The Ukrainian naval forces took part in the initial planning conference for the training of the Turkish Navy Dogu Akdeniz 2021 (Eastern Mediterranean – 2021), which is to be held in the Western Mediterranean at the end of the year, the press service of the Ministry of Defense reported.
According to the command of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the participants of the event considered the issues of defining the general concept of training, agreeing on the previous composition of the forces, it is planned to involve. Representatives of the Ukrainian Navy discussed the format of the participation of the Ukrainian side, in particular, the involvement of officers of the Ukrainian Navy in the multinational headquarters of the exercises, as well as the training of officers onboard the Turkish Navy corvettes of the ADA class (MILGEM) during their training.
In connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, an inception planning conference for the aforementioned training took place online.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal instructed to work out ways to enhance tourism between Ukraine and Turkey.
“Ukrainians are on the list of numerous tourists in Turkey, and the geography of their rest is constantly expanding. Therefore, we must consider the possibility of expanding communication, including organizing additional flights on popular routes at weekends, as well as opening communication with new cities,” the governmental press service said, citing Shmyhal.
The prime minister also said that favorable conditions should be developed to attract tourists from Turkey to Ukraine.
“In addition to large cities, it is worth considering the possibility of developing directions to sanatorium resorts that will be interesting for traveling with the whole family,” he said.
For his part, Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey Andrii Sybiha said the Ukrainian cities of Kamianets-Podilsky and Khotyn may be interesting for tourists from Turkey.
The meeting participants also discussed the possibility of mutual recognition between Ukraine and Turkey of future health certificates that are being developed in the European Union, which will help significantly increase the flow of tourists between states during a pandemic.
“Following the meeting, Denys Shmyhal instructed the relevant departments to study the issue of the possibility of increasing regular and charter flights between Ukraine and Turkey and consider ways to simplify the system of visiting Ukraine by vaccinated Turkish citizens,” the ministry said.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about the importance of intensive development of tourism between Ukraine and Turkey.
“It is very important that we, [Erdogan] and I are talking about special conditions for Ukrainian and Turkish tourists, citizens. We talked about the need to really increase the level of tourism for Ukrainians and Turkish citizens. This is very important. I think especially now we have to support each other,” Zelensky said following a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council on Thursday, April 15.
“Erdogan supports our independence, our sovereignty. You heard that Russia said it would restrict tourists or tourism from the Russian Federation to Turkey. It’s their business. And I think that, on the contrary, we need to increase and show that we support Turkey,” Zelensky said.
Also, according to Zelensky, during a meeting with Erdogan in Turkey on April 10, “a number of important documents were signed between Ukraine and Turkey, but support for Ukrainian sovereignty is much more important.”
“But the most important thing today, when we talk about the geopolitical issue, the issue of peace in Ukraine and the support of our partners, it is important that President Erdogan supports Ukraine, supports our temporarily occupied territories, supports Crimea. It is important that he supports our position: he does not recognize annexation of Crimea,” the head of state said.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he welcomes the signing of an intergovernmental agreement between Ukraine and Turkey on housing construction for Crimean Tatars, which will allow the construction of about 500 residential apartments, including for internally displaced persons.
“I welcome the signing of an intergovernmental agreement between Ukraine and Turkey on cooperation in the field of housing construction. This makes it possible to build about 500 apartments for representatives of the Crimean Tatar people and other internally displaced persons. This is a very important humanitarian project that will bring the peoples of Ukraine and Turkey closer together,” Zelensky said at the ceremony of signing Ukrainian-Turkish documents with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In addition, according to Zelensky, “further liberalization of trade and economic relations between Ukraine and Turkey is important.”
“The signing of a bilateral free trade area agreement will be able to significantly increase the momentum of cooperation,” Zelensky said.
“This is a very important step that must be taken in accordance with the national interests of each of the countries, because we agreed with the President of Turkey that the relevant institutions of our countries will conduct a very substantive audit of all controversial issues and find a mutual compromise that will open the way to signing of this important document,” the president added.
The presidents also discussed the prospects for Turkish investments in Ukraine, in particular “opportunities for large-scale privatization in the field of investments in seaports, as well as cooperation in the energy and military spheres, including aircraft construction.”
“Our goal is the implementation of specific projects, the creation of joint ventures, the exchange of experience and technologies,” the President of Ukraine said.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will pay a working visit to Turkey on April 10, the president’s press service has said.
“The head of state will meet with President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan,” the website of the head of state said.
The ninth meeting of the Turkey-Ukraine High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council will be held under the co-chairmanship of the presidents of the two states.
In addition, a number of bilateral documents are planned to be signed during the visit.
PRESIDENT ZELENSKY, RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKEY, VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY
Ukrcement proposes to exclude from the agreement on a free trade zone (FTA) with Turkey commodity items that are fully provided by its own manufacturer, head of the Ukrcement association Pavlo Kachur told the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
“The signing of an agreement on a free trade zone with Turkey for the cement industry poses a serious threat. We have transferred our position to the Ministry of Economy and the trade representative of Ukraine,” Kachur said.
The expert emphasized the need for a particularly balanced government policy in the context of the global economic crisis, so that under the slogans of free movement of goods not to lose their own manufacturer and not to leave tens of thousands of Ukrainians without work.
“The established production capacity for the production of cement in Turkey is 140 million tonnes of cement per year. In Ukraine, this figure is more than 10 times less. Turkey’s own cement consumption is about 60 million tonnes. This means that an importer with such capacities that Turkey has, playing with price policy, can easily destroy the production of cement in Ukraine,” said Kachur.
He emphasized the effectiveness and efficiency of the Big Construction program in the fight against the crisis.
“This program has become a lifeline for the entire construction industry during the global economic crisis. In the event of the signing of an FTA agreement with Turkey, the funds allocated from the budget of Ukraine, the funds of Ukrainian taxpayers, will support the producers of the neighboring state, instead of supporting their own,” he said.
He stated that the cement industry in Ukraine is able to fully provide consumers with high-quality cement that is competitive in the European market.
“The cement industry is developing and modernizing. Billions of dollars are invested to maintain high quality products, reduce emissions, reduce CO2 emissions. In March 2021, the cement plant in Balakliya resumed clinker firing, the kilns of which were shut down by the former Russian owners for ten long years. This will further strengthen the ability of the cement industry of Ukraine to provide its own market with cement,” Kachur summed up.
The head of the Ukrcement association expressed hope that the manufacturers’ arguments will be heard.
In September 2020, the Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade launched an investigation into the import of Portland cement and clinker cement from Turkey to Ukraine.
The import of these items in 2019 increased nine times, and according to the results of January-August 2020 – 13 times compared to the same period of the previous year.
According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, in 2020 the volume of exports to Turkey decreased slightly – to $2.436 billion (by 7% compared to 2019), imports increased slightly – 2.415 (by 2.5%).
