The resolution approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on October 23 proposes the introduction of a unified state register of pesticides and agrochemicals in Ukraine, Viktor Pohorily, the coordinator of the agrochemical committee of the European Business Association, said on Facebook. “Among the main innovations is the creation of a transparent and understandable system of laboratory powers for ecotox and biological testing, the rejection of paper certificates, the introduction of a unified state register of pesticides and agrochemicals, which will be used by both customs and the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumers’ Rights Protection,” he wrote.
According to the coordinator of the agricultural committee, it is also envisaged to strengthen fight against unscrupulous applicants, improve the system of protection of intellectual property rights.
“Finally, the Ministry of Energy and Environment Protection will be able to cancel registration if one factory is declared during registration and products are taken from another place,” the expert noted.
In addition, according to him, the government “intends to introduce a new re-registration procedure, which will allow reducing to a few days some procedures that previously took a year, as well as introduce the concepts and criteria of “minor changes” and simplify the conclusion of an environmental expert assessment of materials.”
“The complexity and incomprehensibility of these processes over the past two years has constantly raised questions,” he said.
The volume of construction work in Ukraine in September 2019 increased by 11.3% compared to September 2018, while in August 2019 compared to August 2018 this figure rose by 8.9%. According to the State Statistics Service, the data are given excluding the occupied territory of Crimea and the temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
According to the agency, the volume of construction work in September increased by 7.2% compared to the previous month (according to seasonally adjusted data, it decreased by 2.1%), while compared to July 2019 this figure decreased by 11.5%.
According to the State Statistics Service, in September 2019 from September 2018 the volume of work increased in non-residential and engineering construction, and decreased in residential construction. According to uncorrected data, the growth in non-residential construction amounted to 14.2%, engineering some 19.4%. The decrease in the volume of work in residential construction amounted to 10.2%.
In addition, in September the volume of construction work in construction of residential buildings compared to August decreased by 4%, non-residential by 3.4%, while in the construction of engineering structures increased by 16.7%.
In January-September-2019 compared with January-September 2018, a drop in the volume of construction work was recorded in three regions of Ukraine, in particular, in Ivano-Frankivsk (by 5.6%, to UAH 2.090 billion), Cherkasy (1.1%, to UAH 1.275 billion), and Odesa (2.1%, to UAH 11.033 billion).
The largest growth in the volume of construction work over the nine months was recorded in Vinnytsia (two times, to UAH 5.892 billion), Chernihiv (1.6 times, to UAH 1.218 billion), and Kherson (1.38 times, to UAH 1.137 billion) regions.
In Kyiv, the volume of construction work for the nine months grew by 24.8% and amounted to UAH 26.966 billion.
During a working visit to Japan Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Shinichi Kitaoka, the press service of the head of state reported on Wednesday. “Cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is extremely important for our country, especially in the context of implementing large-scale reforms that are taking place now. Recently, the government approved an action plan for the next five years. We really believe that this program will not be implemented in theory, but in practice. This includes the development of human capital and economy, European integration and improving the security and welfare of Ukrainian citizens,” Zelensky said during the meeting, adding that the implementation of this plan will create a million additional jobs in the country.
The head of state said that the priorities of the current authorities of Ukraine include launching the land market, large-scale privatization, deregulation and simplification of all procedures with the transition to online services, elimination of the shadow economy and corruption schemes, solving infrastructure problems, optimizing the tax system, quickly and comprehensively introducing European and international standards.
The president thanked the agency for supporting Ukraine under the Official Development Assistance (ODA) program.
“We appreciate the technical assistance of Japan to support democratic institutions, ensure macroeconomic stability and concessional lending for important infrastructure projects in Ukraine,” Zelensky said.
The president said that one of the striking results of Ukraine’s joint work with JICA was the successful completion of the modernization of the Boryspil International Airport (Kyiv) through a soft loan. At the same time, Zelensky noted the importance of implementing the second project, namely, the modernization of the Bortnychi wastewater treatment plant, which will help prevent environmental pollution and increase the safety of people’s lives.
“I hope that in the near future a contract will be signed with the general contractor and construction work at the facility will begin from early next year,” he said.
The president announced Ukraine’s interest in continuing fruitful cooperation with JICA. Important promising infrastructure projects, in particular, may be the construction of a bridge over the Pivdenny Buh River in Mykolaiv as part of the improvement of the southern transport corridor; and preparing a project for the processing of solid household waste.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a meeting with Chairman of the Japan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association Eysuke Mori has discussed possibilities for deepening economic and investment cooperation between Ukraine and Japan, the press service of the Office of the President has reported.
At the meeting, the parties discussed cooperation in the implementation of infrastructure projects in Ukraine, mutually beneficial projects in the fields of energy, transport, agriculture, and environmental protection.
“Today we need to modernize and unite Ukraine. To this end, our parliament adopts many laws. For example, a concession law, because we need to restore and modernize the Ukrainian infrastructure: ports, railways, roads, bridges, and dams,” Zelensky said.
He also said that a new parliamentary group has been established for inter-parliamentary relations with Japan, which includes 117 deputies, 80 of whom, including the co-chair of the group, represent the Servant of the People political party.
The parties exchanged experience on overcoming the consequences of nuclear emergencies. Zelensky noted the effectiveness of the Ukrainian-Japanese joint committee on cooperation in improving the response to emergencies at nuclear power plants.
“We confirm our intention to continue cooperation on overcoming the aftermath of the accident at the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant through interaction between our countries within the so-called Fukushima-Chornobyl mechanism. A promising area of activity is the development and implementation of new technologies for the disposal of radioactive waste,” the head of the Ukrainian state said.
The Japanese side praised the results of their visit to Ukraine in September 2019. It was noted that this visit gave a new impetus to the development of inter-parliamentary dialogue and the full range of cooperation between the countries.
In turn, Zelensky thanked for the consistent policy of the government and parliament of Japan to support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, in particular within international organizations, as well as for large-scale humanitarian and financial assistance from Japan for the implementation of structural reforms.
“We greatly appreciate your country’s assistance in restoring Donbas and supporting internally displaced persons from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. I feel your friendly attitude towards us,” he said.
Ukraine, the European Commission and the Russian Federation held technical consultations in Brussels on Tuesday to prepare for the next round of trilateral talks on gas transit after January 1, 2020.
NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy said in a press release that during the consultations the parties discussed Ukraine’s progress in the implementation of the norms of the European legislation and the creation of independent gas transmission system operator.
In addition, the signing of an interconnection agreement between the operators of the gas transmission systems of Ukraine and the Russian Federation on standard European conditions was discussed, as well as the methodology of tariff formation for gas transportation, and other issues.
The next round of trilateral gas transit negotiations is expected to take place on October 28.
Authorized bodies of Ukraine and Chine have approved an international veterinary certificate for exporting frozen beef from Ukraine, according to a posting on the website of the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection of Ukraine.
As reported, the authority expects that in 2019-2020 some 24 states would open their markets for Ukrainian poultry products.
In 2018, Ukraine opened 85 new markets for various types of products and increased the number of companies authorized to export animal products.
