Ukraine Digest. Issue #15 (04.07.2013)

Page 1

Miloš Zeman

Viktor Yanukovych

Bronislaw Komorowski

Ivan Gašparovič

János Áder

Visegrad Group supports European integration aspirations of Ukraine

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isegrad Group countries strongly support Ukraine on its path toward European integration and encourage the government to remove barriers on this way, Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski announced this during the V4 Summit in Wisla on July 2. “It is extremely important to us that Ukraine would have had success at the Vilnius summit. We encourage Ukraine to make every effort to remove barriers on this road, and will encourage the EU countries that they support Ukraine on this road,” he said.

Komorowski’s message has been supported by the presidents of Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. In particular, the Czech president Miloš Zeman said that in October, on the eve of the summit, he will be on a visit to Ukraine and expressed hope that “the visit will be a small share of joining the process of Ukraine’s integration into the EU.” The President of Poland emphasized that the “Visegrad Four” countries would convince the EU countries to note the progress of Ukraine on its way to European integration.

According to him, states-neighbors are interested in the European integration of Ukraine. Bronislaw Komorowski expressed hope that the Summit in Vilnius would be successful for Ukraine. In his turn, President of Ukraine stated, Ukraine is willing to fulfill all items of the Plan of Actions on signing the Association Agreement in the course of the Vilnius Summit “Eastern Partnership” in November 2013. “We are looking at the future Summit in Vilnius with hope. We are willing to fulfill all our obligations,” Viktor Yanukovych said.

also in this issue:

EU-Ukraine AA Germany’s strategic interest Page 3

Prince Michael visits Ukraine with Air Squadron Page 2

Lviv 2022: Winter Olympic dream Page 5


Ukraine Digest, Thursday, July 4, 2013

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Prince Michael of Kent visits Ukraine with Air Squadron

Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych (right): “Such joint measures in humanitarian sphere unite nations and such cooperation has a positive influence on interstate relations”

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rince Michael of Kent visits Ukraine with the Retro Aircraft Fan Club “Air Squadron.” The delegation of influential politicians and businessmen of Great Britain, headed by the member of the British royal family, arrived in Ukraine by 25 retro aircraft of the times of the First and Second World Wars. On July 2 these aircrafts were shown at the exhibition of vintage airplanes in the State Museum of Aviation. During the event Prince Michael of Kent met with the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych. Viktor Yanukovych and Prince Michael of Kent examined the historical planes. “Such exhibitions are extremely im-

portant for education of young generation because they demonstrate our history,” Viktor Yanukovych said. According to the Head of State, such joint measures in humanitarian sphere unite nations and such cooperation has a positive influence on interstate relations.

© Ukrinform

© Ukrinform

society

Prince Michael of Kent

Ukraine’s President discussed with Prince Michael of Kent a wide range of foreign political issues, particularly European integration and modernization of Ukraine. In his turn, Prince Michael of Kent noted that Great Britain was closely monitoring the reforms and European integration processes in Ukraine. He also informed the President on the plans of squadron in the course of the visit to Ukraine. The program of the visit to Ukraine envisages several meeting with the members of the Ukrainian Government. The first such meeting with the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Olexandr Vilkul was held on July 1. During a stay in Ukraine, the British delegation, headed by Prince Michael of Kent, will visit the State Enterprise Antonov, meet with members of the Children’s Air and Space Center, as well as with students and lecturers of the National Aviation University. In Crimea, during a large-scale military-historical re-enactment of the Crimean War battle of 1853-1856 at Fediukhin Height of the town of Balaklava, the Club’s aircraft will fly over the battle field. The project is supported by the Embassy of Ukraine to the United Kingdom.

www.ukremb.org.uk


Ukraine Digest, Thursday, July 4, 2013

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european integration

Ukraine-EU association deal is in Germany’s strategic interest

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he signing of the initialed Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union is in the strategic interest of Germany, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said this in his speech, dedicated to the Eastern policy before the members of the Political Club of the Evangelical (Lutheran) Academy in Tutzing, Bavaria, on July 1. “The signing of the long-prepared Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine is in our strategic interest. Its implementation will gradually move Ukraine toward us,” Westerwelle said. According to the German minister, the June talks in Kyiv “gave him confidence that the Ukrainian government will create the necessary preconditions” for the signing of the agreement at the Eastern Partnership summit, to be held in November in Vilnius. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara stated, Kyiv expects a political decision to be taken at the European

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara meets Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany Guido Westerwelle during his visit to Berlin

Council meeting in October. “I expect that Germany will say its ‘yes’ to the association with Ukraine at the European Council meeting in October,” Kozhara noted.

The diplomat added that Ukraine fulfills its “homework” in terms of approximation to the European Union, and assured that before the Vilnius summit all the necessary laws will be passed.

Guardian: Cameron’s remarks indicate his belief - Ukraine should be admitted to EU

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ritish Prime Minister David Cameron’s remarks that the European Union should extend its membership deeper into the former Soviet Union states indicate that he believes that Ukraine should be admitted to the European

Union, The Guardian’s Nicholas Watt wrote in his article on July 1. Speaking in a questionand-answer session with students at the Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana on June 1 the UK prime minister said: “Britain has always support-

ed the widening of the EU. Our vision of the EU is that it should be a large trading and co-operating organisation that effectively stretches, as it were, from the Atlantic to the Urals. We have a wide vision of Europe and we have always encouraged countries that want to join.” www.ukremb.org.uk


Ukraine Digest, Thursday, July 4, 2013

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energy

Ukraine May Become Europe’s Energy Hub Štefan Füle, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy

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kraine remains a reliable partner of the European Union in the energy sector, particularly with respect to gas transportation and storage. This statement was released by the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle during the press conference in Luxembourg. The eastern European country may also become the energy hub of Europe, he added, as reported by rbc.ua According to the EU Commissioner, Ukraine is also an important partner of the European Union in terms of extraction of hydrocarbons and developing other non-conventional energy

sources including shale gas. Notably, in an effort to develop domestic conventional and non-conventional energy resources, Ukraine started cooperating with global energy companies with an aim to develop gas deposits in western and eastern regions, as well as in the deep marine shelf of the Black Sea. Namely, Shell won the right to explore shale gas in Yuzivske gas field in Eastern Ukraine in May 2012. In August 2012, Shell, ExxonMobil, Romanian OMV Petrom, and Ukrainian state company Nadra received joint rights to develop underwater deposits at the Ukrainian deep marine shelf field under the Black Sea. In February 2013, Poland, Hungary, Italy, Germany and other European states began to show their interest in Ukrainian gas transportation and storage system. Ukrainian gas transportation system (GTS) boasts the extensive underground storage facilities - 13 units with the total capacity of more than 31 billion cubic meters.

Such capacity allows for stocking a sufficient volume of gas during the summer months, so that it can be utilized during peak situations in winter time in Europe. Initially, the idea of Ukraine becoming an important energy hub of Eastern Europe has been expressed by the Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, Carlos Pascual, during his February 2013 meeting with the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Mykola Azarov. He referred to earlier negotiations and agreements between Ukraine and the world’s leading energy and petrochemicals companies Shell and Chevron. As a result of such cooperation in seven to eight years Ukraine could additionally obtain 25 billion cubic meters of shale gas annually, he said. Ukraine’s actions were complementary to actions and priorities of Europe, noted then the U.S. State Department official.

Ukraine wants to attract German companies to upgrade gas transit system

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kraine plans to use German companies such as Siemens AG (SIE), Deutsche Bank AG and Ferrostaal GmbH to modernize its gas transit system (GTS), Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara said in Berlin on July 2, Ukrinform reported citing Bloomberg. “Ukraine’s government, seeking closer ties with the European Union and improved security for gas delivery, intends to expand a project forged with the three companies last year to modernize a section of the Soyuz gas pipeline,” Kozhara said in a speech to

the German Council of Foreign Relations (DGAP). Kozhara noted that Ukraine is especially interested in developing underground storage facilities. “Our ambition is to extend this project [Soyuz project - ed.] to the whole Ukrainian gas transportation system,” the diplomat emphasized. Earlier in his comments to Ukrinform, Bundestag MP, member of the German-Ukrainian InterParliamentary Group, Karl-Georg Wellmann (CDU), said that German companies are interested in participating in the phased modernization of

Ukraine’s gas transit system. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank and Ferrostaal are ready to invest in the overhaul of Ukraine’s GTS $ 5-7 billion. The estimated cost of the Ukrainian gas transit system, according to some sources, equals $ 26-29 billion. As known, last year, NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine and the German company Ferrostaal agreed to upgrade equipment at the Bar gas compressor station in Vinnytsia region of the Soyuz gas pipeline, and Ukrtransgaz and Deutsche Bank signed an agreement to open for that project a credit facility of 53.5 million euros. www.ukremb.org.uk


Ukraine Digest, Thursday, July 4, 2013

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infrastructure

D

Lviv 2022: Winter Olympic dream

eputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Vilkul called Munich (Germany) the most important competitor of Ukraine in the fight for the right to host the Winter Olympics in 2022. He said this at a briefing after the first meeting of the organizing committee for preparing the Olympic bid.

“Munich is our most important competitor. The more prestigious the win will be,” Vilkul said. According to him, Ukraine stands

every chance of obtaining the right to conduct the Games. It is important to perform a number of procedures and get in July 2014 into the so-called short-list of candidate countries. And therefore the winners will be named in 2015. “The experience of preparing for EURO 2012 and Eurobasket should contribute to it. It should become a catalyst that will ensure the

availability of priority infrastructure. And since 2015, when we are given the right, we start the construction of sports facilities,” Vilkul noted.

Deputy PM of Ukraine Oleksandr Vilkul: “A year ago Ukraine has hospitably welcomed the European Football Championship. Despite a number of risks, the country exhibited the readiness to host the global level events. Ukraine has already started an active preparation for the next scaled sporting festival – European Basketball Championship 2015, as well as for application submission in order to host Winter Olympic Games 2022”

He also said that Ukraine’s competitors in the struggle for the Winter Olympics, except for Germany, are Norway, Sweden, Slovakia and Poland. The Winter Olympics are scheduled to be held in Lviv, Tysovets (Lviv region) and Borzhava (Zakarpattia region, Transcarpathia).

For more information, please, contact Oksana Kyzyma, Press Secretary of the Embassy of Ukraine to the UK

Tel.: 020 7727 6312 E-mail: press@ukremb.org.uk Address: 60 Holland Park, London W11 3SJ

Issue #15, July 4, 2013 In the preparation of this issue materials of UKRINFORM were used


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