Ukraine and Turkey are at the final stage of negotiations on a free trade area (FTA) after large moves made in the negotiation process, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy Oleksiy Liubchenko said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“By the way, negotiations on an agreement on FTA with Turkey are now almost on completing. There have been significant positive moves in the negotiations,” he said.
Liubchenko also said that Ukraine had carried out preparatory work for negotiations with Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan.
Speaking about other areas of work of the Ministry of Economy in terms of international trade, he noted the unblocking of the work of the interdepartmental commission with Kazakhstan, following the meeting of which the ministry receives feedback from the parties.
“We are also systematically working with China, coordinated by Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna. We have begun a joint study of the possibility of a free trade area agreement. The results will be known next year. On this basis, a political decision will be made whether to start negotiations. We are also actively working on preparations for negotiations with Indonesia and Vietnam,” he said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Peruvian Ambassador to Poland and Ukraine concurrently Alberto Efrain Wilfredo Salas Barahona signed an Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of Peru on the abolition of visa requirements for short-term stays.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the signing took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine on Thursday, July 15.
Thus, the agreement introduces a mutual visa-free travel regime for citizens of Ukraine and Peru for up to 90 days within 180 days.
“Expansion of visa-free travel from Peru will increase the number of contacts between people, will contribute to new cultural, professional, business contacts between our countries,” Kuleba said.
The parties also discussed promising areas of bilateral and multilateral cooperation between Ukraine and the Republic of Peru.
The agreement will enter into force after the parties complete the necessary domestic procedures. For citizens of Ukraine, there will remain the possibility of visa-free tourist trips to Peru for up to 183 days, which the Republic of Peru introduced by a unilateral decision in 2003.
Federal Minister of Finance of the Federal Republic of Germany Olaf Scholz said that Germany will seek the extension of the agreement on gas transit through Ukraine.
“We work very hard to make sure that the gas transit agreement between Ukraine and Russia is prolonged,” Scholz said in an interview with Bloomberg on Friday.
According to the position of Germany, the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which runs along the bottom of the Baltic Sea, should be finished, but gas transit through Ukraine should be preserved.
According to Scholz, Germany sees its responsibility to ensure transit through Ukraine in the future, and not only for two or three years, but for decades to come.
The current agreement, according to Government Spokesperson Steffen Seibert, is valid until at least 2024, but the agreement implies that the parties will check the possibility of extending the agreement until 2034.
The total public debt of Ukraine in May 2021 grew by 0.21% in U.S. dollars, to $91.52 billion and decreased by 0.69% in hryvnias, to UAH 2.516 trillion, according to data on the website of the Ministry of Finance, published in Friday.
According to the Ministry of Finance, direct public debt in May this year in U.S. dollars increased 0.16%, to $81.5 billion, in hryvnias it decreased 0.75%, to UAH 2.241 trillion.
External direct debt in the past month in U.S. dollars grew by 0.16%, to $45.19 billion, and in hryvnias it decreased 0.74%, to UAH 1.242 trillion.
The state-guaranteed debt in May in U.S. dollars increased by 0.7%, to $10.02 billion, in hryvnias it decreased 0.26%, to UAH 275.54 billion, according to the ministry’s data.
According to them, since the beginning of 2021, the total national debt of Ukraine has grown by 1.4% in U.S. dollars and by 17.51% in hryvnias.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the share of liabilities in U.S. dollars of the overall government debt in May increased to 36.21%, in hryvnias it also grew to 36.21%, in SDR it rose to 13.59%, but the share of liabilities in euros decreased to 13. 39%, and in yen to 0.59%.
The official U.S. dollar rate, at which the Ministry of Finance calculates the debt, strengthened to UAH 27.50/$1 in May compared to UAH 27.75/$1 in April, and UAH 27.88/$1 in March.
Ukraine’s score in Global Peace Index in 2020 improved by 0.22 or 7.6%, to 2.66, which recorded the largest increase in peacefulness globally among 163 countries, according to the Global Peace Index (GPI) report posted by the London-based Institute for Economics and Peace on Thursday.
“Indictors that improved included violent crime, violent demonstrations, political instability and the intensity of internal conflict,” the authors of the report said.
The country rose six places in the GPI to 142 GPI rank between Iran and Israel.
“Although Ukraine had the largest increase in peacefulness, concerns remain about the outbreak of future conflict. Russia massed troops on its border with Ukraine in the early part of 2021… Despite the withdrawal of troops from the border region, tensions are likely to remain high for the foreseeable future,” according to the study.
The worst deterioration was shown by Burkina Faso (0.254) and Belarus (0.183), which took 134th and 117th ranks.
Belarus recorded the largest deterioration in the region and the second largest deterioration globally as Belarus experienced the largest anti-government protests in its history, organised by the opposition in response to President Lukashenko seeking a sixth term in office.
Russia is the least peaceful nation in the region and is one of the least peaceful countries in the world on the 2021 GPI, with an overall rank of 154.
In the past year, 87 countries recorded an improvement in peacefulness, while 73 countries recorded a deterioration, and the average level of global peacefulness deteriorated by 0.07% in the 2021 Global Peace Index – the second lowest indicator of change in 15 years of calculating the index.
“It is still too early to fully gauge the long-term effects of the pandemic on peace. However, the changing economic conditions in many nations increases the likelihood of political instability and violent demonstrations,” the study said. Over 5,000 pandemic related violent events were recorded between January 2020 and April 2021
Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world, a position it has held since 2008 with GPI of 1.1. It is joined at the top of the index by New Zealand, Denmark, and Portugal.
Afghanistan is the least peaceful country in the world for the fourth consecutive year, followed by Yemen, Syria, and South Sudan.
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has requested $58.5 billion for fiscal 2022 to support the activities of the Department of State and its goals, according to a document published by the U.S. Department of State on Friday. “The President’s Budget for FY 2022 requests $58.5 billion for the Department of State and USAID,” the message reads.
It is noted that this is 10% higher than the final budget of the State Department in fiscal 2021.
“These resources will position us to advance the Administration’s foreign policy agenda on behalf of the American people. It also reflects the importance the Administration places on U.S. global leadership and the fact that diplomacy and development are vital tools for advancing U.S. interests,” the U.S. Department of State said.
According to the document, it is proposed to allocate a total of $665.8 million for spending in the European region and Eurasia, which, in particular, will help strengthening the resilience of countries to foreign malevolent influence and promoting Euro-Atlantic integration, confronting the growing challenges from Russia and China.
Thus, $88 million of this amount is planned to be allocated to support the democratization of Georgia, its economic development and the creation of resilience to resisting the malicious influence of the Kremlin. In addition, $255 million will be spent on aid to Ukraine to strengthen its ability to withstand Russian aggression. To counter Russian influence and disinformation in the Western Balkans, according to the document, $106 million is required.
