Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal is on a working visit to the German capital Berlin.
“We are working today in Berlin, we have a busy agenda. We started it with the opening of the 5th Ukrainian-German Economic Forum with Chancellor Olaf Scholz,” Shmygal wrote on his Telegram channel.
According to him, during his speech, he focused on the prospects that will open up for European business in the process of implementing the Ukraine Recovery Plan.
In particular, we are talking about the military-industrial complex.
“We aim to create a high-tech military-industrial complex, in particular, thanks to the transfer of European and world military technologies, attracting investment in design development and building military production,” he wrote.
Also, the prime minister said at the forum that the country has a significant potential for the supply of “clean” energy and Europe’s largest gas storage facilities.
“Digital technologies. In the future, Ukraine can turn into a digital hub of Asian and European backbone Internet traffic. The agricultural sector, whose investment potential is at least $34 billion. Green Deal. We see ourselves as a climate modernized state. European investment in pure Ukrainian production is a step to the implementation of the green transition,” Shmyhal said.
Ex-Prime Minister of Great Britain Boris Johnson said that he was not going to run for office because he would not be able to effectively govern the state in the absence of a united party in parliament.
“I passed the very high barrier of 102 support votes, but I came to the conclusion that this is simply not the right time,” Johnson was quoted as saying by Sky News.
He added that he had contacted Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt with an offer to “unite in the national interest.” Johnson also noted that he does not exclude the possibility of his return to big politics.
At the moment, among the Conservative MPs, Sunaka is in the lead with 144 supporters. It is noted that on Sunday several longtime allies of Johnson, including Swell Braverman and Steve Baker, supported Sunak.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has left for Kyiv, where he will hold several meetings to discuss topics such as the geopolitical situation, the energy market and security, government spokesman Piotr Muller told private TV channel Polsat on Friday.
At the same time, he noted that no significant or sudden changes would be announced during the visit, but this visit is a political signal to the Kremlin, reminiscent of Poland’s position in connection with the Russian aggression against Ukraine.
“We will support Ukraine in this very difficult situation, because we believe that Russia is violating all possible international standards. In addition, protecting Ukraine is also protecting our security,” Muller said.
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin has arrived in Kyiv to express support for the Ukrainian people, The Irish Times said.
Ireland will stand by Ukraine in the face of Russia’s “immoral and unprovoked war of terror,” Martin said ahead of his arrival in Kyiv this morning.
“The bombardment and attacks on civilians are nothing short of war crimes, and I will use my visit to express Ireland’s support for moves to hold those behind these attacks fully accountable,” Martin said.
The Prime Minister of Ireland has arrived in Kyiv, where he is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Martin will also discuss with the Ukrainian authorities how Ireland and the EU can support the current and future needs of the country.
The Irish government says that Martin will personally see the destruction due to bombing and targeted attacks on civilians during the invasion and occupation by Russian troops.
According to the statement, the prime minister “will reiterate Ireland’s full backing for continuing sanctions against Putin’s regime, for Ukraine’s path to full EU membership, as well as our commitment to work with EU colleagues to ensure the reconstruction of Ukraine.”
“The spirit and resolve of the Ukrainian people has inspired us all, and Ireland will provide every support for Ukraine’s path to full EU Membership, and continue to welcome and support civilians fleeing this war,” the prime minister said.
Martin was invited to Ukraine last month by President Zelensky.
The exact details of the visit last night were not released due to security concerns, but Martin was expected to travel to Kyiv by land from Poland.
The tangible shortage of fuel at filling stations in certain regions of Ukraine, which formed this week, is associated with the enemy’s destructive strikes over the past three weeks on the fuel infrastructure of Ukraine, but this shortage will be eliminated within a week, said First Deputy Prime Minister – Minister Economics Julia Sviridenko.
“Over the next seven days, the deficit will be eliminated, since the operators have contracted volumes in Western Europe and now we are solving the issue of how to import them to the territory of Ukraine as quickly as possible,” she wrote on her Facebook page on Friday.
Sviridenko noted that this situation will lead to a slight increase in the price of oil products. “This is primarily due to the higher cost of logistics due to complex routes and the use of several modes of transport,” the First Deputy Prime Minister explained.
Speaking about the situation on the market, she pointed out that since the beginning of the war, through the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Economy, the government has been cooperating on a daily basis with market operators to provide the population and enterprises with oil products. Decisions were made that significantly reduced the impact on the economy of a sharp rise in the cost of petroleum products on world markets, in particular, the excise tax was canceled and VAT was reduced from 20% to 7%.
At the same time, Russia, as an aggressor country, is trying to stop the Ukrainian economy by creating an artificial shortage of fuel, Sviridenko noted. And the destruction of the Kremenchug oil refinery, which was the main producer of fuel in Ukraine, as well as a number of oil depots of market operators with a significant supply of fuel, led to a temporary shortage, which will be eliminated within a week.
As reported, currently the prices for gasoline and diesel fuel are limited by the government to UAH 34.10/l and UAH 38.7/l, respectively. However, according to the director of the consulting group A-95 Sergey Kuyun, the shortage of fuel determines its real price on the market at 40 hryvnia/l and 45 hryvnia/l, despite the government’s setting of marginal prices.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced a three-stage plan for the restoration of Ukraine “U-24″.
“We have already announced this plan. Let’s call it U-24. This is a plan for the restoration of Ukraine. There will be a corresponding recovery fund, which will take place in three stages,” Shmyhal said in an interview with the Ukrainian edition of the BBC.
According to him, the first stage is already underway, when the authorities are now restoring the destroyed facilities temporarily, promptly and quickly.
The second stage, according to the prime minister, is a quick recovery immediately after the end of hostilities.
“First of all, it is necessary to resume the supply of water and electricity so that people can ensure their existence in the destroyed territories,” he added.
The third stage, according to the plan, is a big stage of a full-fledged renewal of Ukrainian cities, towns, buildings, infrastructure, and the country as a whole.
“This stage will be the most costly, the longest, but we want to implement it very quickly. This should be in parallel with the political processes of Ukraine’s entry into the European Union, as was recently written in the Versailles Declaration,” Shmyhal stressed.
The Prime Minister noted that Ukraine expects to receive a questionnaire in the coming days, which is one of the stages for the country to obtain candidate status as a transitional stage before joining the EU.
“All these things support the internal expectation of a speedy end to the war, our victory and the beginning of a powerful restoration of our state according to civilized European standards. We will get a very powerful developed European country here,” Shmyhal is sure.
