Ukraine and the UK have legally secured the abolition of import duties and tariff quotas in bilateral trade by signing a relevant agreement, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine reported on Wednesday.
“The agreement will be valid for 12 months, but can be extended by agreement between the parties for a new period,” the release states.
According to it, now Ukrainian producers can export more products to the British market. First of all, we are talking about flour, grain, dairy products, poultry meat and semi-finished products, tomato paste, honey, corn, wheat, juices, mushrooms, and sugar – these are the goods Ukraine traditionally exports to the UK.
The Ministry of Economy noted that in 2021, the trade turnover between Ukraine and the UK increased by almost 57%, to $2.2 billion, with exports especially intensified (up by 62%), exceeding $1 billion.
The ministry recalled that the European Union also recently announced its intention to cancel the collection of all import duties on Ukrainian goods for a year.
President of the European Council Charles Michel speaks out in support of the idea of transferring 10% of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to Ukraine.
“I think in deed this option is an interesting option, and we must look at that in order to see if it’s possible and for which member states it will be possible to take such a decision,” Michel said in an exclusive interview with Interfax- Ukraine.
According to him, he discussed this topic directly with the president (Volodymyr Zelensky) and mentioned support for this idea. “We are in closed contact with the IMF and also with different countries across the world and also across the EU.”
Speaking about a possible legal solution to this issue, the President of the European Council recalled that it is within the competence of the member states. “It is a decision of the member states on the national level, but in my capacity as Chair of the European Council, and Ukrainian friends know that they can count on me in order to support this. Is it immediately 10% or we will start with 5% and will try to raise more – the exact modality, we should see what is possible, what is realistic, of course. But you understand I’m supporter of this idea,” Michel said.
The European Commission will soon submit a report on the readiness of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia to join the European Union, European Council President Charles Michel said.
“We discussed in detail the issues of EU enlargement a few months ago, at the conference in Versailles. After that, three countries applied for accession. We made a decision very quickly, instructing the European Commission to carry out work and prepare reports on these countries. We made a decision in a few days, although it usually took 8-9 months. By the end of June, the European Commission will publish this report, and we will decide how to proceed further,” Michel said at a joint press conference with Moldovan President Maia Sandu during a visit to Chisinau.
He stressed that the EU will continue to act promptly.
“We will act immediately to strengthen ties with Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia, to support them in the current difficult situation. This will be a political process in the context of how we see the development of the European Union. In the next two months, we will give a clear signal of what we want to enlarge the European Union,” the President of the European Council said.
For her part, Moldovan President Maia Sandu stressed that “European integration is the choice of the country, the choice of the people.” “On April 22, we submitted to Brussels the first part of our responses to the European Commission’s questionnaire. In the near future we will also pass on the second part. We understand that integration into the EU is a long process, we are not looking for short and easy ways. We intend to continue reforms. Most importantly – peace is needed for this, everything must be done to restore peace,” Sandu stressed.
Metallurgical enterprises of Ukraine in January-April this year reduced steel production by 45.9% compared to the same period last year – to 3.858 million tonnes. According to the recent information of the Ukrainian Association of Secondary Metals (UAVtormet), in April, only one steel plant produced steel.
“Insignificant volumes of steel production were shown by some foundry enterprises,” the information of UAVtormet says.
In addition, it is reported that ferrous scrap enterprises for the four months of 2022 reduced procurement of scrap metal by 50.4% compared to the same period in 2021, to 620,100 tonnes.
The export of scrap metal for the specified period amounted to 7,100 tonnes, which is 12.3 times less compared to the four months of 2021 (87,000 tonnes). At the same time, scrap imports amounted to 100 tonnes, while in January-April 2021 – 7,800 tonnes.
The supply of scrap to the country’s steel enterprises in January-April 2022 decreased by 47.1% compared to January-April 2021, to 583,500 tonnes. The total volume of scrap metal supplies in April amounted to 52,500 tonnes.
The level of scrap metal stocks at steel enterprises as of May 1, 2022 is estimated at 60,000 tonnes.
The state budget of Ukraine for the first four months of 2022 was executed with a deficit of UAH 146.6 billion, including the general fund with a deficit of UAH 157.2 billion, with a planned deficit for this period of UAH 317.1 billion, such preliminary results The Treasury Department announced on Monday.
Taking into account its data on the results of three months, in April the deficit of the general fund of the state budget amounted to UAH 89.7 billion compared to UAH 80.6 billion in March, while in February and January there were surpluses of UAH 1.1 billion and UAH 12 billion, respectively. UAH
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA, Kyiv) has reached an agreement on wet-leasing of medium-haul Boeing 737-900 aircraft to the Latvian carrier airBaltic, the Ukrainian carrier said.
From May 1, the aircraft and crews of the Ukrainian airline will begin to be based at Riga Airport to serve the partner flight network, UIA said in a statement on Monday.
At the same time, it is specified that the UIA aircraft will provide connection to a number of European airBaltic destinations. In particular, the plane is booked for flights to Berlin, Madrid, Brussels, Oslo, Copenhagen and other destinations.
According to the press release, four crews of the Ukrainian carrier (28 people in total) will be involved in the operational work of the UIA aircraft on the partners’ routes. The aircraft will operate flights with the UIA corporate color and livery preserved, as well as the crews will work in the original uniform of the Ukrainian airline.
According to the terms of the contract, a service representative of the Latvian carrier will be present on each UIA flight on airBaltic routes.
“We are sincerely glad that our European partners are helping both the Ukrainian state and businesses with a clear, absolutely transparent support for Ukraine. This is especially true amid recent UIA compliance decision not to wet-lease its aircraft to operators who continue flying to Russia. Let this narrow down the scope of opportunities, but it is fully consistent with our morals,” UIA CEO Yevhen Dykhne is quoted in the message.
The deadline for operation of the UIA aircraft in the airBaltic fleet is currently being specified by partners.
Maintenance of Boeing 737-900 as part of the airBaltic fleet will be carried out by UIA foreign contractors.
The Ukrainian airline, as a long-term IOSA certified operator, will ensure operation in accordance with all international operational safety standards.
