The UK will gradually stop importing Russian oil by the end of 2022 in response to Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the British government said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The UK is working closely with the US, the EU and other partners to end our dependence on Russian hydrocarbons in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, recognising the different circumstances and transition timelines. This significant move will increase the growing pressure on Russia’s economy by choking off a valuable source of income,” the document says.
According to it, the refusal of imports will not be immediate: the UK, which covers 8% of its oil demand from Russia, will have more than enough time to adjust supply chains, support industry and consumers. The government will work with companies through a specially created Taskforce on Oil to help them use this period to find alternative sources.
London notes that oil accounts for 44% of Russian exports, which provides 17% of federal budget revenues.
According to the British government, in a competitive global market for oil and petroleum products, demand can be met by alternative suppliers. The UK has various reliable suppliers outside of Russia, including the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and the United States.
“In another economic blow to the Putin regime following their illegal invasion of Ukraine, the UK will move away from dependence on Russian oil throughout this year, building on our severe package of international economic sanctions,” UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
According to London, Russian oil is already being ostracised by the market, with nearly 70% of Russian oil currently struggling to find a buyer, and in a competitive global market demand will quickly be met by alternative suppliers. On March 1, Russian ships were banned from UK ports and authorities were granted new powers to detain Russian vessels.
The statement notes that the UK is not dependent on Russian natural gas, making up less than 4% of our supply. Ministers are also exploring options to reduce this further.
The Prime Minister confirmed that the government will set out an energy strategy to set out the UK’s long term plans for greater energy security, including both renewable and domestic oil and gas supplies.
As reported earlier on Tuesday, the United States announced a complete renunciation of Russian oil imports.
IMPORT, RUSSIAN OIL, STOP, UK
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit the UK at the end of October, and a strategic dialogue meeting is planned during the visit, Ukrainian Ambassador to UK Vadym Prystaiko has said.
“In the near future, we expect a delegation led by the president (Volodymyr Zelensky). At the end of this month,” Prystaiko said in an interview with Dom TV channel.
He noted that a meeting is planned during the visit, at which a strategic dialogue will take place.
Ferrexpo Plc (the U.K.), managing Poltava Mining and Yeristovo Mining in Ukraine, has started cooperation with specialists Ricardo Plc (the U.K.), as part of decarbonization plans by 2050. “The Group undertakes a commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions from its operations by the year 2050,” the company said in a press release on Monday. In addition, the group undertakes an initial commitment to achieve a minimum of a 30% reduction in combined Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030.
According to the press release, Ricardo to also help enhance the group’s existing climate change scenario reporting and review the role of Ferrexpo’s iron ore pellets within the circular economy. Results of Ricardo’s analysis expected to enhance the group’s carbon reduction targets and to further develop climate change reporting in 2022.
Jim North, Interim Group Chief Executive Officer, said that whilst iron ore pellets offer our customers the opportunity to significantly reduce carbon emissions already, it is important to signal a clear intention to decarbonise our own operations.
“It is on this basis that we have adopted the targets announced today, to demonstrate both our focus on climate change and our understanding of the importance of decarbonisation,” North said.
He said that Ferrexpo jointly with Ricardo intends to be a workstream that develops science-based reduction targets and a timeline for the stages of decarbonisation in each aspect of the Ferrexpo business.
“In the 18 months to June 2021, the group has already recorded a carbon reduction in excess of 20%2, which is a demonstration of our commitment to the environment,” North said.
Tim Curtis, Energy & Environment Managing Director at Ricardo Plc, said that Ricardo’s experts have been helping organisations around the world to develop robust and science-based pathways to achieving net zero carbon emissions and they will support Ferrexpo with the development of its decarbonisation targets and providing objective expertise to help realise this ambition.
Ricardo Plc is a world-class environmental, engineering and strategic consulting company.
Ferrexpo is an iron ore company with assets in Ukraine.
The government is exploring the possibility of strengthening control over visitors from the UK, India, Russia and Portugal to prevent the circulation of the “Delta” (Indian) strain of coronavirus (COVID-19), Health Minister Viktor Liashko said.
“At the Cabinet of Ministers we considered the possibility of strengthening control over people who come from four countries, Great Britain, India, Russia and Portugal, where the greatest circulation of the so-called Delta virus,” he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday.
As noted by Liashko, the peculiarity of the Delta strain is that it is transmitted faster and leads to hospitalization faster.
“This leads to the fact that hospitals fill up rather quickly, in particular, we see this in Russia,” he said.
To ensure unhindered bilateral trade with the UK after its withdrawal from the European Union, the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection has agreed on a number of forms of relevant certificates and is negotiating with the UK to deepen cooperation, the agency said in a press release. According to the document, at present, 20 forms of certificates for the export of products to the UK and 12 for the import of products from it have already been agreed.
“After the UK had left the European Union, our efforts were focused on agreeing the forms of certificates for bilateral trade on mutually beneficial terms. Today we already have 20 certificates for exports to the UK and 12 certificates for imports. Work in this direction continues,” head of the service Vladyslava Mahaletska said.
The service also noted that it is negotiating with the competent authorities of the UK on deepening bilateral cooperation, priorities for effective interaction between the parties, resolving veterinary and other issues.
As reported, Ukraine signed a FTA with the UK in 2020. The document provides for access to the British market for 98% of Ukrainian products, and from 2023 it will liberalize trade for another 2%. At the same time, the number of quota goods remains unchanged, although for a number of items their volumes have been expanded.
New missile boats for the Ukrainian Navy will be designed in the UK as part of a previously signed memorandum on re-equipping the Naval Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Defence Attaché at the British Embassy Tim Woods said.
“These missile boats are designed specifically for Ukraine, so they will be original and will have a length of approximately 50 to 65 meters, which will provide a speed of 40 knots. It is planned to install artillery systems and missiles on them. It depends, among other things, on what kind of missiles are needed. And these can be short- or long-range missiles. This is the issue that British companies are considering right now. But these will be missiles of a new class, specially designed for Ukraine by the British industry,” Woods said in an interview with the Day newspaper.
He said that the first four boats will be constructed in the UK. At the same time, Ukrainian shipbuilders will be able to observe construction, learn and train.
Woods said that the second part, namely, four missile boats, will be constructed in Ukraine. It will be great for Ukrainian shipbuilding and also for the Navy, so these capabilities will be available in Ukraine.
The attaché believes the construction of the first ship will start early 2022.
Woods also said another option that we they studying has not yet been formalized, it is the joint design of warships of the British industry with the Ukrainian design bureau in Mykolaiv.
