In January-June of this year, the State Customs Service of Ukraine issued 80 certificates for the export of scrap metal to EU countries to enterprises dealing with ferrous scrap, according to the Ministry of Finance’s response to the letter of the Ukrainian Association of Secondary Metals (“UAVtormet”), dated July 23, 2022.
At the same time, the Ministry of Finance stated that the State Customs Service did not receive requests from subjects of foreign economic activity regarding problems in obtaining certificates.
In turn, “UAVtormet” sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance and the State Customs Service on June 20, 2022, a copy of which is in the possession of the “Interfax-Ukraine” agency, in which it pointed out the appeal of market participants regarding selectivity in the issuance of permits for export procedures, in particular, in the issuance of certificates for supply of scrap to the EU.
In the appeal of “UAVtormet” it was emphasized that the Ministry issued an order dated March 2, 2021 approving the procedure for issuing certificates. According to the Association, the procedure for obtaining a certificate is significantly complicated, it does not contain a complete list of necessary documents, and the procedure for a full or partial inspection of vehicles for product identification is used to delay the registration of export consignments.
UAVtormet believes that this creates corruption risks and causes financial losses to both the state and Ukrainian business.
The association asked the Ministry of Finance to hold an operational meeting on problematic issues in the export of scrap metal, with the involvement of experts from the ministry, the State Customs Service, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, “UAVtormet” and “UAVtormetresurs”.
As reported, Ukrainian enterprises in January-June of this year reduced the export of ferrous metal scrap eightfold compared to the same period last year – to 28.74 thousand tons, in monetary terms, the export of scrap metal decreased by 6.8 times – to $12.24 million.
Scrap metal was exported in January-June 2022 mainly to Turkey (61.35%), Poland (12.49%) and Germany (9.45%).
In 2021, Ukraine increased the export of scrap metal by 17.2 times compared to the previous year – up to 615.69 thousand tons. In monetary terms, the export of scrap metal increased 25.2 times to $238.90 million.
Ukrainian Association of Secondary Metals (“UAVtormet”), Ukrainian Association of Scrap Metal Exporters (UAEM) and “Ukrainian Association of Secondary Metals and Resources” (“UAVtormetresurs”) operate in Ukraine.
CERTIFICATES, EU, EXPORT, SCRAP METAL, STATE CUSTOMS SERVICE
The Council of the European Union has approved an earlier political decision to provide Ukraine with a new tranche of EUR500 million from the European Peace Fund to strengthen support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to protect the country’s territory from Russian aggression.
The corresponding decision was made on Friday in Brussels, according to the EU Council.
“Today, the Council approved two European Peace Fund (EPF) assistance measures aimed at strengthening EU support for the capabilities and resilience of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to protect the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as to protect the civilian population from ongoing Russian military aggression. Thanks to the 5th tranche of EUR500 million mobilized today, the EU contribution under the EPF for Ukraine will now amount to EUR2.5 billion.
Commenting on the decision, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said: “The EU remains focused and unwaveringly supporting Ukraine in its struggle for freedom and independence. Ukraine needs more weapons, we will provide them. In this context, Member States The EU agreed to mobilize the 5th tranche of military assistance in the amount of EUR500 million, which in total amounts to EUR2.5 billion of military equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
The press release details that, in line with the current priorities stated by the government of Ukraine and the support provided so far, the assistance measures include EUR490 million in military equipment designed to deliver lethal force for defensive purposes and EUR10 million intended to cover equipment deliveries. and for consumables such as personal protective equipment, first aid kits and fuel.
The Agrotrade agricultural holding has received a certificate allowing it to export soybeans to the EU countries. Initially, it is planned to sell 4,000 tons of soybeans from the last year’s crop residues.
As reported on the Facebook page of the agricultural holding on Thursday, the document guarantees the cultivation of non-GMO soybeans using fertilizers and chemicals permitted in Europe.
It is specified that the certification of exports to the EU was carried out by the Ukrainian certification body Organic Standard.
The Agrotrade group sowed 3.1 thousand hectares of soybeans this year, the harvest from which is also planned to be exported to the EU.
Previously, the company certified rapeseed for supplies to Europe.
The Agrotrade group of companies is a vertically integrated holding of a full agro-industrial cycle (production, processing, storage and trade in agricultural products). Processes more than 70 thousand hectares of land in Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava and Kharkov regions. Profile crops are sunflower, corn, winter wheat, soybeans and rapeseed. It has its own network of elevators with a one-time storage capacity of 570 thousand tons.
The group also produces hybrids of corn and sunflower seeds, barley, and winter wheat. On the basis of the seed farm “Kolos” (Kharkiv region) in 2014, a seed plant with a capacity of 20 thousand tons of seeds per year was built. In 2018, Agrotrade launched its own brand Agroseeds on the market.
The founder and CEO of Agrotrade is Vsevolod Kozhemyako.
The member states of the European Union have agreed to mobilize the fifth tranche of military assistance in the amount of EUR 500 million in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell.
“Participated at Ministerial Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting. EU Member States agreed to mobilise 5th tranche of military assistance of EUR 500 million to further support Ukraine‘s Armed Forces. EU remains focused & steadfast in its support for Ukraine, together w partners,” Borrell said on Twitter Wednesday evening.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine announced the extension of the “Roaming like at home” service for Ukrainian refugees in the EU countries.
“The joint statement of the mobile operators of Ukraine and the European Union is being extended. Ukrainians who are forced to leave for the EU countries will be able to continue calling their relatives at the prices of Ukrainian operators. The preliminary agreements were for three months. And from July, Ukrainians would have to switch to European tariffs. However, the European Commission called EU operators to extend support for Ukrainians,” the Ministry’s Telegram channel reported.
According to the Ministry of Digital Development, currently about 70 European operators provide Ukrainians with free roaming. From the Ukrainian side, the statement is supported by mobile operators Kyivstar, Vodafone Ukraine and lifecell.
The Ministry thanked the National Commission for State Regulation in the Fields of Electronic Communications, Radio Frequency Spectrum and Postal Services (NCEC), the European Commission and the Association of European Regulators in the Field of Electronic Communications (BEREC) for the efforts made to ensure that Ukrainians in the EU stay in touch with loved ones.
As reported earlier, the operators of Ukraine and the EU signed a joint declaration on coordinated efforts to ensure and stabilize affordable or free roaming and international calls between the EU and Ukraine.
At the time of publication, the declaration has been signed by 27 telecom operators in the EU and Ukraine, including several pan-European groups, as well as an association representing a number of virtual mobile operators (MVNOs in Europe), and is open to further signatories.
Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Annalena Berbock said that she supports the proposal of the European Commission to appoint a central coordinator represented by the EU, who will buy grain in Ukraine and rationally distribute its exports through existing logistics channels.
She made the corresponding statement on July 18 after visiting the Romanian port of Constanta, which transships significant volumes of agricultural raw materials from Ukraine under the blockade of Ukrainian seaports, according to the Spiegel website.
“We should think about whether to buy up all (Ukrainian – IF-U) grain, so that later we can distribute it logistically much faster,” the German minister was quoted as saying.
Burbock recalled that due to the Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports, Ukraine has accumulated 18 million tons of agricultural products ready for export. After four-party talks between Ukraine, the OO, Turkey and the Russian Federation, there is hope for the deblockade of Ukrainian export infrastructure in the Black Sea, but it is still important to look for alternative grain routes, for example, through Constanta.
As reported, on June 28, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved a draft agreement with the UN World Food Program (WFP) on the resumption of its office in the country, which will allow the organization, among other things, to purchase agricultural products from Ukrainian companies to carry out international humanitarian programs.
WFP is expected to participate in the purchase of agricultural and food products from Ukrainian companies for the needs of UN international humanitarian projects.
People’s Deputy Dmitry Solomchuk wrote in June that the uncertainty with the export of Ukrainian grain, leading to a global food crisis and rising food prices, can be resolved by buying last year’s and this year’s crops from Ukraine for a total of $30-35 billion through a specially created fund. This will contribute to the development of exports from the country and its internal processing in the agro-industrial complex, as well as provide the Ukrainian agricultural sector with working capital and the opportunity to continue working in the conditions of the military invasion of the Russian Federation.
