First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko and Federal Minister of Labor and Economy of Austria Martin Kocher signed a framework agreement between the governments of the two countries on economic cooperation in the development of projects.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine on Sunday, the signing of the agreement took place on Sunday, September 4, in Krakow during Yulia Svyrydenko’s visit to Poland.
“We hope that the economic cooperation agreement signed today will allow us to launch a number of important projects, in particular, in the healthcare sector. Among the priorities are the construction and equipping of the Okhmatdyt National Children’s Specialized Hospital and a modern university clinic in Kyiv, as well as the creation of the National Rehabilitation Center in Lviv. The estimated cost of these projects will be more than EUR 500 million,” Svyrydenko said.
According to her, for the implementation of these projects, concessional long-term financing will be attracted under the guarantees of European export credit agencies. It is expected that the effective rate of attraction of funds will not exceed 3% per annum, and the borrowing period will be up to 14 years. Such concessional targeted financing of socially significant projects is a good alternative and addition to more expensive and short-term obligations, usually borrowed to replenish the working capital of the state budget.
According to the agreement on economic cooperation in the development of projects, the governments of Ukraine and Austria agreed to promote the development of modern social and educational infrastructure, in particular, a network of modern medical and vocational educational institutions, to promote the development of the medical insurance market in Ukraine, and to intensify bilateral economic relations in the field of investments, innovations and implementation of economic projects, especially in the field of medical technologies and healthcare institutions.
Svyrydenko also expressed her gratitude to the Austrian partners for financial and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and for the initiative of Austria to take patronage in the restoration of Zaporizhia region.
At a meeting with Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Mathias Cormann, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal welcomed the intention of the OECD to open a regional office in Kyiv.
“I informed the OECD Secretary-General about the creation in Ukraine of a plan and a fund for the restoration of our state. We strive to change the country and the economic model, based on the best world standards. Our goal is based on the principles promoted by the Ukrainian people: a European future, a transparent state and an open economy,” Shmyhal said on his Telegram channel following the meeting.
The prime minister said it is important for Ukraine to use the best practices of the OECD and implement them in the near future.
“I welcomed the intention to open a regional office of the OECD in Kyiv, this is an excellent opportunity to strengthen and accelerate our cooperation,” Shmyhal said.
Shmyhal also said the ‘green’ economy is the basic principle of the new economic model of Ukraine.
“Russia has destroyed and continues to destroy our infrastructure. There is no point in returning to the old models, so we intend to restore it according to modern principles and the latest technologies,” he said.
In addition, the prime minister said that Ukraine intends to make corporatization even more efficient, and in this matter counts on active assistance from the OECD.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal says that Ukraine is interested in deepening bilateral relations with Bulgaria and expects to consolidate efforts in this direction.
“The parties discussed issues of strengthening economic cooperation, military and technical cooperation, development of the transport and tourism industry,” the government’s press service said following a meeting between Shmyhal and Deputy Prime Minister for Judicial Reform, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva.
The prime minister said that in 2019 the trade turnover between the countries exceeded $1 billion, therefore, in order to overcome the negative consequences of the pandemic and restore the volume of bilateral trade, it is worth joining efforts.
Shmyhal said that one of the important instruments of bilateral cooperation in the economic sector is the Joint Ukrainian-Bulgarian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation.
“Unfortunately, the last time the commission was held ten years ago, and we must restore its work. The regular meetings of the commission will further increase the volume of bilateral trade and investment cooperation between our states,” the prime minister said.
Shmyhal and Zaharieva agreed to hold the Ukrainian-Bulgarian business forum in Sofia in 2021, and a meeting of the Joint Ukrainian-Bulgarian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation is to be held within the forum.
In addition, during the meeting, the parties discussed the prospects for the development of the transport and tourism industry, which have been affected by the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) disease.
Due to that, Shmyhal and Zaharieva agreed to create a joint intergovernmental working group on tourism development.
For his part, the prime minister noted the importance of launching an international checkpoint across the state border for ferry, passenger and freight traffic between the settlements of Orlivka (Ukraine) and Isaccea (Romania).
“This will help to increase the tourist flow and expand business contacts between our states and will improve direct road communication. It is also necessary to make efforts to sign an agreement, simplify the conditions for the carriage of goods in direct international railway ferry service port ‘Chornomorsk-Varna’ ferry complex,” he said.
Ukraine and Canada will work on deepening economic cooperation and expansion of the bilateral free trade area (FTA) agreement to the sphere of services and investments, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. “Trade, economic and investment cooperation have an important place in Ukrainian-Canadian relations, and we would like to strengthen it. Therefore, our sides will work to expand the scope of the bilateral free trade area agreement to services and investments,” he said in Toronto on Tuesday at a joint briefing with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after their meeting.
Zelensky said that in the near future these agreements will be translated into documents.
“This means that Ukrainian IT specialists and entrepreneurs from different industries will be able to better cooperate with Canada without leaving Ukraine. This means more jobs, better relations between our countries,” he said.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko held a meeting with newly elected President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro in Davos (Switzerland), where the World Economic Forum is taking place. During the meeting the two presidents pointed out the importance of resuming large-scale cooperation in all sectors of mutual interest.
“The parties discussed prospects of intensification of trade and economic cooperation, first of all in the military-technical, investment, energy, scientific-technical and other spheres. It was also agreed to hold a regular meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation in the near future,” the press service of the Ukrainian head of state reported on Thursday.
The parties confirmed interest in restarting a number of industrial, energy, infrastructure and other projects suspended by the previous administration of Brazil.
“The parties stand for the need to increase the level of coordination between the two countries in the framework of international organizations, first of all the United Nations. The President of Brazil supported the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” the press service said.
Poroshenko invited Bolsonaro to visit Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will meet with Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein Alois on Wednesday. The prince is on an official visit to Ukraine at the invitation of the head of state. “During the talks, they plan to discuss the intensification of Ukrainian-Liechtenstein political dialogue, Liechtenstein’s support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, as well as the intensification of trade and economic cooperation, taking into account free trade opportunities as part of the European Free Trade Association,” the presidential press service said.
The prince will also visit Lviv. “This visit will be the first visit by a high representative of Liechtenstein since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two states,” the report said.
