Soon Ukraine will receive the second tranche of macro-financial assistance from the European Union. This was announced by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker after talks with Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groisman.
“Part of our conversation concerned the allocation of the second tranche of Ukraine. Ukraine in the last 2-3 years made many reforms. We understand that this is a huge change compared to the 20-year-old situation. We know that moving a bill to the wood. And I think that is enough to allocate 600 million euros, as expected by the Ukrainians. This will be done in the coming weeks,” he said.
Juncker said that the Ukrainians deserve to get something for their efforts.
“Among the conditions for the issuance of the second tranche, we pointed out the lifting of the ban on timber exports. I noted that the Prime Minister and his government introduced such a bill in the Parliament. That is, the government respected its duties. The final decision will be easier if the ban will be lifted. If the government will make every effort to have the bill passed, will satisfy us how the government performs its job,” he said
“We support Ukraine not only in the context of the conflict with Russia, but also in a more General sense. We believe that not only the neighbors, but all must respect the sovereignty of Ukraine. Our future relationship will develop that way,” – said the head of the European Commission.
Groisman, in turn, said that the Ukrainian government is working with the factions and groups of the Ukrainian Parliament to achieve consolidation in the law the wood.
“We will find the right solutions that are in the interests of both Ukraine and the EU”, – said the Prime Minister.
We recall that in April 2015 the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Law “On peculiarities of state regulation of activity of subjects of entrepreneurial activity related to the sale and export of timber”, which established a 10-year ban on the export of unprocessed timber tree species (except pine) from 1 November 2015. To export pine is prohibited from 1 January 2017.
EU calls on Kiev to lift the ban on the export of forest. While Europeans share the desire of Ukrainians to protect the forest and is ready to provide support.
