Published in Inform issue #112
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Ukrainian officials have denied speculation from Gazprom that Naftohaz Ukrainy – Ukraine’s state run gas company – will struggle to pay for gas deliveries in May and should therefore pay its bills in advance. The unfounded speculation follows last week’s meeting between Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the heads of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan. Top of their agenda was a discussion on gas and the need to prevent any recurrence of the gas dispute earlier in the year.

Gazprom’s most recent concern that Ukraine will struggle to meet its May gas bill was dealt with swiftly by Yuriy Prodan, Ukraine’s Minister for Fuel and Energy. “We will make all efforts to ensure that Naftohaz, as it has before, pays for gas deliveries in full and on time."

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Source: Forum / Government Portal

Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Hryhoriy Nemyria held a meeting with the Speaker of the Riksdag (Parliament) of Sweden.

In the course of meeting the parties considered the prospects of developing bilateral relations between the two countries in both political and economic areas.

The interlocutors dwelt on Eurointegration aspirations of Ukraine. Hryhoriy Nemyria expressed gratitude to Sweden for the consistent support of this course and emphasized “Sweden is one of the European states which understands Ukraine not only from the point of view of its history but future opportunities.”

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Source: Government Press Office

Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko departed on an official two-day visit to Libya on Monday.

In the course of the visit, Yulia Tymoshenko will meet with Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, Libyan Secretary of General People`s Committee of Libya al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmudi and Secretary General of the General People`s Congress of Libya Imbarek Shamekh. Cooperation in the oil, aircraft and agricultural sectors will be discussed.

In the framework of the visit, bilateral Ukraine-Lybia documents are planned to be signed.

Published in ForUm

Ukraine and Russia will find mutual understanding in supply and transit of Russian gas, the Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko stated.

“Today we have a possibility to discuss cooperation on gas supplies and transit. I am sure we will find an understanding,” Tymoshenko said at the beginning of today’s meeting with the PM of Russia, Vladimir Putin, in Astana.

Tymoshenko noted that the solution of this issue is important for everybody: for Ukraine, Russia and the EU. “I think we can solve this issue,” she added.

According to Tymoshenko, in the recent times between Ukraine and Russia there are very constructive relations. Tymoshenko added that in crisis conditions cooperation between the two countries has additional importance.

Government Portal

The Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko held a meeting with President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev in Astana today,.

In the course of the event, Yulia Tymoshenko announced Ukraine and Kazakhstan have huge cooperation opportunities and thanked Nursultan Nazarbayev for his efforts directed toward developing relations between the two states over the years.

The Prime Minister noted that Ukraine and Kazakhstan have great possibilities in the area of agrarian equipment and aircraft production. She also added Ukraine could be participating in the project of creating an international uranium enrichment centre, realization of which has been discussed at the top level between the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan. To this, Yulia Tymoshenko announced Ukraine is actively developing uranium extraction.

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Published by UNIAN

Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko has left on a two-day working visit for Astana (Kazakhstan), where she will take part in a session of the CIS Prime Ministers Council on May 22.

According to an UNIAN correspondent, within frames of the session, Yulia Tymoshenko is due to hold a number of bilateral meetings, in particular, with President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov.

Besides, Yulia Tymoshenko also plans to meet with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Published in Inform issue #111
See the full issue here.

Ukraine’s Constitutional Court has declared the Verkhovna Rada (parliament’s) decision to bring forward the date of the presidential election to 25 October as unlawful. Announced last Wednesday, the court’s decision means that the date for the presidential election is most likely to revert to January 2010.

On 1 April, the Verkhovna Rada voted overwhelmingly in favour of bringing forward the presidential election to 25 October. Most observers interpreted this as a defensive move to stop the president from dissolving the 450-seat parliament and calling a snap election. Under Ukrainian law the president has no authority to dismiss parliament in the last six months before the election.

President Viktor Yushchenko then announced that he would accept the 25 October date, provided simultaneous parliamentary elections were held. But when parliamentary elections looked unlikely, the president, on 8 April, referred the legality of the autumn presidential poll to the Constitutional Court.

The eventual court ruling did not come as a great surprise as according to the revised Constitution of 2006, the election of the head of state should be held “on the last Sunday of the last month of the fifth year of the president being in office.” This means that the most probable date for the next presidential election is 17 January 2010.

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Published in Kyiv Post

Ukrainian Vice Premier Hryhoriy Nemyria during his official visit to Britain discussed bilateral cooperation between Ukraine and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) with EBRD President Thomas Mirow, according to the government's press service.

Nemyria said that Ukraine wants to see the EBRD provide financial support for investment projects linked with Ukraine's preparations for hosting the Euro 2012 European Football Championship Euro, the press service said.

"Effective cooperation between Ukraine and the EBRD contributing to the economic development of Ukraine positively influences our integration in the European Union economic area," Nemyria said.

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Goverment Press Office

Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko stressed the need for deepened cooperation between Ukraine and Finland in terms of Ukraine’s accedence to the European Union. The Head of Government declared during her meeting with President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen.

Yulia Tymoshenko thanked members of the Finnish delegation for supporting Ukraine’s ambition toward EU integration and emphasized joining efforts in this direction, which would be discussed today.

“Key is our cooperation and support for Eurointegration of Ukraine in a period when an intensified format of such cooperation is developing, the Eastern Partnership, we attach great hopes to, taking it as an intensified way of Ukraine’s move toward Europe,” Yulia Tymoshenko stressed.

The Premier also added significant is the fact Finland advocates creating of free trade area and introduction of simplified or even free visa regime between Ukraine and the EU.

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Published in Interfax

Ukraine is counting on fruitful cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as part of the European initiative on energy efficiency, Vice Premier Hryhoriy Nemyria said at a Ukrainian-Finnish business forum in Kyiv on Wednesday.

He said that Eastern European countries would be the major recipients of this program, and added that Ukraine has shown good progress in developing its cooperation with the EBRD, especially in the last two years.

Nemyria said that EUR 5 billion would be spent over three years on the implementation of energy saving projects as part of this initiative.

Government Press Office

Ukraine has completely set accounts with the Russian Federation for natural gas.

“We have paid 650 million dollars, settled accounts for 2 billion 398 million cubic metres,” the Head of Government underlined.
Yulia Tymoshenko stressed the Government had started preparing for the autumn-winter period and significant amount of natural gas gad been pumped into the gas storages already.

According to the Premier, if payments for the natural gas in Ukraine will be made by all consumers timely, the country will show independence and stability in the system of consumption of the natural gas and payments for it.

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Published in Inform issue #110
See the full issue here.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved last Friday the immediate release of a second tranche payment to Ukraine of $2.8 billion dollars.

John Lipsky, First Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chairman of the Executive Board said, “The [Ukrainian] authorities’ revised economic programme, supported by a Stand-By Arrangement with the Fund, seeks to mitigate the effects of the global crisis, restore confidence in the banking system, and preserve fiscal sustainability while protecting the most vulnerable segments of the population.”

The IMF acknowledged the progress made by the government and the decision to relax its conditions for the loan, which at one time called for a balanced budget. “The revised economic programme targets a government deficit of 4 percent of GDP in 2009, compared to a balanced budget under the original programme. This revision aims to strike a balance between cushioning the economic downturn and preserving medium-term fiscal sustainability. From this perspective, the authorities’ intention to implement important structural reforms, including pension and tax reforms, by end-2009 is welcome,” said Mr Lipsky.

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Published in The Financial

The board of directors of the International Monetary Fund intends to consider the allocation of the second stand-by tranche to Ukraine on May 8 instead of earlier scheduled May 13, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said.

«The Board of the Fund has decided to boost the holding of the its meeting and scheduled it for May 8 taking in account fruitful work of the government in implementation of the agreements reached between Ukraine and the IMF,» she said.

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Published in Inform issue #109
See the full issue here.

Russia and Ukraine were the latest countries to hit the “reset” button after a fruitful meeting between Russian Prime Minister Valdimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Yulia Tymoshenko, in Moscow. The two leaders successfully ironed out energy related issues and agreed deeper cooperation in engineering, aerospace and space sectors.

Last week’s intergovernmental meeting was a major step forward in Ukrainian-Russian relations. Importantly, it enabled both countries to stabilise their new energy relationship, which took a temporary setback in March when Russian diplomatic feathers were ruffled by the EU pledging €2.5 billion to help modernise Ukraine’s ageing gas transportation network. As Ukraine’s sole provider of gas to Europe, Russian officials, at the time, felt marginalised by the deal.

Understanding Russian concerns, Ms Tymoshenko repeated her position that the modernisation programme would involve the cooperation of Russian companies. “We have invited Russia as one of the main partners to modernise the Ukrainian gas transportation system. I think that such modernisation can be conducted jointly,” said Ukraine’s premier.

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Article Published by NRCU

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko expressed satisfaction with the results of her visit to the Russian Federation on April 29, as well as with the results of the 6th meeting of the intergovernmental committee for economic cooperation of the Ukraine - Russia Interstate Commission.

Photos: www.tymoshenko.com.ua



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