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%).
Ukraine in January-February of this year reduced the export of pig iron in kind by 24.4% compared to the same period last year, to 383,523 tonnes.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service on Tuesday, during the specified period, the export of cast iron in monetary terms grew by 0.7%, to $154.176 million.
At the same time, cast iron was mainly exported to the United States (66.92% of deliveries in monetary terms), as well as to Turkey (8.84%) and Brazil (7.38%).
In January-February-2021, Ukraine imported 34 tonnes of cast iron worth $29,000 from Germany (60%) and Slovakia (40%), while in the first two months of 2020 it imported 100 tonnes of similar products worth $71,000.
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.
