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UKRAINE LOOKING TO SUPPORT ITS BUSINESSES AHEAD OF JOINING FTA WITH EU

BRUSSELS. May 12 (Interfax) – The Ukrainian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade believes that not all Ukrainian companies are ready to switch to new working conditions once the economic part of the European Union-Ukraine association agreement comes into effect, and is looking for ways to support business.

“We are hoping for the help from our European partners,” Economic Development and Trade Minister Aivaras Abromavicius told Interfax-Ukraine on Sunday.

Already there have been financial proposals, including of educational programs, the minister said.

“One example is the U.S. fund Western NIS, where the finance minister once worked, which allocated $30 million in grants for four areas, one of which is precisely export promotion that includes workshops, awareness campaigns, education programs and so on,” Abromavicius said.

The ministry is also planning to start training public officials and executives at state-run companies.

“We will have a program for them to be trained at U.S. universities and for Western specialists to come to our country to teach them things like corporate governance,” Abromavicius said.

Talks are already underway with the Kyiv School of Economics and the INSEAD business school over workshops for heads of state-run companies, he said.

The minister said he was convinced that a free trade area with the EU should be a positive factor for Ukrainian economy.

“There are real figures from Moldova and Georgia whose exports rose by 20% in the first quarter after the agreement came into effect,” Abromavicius said.

SVIZHACHOK INVESTS UAH 52 MLN IN PIG FARM, MEAT PLANT IN KYIV REGION

KYIV. May 8 (Interfax-Ukraine) – PJSC SvizhachOK (Zaporizhia region), whose major shareholder is the corporate non-government pension fund of the National Bank (98.5%), has invested about UAH 52 million in the construction of a pig farm and a meat processing plant in Kyiv region.

“PJSC SvizhachOK has invested about UAH 52 million in the construction of a pig farm and a meat factory in the village of Velyka Dymerka in Brovary district of Kyiv region,” reads a press release from the Ukrainian Credit Rating Agency (UCRA).

According to the report, SvizhachOK is also funding the construction of an elevator with a capacity of 15,000 tonnes.

PJSC SvizhachOK was founded in 2010 by reorganizing Zhytlobudinvest 2008 LLC. Its cattle complex breeds about 550 pigs per month. Its main customers are meat processing enterprises in Poltava, Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Donetsk regions.

UKRAINE, GEORGIA STILL HAVE WORK TO DO TO GET VISA-FREE REGIME WITH EU – EUROPEAN COMMISSION SPOKESPERSON

BRUSSELS. May 8 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine and Georgia have expressed their desire to achieve a visa-free regime with the EU at the Eastern Partnership summit in Riga on May 21-22, European Commission spokesperson Natasha Berto said at a briefing in Brussels on Friday.

She was asked to comment on two reports of the European Commission on the implementation of the respective action plans on visa liberalization by Ukraine and Georgia published on Friday.

The summit in Riga will be an important step in the cooperation with the Eastern Partnership countries, in particular in visa liberalization, Berto said.

According to her, the two reports published on Friday say that the two countries – Ukraine and Georgia – have made significant progress, but there is still much work to be done in a number of areas.

Berto explained that the EC was ready to issue follow-up reports earlier than planned, if the relevant requirements were met.

AZERBAIJAN BUYS 10 NEW UKRAINIAN AN-178 TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT

KYIV. May 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Kyiv-based aircraft designer and manufacturer Antonov enterprise will manufacture and supply 10 new An-178 transport aircraft with a capacity of up to 18 tonnes under a contract with Azerbaijan’s Silk Way Airlines.

The contract was signed by the sides in the framework of the maiden flight of the An-178 aircraft in Kyiv on Thursday, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.

Delivery dates and details of the contract are not disclosed at the customer’s request.

The new An-178 aircraft is created to replace An-12 planes and is designed for the effective fulfillment of its tasks as a transport aircraft, including logistics and transportation of equipment.

One of its major advantages is the capability of transporting the entire line of packaged goods, including large-sized sea freight containers.

About 200 companies from 14 countries are engaged in the An-178 industrial cooperation program.

ILLICHIVSK PORT’S CARGO HANDLING RISES BY 11.5% IN JAN-APRIL 2015

KYIV. May 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Illichivsk maritime merchant port in Odesa region saw cargo handling rise by 11.5% year-on-year in January-April 2015, to 6.157 million tonnes.

Exports handling rose by 25%, to 3.954 million tonnes, imports handling by 40.5%, to 1.261 million tonnes, while transit handling fell by 42.8%, to 836,000 tonnes, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority has reported.

Liquid bulk handling rose by 14.3%, to 686,000 tonnes, dry bulk handling grew by 47%, to 4.267 million tonnes, while packaged handling decreased by 40%, to 1.204 million tonnes.

Illichivsk maritime merchant port is a general-service international port, one of the largest on the Black Sea. Its annual handling capacity is over 30 million tonnes of cargo. It has specialized terminals and complexes that handle a wide range of freight, including liquid, bulk, and general cargo. The port’s 29 berths are open to ships with tonnages of up to 100,000 tonnes.

The port can process 1.15 million TEU in aggregate. As of 2007, the port can simultaneously handle three container ships of over 5,000 TEU and a length of up to 300 meters.

POROSHENKO INVITES SINGAPOREAN BUSINESS TO BOOST INVESTMENT IN UKRAINE

KYIV. May 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at a meeting with Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law of Singapore Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam discussed international security and expansion of economic cooperation, the press service of the Ukrainian president has reported.

“The president invited Singaporean business to increase investment in Ukraine,” reads the report published late on Wednesday.

The press service said that the Singaporean minister said that Singapore supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. He said that his country condemns annexation of Crimea and any attempts of violating sovereignty of other countries.

Poroshenko thanked the minister for support.

“I’m an optimist with support all over the world from different countries among this is Singapore. I’m proud of my people who are fighting for peace, freedom and independence of own country,” he said.

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