The Government of Canada will issue five-year bonds – Ukraine Sovereignty Bonds – to financially support Ukraine, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at the XXVII Triennial Congress of Ukrainian Canadians in Winnipeg on Friday.
“Canada remains unwavering in our commitment to support the people of Ukraine in their fight against Putin’s illegal and barbaric invasion, and we will continue to do everything we can to ensure Ukraine has the resources it needs to win. Now, through a bond designated for Ukraine, Canadians can contribute to this critical effort through a new federally backed investment,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement on the Prime Minister’s website.
Trudeau announced that the Government of Canada will issue Ukraine Sovereignty Bonds, which will help the government continue operations, including providing essential services to Ukrainians, like pensions, and purchasing fuel before winter.
The equivalent proceeds from this five-year bond will be channelled directly to Ukraine through the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Administered Account. This builds on the Government of Canada’s CAD 2 billion in financial assistance to Ukraine this year, the report said.
According to it, the new bonds will be offered by the participating financial institutions at denominations and rates to be announced shortly.
Those who decide to invest in this bond will actually purchase a regular five-year Canadian government bond backed by Canada’s AAA credit rating. Canada is the first country in the world outside of Ukraine to offer bonds in support of Ukraine for purchase.
To increase pressure on Putin’s regime, Trudeau also announced that Canada is imposing new sanctions on individuals and entities complicit in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These new measures will target 35 senior officials of energy entities, including those of Gazprom and its subsidiaries, and six energy sector entities involved in Russia’s ongoing violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. “These new measures build on the sanctions we have already implemented against over 1,400 individuals and entities,” he said.
He also announced that Canada intends to impose new sanctions on members of the Russian justice and security sectors, including police officers and investigators, prosecutors, judges, and prison officials, involved in gross and systematic human rights violations against Russian opposition leaders.
Trudeau said that the 39 armoured combat support vehicles (ACSVs) Canada announced for Ukraine in June have started to arrive in Europe, where training for the Ukrainian forces is underway, with the last expected to be delivered end of November. Since February 2022, Canada has committed over CAD 600 million in military assistance to Ukraine. Canada will continue to help Ukraine meet its urgent requirements for military and defence equipment.
The prime minister also said that Canada is allocating $55 million in previously announced funding to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Organization for Migration, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian partners to support winterization initiatives. This includes providing shelter and distributing essential items such as blankets, clothing, heating appliances, and fuel.
In addition, the Prime Minister announced the launch of the Canada-Ukraine Science Partnership, which will invite up to 20 Ukraine-based scientists to come work and live in Canada.
According to the report, streamlining current visa and travel requirements, as of October 18, 2022, close to 315,000 applications have been approved.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has amended the agreement on the ongoing Dolinskaya – Nikolaev – Kolosovka Railway Electrification Project, which will allow additional use of part of the EBRD loan in the amount of EUR98.5 million to provide liquidity to finance critical needs of JSC “Ukrzaliznytsya” (UZ).
Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko, EBRD Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus Matteo Patrone, and Ukrzaliznytsia Board Chairman Oleksandr Kamyshin signed the corresponding documents on Thursday, the Finance Ministry reported.
The repurposed portion of the EBRD loan will be secured by a guarantee from the French government or another G7 country.
“Damage and destruction of the railway infrastructure, loss of Ukrzaliznytsia’s rolling stock have a negative impact on ensuring the smooth operation of the society. Therefore, an increase in the EBRD loan to support the liquidity of Ukrzaliznytsia will help maintain the stability of its work in war conditions,” Marchenko commented on the agreement.
As reported, earlier this year, on June 10, similar amendments to the agreement were already signed, according to which EUR50 million was directed to support the liquidity of Ukrzaliznytsia. Thus, the total volume of the EBRD loan for the liquidity of UZ reached EUR 148.5 million.
Switzerland has allocated CHF2.5 million (about UAH 100 million) to support milk production farms in the war-affected regions – Chernihiv, Kyiv and Sumy regions, the main attention will be paid to the hygiene of the milking process.
The corresponding humanitarian project is being implemented at the request of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine in cooperation with the Association of Milk Producers of Ukraine (AMA), the #SaveUA international charitable foundation and the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, according to the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy on Wednesday.
The goal of the project is to ensure food security in the regions by improving the quality and safety of dairy products produced in the country, mainly by monitoring compliance with the hygiene of its production. In particular, the control over the hygiene of the culture of milking animals will avoid failures in the further processing of milk, on the one hand, and outbreaks of diseases among consumers, on the other.
The Ministry clarified that by August 1, 232 dairy farms had already confirmed the need for humanitarian assistance, of which 95 were from Chernihiv, 78 from Kyiv, 59 from Sumy region.
“With the support of Switzerland, interested milk producers in the affected areas will receive products for washing and disinfecting milking equipment, pre- and post-milk treatment, udder hygiene wipes, gloves, reagents for the detection of latent forms of mastitis, disinfectants for livestock buildings, etc. in the amount of their quarterly needs,” the Ministry of Agrarian Policy said in a statement.
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, until the completion of the project in November 2022, the supported farms will be able to significantly improve their financial condition by restoring product supply chains. It is also important that the purchase of goods will be carried out from Ukrainian suppliers who operated on the market before the war, which will enable them to continue to provide hygiene products and serve dairy farms in the future.
“On the path to restoring the capacity of the Ukrainian dairy sector, it is important to support production technologies built on high hygiene standards for high-quality and safe food products,” the agency concluded in a statement.
As reported, in June the Swiss government announced its intention to hold consultations for more than 100 dairy farms from the above three areas. The government of the country sent a group of consultants to Ukraine, who provided producers with recommendations in the field of restoring livestock productivity, quality control and safety of raw milk.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky discussed with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte issues of defense cooperation between the two countries, the export of agricultural products through Ukrainian ports, as well as financial support for Ukraine by the European Union.
“I maintain continued contact with our partners. Discussed the course of hostilities, Ukraine- Netherlands defense cooperation and financial support from the EU with Mark Rutte. Emphasized the importance of exporting Ukrainian grain by sea ASAP,” Zelensky said on Twitter on Thursday evening.
The member states of the European Union have agreed to mobilize the fifth tranche of military assistance in the amount of EUR 500 million in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell.
“Participated at Ministerial Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting. EU Member States agreed to mobilise 5th tranche of military assistance of EUR 500 million to further support Ukraine‘s Armed Forces. EU remains focused & steadfast in its support for Ukraine, together w partners,” Borrell said on Twitter Wednesday evening.
Ukraine has received $1.7 billion from the United States to support the Medical Guarantee Program (MGP), Health Minister Viktor Liashko has said.
“As a result of agreements with the U.S. government, Ukraine received $1.7 billion in support of the MGP. The funds were provided through the World Bank trust fund on a gratuitous, non-refundable basis to the state budget of Ukraine,” he said at a briefing on Tuesday.
Liashko also said that since the beginning of 2022, as part of the MGP, UAH 74 billion have been transferred to medical institutions, including more than UAH 54 billion directed to the salaries of doctors.
In addition, Liashko recalled that out of 834 health facilities destroyed by the aggressor, 123 cannot be restored.
“The terrorist country is destroying the walls of hospitals, but it will never destroy the heroism and dedication of our doctors, who continue to work in the most difficult conditions,” he stressed.
