Founder and head of the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce (New York) Duvi Honig has called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to take measures to clean up corruption among local officials in Uman, Cherkasy region and in so doing resurrect the city as one of the largest Jewish spiritual centers. Honig said during a press conference at the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Friday that for more than 10 years the Jewish religious community of the Bratslav Hasidim has been fighting for the right to build a Jewish memorial complex in Uman. He said a synagogue with a capacity of 30,000 is also planned.
He said in 2008, a one-hectare land plot was leased for 49 years to the community for the construction of the facility. A detailed plan of the territory allocated for the construction of the center was then developed. However, he said local authorities began to demand a bribe for approving the construction plan of the complex.
Honig said after the refusal to give a bribe, the purpose of the land on which the construction was supposed to be was changed.
“I would like to thank President Volodymyr Zelensky for saying that he wants to build little Jerusalem out of Uman, that he wants to stop corruption in Ukraine. I came to Uman and looked at what was happening there, sorted out the mayor, deputy mayor, created a committee or commission if necessary to monitor the situation […] how the purpose of the site was changed, because now the construction site has been stolen,” Honig said.
According to him, currently there are no opportunities for the construction of the memorial complex.
“In fact, there may be a good wave of investments that can help Uman and Ukraine prosper. […] But this may not happen precisely because of corruption,” he said.
As reported, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Kyiv on August 18-20. He is expected to meet with Zelensky during his trip.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited Turkish businesses to invest in projects in Ukraine, including in rebuilding infrastructure in its east, Donbas.
“I am pleased to invite Turkish businesses to visit us in Ukraine. I personally act as a guarantor of your comfortable work in Ukraine. Let’s grow together,” he said at a joint press conference following talks with President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday evening.
Zelensky also said that he had invited the Turkish side to take part in rebuilding infrastructure facilities in eastern Ukraine.
“We expect the Turkish side to actively participate in an international forum for the restoration of Donbas, which we plan to hold in Mariupol this autumn,” he said.
By the end of the year, Kyiv will host the next, 8th meeting of the Ukrainian-Turkish high-level strategic council, he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reshuffled the National Investment Council, appointing two deputies head of the Office of the President of Ukraine and introducing officials from foreign companies.
In particular, Zelensky’s decree introduces Senior Vice President, CFO of General Electric (the United States) Jamie Miller, Board Chairman and Executive Director of Rakuten Inc. (Japan) Hiroshi Mikitani, as well as CEO at Bank Citigroup Inc. (the United States) for Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) David Livingston (all three by their consent) as members of the National Investment Council.
The President introduced Livingston to the National Investment Council instead of Chief Operating Officer for Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) at Bank Citigroup Inc. James C. Cowles.
In addition, deputies head of the office of the President of Ukraine Oleksiy Honcharuk and Vadym Prystaiko were approved members of the council.
CEOS, CITIGROUP, GENERAL ELECTRIC, INVESTMENT COUNCIL, RAKUTEN, ZELENSKY
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told about plans to invest at least $20 billion in infrastructure of Ukraine at the Ukrainian-Turkish business forum in Istanbul on Thursday. He also said that in the next five years, the Ukrainian economy will grow by 5-7% annually.
“Over this time, we will invest at least $20 billion in our infrastructure to repair our 24,000 km of roads, to increase the number of operating airports to 15, to develop 5 seaports, to substantially increase their capacity, to triple the capacity of our military-industrial complex,” the president said.
He also said that during this period the country will pay much attention to the development of a high-quality telecommunications sector and promised to support the lifecell mobile communications operator (the subsidiary of Turkey’s Turkcell).
“We will conduct large-scale privatization and sell hundreds of interesting objects to effective investors, create normal competitive rules in the energy markets and simplify the rules of doing business removing restrictions in the areas of labor relations and capital flow,” Zelensky said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Turkey, Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkey Andrii Sybiha has said.
“The first official visit of Zelensky to the Turkish Republic has begun – the intense program and important meetings are ahead!” Sybiha wrote in his Twitter blog.
He posted a photo from the arrival of Zelensky.
As reported, Zelensky on August 7 and August 8, 2019 is to visit Turkey. During his visit in Ankara Zelensky is to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and representatives of the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar communities. The Ukrainian president is to meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in Istanbul.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington is planned in September.
“A meeting with President Trump should be held in September in Washington,” he told Interfax-Ukraine in Truskavets on Saturday.
