Qatar supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, both within the UN General Assembly during the voting of relevant resolutions and through the participation of the Qatari delegation in consultations of diplomatic and security advisers on the implementation of the “Peace Formula”. Qatar and Kuwait are currently the only Gulf monarchies that vote to condemn human rights violations in Crimea and support Ukraine in the issue of reparations. Qatar is making great efforts to “mobilise” the votes of other countries in the region in favour of Ukraine.
The State of Qatar became the first country of the Gulf Cooperation Co uncil to reopen a full-fledged mission in Kyiv after the full-scale military invasion of Russia in February 2022.
Ukraine has received $100 million in humanitarian support from Qatar. The funds are aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s energy sector, rebuilding healthcare (equipment for emergency and surgical departments), education, humanitarian demining, and other social and humanitarian projects. Qatar is also providing 50 scholarships for Ukrainians to study at universities of the country.
Qatar contributed $20 million to the Grain from Ukraine programme to purchase grain for needy countries in Africa.
During the war, the country provided Ukraine with $5 million to purchase 10 ambulances and anaesthetic and breathing machines. The Qatar Fund for Development also wants to participate in the reconstruction of the Izyum Central City Hospital and other rebuilding projects in Ukraine.
The Qatari media conglomerate Al Jazeera, owned by the ruling Al Thani dynasty, has made efforts to cover russia’s war against Ukraine and actively invites Ukrainian speakers, which helps against the backdrop of pro-russian narratives in many Arab media.
Due to Qatar’s mediation, Ukraine has managed to return dozens of Ukrainian children illegally abducted by russia and forcibly deported and displaced. These children were returned in accordance with the mechanism for the return of children to Ukraine, established by Qatar after months of secret negotiations with Ukraine and russia. It is expected that in the future, this mechanism will be used to return a significant number of Ukrainian children abducted by russia.
Also, the country is ready to join as an intermediary in the process of returning Ukrainian civilian hostages who were deported to russia or are in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
At the same time, Qatar is benefiting from sanctions against russia and is ousting it from the gas market. For example, in November 2022, QatarEnergy signed an agreement to supply 2 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas to Germany annually for 15 years. In the same month, QatarEnergy signed a 27-year agreement with China’s Sinopec to supply 4 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas annually to China, thus limiting the perspectives of russians in the Chinese market. Even without joining the sanctions against russia, Qatar is undermining russia’s ability to wage war.
The Qatari government is ready to join a number of humanitarian projects in Ukraine aimed at improving the lives of Ukrainians in the face of full-scale russian aggression. Ukraine and Qatar have also agreed to cooperate through the Joint Intergovernmental Commission and other working groups and commissions in various areas, from high technology to drinking water supply.
In recent years, trade and economic cooperation between both countries has intensified significantly. The necessary prerequisites have been laid for the in-depth development of effective cooperation between Ukraine and Qatar in trade, economic, industrial and investment spheres.
Qatar is an important commercial partner for Dnipropetrovsk region, despite a significant decline in exports due to the military aggression of russia. Mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation remains a top priority for both countries.
Qatari companies are most interested in ferrous metal products, fats and vegetable oil, meat and edible offal, etc. The volume of exports from Dnipropetrovsk region was $5.5 million, which decreased by 91% compared to 2021.
9 companies in Dnipropetrovsk region exported their products to the Qatari market, including metallurgical enterprises and agricultural companies.
Imports of goods from Qatar to Dnipropetrovsk region decreased by 45% to $3.1 million.
In turn, 5 importers in the region bought Qatari goods, namely plastics and polymeric materials, and means of land transport.
Imports were mainly carried out by manufacturing and trading companies.
Source: information for the article was taken from open online sources
