The Board of the National Bank of Ukraine has decided to cut the key policy rate from 10% to 8%, the NBU said in a statement on Thursday.
“Together with other measures taken by the NBU, such as expanding its set of liquidity support tools and the introduction of preferential terms for borrowers by banks, this will provide the economy with the impetus required to provide support for households and businesses in these difficult times, and to ensure that business activity picks up quickly once the quarantine is lifted,” the NBU said.
The NBU expects that the key policy rate to be reduced further, to 7% in the current year.
“In deciding how quickly the key policy rate can be decreased to that level, the NBU will take into account how talks with the IMF progress, how the coronavirus pandemic develops, how quickly quarantine measures are lifted, and what anti-crisis measures other governments and central banks adopt,” the central bank said.
The NBU leaves open the possibility of a greater easing in monetary policy if a fall in consumer demand due to quarantine measures and weaker business activity put stronger downward pressure on inflation than is currently expected.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky is initiating the creation of a state airline, whose fleet will be formed from aircraft manufactured by Antonov state-owned enterprise, he said this in the film “The Year of President Zelensky,” broadcasted by Ukraine 24 TV Channel.
“Antonov is a large enterprise with a large number of jobs. Not a single aircraft has been built in recent years. I do not understand why our planes do not fly on domestic flights. Where are our ANs (aircraft manufactured by Antonov state concern)? We agreed with them, now we are developing a program, and we will do it. We have to create a state airline. It is my dream to create a state-owned modern airline at the level of Turkish Airlines or Singapore Airlines. The state is ready to allocate money for this,” he said.
Zelensky noted that in this way the state would not only create a national airline, but would also provide orders to Antonov state aircraft concern, creating additional jobs.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 23/04/20
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of April 23
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
Vodafone Ukraine (PrJSC VF Ukraine) in 2019 saw a 45% rise in net profit compared with 2018, to UAH 2.54 billion, explaining the figure by growth in expenses on active development of 4G and 3G networks.
Vodafone Ukraine CEO Olha Ustinova said that the company’s income last year grew by 25%, to UAH 15.98 billion and Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization (OIBDA) rose by 21% year-over-year, reaching UAH 8.3 billion.
Vodafone Ukraine CFO Natalia Shevchenko said that in 2019, the operator doubled the number of 4G towers to 7,200. On average, the Vodafone data client uses almost 5 GB of traffic per month.
In general, the company’s investment in infrastructure development since the start of construction of high-speed mobile Internet networks amounted to UAH 25.4 billion.
According to information released during the presentation, as of December 31, 2019, the Vodafone chain in Ukraine included 629 mono-brand stores, of which 249 are own and 380 are dealerships. Sales revenue in 2019 amounted to $17.7 million, which is 4.6 times more than in 2018.
In 2019, the number of Vodafone customers in the country amounted to 19.7 million. The operator’s 4G network covers 69% of the country’s territory, which is 1.5 times more than the previous indicator for 2018.
According to the results of 2018, Vodafone Ukraine, the second largest mobile operator in Ukraine, reduced its net profit by 18.1% compared to 2017, to UAH 1.777 billion with an 8% increase in revenue, to UAH 12.8 billion. The company explains this figure as an increase in expenses due to the active deployment of 4G and 3G networks.
Private joint-stock company United Mining-Chemical Company, which the State Property Fund (SPF) of Ukraine jointly with the advisor BDO is preparing for privatization, is of the biggest interest among potential buyers, Head of the SPF Dmytro Sennychenko has said. “United Mining-Chemical Company is still the flagship of large-scale privatization: according to the advisor BDO, which is completing the preparation of marketing materials, 16-18 companies have already announced their intentions to take part in the competition,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“Among them are two Ukrainian holdings, and the rest are well-known international companies: Japanese, Australian and others that will compete, having received information about the company, about reserves, about deposits,” Sennychenko said.
He explained this significant interest in the competition by the fact that titanium production has a value chain from final consumers to semi-finished products and titanium sponge manufacturers and ore mining companies.
“We will look at the profiles of these customers together with the relevant services and analyze them from the point of view of strategic security… We will carefully look at what holdings are there, what is the ownership structure,” the head of the SPF said. He called the publication about the alleged preparation of this facility for sale to buyers from Russia stove-piping.
Sennychenko recalled that the advisor and international professional companies, together with the SPF and the competition commission, will prepare draft conditions for potential buyers. However, the Cabinet of Ministers will finally approve these conditions.
