A Ukrainian delegation headed by First Deputy Prime Minister, Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko is on an official visit to Paris, it is planned to pay special attention in the talks to joint infrastructure projects, as well as the participation of French companies in the Big Construction program and the creation Ukrainian national air carrier.
“During the one-day stay of the delegation, the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine will meet with Minister of Economy, Finance and Recovery of France Bruno Le Maire. In addition, a number of meetings are planned with French partners, in particular, leading French companies Airbus, Alstom and Bouygues,” the Economy Ministry said on its wesite on Wednesday.
The visit takes place in order to implement the agreements between the leaders of Ukraine and France and in the context of the planned visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Ukraine, the ministry said.
Svyrydenko said on Facebook that among the issues of French-Ukrainian cooperation are the attraction of financial guarantees or a direct loan from the French government, the development of promising nuclear energy projects: cooperation between the Ukrainian Energoatom and EDF is essential, as well as consultations on holding the World Exhibition EXPO in Ukraine 2030.
In addition, within the signed memorandum of understanding, the parties will touch upon the issues of cooperation between the national air carrier and Airbus, under the signed intergovernmental agreement on the supply of 130 locomotives manufactured by Alstom for Ukrzaliznytsia, the organization of the conversion of Airbus passenger aircraft into cargo aircraft on the basis of SOE Antonov (Kyiv).
The owner of the UFuture group, businessman Vasyl Khmelnitsky, has said that he and his family have no plans to leave Ukraine and go abroad, and expressed confidence that there will be no full-scale war and its threats are not justified.
“Me and my whole family (mother, wife, children and grandchildren) stay in Ukraine. We continue to live our usual lives and do not plan to go abroad. My whole team also remains in the country. We continue to work, create value and invest in Ukraine,” Khmelnytsky wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
He said that he speaks exclusively as an entrepreneur, and his position is based on an understanding of many internal and external processes.
“But these are political processes, and I don’t want to discuss them publicly,” he said.
Khmelnytsky expressed the opinion that today, the most real threat that paralyzes all processes is panic.
“What can we do now to at least slightly stabilize the situation: 1. Continue to work effectively and live a familiar full life. 2. Maintain critical thinking, common sense and a cool head,” the businessman said.
“Whatever storms occur in the country and the world, I will leave my ship last,” he added.
A day earlier, a similar public post was posted by Andriy Stavnitser, co-owner of the TIS terminal group and the towing company P&O Maritime Ukraine, calling for “constructive calm activity.”
“We can’t let this crisis go to waste, it should make us stronger… I don’t believe in a full-fledged invasion, but I better be ready,” the businessman wrote.
UFuture is a holding company that brings together Khmelnytsky’s business and social projects. It has a diversified portfolio of assets in real estate, infrastructure, industry, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals and IT. The value of UFuture’s assets is estimated at $500 million. The total capitalization of the businesses in which it has invested is up to $1 billion.
Ukraine received 32 points out of 100 possible in the Corruption Perceptions Index in 2021 and ranked 122nd out of 180 countries, Transparency International Ukraine says. “Ukraine scored 32 points out of 100 possible in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2021. Our indicator has decreased by one point, and now Ukraine ranks 122nd out of 180 countries in the CPI,” Transparency International Ukraine said on its website.
“The African state of Eswatini (Swaziland) is next to Ukraine. Zambia, Nepal, Egypt, the Philippines, and Algeria are one point ahead – with 33 points each,” the report says.
Comparing to its neighbors, Ukraine continues to be only ahead of Russia — the aggressor neighbor also lost 1 point and now ranks 136th in the list with 29 points. In addition, Hungary’s scores have decreased to 43 points (down 1 points, ranking 73rd). Belarus has lost as many as 6 points this year and ranks 82nd with 41 points,” it says.
“This year, Finland has joined the permanent leaders of the CPI Denmark and New Zealand; these three countries are now heading the Corruption Perceptions Index with 88 points. Somalia, Syria, and South Sudan remain at the bottom of the list,” according to the document.
“This decrease within the margin of error indicates a period of stagnation. The authorities are delaying the fulfillment of many important anti-corruption promises. On the one hand, a significant part of the anti-corruption reform was restored after the decision of the Constitutional Court in 2020, and basic laws were adopted to restart the HQCJ and the HCJ. On the other hand, there are still negative practices that invalidate the achievements – such as interference in the Tatarov’s case, delaying the election of the SAPO leadership, excluding certain public procurement tenders for the Constitution Day and the Independence Day from the scope of the specialized law. We must remember that deviation from the anti-corruption agenda plays into the hands of both internal and external enemies of Ukraine,” Andriy Borovyk, the executive director of Transparency International Ukraine, said.
“At the beginning of 2021, TI Ukraine provided three systematic recommendations to reduce the level of corruption in Ukraine, but none of them was fully implemented, and two were partially fulfilled. This year, we have identified 5 specific steps that will help in the fight against corruption in Ukraine: to complete competitions and select professional, independent and high integrity heads of the anti-corruption bodies: the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, the Asset Recovery and Management Agency, and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau; to adopt the national Anti-Corruption Strategy and the program for its implementation; to reform constitutional justice, considering the conclusions provided by the Venice Commission; to ensure transparent accounting of public property and continue the course of privatization; to minimize the risks of adopting draft laws which exclude procurement from the scope of the law of Ukraine on public procurement,” he said.
“If these steps are not fulfilled, Ukraine risks losing not only its position in the ranking, but also the trust of its citizens and international partners, Ukrainian and foreign investors. This, in turn, will worsen the economic situation and weaken Ukraine in the confrontation with the external enemy – the Russian aggressor,” the expert noted.
The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a ranking calculated by the global organization Transparency International since 1995. The organization itself does not conduct its own surveys. The index is calculated based on 13 studies of reputable international institutions and think tanks. Nine sources are used to calculate Ukraine’s score.
Washington is ready to welcome any option to de-escalate tensions on the border between Russia and Ukraine, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price has said at a briefing.
“De-escalation can take many forms. We would welcome any of it,” Price said, answering a question in what form Washington imagines the de-escalation of tensions.
In particular, according to him, the start of de-escalation could be considered both the withdrawal of troops from the border with Ukraine and the change in Russian rhetoric on the Ukrainian topic.
