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Turkey's vast experience in carrying out collaborative projects between the public and private sector is what lead to Ukraine's decision to invite Turkish investors to participate in the country's $10 billion (TL 78.98 billion) "grand construction project," Ukraine's Ambassador to Turkey Andrii Sybiha said.

Noting that the project is already underway, Sybiha said in an interview on Monday with Turkish economics daily Dnya that they are interested in carrying out projects with experienced Turkish partners.

Sybiha also highlighted that the establishment of industrial parks could be a promising area.

We want to work on this issue with Turkey, he said, noting that in December Ukraine passed a law called "State Support for Large Investment Projects.

Except for tax exemptions, state or public land will be provided for the relevant companies to realize the project and investment in question. Moreover, construction and equipment work will be done with the state or local budget. The investment in question must amount to at least 20 million euros ($23.85 million). In the Great Construction project, projects with a budget of approximately $10 billion will be implemented in five years, including the construction of a total of 24,000 kilometers (around 14,900 miles) of roads, as well as bridges, rail systems, airports and the large ring road project within the framework of Kyiv, the ambassador explained.

Sybiha noted that when the Ukrainian prime minister came to Turkey, he visited the city hospital in the capital Ankara.

Its capacity, size as well as the quality of construction impressed him. Therefore, Ukraine is very keen to build hospitals like this right now, he said, adding that he anticipates a delegation will soon visit Turkey.

Sybiha highlighted a decentralization reform recently enacted in Ukraine that enables local governors to receive an additional mandate while at the same time, a large budget was provided to these administrations to develop their own regions and provinces.

They have gained one-on-one independence. It is useful to work with the regions, taking into account the said independence and budget allocation. There are also certain infrastructure projects in the regions, he said, stressing that they want the involvement of Turkish companies.

Stating that almost every city in the country has an airport in need of modernizing or finishing as well as mentioning plans to launch recycling and water projects, he underlined that Turkish firms could demonstrate their experience and knowledge through the collaborations.

Further commenting on economic relations between the two countries, the Ukrainian diplomat said that Turkey and Ukraine overcame the challenge to their trade relations successfully during a period when world economies were grappling with the pandemic.

He also highlighted the important agreements signed across a variety of fields during the pandemic. The joint projects and cooperation between Ankara and Kyiv cover a wide range of sectors, with defense and industry being the primary fields of cooperation.

The trade volume between the two countries reached $4.3 billion during the first 11 months of last year, according to the Ukrainian ambassador citing his countrys official data.

Sybiha said the total volume will be around $5 billion once the statistics for the entire 12-month period are released, equating to almost the same volume of trade in 2020 as in 2019 despite the pandemic.

Responding to a question regarding the free trade agreement (FTA) expected to be reached between the parties, Sybiha said there are some reasons for 2021 to be a determinative and conclusive year for the signing of this kind of agreement.

Our negotiating parties continue their meetings despite the pandemic. They present mutual offerings. When we consider all those developments it's likely to ink such a deal this year, he said.

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Kyiv invites Turkish firms to invest in $10B construction project | Daily Sabah - Daily Sabah

The International Center for Defense and Security (ICDS, Estonia), in close cooperation with the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Estonia, will hold today an online discussion entitled "How does the occupation of Crimea affect Ukraine's national resilience?"

The live broadcast of the event can be watched on the Facebook pages of the Resilient Ukraine program and Ukrinform, which is a media partner of the event.

The issues to discuss include: "The Crimean platform: what role should Estonia play during the summit?"; "Passportization in Crimea: how does the process of obtaining Russian citizenship by Crimeans threaten Ukraine?"; "Drafting to the occupying army: why does illegal conscription to the Russian Armed Forces give rise to growing disturbance?"; "Impacts on resilience: how do Crimean-origin information operations by Russia threaten southern and eastern Ukraine?"

Participants in the event are Mariana Betsa, Ambassador of Ukraine to Estonia; Ihor Yaremenko, Deputy Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine; Volodymyr Prytula, Head of the Crimean Desk, RFE/RL (Krym.Realii); Ibrahim Suleimanov, Head of Kherson city Majlis, Development Director of the Kuresh Crimean Tatar Cultural Center; Marko Mihkelson, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Estonian Parliament; Gert Antsu, Director of the Estonian Center of Eastern Partnership, former Ambassador of Estonia to Ukraine (2016-2019); Evhen Tsybulenko, Law professor at the Tallinn University of Technology. Dmitri Teperik, Chief Executive of the International Center for Defense and Security (Estonia) and Resilient Ukraine program director, will moderate the discussion.

The Resilient Ukraine program has been implemented by the International Center for Defense and Security (ICDS) since 2016 with the support of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In addition to Ukrinform, a media partner of the event is RFE/RL's Krym.Realii (Crimea.Realities) project.

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Discussion 'How does the occupation of Crimea affect Ukraine?' LIVE BROADCAST - Ukrinform. Ukraine and world news

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky plans to visit Vilnius this year to participate in the Ukraine Reform Conference.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Ihor Zhovkvasaid this in an interview with Baltic News Service(BNS) Lithuania, according to the website of the head of the Ukrainian state.

We hope that the conference will take place this year. The Ukrainian government and the President's Office are already working on this. The head of state will be glad to come to Lithuania to discuss the progress of Ukrainian reforms and support for Ukraine from European partners, he said.

According to Zhovkva, over the past year and a half, Ukraine has shown significant progress in reforms; in particular, recently President of the European Council Charles Michel noted the efforts of the Ukrainian president in judicial and banking reforms, as well as in the agricultural sector. We look forward to a fair assessment of the process. And we count on support for Ukraine to continue this path of reforms, he stressed.

The deputy head of the President's Office also focused on the process of Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration. He recalled that the Ukrainian state received a NATO Enhanced Opportunities Partner status and raises the issue of providing a NATO Membership Action Plan. We understand that we have to do our homework, including reforms in the security and military sectors of Ukraine. We are working on this, Zhovkva said.

Work is also underway to deepen Ukraine's integration with the European Union. Much depends on Ukraine, but not everything. We will do our "homework", but we really count on the support of Brussels and EU Member States. And here, by the way, the role of Lithuania is very important, because I hope that Lithuania unanimously supports Ukraine's membership in the EU and NATO, Zhovkva noted.

He also said that the Republic of Lithuania is not just a strategic partner of Ukraine, but also a strategic friend and brother, and both countries have great potential for cooperation.

ish

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Zelensky plans to attend Ukraine Reform Conference in Vilnius this year President's Office - Ukrinform. Ukraine and world news

The European Commission is warming to the idea of offering more ambitious integration plan to the three Eastern partners of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, an EU official has said.

Calls for a more ambitious policy in the East with the three countries, all of which have signed association agreements with the EU and harbour ambitions to one day join the bloc, have been long echoed by the European Parliament.

So far, the EU executive has been cautious to endorse the plan for the group, often referred to as the Trio, wary that more perks for the associated countries may irritate the three other Eastern partners Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus.

However, the question of deepening ties with the Trio is on the agenda more than ever right now, especially with the current situation in the partnership, according to Katarna Mathernov, Deputy Director-General of the European Commissions department for neighbourhood and enlargement.

The European Peoples Party (EPP) has presented a proposal to enable faster and deeper sectoral integration with the EU for the three countries within the Eastern Partnership (EaP) Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova that are looking for a more ambitious integration with the bloc.

It appears EU countries are increasingly interested in deepening ties with the three Eastern allies, spurred on by a political crisis in Georgia, continuing anti-government protests in Belarus, the fallout from the Armenian-Azerbaijani war and a frosty relationship between Moscow and Brussels.

The European Commission increasingly hears comments about a more tailor-made approach for the Trio, and at a recent meeting of EU countries Germany raised the issue of what more should be done for the three countries, Mathernov told a webinar on Thursday (4 March).

Meanwhile, the blocs diplomatic branch, the European External Action Service (EEAS), remains watchful of the possible effects of further differentiation for Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

We dont want to send a message, for example, that the very strong judicial reform efforts in Armenia are not recognised by the EU as well, said head of EEAS division for Eastern partnership Richard Tibbels said.

I have to say, I dont think we should do this in a way which says there is one set of three countries and another set of three countries, I think we have to be careful that we look at this perhaps in a more functional and sectoral way, he added.

Western Balkans and Associated Trio: Whos ahead?

Meanwhile, official EU accession candidates and the three associated partners are not far apart in terms of Western integration, a recently published study revealed.

A comparison of the Commissions yearly reports on EU hopefuls in the Western Balkans, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia and the progress of agreement implementation with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, suggested the Balkans are a bit ahead on the political-legal front, whereas the Eastern Europeans have advanced much more in terms of trade and economic cooperation.

The authors argue for an overhaul of the EUs enlargement and neighbourhood policies, partly to strengthen incentives to drive forward political and economic reforms in the would-be accession countries.

The Commission could use similar quantified ratings and tie EU aid to performance on these metrics, the authors said.

We can go further and, in terms of financial assistance, we can have the concept of progressive accession to the structural funds that would indeed be delivering on the more for more slogan, but every step towards fuller financial assistance would be linked quantified ratings of the kinds that weve developed in the paper, said Michael Emerson, senior research fellow at Brussels-based CEPS think tank.

Mathernov agreed that the EU has loaded the the association agreements and the DCFTAs with quite a lot of expectations and I would say regulatory burden on the shoulders of our partners, in fact, going beyond what happens in the pre-accession phase.

The Commission is now looking areas where the cooperation can be deepened, with sight set on the digital market as the regulatory setup in this area is developing dynamically both in the EU and partner countries.

Now, I dont think that we should we can or should oversell this, we have to go step by step, the official added.

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EU warms to more integration with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine - EURACTIV

Slotegrator will provide expert opinion on the viability and sustainability of the Ukraine market at this months Ukrainian Gaming Week (UGW) in Kyiv.

UGW, which will be held from 23-24 March, is entirely dedicated to issues surrounding one of the latest countries to enter the regulated gambling scene.

Opening of new markets means new horizons to reach and new opportunities to grab, said Slotegrator, as it prepares to present its full suite of solutions to those looking to follow the lead of Parimatch, who last week became the first operator to obtain a sports betting licence from Ukraines Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (CRGL).

Despite its approval, SBC News learned that Parimatch is still waiting on final decisions from the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) regarding online gambling taxation, licensing costs and the technical accreditation of systems.

Just last month, Slotegrator Head of Sales Vadim Potapenko gave his thoughts on Ukraines regulatory structure as part of a recent interview originally for Login Casino.

There is no perfect scenario each countrys regulation has its own pros and cons, he shared. Obviously, operators will always have a negative attitude towards taxes they view them as a burdensome expense on top of what they already pay to payment system providers, game developers and affiliates. That is why the simpler the tax scheme is, the easier it is for the operator.

Ukraine is on the right track. There are licences available for both online and land-based projects. Furthermore, the licences are affordable: many will say they are on the high side but I believe that start-ups with the experience and the budget will pop up.

This will reduce risks for the players if a casino has money, it can guarantee that winnings will be paid out. Any new businesses that appear on the Ukrainian market will be well managed projects with sophisticated brands.

In a possible preview for Slotegrators approach at UGW, he added: Operators from other markets might not be aware of acquisition strategies that would work for Ukraine, but if theyve already successfully developed their projects in Europe and Asia, they can definitely find a way to do so in Ukraine, too.

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Slotegrator to join the debate on Ukraine legislation - SBC News