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Eastern Europe
June 7, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 16
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on course
to repeat his landslide victory in Ukraine’s parliamentary election
Five political parties could clear the 5% threshold and enter Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, in the July 21 general election, according to the Rating agency.
Zelenskiy’s Servant of the People party is on course to repeat the landslide victory of its leader in the recent presidential election, and has wid- ened its lead; Servant would take 48.2% of the vote according to the poll, up form c.30% in earlier polls. A Servant of the People party statement at the end of May said the party would not enter into any election pacts and was going to attempt to win a majority on its own.
That is starting to look like a strong strategy as the parliamentary vote now looks like a repeat of the presidential vote where voters didn't vote for Zelenskiy but in effect voted against everyone else. A parliamentary pact would tarnish Zelenskiy’s “clean hands” outsider image and the party’s very lack of experience ironically works in its favour.
The other parties are all sliding in the polls. In sec- ond place is the pro-Russian Opposition Platform 10.7%), followed by former president Petro Po- roshenko’s rebranded European Solidarity (7.8%).
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Chinese agro major Joyvio Beidahuang to invest in Russia
Chinese Joyvio Beidahuang Agricultural Holdings (JBA) will invest up to RUB10bn ($154mn) in development of agriculture in the Russian region of Primorsk, Vedomosti daily reported on June 6 citing the head of Far East Development Fund (RFDV or FEDF) Alexei Chekunkov.
JBA is a joint venture of Legend Holdings – Joyvio investment group, one o the largest agricultural holdings in China Beidahuang, and soy beans major Jiusan Grain and Oil Industry Group.
Representatives of JBA commented to Vedomosti that the Primorsk region is favourable for growing grains and lentils, with soil similar to that in the border regions in China. RUB2bn out
of the investment will be provided by the RFDV.
Analysts surveyed by Vedomosti daily reminded that many Chinese agricultural businesses lease farmlands in the Far East regions of Amursk, Khabarovsk, and Primorsk to grow soya or corn, but none of those are large holdings of JBA's scale. Other large Asian investors in Russian agriculture include Vietnamese TH Group and Singapore Olam International, both investing
in dairy.
With 50,000 hectares JBA's project would be the second largest land bank in the Far East after Rusagro agricultural major of Vadim Moshkovich with 96,000 hectares.