Ukrainian Government News

Insurance broker Marsh and Lloyd's of London underwriters have expanded a marine war insurance program backed by Ukraine from grain shipments to all non-military cargo, such as iron ore and steel, Marsh said on Friday.Marsh, Lloyd's and Ukrainian state banks launched an initial program in November to cut the cost of claims for damage to ships and crew transporting grain through the Black Sea corridor, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine two years ago."Expanding insurance to cover ships carrying all non-military cargo is extremely important for Ukraine…

A merchant ship transporting grains was lightly damaged off the coast of Ukraine and was likely to have been hit by a floating sea mine, according to maritime specialists and a Ukrainian government source.This is the latest incident affecting commercial ships sailing in the Black Sea.War risk insurance premiums have risen to as much as 3% of the value of a vessel after a missile damaged a merchant ship in the Ukrainian port of Pivdennyi last week, industry sources said.Four maritime and trade sources said the Liberia-flagged Georgia S bulk carrier laden with a wheat cargo was sailing from Pivd

A Turkish-flagged general cargo ship hit a mine on Thursday in the Black Sea off the coast of Romania and sustained minor damage but the crew was safe, maritime and security sources said.British maritime security company Ambrey, citing information it received, said the ship struck a sea mine 11 nautical miles north of Sulina in Romania, near the entrance to the Sulina Canal."The vessel reportedly experienced an explosion at approximately 0920 UTC (GMT). The vessel dropped anchor for a short period to assess the damage," Ambrey said in a note."At 1210, the vessel resumed sailing," Ambrey said adding that no casualties were reported.It was one of the first incidents for some months involving a ship hitting a sea mine.

Opening this week’s International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) annual conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, President Frédéric Denèfle explained the conference theme of “strength and stability in turbulent seas” saying it is essentially “business as usual” for marine underwriters.“As marine underwriters, we are used to managing an array of casualties and losses onboard a variety of vessels and in ports and other shoreside facilities. Dealing with the fall-out from natural catastrophes such as earthquakes and weather events are also workaday issues.

A vessel carrying steel products to Africa has left Ukraine's Odesa port through a temporary Black Sea corridor, the second ship to do so since Russia withdrew last month from a U.N.-brokered deal that allowed for grain to be safely exported, a senior Ukrainian government official said on Sunday.Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the Liberian-flagged ship Primus had begun sailing through a temporary corridor set up for civilian vessels, confirming a report on Saturday by a Ukrainian lawmaker."The second vessel blocked due to the war has left the port of Odesa and is now sailing through a temporary corridor," Kubrakov posted on the social media platform X, formerly called Twitter.Kubrakov said the ship had been at the port since Feb.

A Ukrainian sea drone full of explosives struck a Russian fuel tanker near a bridge linking Russia to annexed Crimea, the second such attack in 24 hours, both sides said on Saturday.No one was hurt, but the Crimean Bridge and ferry transport were suspended for several hours, according to Russian-installed officials in Crimea, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014.A Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters that the drone with 450 kg of explosives hit the SIG vessel as it transported fuel for the Russian military in Ukrainian territorial waters."The tanker was well loaded with fuel, so the 'fireworks' were seen from afar," the source said…

A possible extension next month of a deal allowing the safe wartime export of grains and fertilizers from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports could hinge on the reopening of a pipeline that delivers Russian ammonia to one of those Ukrainian ports.The dealsThe United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative for an initial 120 days last July to help tackle a global food crisis worsened by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, one of the world’s leading grain exporters. It has been extended three times since…

Western allies on Wednesday warned against reaching premature conclusions on who was responsible for blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines, with Germany suggesting the attack could also have been a "false flag" operation to blame Ukraine.A New York Times report, citing intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials, said on Tuesday a pro-Ukrainian group may be behind the blasts that became a flashpoint between the West and Russia after last year's Russian invasion of Ukraine.The report…

New intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials suggests that a pro-Ukraine group - likely comprised of Ukrainians or Russians - attacked the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September, but there are no firm conclusions, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.There was no evidence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy or other Ukrainian government officials were behind the attacks which spewed natural gas into the Baltic Sea, the newspaper reported, citing U.S. officials.Reuters could not independently verify the report.The Sept.

Ukraine has started online talks with partners on extending the Black Sea Grain Initiative aimed at ensuring Kyiv can keep shipping grain to global markets, a senior Ukrainian government source said on Tuesday.The source said Ukraine had not held discussions with Russia, which blockaded Ukrainian Black Sea ports after its invasion last year, but that it was Kyiv's understanding that its partners were talking to Moscow."The situation with negotiations is rather complicated.

Ukrainian grain traders union UGA asked the government on Wednesday to provide transparent rules on how cargo ships should queue before loading at Ukrainian Black Sea ports under a grain export deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey."It is extremely important that work in Ukraine is open and transparent," UGA said in a statement.The Black Sea Grain Initiative that was brokered last July allowed grain to be exported from three Ukrainian ports that had been blockaded by…

Ukraine has sent an appeal to the UN and Turkey to start negotiations on extending a grain export deal, but so far there has been no response, a Ukrainian government source said on Tuesday.Yuriy Vaskov, Ukraine's deputy minister of restoration, told Reuters last week that Kyiv would ask all sides to start talks to roll over the deal, seeking an extension of at least one year that would include the ports of Mykolaiv.The Black Sea Grain Initiative brokered by the UN and Turkey last July allowed grain to be exported from three Ukrainian ports.

IMO announced that the Indian Ocean High Risk Area (HRA) will be removed on 01 Jan 2023. It was a rare but really reassuring example that international cooperation can be successful.Meanwhile at the time of this writing, the war in Ukraine carries on. Ukranian resistance has been bolstered by very significant western democracy support in the form of weapons supply that have done a great job of stopping Russia in its tracks. However, the Ukranian Crisis shows it is extremely difficult…

Finding enough seafarers willing to sail ships stuck inside Ukraine's ports is set to pose a major challenge to the proposed grains corridor designed to ease an international food crisis.Russia and Ukraine last week signed a deal to restart grain and fertilizer exports that have been blocked in the Black Sea and on Wednesday Turkey unveiled a center to coordinate the resumption of shipments.But some 80 ships remain blocked in Ukraine and the evacuation of most of their crew members means more mariners are needed in the region to get the cargoes moving.Henrik Jensen…

As the United Nations tries to broker a path for grain from Ukraine and temper worries about a global food crisis, hundreds of mines laid along the Black Sea present a practical nightmare that will take months to resolve even after any agreement.The Black Sea is crucial for shipment of grain, oil and oil products. Its waters are shared by Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia and Turkey, as well as Ukraine and Russia.Ukrainian government officials estimate 20 million tonnes of grain are unable to travel from what was the world's fourth largest exporter prior to the Russian invasion on Feb.

Britain put in place new legal powers on Wednesday to prohibit maintenance on aircraft and ships belonging to specific sanctioned Russian oligarchs or their businesses.The government is acting in concert with Western allies to try to cripple the Russian economy as punishment for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. It has targeted Russia's access to the international financial system, industries like shipping and defense, and wealthy elites close to President Vladimir Putin.Britain said…

Two Russian warships transited the Bosphorus en route to the Black Sea on Saturday and 15 smaller vessels completed a transfer to the sea as Moscow beefs up its naval presence at a time of tense relations with the West and Ukraine.The reinforcement coincides with a huge build-up of Russian troops near Ukraine, something Moscow calls a temporary defensive exercise, and follows an escalation in fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces.Russia's relations with Washington…

Russia on Monday handed back three naval ships it captured last year to Ukraine, something Kiev wanted to happen before a four-way peace summit on eastern Ukraine next month in Paris.The handover, confirmed by the two countries' foreign ministries, occurred in the Black Sea off the coast of Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.Russia seized the ships in the same area in November last year after opening fire on them and wounding several sailors. Moscow said the ships - two small Ukrainian armoured artillery vessels and a tug boat - had illegally entered its territorial waters. Kiev denied that.Russia returned the sailors…

GSP Holding company GSP Offshore SRL is the preferred drilling and engineering services provider of Trident Black Sea, in its bid for the right to negotiate a production sharing agreement (PSA) with the Ukrainian government for the offshore Dolphin block in the northwestern part of the Black Sea.According to a press release from the Romanian company providing offshore integrated services for oil and gas industry said that Trident Black Sea will be the operator of the project, in the event of a winning bid.Other partners of Trident for this project are San Leon Energy for non-operating technical assistance, and Lamor AB, as environmental protection services provider.

A Ukrainian delegation led by its Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Ms. Nataliya Mykolska, met Secretary, Ministry of Shipping Shri Ravikant in New Delhi  to discuss the potential for developing sustainable partnership between the two countries in the area of shipbuilding. Giving an overview of ship building industry in their country, the Ukrainian delegation invited senior officials of the Ministry of Shipping to visit Odessa and Kiev to study the logistic chain and shipbuilding yards in particular. Secretary, Shipping Shri Ravikant invited Ukraine to send a group-cum-business delegation to visit Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL). CSL is one of the major civilian shipyards in India and has been amongst the biggest in the country.

Cargill and MV Cargo formalized their intention to construct a grain terminal in the port of Yuzhny on the Black Sea coast in Ukraine by signing a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA). The signing ceremony was held in Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk‘s cabinet office in the presence of the U.S Ambassador to Ukraine and senior Ukrainian government officials. “Ukraine is already one of the world’s great agricultural producers, but it should be an agricultural superpower,” said U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt during the ceremony. “I think I have a pretty clear idea of what American agricultural companies are now looking for,” he said.

The Gazprom headquarters hosted today a briefing session led by Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Company's Management Committee dedicated to the Company's activities this winter. Special attention was given to the contracts for gas supply to Ukraine and its transit to Europe. It was pointed out that today was the sixth anniversary of the Ukrainian Government approving the results of the negotiations on Russian natural gas supply to Ukraine from 2009 to 2019 and on the terms and conditions of its transit via Ukraine to Europe. These historic documents were effective under different Governments in Ukraine. They have determined and will determine the cooperation between Gazprom and Naftogaz of Ukraine in the gas sector until late 2019.

Ukrainian government troops and pro-Russian separatist forces on Sunday fierce fighting, which makes the Ukrainian authorities to make further unilateral ceasefire declared by pressure. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the Ukrainian authorities to negotiate with the rebels. Russia and Ukraine were held in Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union anniversary, Putin and Ukrainian President Poroshenko emphasized the need to achieve peace in eastern Ukraine. Friday night, seven-day ceasefire implemented soon under pressure, the Ukrainian government blamed separatist forces attacked military bases and outposts near the border with Russia and Ukraine, after violent clashes continued through Sunday. "Unfortunately, our eyes ......