Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Ukraine as equity capital as of July 1, 2019, was $33.724 billion, which was 2.6%, or $0.84 billion more than in the beginning of the year, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine said. According to the data, the inflow of FDI for the sixth months of 2019 totalled $1.256 billion, $728.9 million was written off, other changes of the cost of the corporate capital of nonresidents totaled $309 million with exchange rate differences of $520.8 million.
According to previously published data, first quarterly inflow of FDI in Ukraine grew by $45.5 million.
Cyprus was the leader in FDI surplus in the first half of 2019 with $388.8 million, followed by the Netherlands ($295.1 million), Russia – 145.5 million, and Switzerland ($100.3 million).
Meanwhile, FDI from Hungary decreased $250.6 million.
Nonresidents invested $318.5 million in financial and insurance activities, $184.9 million and $176.4 million in extractive and processing industries respectively, $113.8 million in wholesale and retail trade, $122.6 million in transactions with property, $128.4 million in science and technical activities.
Although there was a $270.4 million drop in FDI in the field of administrative and supportive service for the mentioned period.
The Verkhovna Rada has backed the candidates to the new cabinet of ministers proposed by newly appointed Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk on behalf of the ruling parliamentary coalition, the Servant of the People faction. A total of 281 parliamentarians voted for the cabinet on Thursday evening, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent said.
The new Ukrainian government includes: Dmytro Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration; Mykhailo Fedorov, Deputy Prime Minister, Digital Transformation Minister; Tymofiy Mylovanov, Minister of Economic Development, Trade, and Agriculture; Oksana Markarova, Minister of Finance; Oleksiy Orzhel, Minister of Energy and Environmental Protection; Vladyslav Krykliy, Minister of Infrastructure; Olena Babak, Minister of Development of Communities and Territories; Hanna Novosad, Minister of Education and Science; Zoriana Skaletska (Chernenko), Minister of Health; Volodymyr Borodiansky, Minister of Youth Policy, Culture and Sports; Yulia Sokolovska, Minister of Social Policy; Arsen Avakov, Interior Minister; Denys Maliuska, Minister of Justice; Oksana Koliada (Havryliuk), Minister for Veterans, Temporarily Occupied Territories, and Internally Displaced Persons; and Dmytro Dubilet, Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers.
Earlier in the day, the parliament appointed Vadym Prystaiko as foreign minister and Andriy Zahorodniuk as defense minister, as recommended by the Ukrainian president.
In the new Ukrainian cabinet unifications have occurred of the Economy Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry, the Energy Ministry and the Ecology Ministry; the Veterans Ministry and the Ministry of Temporary Occupied Territories; and the Culture Ministry and the Youth and Sports Ministry.
Washington is ready to join the peace process in Ukraine, Assistant to the U.S. President for National Security Affairs John Bolton has stated.
The United States is set to join such efforts in any way possible because what is going on in Ukraine and in Crimea should not be regarded as a purely European dispute, Bolton told a press briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday, adding that the North Atlantic Alliance, or NATO, was established in light of the fact that the U.S. had been involved in two world wars, and NATO was to maintain peace.
Bolton also recalled that Germany and France were planning to organize a Normandy format meeting.
However, to take part in such meetings, one should get prepared and be guided by experience and all the positive things from previous meetings, because if there were no positive points during previous meetings, then it hardly makes sense to hold another such meeting, Bolton said.
Assistant to the U.S. President for National Security Affairs John Bolton has announced his visit to Kyiv without indicating specific dates.
“The president had productive meetings in Biarritz at the G7. I’m looking forward to my upcoming meetings with our partners in Kyiv. We support President Zelensky’s reform efforts and vision to create a stronger and more prosperous Ukraine,” he said on Twitter.
Ukraine and Israel signed bilateral documents on cooperation in agriculture, economics, education, culture, as well as youth and sports. “A series of Ukrainian-Israeli documents were signed in the presence of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu,” the presidential press service reported on Monday.
Thus, Acting Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Olha Trofimtseva and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Israel to Ukraine Joel Lyon signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the sphere of agriculture between the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the State of Israel.
In addition, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the State of Israel Hennadiy Nadolenko and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Israel to Ukraine Joel Lyon signed an Agreement between the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Ministry of Education of the State of Israel as regards facilitating the study of the Hebrew language in the educational institutions of Ukraine and the study of the Ukrainian language in the educational institutions of the State of Israel.
In addition, the ambassadors of the two states signed a Program of Cooperation in the spheres of education, culture, youth and sports between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the State of Israel for 2019-2022.
State Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Oleksiy Perevezentsev and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Israel to Ukraine Joel Lyon signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine and the Israeli Patent Office of the Ministry of Justice of the State of Israel.
AGRICULTURE, COOPERATION, ECONOMICS, EDUCATION, ISRAEL, SPORTS, UKRAINE
State debt of ukraine from 2009 till 2019 (mln uah)