The Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs (SUP), the Polish Confederation of Leviatan (KL), and the Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce (PUIG) welcome the efforts of the Polish and Ukrainian governments to unblock the border crossings between the two countries and look forward to its real results. This should be accompanied by the development, in cooperation with the European Union, of a viable program to address the key economic causes that lead to such terrible events. Despite the differences in views and challenges in our cooperation, the current problems of any economic or social group cannot be solved by blocking borders and key transportation routes.
Therefore, it is in the best strategic and security interests of both countries and the entire European community to stop further destruction of our common political, economic and social relations, which have been elevated to a historically high level over the past two years following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago. In fact, Russia – the aggressor country – is the only party that benefits from this development.
As representatives of the business communities of both countries, we would like to emphasize the economic consequences of the border crisis, including
– direct losses in trade, which has been growing very rapidly over the past two years, with benefits for all partners and a positive balance for the Polish side;
– the rapidly growing loss of trust in mutual economic relations, which is already leading to refusal to participate in new or even open violation of long-term contracts between our companies that already exist;
– the gradual deterioration of the business climate, which raises questions about the future of a mutually beneficial partnership in the reconstruction of Ukraine, including possible Polish investments;
– undermining Ukraine’s efforts to successfully negotiate its rapid accession to the European Union.
Allowing the current events on the Polish-Ukrainian border to get out of hand risks exacerbating the problems and spreading them to other areas, then gradually eroding the trust in the mutual relations gained over the past two years, and ultimately jeopardizing the chances for a prosperous future relationship between our countries. We have no doubt that the present and future generations of Polish and Ukrainian entrepreneurs, as well as the vast majority of our societies, would never forgive us for this serious mistake!
Leviatan Confederation, Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce, UKRAINIAN ENTREPRENEURS
Ukrainian entrepreneurs have been granted the opportunity to export fish and fish products to Kuwait, the press service of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection reports.
“This is the second foreign market for Ukrainian exporters that the Foreign Ministry and the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection are opening this week. The first was the Chinese market for honey producers, and now the Qatari market for fish and fish products. Negotiations with foreign partners to facilitate the entry of Ukrainian goods to foreign markets are ongoing. This is an important part of our work and a broader strategy to create new opportunities in the world for Ukrainian business,” said Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
According to Serhiy Tkachuk, head of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, the work on opening markets is ongoing, with the priority being Asia and North America.
The agency advised fish and fish products producers to familiarize themselves with the requirements for importing these products to Kuwait.
The health certificate for the export of marine and river aquatic animals (fish, mollusks, crustaceans, needlefish, including those grown on farms) and products from them from Ukraine to the State of Kuwait is published on the official web portal of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection in the section “International Cooperation”, heading “Certificates for export from Ukraine”.
The State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection reminded that Ukraine has already agreed on the forms of bilateral certificates for exports of fish and fish products to the European Union, Azerbaijan, Great Britain, Israel, Iraq, Kuwait, Moldova, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
From July 1, key trading platforms of the world will be able to act as a tax agent for sellers, including sellers from Ukraine, thanks to which the procedure for registration of shipments to EU countries will be significantly simplified for the latter and, provided that the shipment is correctly processed, the time for passing through customs control will be reduced.
The press service of Ukrposhta reported on Wednesday that key marketplaces such as Etsy, eBay, Wish, Amazon and others, in particular, will independently calculate VAT on goods sold that are sent to Europe, and will directly settle with the tax authorities of the countries of delivery.
“For Ukrainian entrepreneurs, this means that all parcels to Europe with goods worth up to EUR 150, which will pass the correct registration in the personal account of Ukrposhta, will be delivered as quickly as possible and automatically go through customs in a few seconds. Previously, customs clearance of parcels could take from one day to a week, depending on the workload of customs inspectors,” the company said.
