The international conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war will be held in the summer in Lugano, said Swiss President Ignacio Cassis.
“The conference, co-organized by Ukraine with Switzerland, will be held in Lugano, Switzerland in early July this year,” Cassis said at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos on Monday.
According to him, this will be a conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine.
“When the war is over and the guns are silenced, all our efforts must be focused on reconstruction. Let the reconstruction and elimination of Ukraine’s economic consequences go through a broad political and diplomatic process. The Lugano conference is an opportunity to discuss this difficult path to recovery with all key stakeholders. parties, “he added.
According to Cassis, the conference will be a starting point in the process of rebuilding Ukraine.
According to the President of Switzerland, 40 countries and 17 international organizations have been invited to take part in the high-level conference.
Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin said that 20 countries have decided to send additional military assistance to Kyiv.
“About 20 countries have announced new security assistance packages. Many countries are donating critically needed artillery ammunition (…), tanks and other armored vehicles,” Austin said at a press conference on Monday following a meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group.
He said that other countries have taken on new commitments to train the Ukrainian military.
Austin thanked the Czech Republic for its significant support, including the recent transfer of combat helicopters, tanks and missile systems.
In addition, the chief of the Pentagon announced Denmark’s decision to send Ukraine a Harpoon anti-ship missile launcher and ammunition.
In addition, the Pentagon chief welcomed the contribution of Italy, Greece, Norway and Poland to the supply of Ukraine with artillery. Separately, Austin noted the role of Britain in coordinating the transfer of military assistance to Ukraine.
The chief of the Pentagon announced that the third meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group will be held on June 15 on the sidelines of the meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.
The group’s first meeting took place in April at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
22 million tons of food have been blocked in Ukrainian ports, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in Kyiv on Saturday after meeting with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa.
“Russia has blocked all maritime opportunities to export food products – our grain, barley, sunflower. 22 million tons have been blocked by the Russian Federation, “he said.
“And, to be honest, they are stealing slowly. Grain is taken out of ports and somewhere. We know what “somewhere” is, “Zelensky said.
According to him, Ukraine “works at the level of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the level of conscience, it is impossible to work with these countries, so we work differently. ”
Zelensky noted that “it can be unblocked in different ways. One of them is military. That is why we are asking our partners for such requests for appropriate weapons, and Portugal is no exception. “
On Saturday, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a bill approved by the Congress to appropriate $40 billion for Ukraine, the White House press service has reported.
“On Saturday, May 21, 2022, the President signed into law H.R. 7691, the “Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022,” the press service said in a statement posted on the White House’s official website.
“Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022” provides supplemental emergency appropriations for fiscal year 2022 to Federal agencies to respond to the situation in, and for assistance to, Ukraine.
At a meeting on Friday, the Ukrainian government approved the composition of the delegation to begin negotiations with the European Union on an agreement on road freight transport between Ukraine and the EU, said Prime Minister Denis Shmygal.
“This means the maximum possible liberalization in this matter and in the issue of access to European ports,” he said, opening the meeting.
The Prime Minister pointed out that, according to the operative data of the State Customs Service, the total value of goods exported from Ukraine in April amounted to $ 2.7 billion, which is twice lower than in April 2021.
“Every day the government team works to increase the capacity of our western border. We are building a new logistics system. We are opening new checkpoints, green corridors. We have simplified customs as much as possible so that businesses can export products freely and quickly,” Shmygal said.
Canada, which has allocated 1 billion Canadian dollars (about $780 million at the current exchange rate) of financial support to Ukraine in its next budget, remains the only country that intends to use a special account administered by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to send this assistance.
“The account allows donors to channel further support to Ukraine securely, through loans or grants, using our fiduciary infrastructure. Canada has a billion in its upcoming budget. I am not aware of any other pledges or commitments at this time. We will keep you posted,” he said. IMF Representative Gerry Rice at a traditional briefing in Washington on Thursday.
When asked about the Fund’s exchange rate advice, in particular the advisability of adjusting the fixed rate policy chosen at the start of the war, the IMF spokesperson said that he “is not aware of any specific advice that we have given regarding the adjustment at this time.”
Rice also said that the Fund remains in very close contact with the Ukrainian authorities, almost daily, in particular, a few days ago there was another conversation between IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
As reported, on February 24, the National Bank suspended the work of the foreign exchange market of Ukraine, except for the sale of foreign currency, and fixed the exchange rate at the official level of that day – UAH 29.2549/$1, which led to the emergence of a “black” market, where in the first days the exchange rate reached 39-40 UAH/$1. Later, the regulator allowed the sale of currency in branches that are under the threat of capture by the invaders, by decision of their leadership.
The NBU made the next liberalization step on April 15, when it granted banks and non-banking financial institutions the right to sell cash currency throughout the country at a rate not higher than “official plus 10%”, but within the volume of the purchased currency. As a result, many banks declared the possibility of selling foreign currency at the maximum possible rate of UAH 32.17-32.18/$1 and at the same time raised the purchase rate closer to the selling rate. However, according to market participants, it is extremely difficult to freely officially buy cash currency. Nevertheless, the “black” market reacted with a slight strengthening of the hryvnia, as a result of which the dollar exchange rate on it was only about 2% higher. Now this difference has increased to about 14%.
