National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 25/06/21
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Agroholding Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, in July will invest UAH 500,000 in the installation of a technological line for the production of inverted sugar syrup at Novoorzhytske sugar plant (Novoorzhytske, Poltava region), the release of the first batch of products is planned for August 2021, the company’s press service said.
“The main consumers of inverted syrup will be Ukrainian beekeepers. This product can be used to feed bees, since it allows you to preserve the offspring of bee colonies and increase their productivity. Our product will allow beekeepers to increase the efficiency of their apiaries, introduce modern technologies in this process and maintain a leading position in honey production in the world,” curator of the project Ivan Chepak said.
According to the company, inverted sugar syrup is also in demand in confectionery industry, and if the pilot project is successfully implemented, Astarta will expand its production and expand sales markets. Developing this project, the company is increasing the volume of products with a higher degree of processing, forming the added value of its products, the report explains.
As reported, Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes five sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 220,000 hectares and dairy farms with 22,000 animals, seven elevators, a biogas complex and a soybean processing plant in Poltava region (Globino Processing Plant LLC).
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has called on representatives of the French business MEDEF International, who are on an official visit to the country, to participate in investment projects in Ukraine, the press service of the head of state reports.
In particular, the president drew the attention of investors to the implementation of the Big Construction national program. He called on French business to take part in the modernization of the road infrastructure of Ukraine within the framework of public-private partnership projects.
Among the large-scale investment projects, Zelensky also named railway communication, IT sphere, modernization and management of ports, airports, construction of metro and underground tunnels, etc. At the same time, the head of state emphasized the need to localize production in Ukraine.
Zelensky also proposed that Airbus, with which there is already a contract for the supply of helicopters, consider the possibility of participating in the implementation of a project to create a national Ukrainian air carrier and study the issue of attracting Ukraine to the production of the company’s products.
French businessmen confirmed their interest in cooperation in the mentioned areas.
“Today France is the sixth largest investment in Ukraine. Not a bad indicator, we can be glad. But we understand that it is better and much more can be done,” Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, the president of MEDEF association, said.
Reportedly, some of the Ukrainian-French investment projects are already underway.
“A contract has been signed with Alstom company for the supply of 120 locomotives for the Ukrainian railway with partial localization of production in Ukraine (in the amount of 35%),” the report says.
In total, Ukraine and France have recently concluded intergovernmental agreements for more than EUR 1.3 billion.
The delegation of MEDEF association, which arrived in Ukraine, includes representatives of 20 large French companies from many sectors.
ASTARTA expands its product range and launches a pilot project on invert sugar syrup production. The initial batch is scheduled for August 2021.
The process of technological reequipment of the enterprise has already started. A special processing line will be installed at the Novoorzhytskiy sugar factory in the first half of July. The total investments are UAH0.5m.
– The main consumers of the first batch of inverted syrup will be Ukrainian beekeepers. This product can be used as feeding during the overwintering of bee colonies and helps to increase their productivity. It will also allow beekeepers to increase efficiency in their apiaries, introduce modern technologies and maintain a leading position in honey production in the world, – said project manager Ivan Chepak.
Invert sugar syrup is in demand with the confectionery industry as well. Therefore, in case of successful implementation of the pilot project, ASTARTA plans to increase the production of invert syrup and expand the marketing capabilities.
Thus, forming the added value of its products, ASTARTA increases the volume of products with a higher degree of processing, creates efficient production with a closed technological cycle and performs technical and technological reequipment of its enterprises.
The European Union has officially published its list of sectoral sanctions against Belarus.
In line with the decision of the EU Council, which was published in the EU’s official journal, the ban on import or transit from Belarus of highly significant export goods for the country, petroleum products and potash fertilizers, applies to contracts signed after June 25, 2021. The EU sanctions thus do not apply to current contracts for supplies of petroleum products and potash fertilizers.
“It shall be prohibited […] to transport petroleum products if they originate in Belarus, or are being exported from Belarus to any other country; to provide, directly or indirectly, technical assistance, brokering services, financing or financial assistance, including financial derivatives, as well as insurance and re-insurance […]. The prohibitions […] shall be without prejudice to the execution of contracts concluded before June 25, 2021, or ancillary contracts necessary for the execution of such contracts,” the document said.
Similar sanctions are envisaged for potash fertilizers from Belarus. “It shall be prohibited to import, purchase or transfer, directly or indirectly, potassium chloride (‘potash’) products […] from Belarus, whether or not originating in Belarus. The prohibitions […] shall be without prejudice to the execution of contracts concluded before June 25, 2021, or ancillary contracts necessary for the execution of such contracts,” it said.
BANS, BELARUS, EUROPEAN UNION, IMPORT, OIL PRODUCTS, TRANSIT
Boryspil International Airport (Kyiv) in May 2021 posted a profit of UAH 40 million, the press service of the airport reported, with reference to head of the supervisory board Volodymyr Zhmak.
“The return of Boryspil airport to profitability is a positive signal for the entire industry. The implementation of the airport’s anti-crisis program ensured cost reductions while increasing revenues, therefore, returned the airport to the level of profitability,” Zhmak said.
He added that the airport is actively working to attract new air carriers.
“Those airlines that operated at the airport before the crisis continue to fly and increase the number of flights. Moreover, new airlines are coming to us in 2021. In particular, Cyprus Airways began regular flights in May, and in June Flynas low cost airline operated its first flight from Saudi Arabia, we expect Eurowings, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi and several other new carriers,” he added.
As reported, Boryspil International Airport, according to the report of ACI Europe (Airports Council International Europe), ranked 14th in the list of the largest airports in Europe in terms of the number of passengers.
