President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, once again says that the time frame for the start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union depends on the implementation of the necessary reforms.
She said at a press conference in Tallinn on Friday, answering a question from journalists that the entry process is a process that is evaluated on merit, and depends on the candidate country. And it’s amazing, according to her, to see Ukraine’s commitment to go through this process with incredible speed. She added that Ukrainians need to do a lot more, and it is impressive to see how they, fighting in the war, achieve results.
According to her, such results also indicate the functioning of the administration and an extremely high level of digitalization of the state administration, which is very impressive. Von der Leyen explained that it is in the hands of Ukrainians how they reform, how they improve the status of their country, and the European Commission supports them in it. She said that it is impressive to see Ukraine’s strong desire to join the EU, the desire to thoroughly reform their country at a time when they are fighting the aggressor. It’s in their hands, she added. Regarding the process, she announced that the European Union will have an oral presentation to the Member States in the spring of the progress achieved, but more important is the report in the fall, which will include all the candidate countries and their progress over the year.
The Swedish presidency of the European Council officially announces the adoption of the tenth package of sanctions for Russia.
“A year has passed since Russia’s brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine. Today the EU approved the 10th package of sanctions against Russia,” the presidency’s official Twitter page said.
It specifies that the package includes, for example, tougher export restrictions on dual-use and technology, targeted restrictive measures against individuals and entities that support the war, spread propaganda or deliver drones used by Russia in the war, and measures against Russian disinformation.
“Together, EU member states have imposed the most decisive and far-reaching sanctions in history to help Ukraine win the war. The EU is one with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. We will support Ukraine for as long as it takes,” it said.
Ukraine belongs to the EU family, European culture and civilization and will definitely be a member of the European Union, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said.
“Ukraine belongs to the EU family and will be a member of the European Union. That’s for sure. After all that has happened, after the bombing and killing by Russia. The way they are coping. Ukraine’s future is in the EU. It will oblige us to change our procedural rules. It will change the size and diversity of Europe. Because if Ukraine becomes a member, many Balkan countries will want to do the same,” he said at the Munich Security Conference Sunday morning.
Borrell added that “the first homework assignment is to change the way we work.” At the same time, he stressed. that even before the war, Ukraine had numerous problems and the EU supported the country by investing in political and economic development.
The high representative of the European Union expressed confidence that Ukraine would cope with all the reforms quickly and the EU should support it. According to Borrell, the European Commission “has never before worked so fast.”
“Ukraine is a member of the EU, of the European family, of culture, of European civilization. It just has to be institutionalized. They have to do their homework, we have to help them. And we will prepare ourselves to take Ukraine to us,” Borrell said.
Ukrainians since January 31, the moment of start of the program on exchange of incandescent lamps on LED-lamps, received in “Ukrposhta” the first million of bulbs.
As the company reported in the press release on Saturday, thanks to the EU support the first 4 million bulbs were delivered to regional centers and major cities of the country, residents of Kyiv have already exchanged more than 162 thousand bulbs, residents of Kharkiv – more than 80 thousand, 88 thousand – Dnipro and 69 thousand – Lviv residents.
“The statistics we see are mainly people who came to the branches of “Ukrposhta” without pre-registration. Of course, during the week more people wished to exchange lamps: those who registered in “Diya” only from Wednesday began to receive confirmation of the exchange, some have already managed to come to the branch, and some will receive the lamps next week”, – described the situation by the general director of “Ukrposhta”. Igor Smelyansky.
He noted that next week it will be possible to exchange lamps in the branches of “Ukrposhta” in all cities, not only in the regional centers.
The company said that next week 6 million more bulbs will be available in the cities of district importance, and by the end of February due to the mobile branches of “Ukrposhta” the bulbs should go to the rural areas.
“Thus, at the first stage the citizens of Ukraine in the next month and a half will be able to exchange up to 20 million bulbs” – the company predicts.
According to previously announced estimates, the exchange of incandescent bulbs for 50 million LED-lamps will allow for a shortfall of about 1 GW. The EU will provide Ukraine with 30 billion bulbs, and another 5 million bulbs are expected from France.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced that Ukraine will join the EU’s key programs.
“We are including Ukraine in a number of key EU programs. Ukraine is joining now or later that year to the single market program, we just signed this, the program in justice, civil. Very soon you will be able to apply for funding by describing different types of projects. This means more support for small businesses within the single market in Ukraine,” she said at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Denis Shmygal in Kiev.
Speaking about the program in the field of justice, von der Leyen noted that Ukrainian lawyers would be able to take part in various projects. Thus, the specialists from the EU and Ukraine will be able to build a long-term partnership.
According to her words, Ukraine will not be charged any fees for the participation in the programs.
Besides, the EU will open a Horizon Europe Program Office in Kiev by mid-year, which will promote EU funding opportunities, offer technical support to Ukrainian researchers and innovators and strengthen ties between Ukrainian and European institutions.
A 15-point roadmap for Ukraine’s access to the EU internal market was also agreed upon.
In addition, in the area of roaming, an agreement was signed on a six-month extension of voluntary measures by EU and Ukrainian operators on free calls between the EU and Ukraine.
The agricultural holding A.G.R. Group and the grain trading company MK Merchants S.A. of businessman Misak Khidiryan, with the start of a full-scale Russian invasion, reoriented the logistics of agricultural products from Ukrainian seaports to road and rail transportation across the border with the EU, as well as to the Ukrainian river ports of Reni and Izmail.
However, even after the end of the war, the de-occupation of the territory of Ukraine and the complete removal of the trade blockade from its seaports, the companies will continue to export part of the grain to the European direction, their owner Misak Khidiryan said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
He also clarified that his holding is looking for opportunities to reduce the logistics shoulder and more convenient export of agricultural products to the EU, and therefore is interested in buying granaries and agricultural enterprises in western Ukraine. At the same time, Khidiryan stressed that at present, the logistics of agricultural products from Ukraine are hindered by the insufficient capacity of the European railway infrastructure and artificial delays in the operation of the maritime “grain corridor” by Russian inspectors.
“After all, the European railway is not capable of transporting the volumes of grain needed by Ukraine, and not only grain. In order to fully use the European infrastructure for export, it is necessary to open additional railway and road border crossings on the border with Ukraine, and, of course, build a European gauge in our country,” the owner of A.G.R. Group emphasized.
“We are also actively exporting along the grain corridor. Frankly, this is a risky option due to long queues, delays in grain truck inspections from the Russian side, and generally very slow operation. But, given the current situation with the cost of logistics during the war, I think grain corridor is a good opportunity,” he stated.
In addition, Khidiryan noted the dubious economic feasibility of exporting agricultural products to Asian and African countries through EU seaports, to which it is transported from Ukraine by road and rail. According to him, the cost of transshipment and reloading of products along this route reaches 50-60% of the total cost of grain, which makes this method of export unprofitable for farmers. Thus, the export of agricultural products to the EU can only be beneficial for export to end consumers in the EU.
In turn, CEO of A.G.R. Group Ihor Shestopalov noted that since the beginning of the war, his holding company has exported almost 55,000 tonnes of agricultural products, while the grain trader MK Merchants ships an average of 8-10 ships with agricultural products through the river ports of Izmail and Reni every month.
“Soybean, rapeseed, barley, wheat, corn, sunflower, buckwheat – we are considering all possible markets for products in the EU, Turkey, Egypt, and Nepal. Since the beginning of a full-scale invasion, we have exported almost 55,000 tonnes. Our partners from MK Merchants are transporting grain through river ports of Izmail and Reni, shipping an average of 8-10 vessels per month,” he said.
In the holding A.G.R. Group includes more than 20 companies. The main direction of its activity is the trade in agricultural products, the cultivation and storage of grain crops, as well as animal husbandry.
A.G.R. Group cultivates land in Poltava, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Mykolaiv and Sumy regions. All grown products are sold on foreign markets.
The holding’s president and head of its supervisory board is businessman Misak Khidiryan.
