Ukraine and Lithuania signed several documents, including a declaration on strategic partnership development for 2020-2024, following a session of the Council of Presidents of Ukraine and Lithuania chaired by Volodymyr Zelensky and Gitanas Nauseda. “This is a joint declaration on the development of strategic partnership between Ukraine and the Republic of Lithuania, which contains the priorities of the bilateral dialogue for 2020-2024. Therefore, we can confidently say that the partnership between Ukraine and the Republic of Lithuania will be even stronger,” Zelensky said at a meeting with the media on November 27.
The declaration will become a kind of road map for the development of Ukrainian-Lithuanian relations at the level of strategic partnership. Its provisions will form the basis of possible further steps by the countries in the context of cooperation on a range of issues of bilateral, regional and international agenda, reads a statement on the presidential website.
The joint statement also envisages a series of joint actions by Ukraine and Lithuania in international and regional security, European and Euro-Atlantic integration, economy, social policy, trade and investment development, scientific cooperation, cooperation in cultural and humanitarian fields.
Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Ihor Zhovkva and Chief Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of the Republic of Lithuania Asta Skaisgiryte signed the Protocol of the Twelfth Session of the Council of Presidents of Ukraine and the Republic of Lithuania, which reflects the main agreements reached during this event.
The Protocol also strongly condemns Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, including the temporary illegal occupation of Crimea and parts of Ukraine’s sovereign territory in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The document also notes the active cooperation of the two countries and the strong support for Ukraine’s European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations aimed to gain full membership in the EU and NATO.
Deputy Prime Minister, Digital Transformation Minister of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov and Energy Minister of the Republic of Lithuania Zygimantas Vaiciunas signed a Declaration of Intent for Mutual Recognition of Electronic Identification and Trust Services for Electronic Transactions between the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the Ministry of Economy and Innovation of Lithuania. Among other things, the document contains an agreement on the parties’ intention to unite efforts to remove existing barriers to the cross-border use of trust services and cross-border e-contracts, e-bills and other similar solutions.
In addition, Defense Minister of Ukraine Andriy Zahorodniuk and Minister of National Defense of Lithuania Raimundas Karoblis signed a Declaration of Intent for Cooperation in Cyber Security between the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the Ministry of National Defense of Lithuania. The document provides for a series of measures aimed at developing cooperation in order to ensure appropriate response in the event of large-scale national or international cyber incidents. The parties also expressed their intention to establish common points of single contact for the exchange of information on cyber threats and attacks, and to develop a joint training plan.
The National Commission for Energy, Housing and Utilities Services Regulation (NCER) has approved a feed-in tariff of 15.03 eurocents per kWh for the solar power plant of Sunwin 2 LLC with a capacity of 10.3 MW and Sunwin 13 with a capacity of 20 MW (Poltava region).
The commission made the decision on Tuesday.
The tariff is in effect until January 1, 2030.
The commission also approved the tariff for Kalynivka-TERRA LLC’s solar power plant with a capacity of 11 MW (Mykolaiv region). The owner is former deputy head of Investor (Kharkiv) Hennadiy Hayevy.
The plant of Alveor-Energy LLC with a capacity of 10.8 MW (Mykolaiv region) obtained the tariff. It belongs to SPM-Invest, the ultimate beneficiary of which is Alla Kuznetsova.
The commission set the tariff for two phases of the plant of Chervona Hora Eco LLC with a capacity of 12.6 MW and 11.5 MW (Zakarpattia region). The plant belongs to South Korea’s GS Engineering & Construction Co. (GS E &C).
In addition, the regulator set the tariff for the plant of Consulting Solar LLC with a capacity 11.3 MW (Kirovohrad region).
According to the unified public register, Sunwin 2, Sunwin 13 and Consulting Solar belong to President of VR Capital Group asset management company (the United States) Richard Deitz.
Through Cyprus-based Wiltan Enterprises Limited he also owns Sunwin 12 and Sunwin 14, which in 2019 launched solar power plants with a capacity of 15.6 MW and 13 MW in Kirovohrad region. In addition, he owns Sunwin 5, which is implementing a project of the Morozovka solar power plant with a capacity of 70 MW in Kirovohrad region.
VR Capital together with ICU also built a 64 MW solar power plant near Kamianetz-Podilsky (Khmelnytsky region). They also complete the 35 MW solar power plant project in Kherson region.
Capital investment in Ukraine in January-September 2019 grew by 12.4%, while in the first half of 2019 – by 12.3%, the State Statistics Service has reported.
According to the State Statistics Service, in January-September 2019, UAH 379 billion of capital investment was disbursed (excluding the temporarily occupied Crimea, Sevastopol and the JFO area).
In the regional context, the largest increase in capital investment January-September 2019 compared to the same period in 2018 was recorded in Volyn (by 71.1%), Kherson (by 44.2%), Mykolaiv (by 34.7%), Poltava (by 29.3%), Kyiv (by 27.1%), and Dnipropetrovsk ( in 21.8%) regions.
According to statistics, capital investments for the reporting period decreased in Zakarpattia (by 15.3%), Vinnytsia (by 9.8%), Odesa and Chernihiv (by 8.6%), and Rivne (4.4%) regions.
In the industrial context, the largest increase in capital investment in the first nine months of this year was recorded in the field of research and development – by 79%, temporary accommodation and catering – by 67.5%, water transport – by 50.6%, advertising – by 44, 2%, professional scientific and technical activities – by 43.8%.
At the same time, in the field of postal and courier activities, the drop in capital investments amounted to 81.1%, information and telecommunications – 23.4%, agriculture, forestry and fisheries – 11.3%.
The main source of financing capital investment remains the own funds of enterprises and organizations, due to which 73.4% of the total volume of all investments has been used.
A significant share of capital investments was made in machinery, equipment and vehicles – 46.3%, buildings and structures – 45.6% of all investments.
The Norwegian company Scatec Solar has signed an agreement with the Dutch development bank FMO to sell it 40% in a project to build a solar power station with a capacity of 55 MW in Chyhyryn (Cherkasy region), Scatec Solar has reported. “We are pleased to announce this second equity co-investment with our long-term partner FMO. We are working with FMO as a debt and equity partner on a range of projects in Ukraine and internationally and we expect more cooperation in the years to come,” Raymond Carlsen, the CEO of Scatec Solar, said.
“After our first co-investment in the Kamianka solar plant, we are pleased to partner again with Scatec Solar. This second co-investment demonstrates to us the potential of renewable energy in Ukraine. Supporting Ukraine in transitioning to a low-carbon system, is aligned with our strategy to increase our green investments and mitigate climate change,” Linda Broekhuizen, Chief Investment Officer FMO, stated.
“The total investment for the project is estimated at EUR 54 million and is funded by non-recourse debt financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) and Swedfund. FMO’s equity stake is financed by the Access to Energy Fund, which FMO manages on behalf of the Dutch government,” Scatec Solar said.
The construction of the solar power station in Chyhyryn began in mid-2019. Commercial operation is expected in mid-2020. It is estimated that the station will annually produce about 65 GWh of electricity.
Prices for construction and assembly work in Ukraine in January-September 2019 increased by 7.8% compared with January-September 2018. According to the State Statistics Service, the indicators are given without taking into account the annexed territory of Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as part of the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
According to statistics, since the beginning of the year, prices have risen in all segments of construction. So, in residential construction the growth was 9.8%, in non-residential some 6.6%, and in engineering 7%.
In September 2019 from September 2018, the cost of construction work in residential construction rose by 6.4%, in non-residential by 1.9%, and in engineering by 3.1%.
In addition, the State Statistics Service said that in September compared with August, the cost of construction of residential buildings increased slightly by 0.3%, engineering structures by 3.1%, while non-residential decreased by 0.3%.
According to the report, in 2018 prices for construction work in Ukraine increased by 23% compared to the previous year, while in 2017 by 13.4%.
Ukraine and France have signed an intergovernmental agreement on the manufacture and technical maintenance of a batch of patrol boats, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said.
“On behalf of the Ukrainian government the agreement was signed with French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner (EUR 136.5 million) on the production and technical maintenance of 20 patrol boats. Five of them and all RIB-boats [rigid inflatable boats] will be built in Ukraine. We thanked France for the support in building up the maritime security and protection system,” Avakov wrote on Twitter.
France’s OCEA will manufacture the 32-meter-long patrol boats.
“Every fourth boat will be produced in Ukraine. We will thus protect the basins of our seas and owing to the production localization in Ukraine – provisionally, this will be one of the Mykolaiv-based plants – we will be able to restart the manufacture of boats with aluminum hulls. We hope that following this deal we will produce boats at the Mykolaiv plant on a permanent basis,” the press center of the Ukrainian State Border Service quoted the minister as saying.
