A historic new partnership deal between Kyiv and London
🤝On October 8, Ukraine and the UK signed the Agreement on Political Cooperation, Free Trade, and Strategic Partnership. This is the first of its kind deal between the two countries which will help to deepen the trade and bring cooperation to a brand new level.
📌The deal envisages a comprehensive preferential free trade agreement covering goods, services, tariffs and quotas.
📌The agreement encompasses the cooperation in such sectors as energy, mining, manufacturing, agriculture, information society, environment.
📌The British side sees tremendous opportunities in the defense and nuclear sectors, food and beverages, automotive industry, aerospace and agtech.
📌Britain will also have its Special Envoy for trade with Ukraine, which signifies a serious interest in bilateral economic cooperation with our country.
About 98% of all Ukrainian goods will have access to the British market
Within the Agreement on Political Cooperation, Free Trade, and Strategic Partnership between Ukraine and the United Kingdom, 98% of the product range will be fully liberalized, another 2% of goods will be liberalized for Ukraine starting from 2023.
This Agreement guarantees preferential access for Ukraine to the British market, which is an important component of the development of mutually beneficial relations between the countries. In particular, quotas for some goods will grow from 13% to 20%, which will stimulate Ukrainian exports. In addition, the conditions of access to the British and EU markets will be rapidly expanded, as its revision will take place as soon as in 2022,” says Deputy Minister for Development Economy, Trade and Agriculture Taras Kachka.
First large-scale data center worth $1 billion to be built in Ukraine
The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and international technology holding TECHIIA signed a memorandum of cooperation on the development of the Information Technology industry, construction of data centers, development of esports, and STEM education. It also envisages the building of the first large-scale technology project in Ukraine, which solves the global problem of high-speed data processing. This cooperation implies the implementation of the Ecotechnopark project in the Kherson region. In its core lies the construction of a data center with a capacity of up to 500 MW, which will perform the functions of storage, data processing, and 3D-rendering, reads the TECHIIA press release. It’s planned to attract at least $200 million in infrastructure investments for the implementation of the first phase of the project. The data center will maintain the equipment worth about $1 billion. And at least 200 jobs will be created. Read more.
Europe opens its market for Ukrainian seeds
On October 7, the European Parliament recognized Ukraine as an equal player of the European seed market. Now the EU market, one of the most attractive for Ukrainian seeds, is open for the Ukrainian grain, corn and sorghum seeds. Ukraine’s seed certification system has been recognized as such complying with the European standards.
We were looking forward for the decision of the European Parliament as it will improve the reputation and strengthen the position of Ukrainian seed producers on the global market providing them with great opportunities,” said the Chairman of the Board of Seed Association of Ukraine, Viktor Karibovsky.
EBRD to provide US$10 mln to Ukraine’s agro holding Astarta
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) provides a 2-year $10 million loan to Astarta, one of the largest vertically integrated agro-industrial holdings in Ukraine. The company operates over 230,000 hectares of arable farmland, sugar plants, a soybean processing factory and dairy farms will help it implement plans related to the introduction of precision farming, reads the EBRD press release. This modern agricultural technology is aimed at improving crop yields and decreasing the use of mineral fertilizers by 15%. As the country’s agricultural sector expands, more foreign players are expected to compete within the market. Read more.
MotionCam by Ukrainian startup Ajax Systems named “Intruder Product Of The Year” at the PSI Premier Awards 2020
A wireless motion detector with a photo camera to verify alarms – MotionCam – won the “Intruder Product Of The Year” category in the British PSI Premier Awards 2020. The product is developed by the Ukrainian company Ajax Systems, which produces wireless security systems.
9 years ago, when we started building Ajax Systems, receiving awards like this was cosmically distant for us. Such achievements motivate us to grow and develop constantly and to become #1 player in the global security market in the nearest future,” says Oleksandr Konotopskyi, CEO of Ajax Systems.
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih to build the new pellet plant amounted $250 million
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a new pellet plant. The investment in the construction project amounted to $250 million. The launch of a new production facility will allow the gradual decommissioning of two existing sinter facilities of the enterprise. Together with the large-scale reconstruction and modernization, it will significantly improve the environmental situation in the region. Total emissions will be reduced by 78 thousand tons, and CO2 emissions will be reduced by 800 thousand tons per year.
Ukrainian seaports increased its cargo handling
During January-September 2020 Ukrainian seaports increased its cargo handling by 3.7% compared to the same period in 2019. As the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority reports, seaports handled over 118 million tonnes of cargo.
✅Exported cargo increased by 5.6% to 91 million
✅Cabotage cargo grew by 31% to 1.8 million
✅Transshipment of containers exceeded by 8.3% and reached 772,900 TEU
Throughout nine months of 2020, the biggest amount of cargo was handled by:
⚓️Pivdennyi port (47 mln tonnes)
⚓️Mykolaiv port (21 mln tonnes)
⚓️Odesa and Chornomorsk ports, 17,5 and 17,4 mln tonnes respectively
⚓️Mariupol port – 5 mln tonnes
