Germany will support Ukraine’s agricultural sector by the end of this year providing EUR 9 million to buy generators and help restore war-affected farms, while the countries are coordinating a joint EUR 5 million project to develop Ukrainian horticulture.
According to the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food on Friday, the German Minister of Agriculture Cem Ozdemir and the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture Mykola Solskyi have agreed on the financial aid.
According to the department, Solskyy said that the project is very relevant to Ukraine on the background of the government program, which provides an opportunity to receive a grant for the development of their own horticulture, berry growing and viticulture, and which enjoys great popularity among farmers. Thus, during the five months since its launch grants for more than 240 million UAH have been agreed upon.
In addition, the ministers discussed enhancing cooperation on the Grain from Ukraine food initiative, within the framework of which the United States through its Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide up to $20 million. Solskyy also thanked Germany for being one of the first countries that joined this humanitarian program and funded the transportation of a shipload of grain from Ukraine to Ethiopia.
“Many countries have indicated that they are willing to participate in this program. This is important because of several aspects. First, it is right from the point of view of humanitarian relations in the world. Secondly, Africa needs to know who really cares about it, and because of the actions of which country they are suffering. We are working to make sure that the grain corridor continues to work as long as possible so that we can get our food to where it is needed all the time. And, of course, we will be grateful for the continued support of our partners,” the Ministry of Agrarian Policy quoted Solskyi as saying.
The Republic of Korea will provide Ukraine with high-power generators, First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Alexander Kornienko said in Seoul, according to the website of the Ukrainian parliament.
The website of the Verkhovna Rada also quotes the Ambassador of Ukraine in the Republic of Korea Dmytro Ponomarenko: “It has been agreed with the Korean side to transfer 20 generators rated 450-500 kW and five mini-excavators DOOSAN DX17 as humanitarian aid to Ukraine. It is planned to deliver the generators by charter flight on December 12 of the current year. Also in December it is planned to charter a ship for transportation of excavators but a specific date has not been defined yet”.
Kornienko emphasized that Ukraine very much appreciates “the support that Korea has already provided and the support that it plans to provide!”
The first vice-speaker of the Verkhovna Rada heads the parliamentary delegation, which is on a working visit to South Korea on November 24-26.
The Cabinet of Ministers, at a meeting on November 16, 2022, adopted a resolution simplifying the import of generators and other power equipment to Ukraine.
“The new regulation on importation into the customs territory of Ukraine temporarily (until the termination or cancellation of martial law and for the next 90 calendar days) provides for not applying to such goods the requirement for a declaration of conformity and marking with a mark of compliance with technical regulations,” the Ministry’s website says. economy on Thursday.
The document complements six previous Cabinet of Ministers resolutions on the approval of certain technical regulations, the effect of which may apply to the relevant goods.
“The adoption of the resolution will help to meet the needs of the domestic market with equipment for the restoration and stabilization of electricity and gas supply to consumers, which is caused by challenges in the energy sector in the context of martial law in Ukraine,” explained First Vice Prime Minister – Minister of Economy Yulia Sviridenko, whose words given on the site.
Earlier, the Cabinet of Ministers exempted generators, batteries and other equipment from import duties and VAT, helping to improve energy supply.
“However, at customs, importers faced problems with clearance of such goods. The current resolution should eliminate these inconsistencies,” the Ministry of Economy stressed.
Agricultural company Grain Alliance (Sweden) with assets in Ukraine has purchased and installed four diesel electric generators with a total capacity of 1.7 MW at Piryatynskyi elevator in Poltava region, which will enable the company to ensure continuous operation during prolonged power outages.
As reported on the company website on Wednesday, thanks to its own power generation the enterprise works productively despite the difficulties with electricity in Ukraine: as of the morning of November 7, the granary with the total capacity of 100 thousand tons has stored almost 20 thousand tons of corn, over 23 thousand tons of soybeans and 1.5 thousand tons of sunflower.
“We installed and connected all four generators promptly almost on the day of receipt, despite the weather or other technical conditions. The cumulative capacity produced by the new elevators is 1.7 MW. Thus, the division has ensured its energy independence in order to meet the set production objectives to the end,” Grain Alliance quotes Piryatynsky elevator director Oleksandr Gavrilenko as saying.
Silos with a total capacity of up to 100 tons of agricultural products are installed on Piryatynsky granary: six silos of 8 tons each produced by “Lubnymash”, 4 silos of 12 tons by “Option Agro Bud” and two silos of 5 tons by KMZ Industries.
In total, Grain Alliance has six granaries in Ukraine with a total capacity of over 260 thousand tons.
Before war, the agricultural holding farmed 57 thousand hectares in Kyiv, Poltava, Chernigov and Cherkassy regions, grew over 300 thousand tons of grains and oilseeds a year, and owned more than a thousand head of cattle.
The founders of Harvest Moon East LLC (Baryshevka village, Kyiv region) and BZK Grain Alliance (Sweden) created a joint company, Grain Alliance, in 2009.
The Cabinet of Ministers has exempted generators, transformers and other goods important for the heating season from VAT and import duties, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said.
“Today the Cabinet of Ministers will approve a resolution, thanks to which important goods for the passage of this heating season will be exempt from payment of VAT and import duty,” Shmygal said at a government meeting on Tuesday.
These include gas generators, electric motors and generators, electric generating sets and rotating electrical converters, transformers, electric batteries, electric water heaters and heaters, and some other energy and heat supply goods.
“This is important to speed up repairs now, improve light and heat supply, meet public demand and reduce prices of related products,” he added.
Ukraine has already received 700 generators from donors and another 900 will be delivered soon, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said.
“We are preparing for any scenario. We are stockpiling equipment for emergency power generation,” he said at a government meeting Friday.
The prime minister said a coordination meeting was held Nov. 3 with UN agencies and USAID. “We talked about preparations for winter. We have already received 700 generators from donors. Another 900 will be delivered from them in the near future,” the prime minister said.
