Laude Group, a Polish logistics operator, has transferred EUR100m worth of assets from Russia and Central Asian countries to Ukraine; the company plans to invest another EUR250m in an economic exchange program between Ukraine and the EU, Laude’s press service said.
“Laude Group is expanding its potential in Ukraine. The logistics company from Torun (Poland) has transferred its assets worth EUR100 mln to Ukraine over the past few months. These are all assets that were previously located in Russia and Central Asian countries,” the statement said.
It is noted that among other things, the move included 510 specialized railway platforms and several thousand containers, which are actively used to transport products from Ukraine to Europe.
The company plans to increase investments in Ukraine by purchasing locomotives, railcars and containers.
“We decided to implement an investment program worth about EUR250 million aimed at economic exchange between Europe and Ukraine. Railroads here are a key element for both exports and imports and the company is an important operator,” the statement quoted the company’s CEO Marcin Witczak as saying.
Laude said it received approval for cooperation with Ukrzaliznytsia JSC in May after a thorough and lengthy review. “This is a key agreement which means that we are very closely linked to the Ukrainian market,” commented Vitchak.
At the same time, Laude’s development plans go further than expanding its logistics systems. “There are many specialists from Ukraine among the company’s several hundred employees. We are working on a training program for machinists from Ukraine,” said the CEO of the company.
Laude emphasized that it did not stop operations in Ukraine after the full-scale invasion. The company stopped operations in russia. “According to the legislation in force in this country, Laude must obtain a decision from the Russian authorities that confirms the sale of the company, which previously operated in the Russian market. Although the Russian government is not seeking to facilitate the transaction for Polish entrepreneurs, the company hopes to finalize the process and achieve de-registration in the coming weeks,” Witczak said.
In its logistics operations, Smart Intermodal, a member of the group, uses a modern rail terminal in Zamoscie, located on both wide and narrow “European” rail lines and adapted for handling and transshipment of cargo (containers) through the Izow-Grubieszów border crossing (located 60 km from the terminal). Laude’s terminal in Zamoscie can handle 10 trains per day and up to 15 thousand TEU of containers per year.
Laude Group of Companies belongs to one of the largest importers of steel from Ukraine to the EU, ATS S.A. Laude is active on international markets through its companies, connecting eastern and western transportation routes through Poland. The company’s activities over the last 15 years have been carried out in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova (formerly in the Russian Federation). The company cooperates with contractors from Turkey, China, India. During the last years it has been actively investing in the development of Laude in Germany.
As of June 30, 2023, 4 million 65.6 thousand non-EU citizens who fled Ukraine as a result of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, had temporary protection status in the EU, Eurostat reports.
“Compared to the end of May 2023, the number of recipients of temporary protection from Ukraine increased in the EU by 45,800 people (+1.1%). The largest increase was observed in Germany (+21,830; +2.0%), the Czech Republic (+9,050; +2.7%) and Ireland (+3,100; +3.7%),” the statistical agency said.
According to its data, the main EU countries hosting recipients of temporary protection from Ukraine were Germany (1 million 133.4 thousand people; 28% of the total), Poland (977.74 thousand people; 24%) and the Czech Republic (349.14 thousand people; 9%).
On the other hand, Eurostat added, four countries saw a decrease in the number of persons enjoying temporary protection: Poland (-4,700; -0.5%), Portugal (-2,520; -4%), Estonia (-1,885; -5%) and France (-985; -1%).
The agency recalled that in May the number of recipients of temporary protection from Ukraine increased by 57.3 thousand people (+1.4%) in the EU, and in April – by 51.0 thousand (+1.3%). In all three months of the second quarter, the largest increase was observed in Germany – a total of 65.7 thousand people, followed by the Czech Republic – 23.9 thousand, while Poland was the leader in the reduction in all three months, by 22.0 thousand.
In general, in the second quarter of this year, the number of recipients of temporary protection from Ukraine increased in the EU by 154.1 thousand (+3.9%), and in the first half of the year – by 239.0 thousand (+6.2%). The main inflow was provided by Germany – 165.7 thousand people for the first half of the year (+17.1%).
Eurostat clarified that, compared to the population of each EU member state, the largest number of temporary protection beneficiaries per thousand people in June 2023 was observed in the Czech Republic (32.2), Poland (26.6), Estonia (25.8), Bulgaria (24.9) and Lithuania (24.7), while the corresponding figure at the EU level was 9.1 per thousand people.
It is also said that as of June 30, 2023, Ukrainian citizens accounted for more than 98% of the beneficiaries of temporary protection.
According to the data provided, more than 100 thousand refugees from Ukraine with temporary protection status in the EU as of the middle of this year were also in Spain – 180.2 thousand, Bulgaria – 160.7 thousand, Italy – 157.3 thousand, Romania – 133.5 thousand, the Netherlands – 125.8 thousand and Slovakia – 104.0 thousand.
Between 50 thousand and 100 thousand of them were in Ireland – 86.9 thousand, Austria – 75.8 thousand, Lithuania – 70.7 thousand, Belgium – 67.7 thousand, France – 67.3 thousand (data on children are mostly not included – Eurostat), Switzerland – 65.2 thousand, Finland – 56.1 thousand and Portugal – 55.4 thousand.
Eurostat clarified that all the above data relate to the granting of temporary protection on the basis of EU Council Decision 2022/382 of March 4, 2022, which establishes the existence of a massive influx of displaced persons from Ukraine due to Russia’s military invasion and entails the introduction of temporary protection.
According to the UN, a total of 5.88 million refugees from Ukraine were registered in Europe as of August 8, and 6.24 million worldwide.
Ukrainian corn is in stable demand from a number of EU countries, which due to the abnormal heat will not receive their own corn crop, said the analytical cooperative “Pusk”, established within the framework of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Rada (VAR).
“Ukraine exported about 1.2 million tons in July, but the off-season is coming, and only 0.5 million tons are contracted for August,” analysts said at a weekly briefing on Tuesday.
According to their information, the European market is seeing stable small demand from Italy and Spain, where the heat wave of up to 45℃ persists. Also, high temperatures in France are not conducive to the formation of corn crop, the country may not get its own crop. Some importers are buying grain corn now, as there are concerns about the supply of European corn.
The conditional average price of corn is around 175-185 EUR/ton and no significant changes in the market are expected in the near term. The new corn crop is indicatively priced at 150-160 EUR/tonne with delivery in October, but no forward contracts have been signed, experts said.
“It can be predicted that from the second half of August the market will activate,” predicted in “Pusk”.
The European Union has fully exempted imports of agricultural products from Moldova from duties and quotas, extending and expanding the current temporary preferential treatment.
“The extension and expansion of the (preferential) measures aims to further expand the existing trade flows from Moldova to the EU, and this will support the Moldovan economy,” said Hector Gomez Hernandez – Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism of Spain, which holds the presidency of the Council of the EU until the end of the year.
He emphasized that Thursday’s EU Council decision is particularly important given the ongoing military actions in Ukraine, as well as the fact that Moldova was granted EU candidate status a year ago.
Trade between the EU and Moldova is mostly liberalized under the 2014 Association Agreement. Duties were imposed on imports of only seven products to the EU: plums, table grapes, apples, tomatoes, garlic, cherries and grape juice. Introduced a year ago and valid until July 24, the preferential regime provides duty-free quotas for these products. The current decision suspends all remaining tariff rate quotas (TRQs) for one year.
The preferential treatment of imports from Moldova of the said products will entail a loss of EU customs revenues, but it will amount to about 0.3 million euros per year, so its impact on the Union budget will be “very limited,” the press release said.
The measures are expected to help Moldova further reorient its exports to the EU. Overall, its volume is set to increase from €1.8 billion in 2021 to €2.6 billion in 2022.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the EU member states are allocating more than EUR 400 million for the restoration of Ukraine, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said on Thursday evening.
“The EIB and EU Member States are providing over EUR 400 million for the reconstruction of Ukraine. This will help fund the most urgent reconstruction projects for Ukrainians, including critical infrastructure. Grateful to the partners for the quick and timely assistance!” he said on Twitter.
EIB, EU, RESTORATION
Ukraine’s progress in implementing the reforms required for EU membership is impressive, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said.
“The speed at which Ukraine is pursuing EU membership (…) is excellent, impressive. It is an achievement-based process and we see with what enthusiasm and intensity Ukraine is reforming and moving rapidly towards EU membership,” the EC chief told reporters in Vilnius.
“I firmly believe that if they continue in the same spirit, they will soon succeed,” she added.
Von der Leyen will take part in a meeting with leaders and partners of the North Atlantic Alliance on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius.
