macro-financial assistance program worth EUR 1 billion, according to the European Commission.
Dombrovskis will meet with Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and acting Finance Minister Oksana Markarova.
In addition, he will participate in the forum of the Yalta European Strategy (YES).
The European Commission jointly with European alcohol producers intend to publish the Counterfeit and Piracy watch-list for Ukraine with the purpose of comabting counterfeit alcohol sale in the EU partner countries. The Ukrvodka association said in a press release that the European initiative is aimed at revealing online and private marketplaces that allow producing and selling counterfeit and smuggled goods in the countries, which are not members of the European Union.
“The Ukrainian illegal alcohol market reaches 60% and withdraws about EUR 360 million from the budget. The European Commission plans to officially publish the Counterfeit and Piracy watch-list this year and update it regularly,” the association said.
According to the European Commission, the illegal market is a “concrete scourge for the economy,” it hinders investment and employment in the sectors related to the production of alcohol.
According to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), about 5% of EU imports worth EUR 85 billion annually are unsafe counterfeit goods, mainly from neighboring countries.
According to the report, the attention of Europeans was attracted by the investigation of the Ukrainian anti-corruption human rights organization. According to their data, half of the state-owned distilleries produce illegal alcohol, and illegal vodka is also produced at distilleries: 10 out of 30 distilleries produce counterfeit goods.
