Business news from Ukraine

PRESIDENTS OF UKRAINE AND BRAZIL DISCUSS STEPPING UP ECONOMIC COOPERATION

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko held a meeting with newly elected President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro in Davos (Switzerland), where the World Economic Forum is taking place. During the meeting the two presidents pointed out the importance of resuming large-scale cooperation in all sectors of mutual interest.
“The parties discussed prospects of intensification of trade and economic cooperation, first of all in the military-technical, investment, energy, scientific-technical and other spheres. It was also agreed to hold a regular meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation in the near future,” the press service of the Ukrainian head of state reported on Thursday.
The parties confirmed interest in restarting a number of industrial, energy, infrastructure and other projects suspended by the previous administration of Brazil.
“The parties stand for the need to increase the level of coordination between the two countries in the framework of international organizations, first of all the United Nations. The President of Brazil supported the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” the press service said.
Poroshenko invited Bolsonaro to visit Ukraine.

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WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION TO HELP UKRAINE IN DEVELOPING NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development and Trade Stepan Kubiv and Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Francis Gurry have reached an agreement on a joint project to develop the National Strategy for Intellectual Property in Ukraine. “I just met with Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization Francis Gurry. It is nice that his organization has highly and positively appreciated our work in reforming our intellectual property domain. We agreed on a joint project to develop the National Intellectual Property Strategy and continue to form an extensive network of innovation support centers in Ukraine,” Kubiv wrote on his Facebook page.
Also, he said, together with WIPO, Ukraine will continue to introduce alternative procedures for resolving disputes in the field of intellectual property.

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TRADE TURNOVER BETWEEN UKRAINE AND INDIA AMOUNTS TO $2.3 BLN IN JAN-OCT 2018

Trade turnover between Ukraine and India in January-October 2018 amounted to $2.3 billion, of which $1.5 billion was the cost of sunflower oil, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development and Trade Stepan Kubiv has said. “India ranks first in terms of exports of Ukrainian goods to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and is the fifth largest buyer of Ukrainian products among countries in the world,” he wrote on Facebook.
The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade said on Twitter the Ukrainian delegation headed by Kubiv on January 11-13 is on a working visit to India to participate in the 25th international summit “New India: Rising to Global Occasions.”

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NEW SEWING FACTORY IS OPENED IN UKRAINE

Yaroslav company (Kyiv), specializing in production of textiles and bedding, has opened Krolevets sewing factory (Sumy region), which specializes in sewing women’s shirts, pajamas, and workwear.
According to a report by Krolevets City Council on its Facebook page, the factory already employs about 100 people, but in 2019, with the opening of another shop, it is planned to increase the number of employees to 300 people.
At present, in particular, the factory is fulfilling an order for sewing jackets for the workers of Nova Poshta.
“It’s nice that in such a difficult time, despite the legal regime of martial law in the territory of Sumy region, new enterprises are opened,” Head of Sumy Regional State Administration Mykola Klochko, who was present at the opening of the factory, said.
The director and owner of Yaroslav company, Oleksandr Barsuk, previously reported that the company annually invests about $1 million of credit funds in equipment and modernization of production facilities.
The main specialization of the company is production of bed linen, blankets, mattresses, goods for children, kitchen textiles.
In 2017, the revenue of Yaroslav was UAH 354 million (in the first quarter of 2018 almost UAH 91 million).

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UKRAINE WANTS TO EXPAND RAILWAY SERVICES TO POLAND

The Infrastructure Ministry of Ukraine jointly with the Infrastructure Ministry of Poland are working on restoration of two train services in 2019, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan said at a press conference in Kyiv.
“Together with our Polish colleagues, we are working on the restoration of railway services on the Przemyśl-Malhowice-Nyzhankovychi (Lviv region) line, as well as for Lublin-Lviv. I am sure that these lines have the future,” he said.
Omelyan said that the initiative to resume the railway services between Ukraine and Poland came from Infrastructure Minister of Poland Andrzej Adamczyk.
“We agreed that in December Ukrzaliznytsia and the Polish railway will finally agree on the launch format of these lines, and closer to the New Year we will be able to announce the terms for their implementation,” the Ukrainian minister said.
Omelyan also reported that today the decision was made to launch a container train between China and Europe, namely between China and Poland, on the territory of Ukraine.
“We plan that the number of such trains will be about 1,000 a year,” he said.

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CABINET OF MINISTERS APPROVES AGREEMENT BETWEEN PHILIP MORRIS AND UKRAINE

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved a draft amicable agreement between Philip Morris and Ukraine, foreseeing the abolishment of the tax notification for the amount of UAH 635.3 million by the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine.
According to the draft government resolution, this agreement should ensure the investment dispute settlement, prevent bringing a claim to international investment arbitration against Ukraine amounting to more than UAH 635 million, avoid significant expenses from the national budget during the arbitration, demonstrate to the partners of Ukraine and foreign investors that the government adheres to commitments to provide incentives and protect foreign investment.
The amicable agreement will be signed between Philip Morris International Inc., Philip Morris Global Brands Inc. (both the United States), Philip Morris Brands Sarl (Switzerland), PrJSC Philip Morris Ukraine and the state of Ukraine.
Acting Head of the State Fiscal Service Oleksandr Vlasov is authorized to sign the amicable agreement, and the State Fiscal Service is authorized to execute it after signing.
As reported, PrJSC Philip Morris Ukraine in March 2015 appealed and received permission from Kharkiv customs office to apply the processing mode in the customs territory of Ukraine for the production of cigarettes and accompanying products and their re-export for the period from April 1, 2015 through March 31, 2016. The company was authorized to conditional exemption from Ukrainian import duties and other import taxes on materials for processing under the terms of re-export.
After Philip Morris Ukraine carried out processing and re-export operations, the main directorate of the State Fiscal Service in Kharkiv region conducted an unscheduled inspection of the company’s compliance with the customs legislation of Ukraine regarding the clearance of goods in the processing mode in the customs territory of Ukraine.
According to the results of the inspection of the main directorate of the State Fiscal Service in Kharkiv region, on June 14, 2016, it approved decision notices that determined the liabilities for paying of import duties, additional import duty and VAT on the import of materials, as well as penalties for the total amount UAH 635.3 million Philip Morris Ukraine. Philip Morris Ukraine said that the actions of the State Fiscal Service are pressure on the company. After that, the parties entered into litigation.

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