Germany has prepared a loan for Ukraine to develop projects in the hydrogen energy and plans to provide further financial assistance in this sector, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said.
“We, like the EU, invest in many projects in Ukraine. Therefore, the last time I made it clear that with regard to hydrogen, we will implement projects together with German business. Therefore, we have prepared a financial loan and are planning further financial assistance in this sector, because we, as a partner, are on the side of Ukraine,” Baerbock said at a press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv on Monday.
In turn, Kuleba said that Ukraine and Germany agreed on concrete further steps in this area.
“We all know the subject of Nord Stream 2, but our countries do not live by it alone. We have a serious future that we want to create around renewable energy sources. In this regard, we paid special attention to projects in hydrogen energy, which should ideally connect our economies and be mutually beneficial for our states. We agreed on concrete further steps in this area,” the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
Ukraine and Poland are jointly developing a plan for the implementation of a high-speed rail link between Kyiv and Warsaw and are preparing for its presentation at the level of the European Union.
The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine reported on its Facebook page these are the results of the visit of head of the department Oleksandr Kubrakov, his deputy Mustafa Nayyem and head of Ukrzaliznytsia Oleksandr Kamyshin to Poland.
According to the agency, the construction of the Kyiv-Warsaw eurotrack will reduce the travel time from one capital to another by rail by four hours.
In addition, during the negotiations, the reconstruction of the section Malhowice-Nyzhankovychi on the Ukrainian-Polish border, which has not been operated since 1995, was discussed. Currently, the search for sources of financing for this project is underway.
As reported, JSC Ukrzaliznytsia from February 10, 2022 removes all restrictions on rail transit to Poland.
Stocks of coal in the warehouses of thermal power plants of generating companies in Ukraine grew by 5.8% (by 38,300 tonnes) from January 31 to February 7, 2022, to 695,500 tonnes, according to data from the Ministry of Energy.
According to the calculations of Interfax-Ukraine, since the beginning of the year, stocks have grew by 1.6 times (as of December 31, 2021 it were 435,700 tonnes), they are also 1.8 times more than a year earlier (as of February 8 2021 it were 384,400 tonnes).
As reported, the supply of coal to the warehouses of Ukraine’s thermal power plants in January 2022 rose by 8% (by 148,200 tonnes) compared to December 2021, to 1.991 million tonnes, including 643,400 tonnes of imported coal (1.6 times more), 1.347 million tonnes of Ukrainian-made coal (6.5% less).
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg and Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok will together visit Ukraine on February 7-8 on the invitation of their Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
The first ever visit by the foreign ministers of the Slavkov or Austerlitz format to Kyiv is to demonstrate solidarity with Ukraine, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s press service said in a statement.
Kuleba and his Czech, Slovak and Austrian counterparts will hold talks with key agenda items such as “further support for Ukraine in countering Russian aggression, the implementation of a comprehensive containment package for the Russian Federation, strengthening security cooperation, supporting the economic and financial stability of our state,” it said.
The Slavkov format ministers are also planning to visit the zone of Ukraine’s Joint Forces Operation to familiarize themselves with the current situation, Kyiv said.
Ukraine and Turkey, within the framework of the Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement, have reached an agreement on the complete liberalization of road transportation.
“As part of the FTA, a historic agreement was reached on the complete liberalization of road transportation. Restrictions for Ukrainian road carriers in the Turkish market will soon be lifted, in particular, this also applies to the entry of empty vehicles. That is, trucks will be able to enter empty and return with goods,” Infrastructure Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov wrote on his Facebook page.
He stressed that the next step is to expand cooperation on combined and multimodal transportation between Ukraine and Turkey.
“We propose to create special conditions for tuning transport chains in the “road-port-road” format,” Kubrakov stressed.
According to him, the strategic goal of Ukraine is the maximum removal of restrictions for Ukrainian carriers.
Kubrakov recalled that in negotiations with the European Union, Ukraine stands for the complete liberalization of road freight traffic.
He also expressed hope that cooperation between Ukraine and Turkey in terms of road construction will be expanded thanks to new projects, including the construction of concession roads.
Kubrakov also stressed that the countries continue to work together on an agreement on cooperation in the field of maritime search and rescue in the Black Sea.
“This is an important issue for Ukraine, which arose sharply after the annexation of Crimea. An agreement with Turkey will help legally secure Ukraine’s areas belonging to it, improve the ability to conduct search and rescue operations. This will eliminate insinuations from the aggressor country about Ukraine’s failure to fulfill its international obligations,” the minister said.
He also noted the prospects for cooperation between Turkish partners and the largest Ukrainian state stevedore – Pivdenny seaport, since among all Ukrainian ports it will potentially be able to receive the largest ships that will enter the Black Sea thanks to the built Istanbul Canal.
Among the proposals voiced by the parties to the discussion of the FTA agreement is the expansion of the geography of air travel between the countries, including on the Istanbul-Uzhgorod route.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will visit Ukraine again on Monday, February 7 and will also go to the contact line in Donbas, the ministry’s spokeswoman Andrea Sasse said.
“The minister will visit Ukraine on Monday and Tuesday…. She will visit Zaporizhia and from there will go to the contact line,” Sasse said.
In addition, Baerbock will meet with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, and will also visit the monument to the victims of the Holodomor.
Earlier it was reported that Baerbock will make this trip to Ukraine together with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
In January, Baerbock already visited Kyiv before going to Moscow.
