Ukraine today has potato storage capacities of 300,000 tonnes with the minimum necessary level to meet the domestic needs being 1.5 million tonnes, Director of the Ukrainian Association of Potato Producers Oksana Ruzhenkova has said.
“Today, Ukraine has 300,000 tonnes of potato storage facilities. Over the past five years, 350,000 tonnes of storage facilities have lost their usability. The domestic demand is at least 1.5 million tonnes,” she said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine.
According to Ruzhenkova, this year the state plans to allocate UAH 400 million from the budget for the development of horticulture, and under this program, potato producers see the potential for using funds to compensate for the construction of storage facilities.
“If about UAH 200 million is left for our needs [out of the total amount of funds under the gardening program], we will be happy. We will build potato storages for 100,000 tonnes and Ukraine will be able to at least slightly reduce the deficit. Some 100,000 tonnes of storages from scratch need about EUR23 million and we can build it based on surveys of the association,” she said.
She noted that until 2014 domestic potato consumption in Ukraine was estimated at 7 million tonnes, now it is about 4.5 million tonnes with production standing at 20 million tonnes. Some 95% of potatoes are grown in home gardens. The processing capacity in Ukraine is only about 250,000 tonnes of potatoes. Ukraine exports small volumes mainly to Moldova, imports about 270,000 tonnes from the Russian Federation and Belarus.
EPICENTER KThe Epicenter K Group, developing the agricultural business since 2016, after the acquisition of Khmelnytsk-Agro from Svarog West Group will boost its total land bank by 40,000 ha, to 160,000 ha. According to the company’s press release issued on Wednesday, the process is currently underway. Khmelnytsk-Agro develops the crop and livestock segments in Khmelnytsky region. It consists of a granary and a seed plant.
Epicenter K plans to create two more clusters in its structure, on the lands of which will be grown both traditional crops – wheat, sunflower, corn and rapeseed, as well as niche crops – bare pumpkin, and organic crops and seeds for irrigation will also be planted.
Epicenter K seeks to renegotiate land lease contracts with shareholders of Khmelnytsk-Agro LLC under the best conditions, after which they will receive social guarantees from Epicenter K.
As reported, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine granted permission to acquire the company on February 6.
Ukrainian seaports handled 13.5 million tonnes of cargo in January 2020, which is 20% more than a year ago. The press service of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority reported on Tuesday that the growth in cargo handling is linked to warm weather, exports of grain and ores and the large increase in imported coal handling.
According to the company, the first place in terms of transshipment volumes continues to be occupied by grain cargo, which in January 2020 shipped 4.7 million tonnes (a rise of 22%). Ore transshipment increased by almost a third (a rise of 32%) compared with the beginning of 2019, to 3.1 million tonnes.
In addition, during January 2020, record changes were seen in coal transshipment: in January of this year, 4.2 times more coal were handled – almost 771,000 tonnes. Positive dynamics is also continuing in the growth of container cargo, the amount of which increased by 15.8% and totaled 89,700 TEU.
In January 2020, 10.2 million tonnes were processed in the export direction, which is 1.5 million tonnes or 17% more than in the same period of 2019. Some 2.2 million tonnes of import cargoes were handled: 595,000 tonnes or 37% more, 965,000 tonnes of transit cargo: 210,000 tonnes or 28% more. Transshipment in domestic traffic in January 2020 increased 45% or by 29,000 tonnes and amounted to more than 93,000 tonnes. Mostly, grain and other bulk cargo and oil were transported between ports as coastal transportation.
Novus Ukraine LLC (Kyiv), which manages the Novus hyper- and supermarket chain and is part of the Lithuanian investment group BT Invest, plans to open eight to ten new stores in Ukraine in 2020.
“We plan to open eight to ten stores this year,” Ihor Landa, the director general of BT Invest Ukraine, told Interfax-Ukraine.
During a speech at EBA Global Outlook: Boosting Investments, he noted that the expansion of the network is currently limited exclusively to Kyiv and Kyiv region.
“We invest only in Kyiv and Kyiv region. This is due to the fact that here purchasing power is still quite high. In addition, there is migration here from different cities,” he said.
At the same time, he added that in addition to migration to the capital and cities with the population exceeding one million people, a significant migration abroad creates problems with finding and recruiting staff. Thus, about 750 vacancies have now formed in Novus.
In addition, due to the increase in rental rates in the market, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the retailer to find suitable premises for opening a new store.
The Sikorsky Kyiv international airport serviced 178,800 passengers in January 2020, which is 20.4% less than in January 2019.
According to the airport’s website, the number of passengers serviced on international flights amounted to 176,900, on domestic – 1,900.
The number of flights (arrivals and departures) in January 2020 amounted to 1,838, which is 19.5% less than the same period in 2019, of which international flights – 1,629, and domestic – 209.
The following international destinations were most popular for the indicated period: Minsk (Belarus), Warsaw (Poland), Vienna (Austria), Berlin (Germany), Memmingen (Germany), Frankfurt am Main (Germany), and Budapest (Hungary). Zaporizhia was the most popular among destinations inside Ukraine.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Honcharuk states that the idea of jointly hosting the Olympic Games with Belarus deserves in-depth study.
“In my opinion, this idea definitely deserves in-depth study. The government is now working to study this situation from different points of view and offer a concept to our partners if this initiative can be implemented in the near future,” Honcharuk said at a meeting of the organizing committee for preparation and participation of Ukrainian athletes in the Games of the ХХХII Olympic Games and the XVI Paralympic Games 2020 in Tokyo (Japan).
According to Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports of Ukraine Volodymyr Borodiansky, traditionally preparations for such large-scale sporting events are conducted during 5-10 years.
“We propose, in order to determine the possibility of creating a joint holding of such games with the Republic of Belarus, to study in detail the resources we have, the experience of Belarus, the experience of other countries in preparation,” he added.
Borodiansky invited the national Olympic committees to create a joint working group to study such opportunities.
As reported, in September 2019, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko stated that the republic could hold the Olympic Games together with the Russian Federation or Ukraine. “Of course, it’s difficult for us to compete with the giants, but we can hold the Olympics, for example, with the Ukrainians or the Russians,” he said.
