The number of passengers who used buses to travel abroad in 2023 decreased to 7.5 million passengers, compared to 8.5 million in 2022.
Such data Deputy Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Sergiy Derkach made public, opening the forum of the reform of international bus transportation.
According to him, in 2020 only 1.1 million passengers traveled abroad by buses.
“This is a large passenger traffic today for Ukraine. For example, Ukrzaliznytsia carried 2 million passengers last year,” Derkach said.
He emphasized that bus service today, given the lack of air service, has become one of the main for trips from Ukraine abroad.
The average duration of travel by bus in international traffic is 31 hours of which about 7 hours passengers spend waiting at the border.
“This is exactly what the state should change and what you and I should change. That is why today we will present our reform: electronic tools that will primarily help the passenger and carriers,” Derkach said.
According to him, the register of international transportation will soon be available for passengers, in which each passenger will be able to find his route, check the carrier and going to his site to buy a ticket. A carrier’s office is being created for carriers, where they will be able to quickly open new routes without paperwork and bureaucratic procedures.
Deputy Minister expressed hope that the reform of intercity bus transportation will help to increase budget revenues. According to his data, about 25% of carriers operate in the market without paying taxes, and the budget receives up to UAH 500 million annually.
European Council President Charles Michel assures that concrete steps to use the proceeds from frozen Russian assets will be taken very quickly so that the first 1 billion euros will be allocated to Ukraine, including for military aid, as early as July 1 this year.
“We have taken a very important decision by making it possible to postpone unexpected revenues – and this is a proposal from the European Commission – and we are determined to act very quickly so that we can take some of this money to support Ukraine, including the possibility of (supporting) military equipment. This demonstrates that the 27 leaders who were around the table understand the gravity of the situation,” he said Thursday in Brussels at a news conference after the European Council meeting.
Michel is convinced that the necessary steps to make the mechanism work will be taken “very quickly”. “These proposals were presented by the Commission yesterday. There is considerable support in the European Council for this approach,” the European Council president said.
According to Michel, the Belgian presidency confirmed that it too “intends to work with all colleagues very quickly”. “This is really very important because there will be more opportunity to support Ukraine with military equipment, with what is urgently needed,” he emphasized.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in turn, said she was pleased that the leaders had approved the use of emergency revenues from immobilized Russian assets. “This will provide funding to supply Ukraine with military equipment. We can expect to be able to raise €3 billion in 2024 and a similar amount in future years… There is strong support to use the windfall revenues from immobilized assets for military support to Ukraine. I told the leaders that if we act quickly to finalize our proposals, we can disburse 1 billion as early as July 1. The assets are in our hands and if we are quick, there will be concrete actions in the summer,” she explained.
CHARLES MICHEL, EUROPEAN COUNCIL, MILITARY AID, RUSSIAN ASSETS, UKRAINE
France has increased defense spending, some of which will be invested in production in Ukraine, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to Ukraine Gael Vesierre has said.
During the 16th annual Kyiv Security Forum founded by Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s Open Ukraine Foundation, the Ambassador noted that France’s defense spending exceeded 2% of GDP.
Regarding investments in defense, the diplomat stressed that investments are also needed to produce in Ukraine what the Ukrainian Armed Forces need.
“We say: if we can start such production in Ukraine, we should do it,” Vesier said.
He also called for supporting Ukraine to achieve victory.
“Let’s imagine for a second if Russia wins. It means that Russia can destroy a neighbor and the international community can do nothing in response. It means that many countries will say: we now need to join the nuclear club because our security is at risk. It will be a more risky and unstable situation than today,” the French diplomat emphasized.
The 16th annual Kiev Security Forum, organized to mobilize transatlantic support for Ukraine, is taking place March 21-22.
The State Property Fund (SPF) of Ukraine has sold Kholminsky distillery in Chernihiv region for UAH 45 million at an auction in the system “Prozorro.Sales”, which is 2.9 times higher than the starting price, said the chairman of the SPF Vitaliy Koval.
“Three participants competed for the object. Its cost has increased in 2.9 times of the original”, – he wrote in Facebook and added that the FGI will continue denationalization of the alcohol industry.
The head of the FGI specified that the funds transferred by the winner of the auction to the state budget will be directed to the financing of the Defense forces of Ukraine.
According to Prozorro.Sales, the winner of the auction was Terminal Frost LLC.
According to the online resource youcontrol.com.ua, the company was registered in 2017 in Kiev. Specializes in non-specialized wholesale trade, providing financial and consulting services, renting its own or leased property. The authorized capital of the enterprise is 155 thousand UAH. The beneficiary of the enterprise is Anastasia Bashtova.
It is stated that the postal operator or express carrier must submit an additional register of international mail or express shipments if the goods are not subject to export duty or are not subject to restrictions provided for in Article 197 of the Customs Code.
Head of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Daniil Getmantsev in Telegram expressed hope that these changes will help to reduce business costs and speed up logistics.
As reported, the Verkhovna Rada adopted as a whole the bill No. 9456 on amendments to the Customs Code of Ukraine regarding customs clearance of biomethane.
Kholminskyy Distillery, PROZORRO.SALES, State Immunity Fund, STATE PROPERTY FUND, UKRAINE
Polish authorities have agreed with farmers on subsidies per ton of grain and temporary closure of the border with Ukraine from April 1 for the transit of some agricultural products, polskieradio24.pl reported.
According to the newspaper, the document was signed by representatives of the protesting farmers, Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Seckerski and the ministry’s state secretary Michal Kolodziejczak.
The agreement envisages maintaining the current embargo on agricultural products from Ukraine, which has been in place since mid-September last year. It concerns in particular wheat, corn, wheat flour, rapeseed and sunflower.
In addition, the Minister of Agriculture must ask the Council of Ministers of the European Union to suspend the transit of these products through Polish territory as of April 1 this year.
Both sides in the signed document also consider it necessary to develop detailed rules for agri-food trade between Poland and Ukraine, but also note that the difficult situation in agriculture is the result of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
Farmers’ representatives in the agreement declare their government’s support for the changes to the Green Agreement. It is primarily about replacing the mandatory transfer to a voluntary ecosystem and simplifying other rules for farmers.
AUTHORITIES, BORDER, FARMERS, GRAIN, POLAND, transit products, UKRAINE
Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Igor Klymenko held a meeting with Ambassador of the Slovak Republic in Ukraine Marek Shafin, during which the parties discussed issues of bilateral cooperation, the press service of the Ministry.
” Igor Klymenko held a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Slovak Republic in Ukraine Marek Shafin. They discussed issues of bilateral cooperation and support of Ukraine in resisting Russian armed aggression. In particular: Transfer of Bozena mechanized demining vehicles for the State Emergency Situations Service this fall, which will facilitate the process of demining of Kherson region”, – stated in the message published in the Telegram channel on Tuesday.
In addition, the parties discussed the search for relatives of people who went missing, the exchange of experience with international partners in this area, as well as the preparation of readmission agreements, the fight against crime and cooperation in the field of chemical, environmental and nuclear safety on the border.
The interlocutors also discussed issues of migration policy, because at the moment about 130 thousand Ukrainian citizens are officially staying in Slovakia.
The meeting was also attended by the Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Kateryna Pavlichenko, Police Attaché, official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Slovakia at the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Ukraine Ludvik Šoltes and representatives of the Ministry.
Ihor Klymenko, Minister of Internal Affairs, SLOVAKIA, UKRAINE, Марек Шафін
