A special agreement on transport liberalization between Ukraine and the European Union will be signed on Wednesday in Lyon, France, as part of the European Commission’s Transport Directorate’s “Connecting Europe Days 2022” meeting, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Mustafa Nayem said.
“On June 29, Ukraine will finally receive “transport visa-free” with the countries of the European Union,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Nayem stressed that this event is of great importance for Ukrainian carriers.
“Taking into account the almost five-fold increase in road transport, already in September of this year, due to a lack of auto permits, the export of Ukrainian goods could stop at least in the direction of two neighboring countries. This is hundreds of millions of dollars of losses every month; and more than a billion at the end of the year,” the Deputy Minister gave an example .
According to him, this agreement will also help European consumers to reduce the shortage and increase in prices for Ukrainian goods, as well as many European companies whose offices and production bases continue to operate in Ukraine.
The European Union is starting to supply more than 90 off-road trucks to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the EU Delegation to Ukraine has reported.
“The logistics equipment is part of a wider €31 million assistance measure adopted on December 2 in support of Ukraine. The EU has begun supplying the Armed Forces with more than 90 off-road trucks as part of the European Peace Fund. The trucks are provided to support the medical, engineering and logistics units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine “, – said in a press release on the website of the representative office on Tuesday.
It is emphasized that this assistance measure will increase the overall resilience of Ukraine and help strengthen the capacity of its Armed Forces. In particular, we are talking about the provision of medical equipment, including a field hospital, engineering equipment, including demining tools, items for logistics units, including trucks and other means, and equipment to increase cyber defense capabilities.
Ukraine and Romania have agreed to strengthen cooperation in the Danube region and cooperation in the field of environmental protection, in particular, the countries are preparing to sign a bilateral agreement on the implementation of the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention).
The corresponding decision was made by Minister of Environment Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Ruslan Strelets and Minister of Environment, Water and Forests of Romania Barna Tanczos during an online meeting on June 27, according to the website of the Ukrainian ministry.
The Ukrainian minister also spoke about the harm done to the environment since the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, and expressed hope for Romania’s support in recovering damages from the aggressor in the international court.
“About 260 cases of ecocide in the country and more than 2,000 cases of destruction of our ecosystems have already been recorded. The amount of damage exceeds UAH 200 billion. Such a war will definitely leave huge scars on the Ukrainian environment. Ukraine has joined the Life family, and we have great hopes that within the framework of the program, among other things, we will be able to restore our wildlife,” Strelets said.
He also recalled that Ukraine has introduced the EkoZahroza official application of the Ministry of Natural Resources, which allows every inhabitant of the planet to receive data around the clock on all changes in environmental indicators on the Ukrainian territory, including radiation pollution.
The Espoo Convention is an international agreement initiated by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe that entered into force in 1997. According to the document, the procedure for assessing the environmental impact of potentially hazardous projects should be carried out not only within the state, but also in neighboring countries that may be affected by the impact of these facilities.
On June 24, Ukraine and the EU signed an agreement on joining the Life international environmental program, the budget of which for 2021-2027 for projects to protect the environment is EUR 5.43 billion.
Moldova is ready to continue providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine and to accept more refugees from Ukraine, Moldovan President Maia Sandu said.
“The Moldovan government has also provided humanitarian aid in Vinnytsia, Odesa, Chernivtsi and Mykolaiv regions to cover all the growing needs of the people who live there, and we are ready to continue to provide this assistance,” Sandu said at a press conference following talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Monday.
Sandu pointed out that about 500,000 people from Ukraine went to Moldova after Russia’s large-scale aggression. According to her, there are still 73,000 refugees from Ukraine in Moldova, 42,000 of whom are children.
“I confirmed our readiness to provide them with all the necessary support and accept more people if necessary,” Sandu assured.
Das Financial Stability Board (FSB), dem insbesondere die Führung der Nationalbank und des Finanzministeriums der Ukraine angehören, schlägt vor, die bevorzugte Besteuerung von Kraftstoffen aufzugeben. Laut dem Pressedienst der NBU auf der Website vom Montag wird eine Erhöhung der Einfuhrsteuern, insbesondere der Verbrauchsteuern auf Kraftstoff, als eine der Möglichkeiten zur weiteren Steigerung der Haushaltseinnahmen vorgeschlagen.
„Nach den Ergebnissen von Januar bis Mai 2022 war das Staatshaushaltsdefizit größer als für das gesamte Jahr 2021 und 2020. Die Haushaltseinnahmen gingen zurück, auch aufgrund der Vorzugsbesteuerung von Importen, während gleichzeitig die Ausgaben vor allem erheblich anstiegen für militärische Zwecke und soziale Programme”, sagte die NBU in einer Erklärung.
Wie berichtet, einigte sich das FSB am 23. Juni auf zentrale Aktionsbereiche, um das Staatshaushaltsdefizit zu verringern und das Volumen seiner monetären Finanzierung zu reduzieren: Optimierung der Staatsausgaben und des Einnahmenwachstums, Aktivierung der Kreditaufnahme auf dem Inlandsmarkt und Erhöhung der Vorhersehbarkeit der internationalen Hilfe .
Ende März verabschiedete die Rada Änderungen der Abgabenordnung, wonach sie die Verbrauchssteuer auf die Lieferung von Benzin und Flüssiggas abschaffte und die Mehrwertsteuer auf die Einfuhr von Motorkraftstoff auf 7 % senkte.
Anschließend wurde der Rada ein Gesetzentwurf vorgelegt, der die Ablehnung dieser Leistungen vorsah, jedoch wurden diese Normen noch vor ihrer Einführung in die Halle davon ausgenommen, da sie eine noch stärkere Erhöhung der Kraftstoffpreise befürchten ließen. Infolgedessen werden ab dem 1. Juli die Einfuhrprivilegien für die meisten Waren gestrichen, für Kraftstoffe bleiben sie jedoch erhalten.
Die Nationalbank der Ukraine schlägt der Regierung und der Rada außerdem vor, einen zusätzlichen Einfuhrzoll von 10 % einzuführen, ähnlich dem von 2014-2015, um den Druck auf die Griwna zu verringern und den Staatshaushalt aufzufüllen. Die Regierung und der Profilausschuss haben sich jedoch bisher geweigert, eine solche Maßnahme anzuwenden.
The Financial Stability Board (FSB), which includes, in particular, the leadership of the National Bank and the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, proposes to abandon the preferential taxation of motor fuel. According to the press service of the NBU on the website on Monday, an increase in taxes on imports, in particular excises on fuel, is proposed as one of the ways to further increase budget revenues.
“According to the results of January-May 2022, the state budget deficit was larger than for the whole year of 2021 and 2020. Budget revenues decreased, including due to preferential taxation of imports, while at the same time, spending increased significantly, primarily for military needs and social programs,” the NBU said in a statement.
As reported, on June 23, the FSB agreed on key areas of action to narrow the state budget deficit and reduce the volume of its monetary financing: optimization of government spending and revenue growth, activation of domestic market borrowing and increasing the predictability of international aid.
At the end of March, the Rada adopted amendments to the Tax Code, according to which it canceled the excise tax on the supply of gasoline and liquefied gas and reduced VAT on the import of motor fuel to 7%.
Subsequently, a draft law was submitted to the Rada that provided for the rejection of these benefits, but these norms were excluded from it even before they were introduced to the hall, as they caused fears of an even greater increase in the price of fuel. As a result, from July 1, import privileges for most goods will be canceled, but they will remain for motor fuel.
The National Bank of Ukraine is also proposing to the government and the Rada to introduce a 10% additional import duty, similar to the one that existed in 2014-2015, to ease pressure on the hryvnia and replenish the state budget. However, the government and the profile committee have so far refused to apply such a measure.
