The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) expects a grain harvest in 2020 at the level of 70 million tonnes instead of the projected 70-72 million tonnes, Deputy Governor of the NBU Dmytro Sologub has said.
“We predicted that Ukraine will harvest 70-72 million tonnes of grain. Given the rather significant revision of data on the harvest of early grains (wheat and barley) downward compared to the recent statistics, at the moment we expect about 70 million tonnes,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
Rinat Akhmetov’s SCM Financial and Industrial Holding has sold its Parallel fuel filling station network, according to Encorr, an online industry publication citing sources.
According to the publication, the buyer was not an active player in the retail market, but either a wholesale trader or the owner of a small network wishing to develop this direction.
At the same time, the press service of SCM did not comment on the reliability of the report about the sale of their filling stations to the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
“We do not comment on rumors and assumptions about any deals,” SCM spokesman Yevhen Buzykin said.
Parallel sells its fuel at 60 fuel filling stations and gas stations in Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia regions and the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions controlled by Ukraine.
Parallel-M LTD is controlled by Parallel Nafta Ltd., a subsidiary of Rinat Akhmetov’s SCM Group.
The construction of a multi-field hospital in Berehove will be finished in 2021, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during his working trip to Zakarpattia region.
“We were in Berehove as well. It was very important for us to invest, both politically and geopolitically. Next year we will finish the construction of the multi-field hospital in Berehove. We know that Hungarians are our neighbors, and we need to find mutual understanding, we must always find a dialogue. However, it is important for us that we are constructing hospitals there, next to our neighbors, we are investing in Ukraine, and not only, as they say, Hungary is thinking about Zakarpattia,” the president said at the press briefing in Zakarpattia region on Friday.
A new airport will be constructed in Zakarpattia in two or three years, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during his working trip to Zakarpattia region.
“We decided that the today’s issue is to make the airport [Uzhgorod] operate, we plan to restore this airport in any case, so that it is good, modern, viable. As for the geographical location of this airport, we all understand that it is impossible to construct a large aviation hub at this place and to extend the runway. Therefore, I know that we will construct a fundamental international modern airport in Zakarpattia. Where will it be? We have three options,” Zelensky said at a briefing in Zakarpattia region on Friday.
The president said that the money for the construction of the new airport in Zakarpattia is budgeted for 2021.
“We are already putting money into the 2021 budget, so that we have the initial work on the construction of this airport done. I think that we will construct the new airport in about two or three years. Now the most important thing is that people will have the opportunity connect not only within Ukraine, but also travel around the world,” Zelensky said.
The shareholders of Raiffeisen Bank Aval (Kyiv) at a meeting on September 11 decided to pay dividends to the holders of common shares following the results of the financial institution’s work in 2019 in the amount of UAH 4.274 billion (90% of profit), while last year the bank accrued UAH 3.561 billion, and a year earlier UAH 4.244 billion.
According to the bank’s report in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, the bank will also send UAH 700,000 (0.01% of profit) to pay dividends to the holders of preferred shares.
The chosen procedure of settlement with the shareholders provides for the payment of dividends in full, the report says.
Raiffeisen Bank Aval was founded in 1992. The largest shareholders are Raiffeisen Bank International with 68.28% and EBRD with 30%.
According to the NBU, as of August 1, 2020, in terms of total assets (UAH 104.172 billion) Raiffeisen Bank Aval ranked fifth among 75 banks operating in the country.
Over the past five years, the area sown with potatoes has increased by 2.7%, or 35,000 hectares, to 1.33 million hectares in 2020, the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB) has said.
According to a report on the association’s website, as of September 1, 2020, almost 14.825 million tonnes of potatoes were harvested from 948,700 hectares. Despite the large number of areas from which potatoes have already been harvested, the yield per hectare is low. For comparison, in 2018 the average yield in Ukraine was 16.76 tonnes per ha, in 2019 15.21 tonnes per ha, and in 2020 15.63 tonnes per ha.
“The relatively low yield of recent years is associated with unfavorable conditions in most regions of Ukraine from May to June. That is why there was a boom in potato imports in 2019. In 2019, potato imports amounted to 246,760 tonnes, which is almost 60 times more than it was in 2018, while exports decreased to 5,610 tonnes,” the UCAB said.
In 2020, due to the pandemic, as well as unfavorable weather conditions, potato imports were also at a fairly high level. So, according to the association, in the period of January-July 2020, potato imports amounted to 233,760 tonnes for a total of $51.26 million.
According to the UCAB, Belarus is the main country-supplier of potatoes to Ukraine, almost 55.7% of all imported potatoes (130,330 tonnes) for a total of $21.42 million. Also, the top five potato importers to Ukraine were: Russia – 42,470 tonnes ($7.23 million), the Netherlands – 31,220 tonnes ($11.97 million), Egypt – 8,930 tonnes ($2.81 million), Belgium – 8,150 tonnes ($2.77 million).
According to the State Customs Service, since July, Ukraine has hardly imported potatoes – $685,000 in July and $120,630 in August, respectively, the association said.
“At the same time, from July to September inclusive, the average price for potatoes is kept at the level of UAH 6-6.50. This gives reason to believe that this year there is more than enough potatoes on the Ukrainian market for domestic consumption and in the near future one should not expect an increase in prices,” the UCAB said.
