New head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, Armin Laschet, supports the idea of expanding the EU and giving Ukraine a “European perspective”, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk said on Twitter.
“We must support Ukraine in its difficult path and at the same time also open up a European perspective,” Melnyk quoted Laschet.
According to Melnyk in an interview with Hromadske Radio on Monday, this is the first promising prospect.
“The announcement of the a leader of the CDU is extremely important. This is a real breakthrough […] It is too early to rejoice, this is just a good start. Now we are starting to work even more actively so that new important steps emerge from this announcement,” Melnyk said.
According to him, Ukraine has good chances of EU membership.
“If we succeed in the near future […] to do more, to enlist the support of the entire CDU-CSU faction in the Bundestag, as well as other influential members of this party, then we, generally, have good chances that the topic of Ukraine’s membership will sound more weighty in context of the elections to the Bundestag, which will be held in September this year,” the ambassador said.
At the same time, Melnyk said that the military conflict in Donbas influences European integration very strongly, and while it continues, there is no talk of membership [of Ukraine in the EU]
“Of course it does. And it affects very negatively. And this is precisely where, among other things, all the cynicism of this war unleashed by Russia lies. Since all the resources of Germany, more precisely, almost all the resources of Germany, which, as you know, acts as a mediator in ending the war, cessation of Russian aggression. They have so far focused primarily on a peaceful settlement in Donbas and on the reintegration of these territories. Therefore, as long as the conflict continues, as long as this war continues, it was impossible to talk about membership, because the main issue for the political establishment of Germany was the war,” the ambassador said.
He also said that, first, the issue of ending the war has to be resolved, and only then other possible projects will be discussed, including issues of European integration in the sense that it is enshrined in the Ukrainian Constitution.
The European Union has approved a humanitarian budget of EUR 1.4 billion, of which EUR 28 million will be allocated to finance projects to overcome the crisis caused by coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and climate change in Ukraine, the Western Balkans and the Caucasus. The relevant information was circulated by the European Commission in Brussels on Tuesday. “As global humanitarian needs worsen further due to the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and the effects of climate change, the European Commission has adopted its initial annual humanitarian budget of EUR 1.4 billion for 2021. This represents an increase of more than 60% compared with the initial humanitarian budget of EUR 900 million adopted last year,” the commission said in a press release.
In addition, EUR 505 million will be allocated to Africa to support people affected by the long-term Lake Chad Basin crisis, impacting Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, and Chad; those suffering from food and nutrition crisis, worsened by security incidents and community conflicts, in the Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger); and those displaced by armed conflicts in South Sudan, Central African Republic and Horn Of Africa (Somalia and Ethiopia).
Some EUR 385 million of EU humanitarian funding will be allocated to the needs in the Middle East and Turkey to help those affected by the Syria regional crisis, as well as the extremely severe situation in Yemen. Some EUR 180 million in humanitarian assistance will continue to help the most vulnerable populations in Asia and Latin America. In Latin America, this includes those affected by the crises in Venezuela and Colombia.
“The European Union will also continue to provide help in Asian countries such as Afghanistan, where the conflict has been qualified as one of the deadliest conflicts worldwide, and Bangladesh, which is currently hosting almost one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. The EU will also allocate EUR 28 million to fund projects addressing crises in Ukraine, Western Balkans and the Caucasus,” the commission said in the statement.
The rest of the funding, EUR 302 million, will be used for EU humanitarian air services and for unforeseen humanitarian crises or sudden peaks in existing crises.
Imports of poultry meat from Ukraine into the EU countries (hereinafter excluding the United Kingdom) decreased in January-November 2020 by 18.1% compared to the same period in 2019, to 100,880 tonnes, however, the country retained the third place among top three exporters in this segment, according to a report on the website of the European Commission with reference to Eurostat.
According to it, in general, imports of these products into the EU for 11 months of 2020 amounted to 479,000 tonnes, which is 14.3% less than in 11 months of 2019.
Among other large exporters, Brazil reduced imports of poultry meat into the EU by 3.9%, to 213,010 tonnes, Thailand by 24.1%, to 124,520 tonnes, and China by 25.7%, to 15,430 tonnes.
Imports of poultry meat from the EU into Ukraine in January-November 2020 amounted to 134,740 tonnes, decreasing compared to the same period in 2019 by the same 18.1%. According to this indicator, Ukraine also ranked third.
In general, exports of these products from the EU decreased by 4%, to 1.590 million tonnes.
According to the report, in 2020, poultry meat production in the EU is expected to decrease by 2%, to 13.23 million tonnes, and consumption by 1.6%, to 12.43 million tonnes. The largest producers are Poland (19%), Spain (13%), France (12%), Germany (12%), Italy (10%) and the Netherlands (8%).
The European Commission said that the United Kingdom in January-September imported 478,660 tonnes of poultry meat, and exported 658,930 tonnes.
As the State Customs Service of Ukraine said, in 2020, exports of poultry meat from Ukraine in quantity terms increased by 4%, to 431,000 tonnes, while in monetary terms it decreased by 4.1%, to $555 million.
The Zhytomyr and Lutsk border detachments each received one Landini 5-120 tractor and one Rinieri TRK 200 branch chopper for a total value of more than EUR 100,000.
According to the press service of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, on the eve of the new year, assistance was received from Excelor Holding Group (LLC) as part of the implementation of a joint international technical assistance project with the European Union for provision of equipment for ensuring security and demarcation of the state border between Belarus and Ukraine, vehicles and equipment for border demarcation work.
The technical assistance will be used to carry out demarcation works and engineering arrangement of the Ukrainian-Belarusian section of the border.
DTEK is interested in purchasing new power grid assets in Ukraine and EU countries, CEO of the company Maksym Timchenko has said.
“I believe that all DTEK’s business, in one way or another, are related to how successfully DTEK Grids will develop […] In our long-term strategy, we are talking about expanding the portfolio of assets, we are ready to further participate in the acquisition of grid companies both in Ukraine and beyond,” he said when presenting DTEK’s new strategy until 2030.
As reported, the operating holding DTEK Grids is engaged in the distribution of electricity in Kyiv city, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kyiv and Odesa regions.
DTEK was established in 2005 to manage the energy assets of the System Capital Management Group (SCM, Donetsk) of Rinat Akhmetov. The functions of strategic management of the enterprises of the group that make up the vertically integrated chain for the extraction and enrichment of coal, production and sale of electricity were delegated the holding.
ASSETS, DTEK, EU, POWER GRID
The gradual approximation of the regulatory environment and digital development of Ukraine to the level of the European Union as part of integration into the EU Digital Single Market will affect the productivity and economic growth of the country, according to a Tuesday statement on the website of the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
The study entitled “Ukraine’s integration into the EU Digital Single Market: potential economic benefits” was carried out by the Trade+ Center for International Trade Analysis at the Kyiv School of Economics and NGO Ukrainian Center for European Policy and was ordered by the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
The results of the study contain expert assessments and real calculations of the potential profit for the country’s economy from integration into the EU Digital Single Market.
According to the study, the gradual approximation of the regulatory environment and digital development of Ukraine to the EU level within the framework of integration into the EU Digital Single Market will influence bilateral trade: an increase in exports of goods from Ukraine to the EU is expected by 11.8%-17% ($2.4-3.4 billion), services – by 7.6%-12.2% ($302.5-485.5 million).
It will also impact the productivity and economic growth of Ukraine: GDP growth in Ukraine is expected at the level of 2.4-12.1% ($3.1-15.8 billion), the welfare of citizens – by 3.6-7.8%.
It is also expected that the export of goods from the EU to Ukraine will grow by 17.7-21.7% ($4.1-5 billion), and services by 5.7-9.1% to ($191-305 million).
According to the study, an increase in the level of digitalization by 1% will lead to an increase in Ukraine’s GDP by 0.42%.
“Various scenarios of integration into the EU Digital Single Market show that the size of potential benefits will depend on the scale of regulatory and digital transformations in Ukraine. The faster and more efficiently we implement the necessary transformations, the faster we will be able to realize the benefits of integration into the EU Digital Single Market,” Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation for European Integration Valeria Ionan said.
According to the study, the main economic benefits for Ukraine from integration into the EU Digital Single Market are: reduction of transaction and trade costs in trade in goods and services between the EU and Ukraine; growth of business efficiency, economic productivity and GDP of Ukraine; growing well-being of citizens of Ukraine and the EU: better access and lower prices for digital innovative goods and services, consumer protection; development of innovative products and services of digital infrastructure.
In addition, bringing Ukraine’s legislation and standards closer to EU legislation and standards will reduce regulatory differences between Ukraine and the EU in the digital sphere and accelerate Ukraine’s digital development.
