Presentations from the Development of Extractive Industries in Ukraine event

On April 22, 2021 CUCC in cooperation with US-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC) hosted a webinar “Development of Extractive Industries in Ukraine”. More information about the event, including a recording you may find here.

An event gained a big audience and as a response to numerous requests, we are posting the presentations of the event speakers:

1. Presentation by Sergiy Tsivkach, Executive Director of UkraineInvest

UkraineInvest

 

2. Presentation by Taras Yeleyko, Deputy Chairman of the State Property Fund of Ukraine

SPFU

 

3. Presentation by Roman Opimakh, Head of State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine

Derzhgeonadra

Should you have more questions please inquire at skavetskyi@cucc.ca

Development of Extractive Industries in Ukraine

April 22, 2021, marked an unprecedented online discussion of 2021 development opportunities for Ukraine’s extractive industries sector between UkraineInvest, State Geologic and Subsoil Survey of Ukraine and State Property Fund of Ukraine and mining business representatives and investors.

The discussion was opened by Zenon Potoczny, President, Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce (CUCC) and Morgan Williams, President/CEO, U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC) and moderated by Morgan Williams and Emma Turos, Managing Director for Ukraine, CUCC.

The event was attended by over 300 participants representing the North American and global investment community.

Sergiy Tsivkach, UkraineInvest’s Executive Director, made a presentation on the role and activities of UkraineInvest as an investment promotion agency and the institution designated to provide support for investment in Ukraine, as well as on investment climate improvements, recent regulatory developments, and work in the regions in various fields.

Roman Opimakh, Director General of the State Geological and Subsoil Survey of Ukraine presented investment opportunities in the subsoil sector of Ukraine and Taras Yeleyko, Deputy Head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, made the presentation on state property privatization objects in Ukraine’s extractive industries sector.

The presentations were followed by a lively and candid discussion with the participation of three companies who already invested in operations in Ukraine and are at various stages of their projects. The business community noted the progress which Ukraine has made recently in oil & gas upstream, mining and other areas and confirmed interest in further exploring investment opportunities which Ukraine has to offer.

The top management of the state agencies and the business community agreed to continue discussion of and cooperation in resolving various issues which are important for international and domestic businesses alike to further improve Ukraine’s attractiveness for investment.

The recording of the event is available at USUBC’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv2fd5fvFKg

Ukraine-Canada Opportunities information session

Friends,

We would like to invite you to the online information session “Ukraine-Canada Opportunities”, organized by CUCC in partnership with the Province of Manitoba, Canada and WTC Winnipeg, that will take place on March 03, 2021, at 18.00 CET (10 AM CST). This event is addressed first of all at the Canadian business but may be of interest for Ukrainian entrepreneurs as well. Speakers are the representatives of Ukrainian Embassy in Canada and the Canadian Embassy in Ukraine, AGI, UkraineInvest and the CUCC team. To find out more, click the link

We would like to take this opportunity and announce the next online event with the Province of Manitoba, which is aimed at Ukrainian businesses and will take place at the beginning of April. More details on this event will follow.

Ukraine and Canada: a history of settlement and a future for investment

I have been in Ukraine since October 2014; I arrived soon after the Revolution of Dignity began. 

The revolution created both a strong desire for reform and a call for social justice, but at the same time it also led to the occupation of Crimea and the beginning of the Russian-backed aggression of Donbas. As a result, Ukraine has needed to deal with a very broad range of challenges, and all at the same time. This has meant that despite the efforts of many ambitious and smart people, reforms haven’t moved as quickly as many Ukrainians had hoped. Nevertheless, more has been done in these past three years than in the previous twenty-four years. It’s certainly encouraging and we’re beginning to see the results now. 

On the economic side, we can see the growth going ahead in bounds. Ukraine did not have a viable army in 2014; certainly not one that was combat worthy. Civil society and the population stepped in to remedy much of that, and the state has been catching up. It plays more a role as a deterrent, which we hope will make a peaceful solution more viable.

Obviously, many issues remain outstanding both with Russia, for example, as well as the international court and the challenge that was launched at the beginning of March in the Hague is evidence of that. Ukraine’s relationship with the EU continues to be redefined and Canada has been a strong partner throughout.

Our economic relations are fairly modest. In terms of exports from Canada, 2016 was a record year and the best since 1991, reaching 265 million Canadian dollars. According to our statistics, Ukraine’s exports to Canada were 107 million Canadian dollars. We are confident that more can be done now, with our Canada-Ukraine free-trade agreement.

The International Trade Centre in Geneva did a study, and Canada ended up in the top ten underserved markets when it comes to Ukraine, in terms of not fully using the existing potential. Because of that we believe that both the attention and the publicity surrounding the free-trade agreement, as well as the provisions of the document itself, will help remedy that. In order to help that process along, we’ve launched a Canada-Ukraine Trade Investment Support Project with the Conference Board of Canada and the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce which aims to help build Ukraine’s capacity to use these opportunities.

I think the other key element, which is not yet covered by the current version of our free-trade agreement, is trade in services but we are open to negotiating this over the next couple of years. When it comes to Canada, certainly sales of software and computer services probably are, by all accounts, greater than goods’ exports at this point, both in terms of product development, outsourcing and maintenance. There is a lot of activity, and sales into Canada. Certainly, I would say over 100 million Canadian dollars a year, if not 150 million. 

Thanks to the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada there’s a widespread awareness of Ukrainians, and by extension, Ukraine. It’s not something you need to explain to most Canadians. That makes Canada a little different from many other countries, and it means there are already people there with cultural empathy and openness to the market.

On the other hand, it also comes with some disadvantages. Some of these people, with personal links to Ukraine, tried to do business in the early years, of the 90s. Many of those business ventures did not work in the Wild West atmosphere that existed at the time and the bad memories of some of those smaller-scale (and larger-scale) problems persist. So, we need to overcome those. In the past year and a half we’ve seen the arrival of major Canadian players, such as Fairfax Financial, investing in Ukraine. We’re seeing bigger players with deeper pockets who are willing to take on board the Ukrainian risk in order to also take advantage of the Ukrainian opportunities.

I am of Ukrainian origin myself. I was born in Toronto and I lost some of my illusions about Eastern Europe there. I try to encourage people in Canada, from whatever background, to take a realistic view of the market.

Does Ukraine have an image problem? I think there’s no doubt that there are perception issues out there. In territorial terms, the military conflict concerns approximately about seven per cent of the country, if we include both Crimea and the Donbas, and three per cent, if just the Donbas. Certainly, one of the things that I remind my Canadian country people about is that it is 1,300 km from the western border to the line of contact in the conflict zone, and that’s a very long distance, indeed.

ABOUT ROMAN WASCHUK

Roman Waschuk is Ambassador of Canada to Ukraine. He began his career with the Department of External Affairs in 1987. First posted as second secretary (political) in Moscow, he subsequently served as counsellor (political) in Kyiv and counsellor (political) and minister-counsellor (political/economic) in Berlin. He also served as Ambassador to Serbia, with concurrent accreditation to Macedonia and Montenegro. He graduated from the University of Toronto (MA in History).

Source

Ukraine ratifies Canada-Ukraine free trade deal

The decision has been supported by 272 MPs with a required minimum of 226 votes. The FTA retains certain trade restrictions introduced by both sides.

Canada cancels duties on 98 percent of Ukrainian products, mainly agricultural ones, with the exception of poultry, dairy products, cheeses and eggs that are still subject to quotas. The document cancels duties on industrial products from Ukraine, excluding cars, whose duties are to dwindle to zero within seven years.

Almost 80 percent of imports from Canada will not be subject to duties. Some duties will be phased out over a period of 3-7 years. In particular, this applies to sheep and fowl, beef, lamb, nuts, pork offal, fruit, oilseeds, vegetable oil, fresh pork, poultry, milk, cream, eggs, honey and vegetables.

Duties will be phased out over a period of 3-7 years. In particular, this applies to sheep and fowl, beef, lamb, nuts, pork offal, fruit, oilseeds, vegetable oil, fresh pork, poultry, milk, cream, eggs, honey and vegetables.

The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade expects that after the launch of the FTA Ukraine may see the growth in exports of high-processed food products, including confectionery, juices, sunflower oil, alcoholic beverages.

July 1, 2016, Ukraine and Canada signed an agreement on the establishment of a free trade zone.

Feb. 15, the document was ratified by the lower house of the Canadian parliament – the House of Commons.

March 8, the agreement passed the second reading by the upper house – Canada’s Senate.

Ukraine to finish ratifying free trade zone agreement with Canada

The Ukraine-Canada treaty will enter into power 30 days after ratification in Ottawa

The Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko filed a draft bill on ratifying the agreement on Ukraine-Canada free trade zone, the UNIAN agency reports.

The bill war referred as urgent for approving at the Verkhovna Rada.

The mentioned treaty provides Ukrainian businesses a customs-free access to the Canadian market, the president’s press service notes.

“The document will reveal new opportunities for the Ukrainian entrepreneurs, which includes both expanding the market outlets and developing and modernisation of the production aimed to increase competitiveness in the new markets and also to create new jobs.” the service says.

With the act signed, Ukraine has ended the process of ratification of the deal with Canada. It will enter into force 30 days after the Canadian part finishes the process the same way.

The Ukraine-Canada free trade zone agreement was signed in Kyiv on July 11. According to the deal, Canada and Ukraine liberalise their custom policies upon each other in a mutually comfortable way, simultaneously protecting their sensible industries.

Just after the agreement enters into force, Ottawa will open 98% of its market for Ukraine, and Ukraine will steadily cancel 80% of the customs tariffs for the Canadian exports. Other fees would be abolished in the next 3, 5 and 7 years.

UATODAY.TV

President submitted draft Law on ratification of FTA between Ukraine and Canada for consideration by Verkhovna Rada

Under article 93 of the Constitution of Ukraine and article 9 of the Law of Ukraine on the International Treaties of Ukraine, President Petro Poroshenko submitted the draft Law on the Ratification of the Free Trade Area Agreement between Ukraine and Canada for consideration by the Parliament as an immediate one.

The Law ratifies the Agreement concluded between the two states in July 2016.

The implementation of the provisions of the document will promote the development of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, allow producers of goods to use benefits from duty-free access to the market of Canada, open opportunities for the Ukrainian business to expand their markets and modernize production in order to increase competitiveness on the new market. The Agreement will also facilitate the creation of new jobs in Ukraine.

International Trade Minister Introduces Legislation in Parliament to Implement CUFTA

November 3, 2016 – OTTAWA, ON – Global Affairs Canada

The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of International Trade, today introduced legislation in the House of Commons to implement CUFTA. The legislation will be subject to all required stages of the legislative process. Canada is committed to the timely ratification of CUFTA so Canadians and Ukrainians alike can take advantage of its benefits as soon as possible. When implemented, the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement will generate opportunities for Canadians and Ukrainians, create new job opportunities, and help to grow the middle class and those working hard to join it.

When CUFTA enters into force, Canada will immediately eliminate duties on 99.9 percent of imports from Ukraine. Similarly, Ukraine will eliminate tariffs on approximately 86 percent of Canadian exports, with the balance of tariff concessions to be implemented over a period of up to seven years. CUFTA will thus eliminate essentially all tariffs on goods currently traded between Canada and Ukraine.

Canada is deeply committed to working with the people of Ukraine to help implement important economic and democratic reforms and to strengthen business ties between the two countries.