The total state debt of Ukraine in January 2020, due to the weakening of the hryvnia exchange rate by 5.2%, in U.S. dollar terms decreased by 1.1%, or by $940 million, to $83.43 billion, the Finance Ministry has said.
According to its data, at the same time, this devaluation led to an increase in the national debt in hryvnias by 4%, or by UAH 80.72 billion, to UAH 2.079 trillion.
The Ministry of Finance noted that in January it held three auctions for the placement of government domestic loan bonds, at which it raised UAH 18.5 billion at the rates that by the end of the month fell below 10% per annum, and also placed eurobonds for EUR 1.25 billion at 4.375%.
State budget expenditures for the repayment of public debt in January 2020 amounted to UAH 31.6 billion, for servicing some UAH 4.4 billion.
In January, the share of obligations in dollars in the general structure of the state debt of Ukraine decreased from 38.9% to 38.5%, in hryvnias from 36.7% to 35.25%, while in euros it increased from 10.2% to 11.85%.
The Business Expectations Index, calculated by the National Bank of Ukraine, in February rose immediately by 10.9 points, to 51.2 points, which is above the neutral value of 50 points and signals the prevalence of optimistic business expectations.
“Businesses have significantly improved expectations regarding their economic results. The growth of the index was due to improved sentiment regarding the economic situation at industrial enterprises and the service sector,” the NBU said.
The central bank said that the index in the industry grew by 9.4 points, to 53.1, in services by 11.7 points, to 52.8 and in trade by 13.6 points, to 49.9.
At the same time, a slight decrease by 0.1 points, to 34.2 points was recorded in construction.
According to its data, after four months of pessimistic sentiment, industrial enterprises expect growth compared to the previous month (growth from 43.7 to 53.1). Respondents significantly improved their expectations both in terms of production volumes and in the volume of new orders for products, including export orders (63.3 points, 62 points and 53.6 points respectively, against 39.8, 44.1 and 40.2 points a month earlier).
An increase in the number of employees so far is expected only by service companies. At the same time, respondents from industrial and trade enterprises had somewhat more restrained estimates of the reduction in the number of employees compared to January.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA, Kyiv) does not feel a decrease in passenger traffic due to information about the active spread of coronavirus, the airline’s press service has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“There are passengers with tickets for flights to Italy who requested to re-arrange their flights for later dates. We do this as an exception to a term of two months from the original date. But there are very few of them,” the press service said.
According to UIA, in total, there were 26 such requests through the airline’s Facebook page, of which five returns were issued, and 21 tickets were reissued for other dates.
At the same time, UIA does not currently plan to limit the flight program to Italy.
As reported, the Hungarian low cost airline Wizz Air reduces the number of flights to Italy from March 11 to April 2, 2020 due to a decrease in demand because of coronavirus.
PrJSC Dyckerhoff Cement Ukraine (Kyiv) in 2019 increased its net profit by five times compared to 2018, to UAH 814.2 million.
According to a company report in the information disclosure system of the National Commission on Securities and the Stock Market regarding a meeting of shareholders scheduled for March 24, net profit per share in 2019 amounted to UAH 5.1.
Uncovered loss amounted to UAH 387.2 million, while a year earlier the company’s retained earnings amounted to UAH 1.18 billion.
Total debtor indebtedness decreased by 1.6%, to UAH 108.6 million, long-term liabilities by 21.4%, to UAH 1.32 billion, current liabilities by 38.8%, to UAH 355.5 million.
In 2019, the company increased its assets by 8.7%, to UAH 2.65 billion.
Dyckerhoff Cement Ukraine is one of the largest cement plants in Ukraine. The company is owned by Germany’s Dyckerhoff GmbH (99%).
The State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumers’ Rights Protection has temporarily banned the import of domestic and wild animals from China to prevent the entry of coronavirus into Ukraine. “To minimize the risks of introduction of the pathogen Covid-19 into the territory of Ukraine, in accordance with Articles 33 and 96 of the law of Ukraine on veterinary medicine, taking into account the recommendations set out in the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code, the service temporarily prohibited the import to Ukraine from China of domestic animals (dogs, cats, etc.) and wild carnivores,” the press service of the agency said.
The agency also added that according to official information from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) in Hong Kong (China), a SARS-CoV-2 disease of an animal (dog) was recorded.
“The State Service for Food Safety and Consumers’ Rights Protection constantly monitors the situation with animal diseases in the world,” it said.
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of March 03
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
