Spain is ready to promote Ukrainian agricultural exports and is interested in importing Ukrainian agricultural products, in particular corn and sunflower, Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Luis Planas Puigades said at an online meeting with Ukrainian Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solsky on Monday.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, during the online meeting, the parties discussed the export of Ukrainian agricultural products and food security. In particular, the extension of Ukraine’s duty-free and quota-free trade regime with the European Union.
“Spain fully supports Ukraine in the face of Russia’s unprecedented and illegal aggression. This includes both military and humanitarian assistance. The Spanish Minister of Agriculture emphasized that support for Ukraine also means promoting Ukrainian exports, which is a key factor for the economy to continue to function,” the Ministry of Agriculture said, adding that Spain is interested in importing Ukrainian agricultural products, in particular corn and sunflower.
“I reaffirmed Spain’s support for the continuation of trade measures to support Ukraine during a video conference with the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine. Ukrainian farmers have managed to maintain production despite the difficulties,” Puigadez wrote on the social network X after the talks.
For his part, Solsky thanked his Spanish colleague for his understanding and support.
Spain will donate two medical armored vehicles to Ukraine to provide medical assistance and evacuate patients, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) reports.
“Spain’s humanitarian aid to Ukraine over the past two years has exceeded 466 million euros, the largest emergency response for a single country,” AECID said in a statement.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares inspected the armored ambulances that will be transferred to Ukraine.
“Spain will continue to support Ukraine in its defense of peace and freedom for as long as it takes,” the foreign minister wrote in a statement.
At the 17th meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine (Ramstein), Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles reported on the recent shipment of aid to Ukraine, including medicines and surgical instruments.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Defense, Robles informed about the recent shipment of 15 pallets of medicines and surgical instruments to Ukraine, which will ensure the operation of the field hospital transferred by Spain a few months ago.
“The minister also reported on the cooperation of Spanish industry in supplying equipment and ammunition to Ukraine and spoke in detail about the program to support the reception of families of Ukrainian soldiers killed in action in military recreation centers on the Spanish coast,” the statement said.
Robles noted good progress in the training of the Ukrainian military in Spain, where more than 3,000 servicemen have been trained to date. She added that it is planned to teach training courses on the law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law for representatives of the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
As part of the visit of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the Kingdom of Spain, the Head of State had an audience with His Majesty King Philip VI in Granada, the President’s press service reported on Thursday evening.
The President expressed gratitude to King Philip, the royal family of Spain and the entire Spanish people for their continued support for Ukraine.
“We appreciate the assistance provided by Spain from the first days of the full-scale invasion of the aggressor state in Ukraine’s struggle for our common European values,” Zelenskyy emphasized.
He also emphasized the significant humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian people and the great attention paid to Ukrainians who came to Spain to escape the Russian war.
According to the press service, His Majesty King Philip VI expressed his admiration for the Ukrainian people who are resisting Russian aggression. He emphasized that Spain’s support for Ukraine in this struggle is based on fundamental respect for the sovereignty of countries and the inadmissibility of armed aggression.
Spain’s economy grew by 0.5% in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the previous quarter, according to revised data from the INE statistics agency.
Earlier, an increase of 0.4% was announced. At the same time, analysts did not expect a revision, Trading Economics reports.
Business investment increased by 1.9%, including 3.6% in the construction sector. Consumer spending increased by 0.9%, government spending by 1.6%.
Meanwhile, exports declined by 3.1%, while imports fell by 2%.
Data for the first quarter were also improved: GDP growth was 0.6%, not 0.5%.
The Spanish economy grew by 2.2% in April-June compared to the same period last year, not 1.8% as previously reported. In the first quarter, the growth was 4.2%.
The Bank of Spain predicts a further slowdown in the country’s economic growth in the third quarter to 0.3%. By the end of 2023, GDP is expected to increase by 2.3%.
The Experts Club research project and Maksym Urakin have recently released an analytical video on the economies of Ukraine and the world
You can subscribe to the Experts Club YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@ExpertsClub
Spain has been hit by an abnormal heat wave for the fourth time this summer and its peak is expected in the coming days, EFE news agency reported on Monday.
According to forecasts, temperatures are expected to reach between 39 and 43 degrees Celsius in different parts of the country on Monday and Tuesday. Thus, around 40 degrees is expected in the Balearic Islands region, as well as in the southwest and northeast of Spain. In the south-west of Andalusia thermometer columns will rise to 43 degrees. In the central part of the country, as well as in the southern part of Galicia and Mallorca – about 39 degrees Celsius. In Catalonia’s Lerida and Girona, as well as in Barcelona, residents were urged to prepare not only for temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius, but also for storms and heavy rain.
In most of the country, the risk of forest fires due to abnormally high temperatures is assessed as high.
This heat wave is expected to last until August 24 and then subside. The cooling will first come to the western part of the country, and closer to the weekend will spread to the rest of Spain.
Because of the hot weather, forest fires are raging in the country. This year, natural fires in Spain have already destroyed almost 64 thousand hectares.
