The COVID-19 crisis has taken a heavy toll on human life, as well as damaged economies and livelihoods. Vaccines have emerged as the best way to ensure not only public health security, but also restore economic sectors affected by the crisis. In this context, the Government of Ukraine had reached out to the Government of India for support.
Given India and Ukraine’s multifaceted and strong bilateral relations, the Embassy of India in Ukraine, with the support of the Government of India, has facilitated the supply of vaccines to Ukraine in February, in order to initiate Ukraine’s public vaccination drive. Ukraine is one of the early countries to receive vaccine from India in February.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a personal request to Prime Minister Modi. In addition, sustained efforts by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine in collaboration with the Ambassador of India in Ukraine Partha Satpathy have ensured that necessary agreements and permissions could be concluded on time for supply the first tranche of vaccines- 500,000 doses of Astra-Zeneca and Serum Institute of India developed COVISHIELD vaccine.
Going forward, larger quantities of Made in India vaccines are expected to be supplied as production is ramped up in India. There is regular contact between the Governments of Ukraine and India, and with vaccine manufacturers, to secure more vaccines for Ukraine. This supply of vaccine is another exemplar of the major role played by Indian pharmaceutical industry in ensuring the health security of Ukraine.
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Ambassador’s meeting with Health Minister Maksym Stepanov
India may soon make a big economic leap and Ukraine should develop relations with it more, Kost Bondarenko, the head of the Ukrainian Policy Foundation, political scientist and historian, has said.
“India, as a future superstate, which within the next ten years could make a very serious economic leap – and it already demonstrates a large number of points that can form the basis of its development – should also be of interest to Ukraine,” Bondarenko said at a press conference entitled “Eastern Vector of Ukrainian Diplomacy” at the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
In turn, international political scientist Anton Kuchukhidze pointed out that Turkey is a promising direction for Ukraine.
“I think that Turkey can become for Ukraine not only a good trade partner in terms of trade, which is not fully formed and its potential is not fully used. Turkey is considered the largest hub in Asia not only for Asia, but also for Africa. Taking into account the level of bilateral cooperation of Turkey both in Asia and in Africa, I think that this could be a good bridge for Ukraine, for building economic ties with African states,” he explained.
The expert also stressed the need to create a number of forums, such as “Ukraine-Central Asia,” “Ukraine-Asian-Pacific Region,” “Ukraine-Islamic World.”
“Through such stable forums for dialogue, it would be possible to advance the economic agenda,” Kuchukhidze added.
At the same time, Bondarenko noted that both the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine and the President’s Office have an understanding of the need to establish bilateral or multilateral relations between Ukraine and Asian states.
“The last visit of the president of Ukraine to the United Arab Emirates gave rise to a discussion on where and what the interests of Ukraine in this region are. But this region is not limited to only the United Arab Emirates,” he said.
Bondarenko stressed that for 30 years in Ukraine there has been an imbalance towards relations with the West.
“I think that Zelensky’s visit to the UAE and the fact that a big eastern trip is now expected (at least, a trip to the countries of the East has been announced) can break the situation of imbalance that we have observed over the past years, and possibly decades,” he said.
In addition, the expert drew attention to the need to revise the false, in his opinion, policy of delimiting the activities of Ukrainian diplomatic missions and trade and economic missions, which each work in isolation from each other and are subordinate to different ministries.
The state-owned enterprise (SOE) Electrotyazhmash Plant in February 2021 plans to complete the installation of a new stator on the TGV-250-2PT3 turbine generator at the Kaiga NPP in India, according to the company’s website.
At present, the company’s engineers are supervising the dismantling of the old stator and preparing for the installation of a new one; the installation and commissioning of the equipment will also be supervised by the plant’s specialists.
According to the press service, the Kaiga NPP, a member of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), consists of four power units. Two of them are equipped with two TGV-250-2PT3 turbine generators manufactured by Electrotyazhmash delivered in 2005-2007.
Power of each machine is 250 MW, they have horizontal design, hydrogen-water cooling, and their weight is 280 tonnes.
Electrotyazhmash specializes in the production of powerful hydrogenerators, turbine generators for thermal power plants and nuclear power plants, electric motors for drives of rolling mills, mine hoists, traction electrical equipment for railroad and urban transport.
From August 14 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine begins the centralized registration of Ukrainian electronic visas (e-Visa) for citizens of India, South Africa and the Philippines, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.
“The Ukrainian e-Visa is issued for trips to our country for business, private, tourist purposes, for medical treatment, for activities in the field of culture, science, education, sports, as well as for representatives of foreign media,” the statement said.
So, to apply for an electronic visa, you need:
– register on the MFA web platform https://evisa.mfa.gov.ua/ (available from August 14);
– fill in the application form online, upload a photo and scanned copies of documents (passport, invitation, etc.), pay the consular fee with a bank card;
– receive a ready e-Visa by e-mail (sent in pdf format).
It is reported that to enter Ukraine, a person needs to print the e-Visa and show it with the passport to the border authorities of Ukraine at the checkpoints across the state border.
“At the same time, the standard procedure for issuing Ukrainian visas in foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine still remains in force for citizens of these states,” the ministry reported
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that visa liberalization for tourists from China and India should be carried out as soon as possible.
According to the presidential press service, the head of the state said this at a meeting with the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine members on Monday, July 13, at which Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the government is actively working on the issue of liberalizing the visa regime for tourists from these countries.
India has donated 50,000 capsules of the OMVIR antiviral drug, which is used to treat patients with COVID-19, as humanitarian aid to Ukraine, the Ministry of Health reports.
According to the report, these medications will be enough to treat about 5,000 patients.
“Ukraine is very grateful for the humanitarian aid of 50,000 capsules of the OMVIR preparation. This drug is included in the domestic treatment protocol and our hospitals, identified as supporting in the fight against COVID-19, are very interested in receiving it. This lot is enough to treat about 5,000 patients,” Ihor Ivaschenko, the Deputy Minister of Health for European Integration, said.
Ambassador of India to Ukraine Partha Satpathy noted that, if necessary, there may be additional deliveries of this drug.
