Distinguished colleagues, dear Ukrainians.

First of all, I would like to welcome Rustem Umerov to the Government team.

Yesterday, the President of Ukraine set clear priorities. Among the tasks facing the new minister are new defense programs, continuation of the military commission reform and digitalization of all processes, continuation of procurement reform, further implementation of NATO standards, active work with partners to ensure that our military have even more effective and advanced weapons.

The second appointment we have made this week is the new head of the Antimonopoly Committee.

Yesterday I introduced Pavlo Kyrylenko to the agency's staff. We discussed the major challenges. The work of the AMCU is crucial as part of our path to the EU and the development of a market economy. There is a significant demand for justice in society, and therefore the work of the Antimonopoly Committee also requires new qualitative approaches.

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This week also saw important international meetings. The two-day visit of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. An important statement was made that the United States supports Ukraine during the war and will support our defense capabilities in the long term.

Mr. A. Blinken also announced an additional package of assistance to our country worth USD 1 billion. Two-thirds of this sum will be spent on new military and civilian security aid. This includes air defense, allowing us to strengthen the protection of our energy system this fall and winter.

In fact, in our conversations with the Secretary of State, we paid considerable attention to energy issues and the protection of our energy facilities. The United States is among the leaders in helping our energy sector. We also invite American companies to invest in the Ukrainian energy sector, and yesterday we talked about specific projects.

State Secretary Blinken made another important statement during his visit: For the first time, the United States is transferring confiscated assets of sanctioned russian oligarchs to Ukraine. We are talking about the first USD 5.4 million, to be used for the rehabilitation of Ukrainian veterans. This is extremely important. We will make russia pay for all the crimes and devastation, particularly in financial terms.

Besides, Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen paid a visit to Kyiv. We are grateful for the initiative to provide F-16 aircraft. We talked a lot about reconstruction. Denmark is also among the leaders here.

Last year, we presented the concept of rebuilding on a regional basis, when our international partners help rebuild specific regions. The assistance provided to Mykolaiv region by our Danish friends is perhaps one of the brightest examples of this regional approach.

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Support for farmers is another of our priorities. The harvest is underway. As of today, Ukraine has harvested 34 million tonnes of crops as part of the harvesting campaign. In particular, 22 million tonnes of wheat. The domestic demand is 6-7 million tonnes per year. Therefore, we feel quite confident about the food security of our country.

Meanwhile, we continue to work on expanding our export potential. It is essential for our economy and crucial for global food security.

Today, the Government shall approve a resolution to involve Ukrainian ports on the Danube River in providing humanitarian aid in the form of wheat and corn to countries in Africa and Asia. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Grain from Ukraine Initiative will now apply to Ukraine's Danube ports.

This is our contribution to global food security. We are working with the UN and our other partners to fully restore agricultural exports from Ukraine and finally unblock our Black Sea ports.

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Finally. We are preparing to sign an updated free trade agreement with Canada. Today we are to endorse an according draft decree of the President.

This is a modern, progressive agreement, which aims to increase investment, boost trade in services and develop digital trade.

In trade in services, for the first time we have an agreement based on the principle of "everything that is not specified in the agreement is open" - this is especially important for the flexible world of services, where new services, especially digital ones, are constantly emerging.

The agreement clearly states that Ukraine shares with Canada approaches to labor standards, the environment, and the role of small and medium-sized businesses in trade and the economy in general. This is the common morality that the President of Ukraine spoke about.

Another important element of the agreement is the cross-cumulation of goods. The deal stipulates that the free trade regime applies to goods containing components from the EU, the UK and Israel, with which Ukraine also has joint agreements. This will strengthen the integration of Ukrainian producers into global supply chains.

We aim to win, restore and develop Ukraine.

Thank you for your attention. Glory to Ukraine!