Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk will visit Germany on June 1-3.
“I am going to advocate granting Ukraine the status of an EU candidate country! …My first stop is Berlin. Many meetings with German parliamentarians and officials are planned on June 1-3,” Stefanchuk wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.
The Speaker of the Parliament expressed confidence that Germany’s support for the decision to grant Ukraine the status of a candidate country for EU membership “will further unite our states and peoples.”
According to Stefanchuk, Ukraine should be granted the status of an EU candidate country in June.
Retail sales in Germany fell by 5.4% in April compared to the previous month, according to the country’s Federal Statistical Agency (Destatis).
The rate of decline was the highest in the last year. Analysts polled by Trading Economics had, on average, expected a much smaller decline of 0.2%.
In March, the indicator decreased by 0.1%.
The reason for the accelerated decline in sales, experts say inflation, which has a negative impact on consumer spending. Food sales fell a record 7.7% last month. Sales of non-food products decreased by 4.4%, including clothing and footwear – by 4.3%.
Meanwhile, online and mail-order sales increased by 5.4%.
Retail sales in Germany in April compared to the same month last year decreased by 0.4% (after a decrease of 2.7% in March). Experts predicted growth by 4%.
Prices for goods imported into Germany jumped 31.7% in April, a record pace since the 1974 oil crisis, according to the country’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
In particular, the cost of energy imports soared 2.5 times (157.4%) in annual terms, including natural gas increased in price four times, oil – almost 1.8 times (77.5%). Excluding energy carriers, import prices increased by 27.6%.
Among other categories of goods, the most impressive growth was recorded by prices for fertilizers and nitrogen (by 2.9 times), aluminum (by 1.8 times), iron, steel and ferroalloys (by 1.6 times). Imported plastic rose in price by 27.7%, machinery – by 7.9%, cars and auto parts – by 5.7%.
The cost of foreign purchases of food products increased by 20.7%, including coffee – by 68.6%, cereals – by 55.8%.
Compared to March, prices for imported goods increased by 1.8%.
German Ambassador to Ukraine Anka Feldhusen discussed with Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko the provision of further financial assistance to Ukraine.
“I discussed with Finance Minister Serhiy Merchenko the current state of the financial sector and the provision of grant (1 billion euros) assistance to Ukraine from Germany. I am glad for close cooperation between the ministries of finance of our countries,” Feldhusen wrote on Twitter on Sunday.
The German Ministry of Health has decided to cancel anti-COVID restrictions for travelers to the country from June 1, the order will be valid until the end of August, the Tagesschau portal reports.
“Due to the decrease in the number of people infected with coronavirus, Germany from June 1 suspends the requirement from travelers for a digital covid certificate upon entry until the end of August,” the newspaper writes.
According to the portal, tourists during this period will not need any documents confirming vaccination, a negative test result or a coronavirus.
At the same time, travelers arriving in Germany from countries with common new strains of COVID 19 will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine even if they are vaccinated or have a certificate of illness.
Meanwhile, the head of the German Ministry of Health, Karl Lauterbach, stressed that so far no country has been identified as a zone with virus variants.
The GTS Operator of Ukraine (OGTSU) and NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy have sent an appeal to the German Ministry of Economy and the BNetzA regulator to suspend the previously granted exemptions in the legislation for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, head of the Ukrainian operator Serhiy Makogon said in a statement. TV on Friday.
He noted that the exceptions granted by JS1 were based on the fact that this gas pipeline would contribute to strengthening the security of gas supplies to Europe, the principles of market competition and the energy solidarity of the continent.
“But we see that Russia completely violates such principles. We know that they created an artificial gas deficit last year, that they unilaterally insist on paying for gas in rubles, that Russia unilaterally suspended gas supplies to Poland, Bulgaria and Finland,” Makogon recalled.
In addition, the Russian Federation seized part of the territories of Ukraine, where gas transportation infrastructure facilities are located.
“Therefore, we see that the grounds on which these exemptions for SP1 were given no longer correspond to reality. We suggest that the German government review these exemptions and actually suspend or significantly limit gas supplies to Europe through SP1,” he said.
According to the head of the OGTSU, if such a decision is made, European consumers will not suffer, since there are enough free capacities for the transit of Russian gas to the EU, incl. through the GTS of Ukraine.
Makogon recalled that it is possible to pump gas through the Sudzha gas measuring station in the amount of 244 million cubic meters. m per day with the current use of this route is about 45 million cubic meters. m.
As reported, in May 2020, the German Federal Grid Agency granted the Nord Stream gas pipeline the opportunity to derogate from the application of the main provisions of the EU Gas Directive. The adopted decision on derogation is valid for 20 years and began its effect retroactively from December 12, 2019.
When reviewing the application, the regulator noted that the gas pipeline contributed to the security of supply and did not harm competition in the European internal gas market.
Trans-Baltic gas pipeline with a length of 1224 km with a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters. m per year was introduced in November 2011.
