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 Agency of Automobile Roads of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) has signed an agreement for the construction of a new bridge in Kremenchuk (Poltava region) for UAH 11.249 billion with the Turkish company Dogus Insaat Ve Ticaret.
On the part of Ukravtodor, the contract was signed by the head of the road service in Poltava region, Ivan Krapovnytsky, from Dogus Insaat Ve Ticaret – executive director Tolga Akkas.
Ukravtodor noted that the new bridge will improve the optimization of logistics routes in the center of Ukraine by reducing travel times for road transport. This will be achieved by increasing the speed limit for trucks from 36.8-53.3 km/h to 72.9 km/h, buses from 35.7-53.4 km/h to 71.1 km/h, passenger cars from 39.6-55.3 km/h to 81.5 km/h.
“All plots that fall under the construction zone will be bought for state funds. If these are private plots where people live, or some other private plots, they will be bought out, transferred to the state ownership, and people will receive monetary compensation for this,” Krapovnytsky said.
Ocean Shipyard (Mykolaiv) has signed a memorandum with the state defense concern of Turkey on joint activities to implement a project to build a series of corvette class ships for the Ukrainian Navy in pursuance of a framework military agreement signed in October this year during a meeting of the two presidents in Ankara, as well as a contract for building corvettes signed by the parties in Kyiv on December 14.
According to the company’s press release, in order to localize the corvette program, the state defense concern of Turkey conducted an audit of the technical capabilities of Ukrainian shipbuilding enterprises. Ocean shipyard was selected and included in the corvette program, taking into account the unique technical capabilities of the enterprise, the availability of professional personnel and the current program of modernization of production assets.
The memorandum provides for the conclusion of separate contracts between the parties within clearly agreed terms and specific steps of cooperation within the framework of the corvette program.
PJSC Mykolaiv Shipyard Ocean specialized in the building and repair of container ships, tankers, tugs, barges with a deadweight of up to 350,000 tonnes.
The Turkish side at the recent negotiations between the presidents of the two countries in Ankara announced its interest in the possibility of completing the second unit of the world’s largest transport aircraft An-225 Mriya, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Strategic Industries of Ukraine Oleh Urusky has said.
“The situation was quite strange for me when, during the visit, President of Turkey and me raised the issue of completing the second Mriya and even despite the sum I said it would cost, the Turkish side said that we would continue discussion,” Urusky said at a press conference in Kyiv.
According to him, experts’ negotiations on this issue are expected.
“We cannot either complete the manufacture of Ruslan (An-125) or build new ones. However, we can complete the manufacture of Mriya both theoretically and practically,” the deputy prime minister said.
He added that the matter concerns the possibility of purchasing the An-178 medium transport aircraft, since Turkey has an interest in strategic transport aircraft.
The An-225 Mriya is the largest and most powerful transport aircraft in the world, created by Kyiv Antonov Design Bureau. The An-225 with a maximum curb weight of 640 tonnes is the heaviest aircraft in the world. In November 2004, the World Air Sports Federation included the An-225 into the Guinness World Records for its 240 records.
Creditwest Bank (Kyiv) unreasonably blocks the property that is pledged by it on the repaid loan, the owner of the group of companies Voda UA, Karpatska Dzherelna Vysokohirna, Horianka, Dmytro Nikiforov, has said.
“After all obligations under the loan agreement have been fulfilled, the bank continues to hold the property in pledge, conducts incomprehensible correspondence and constantly asks us to provide certain documents regarding financial reporting, our turnover in other banks,” he said at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
“They made it very clear to us … that they are not going to release pledge from our property,” Nikiforov added.
According to him, the obligations of his companies on the loan to Creditwest Bank were fulfilled on October 1 and, according to the loan agreement, the bank had to remove the encumbrance from the pledge within five days.
Nikiforov clarified that in 2018 the companies attracted a loan from Creditwest Bank in the amount of UAH 15 million to replenish working capital and finance investment projects. Later, according to the owner, he sold one of the companies that was the borrower for this loan, and after a while this company stopped serving him.
For the purpose of settlements, Nikiforov began to negotiate with the bank, at the same time the bank sold the corresponding non-performing loan to a financial company owned by the persons who own the company that stopped servicing the loan, the owner of Voda UA noted.
“Later, the financial company, bypassing the lender, tried to contact me to recover my property as a surety to repay this loan … In this case, we see a very clear algorithm for removing the unscrupulous borrower from liability,” Nikiforov said.
In his opinion, Creditwest Bank can block the pledge in the interests of the partner of its chairman of the board.
“When the story with the loan transfer took place, chairman of the board Ihor Tikhonov … suggested that I transfer part of the business to my business partner. On what conditions I didn’t listen, as I interrupted the conversation,” Nikiforov said.
He stressed that he plans to collect funds from the bank in accordance with the procedure established by law for each day of delay in the unreleased encumbrance from the pledge. In addition, Nikiforov is going to apply to law enforcement agencies regarding possible personal corruption motives of the bank’s management.
ACCUSES, BLOCKING, CREDITWEST BANK, PROPERTY, TURKEY, VODA UA
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky believes that Ukraine and Turkey could jointly do a lot in the field of aircraft construction and the creation of unmanned aircraft systems.
“As for the Antonov aircraft, we are certainly pleased with the interest in this enterprise. It is just as logical that in the field of aircraft construction, we can do a lot together with our Turkish friends,” he said in an interview with the Demirören Turkish news agency, answering a question whether there are new joint projects that the two countries plan to implement in the defense industry, and whether it is possible to start joint production of Turkish unmanned aircraft and the Antonov aircraft.
Zelensky said that Turkish unmanned aircraft have proven to be the best. “This is exactly the type of hardware that can completely change the situation on the battlefield. We are certainly interested in joint production. There is nothing special to explain, everything is simple. Turkey is showing serious success in this sector, and we purchase these products. Ukraine, in turn, produces engines for unmanned aircraft. Therefore, the launch of a joint venture is a natural move,” he said.
The president also said that these are far from all areas in which Ukraine can and expects to cooperate with Turkey in the context of the defense industry. “Engine building, development of air defense systems, joint production of a corvette-class ship. The potential for cooperation is huge,” Zelensky said.
