Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

VOLUME OF CONSTRUCTION WORK IN UKRAINE 8.9% UP

The volume of construction work in Ukraine in August 2019 increased by 8.9% compared to August 2018, while in July 2019 from July 2018 this figure rose by 14.5%.
According to the State Statistics Service, the data are given excluding the occupied territory of Crimea and Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
According to the statistics agency, the volume of construction work in August 2019 decreased by 11.5% compared with August 2019, while this figure grew by 3.3% compared to June 2019.
According to the State Statistics Service, in August 2019 compared with August 2018, the volume of work increased in nonresidential and engineering construction. According to the unadjusted data, the growth in nonresidential construction was 21.8%, and in engineering some 10.4%. The decline in in residential construction was 11.5%.
In addition, the service said that in August, the volume of work in construction of residential buildings compared with July decreased by 27.8%, engineering structures by 11.9%, and nonresidential increased by 2.4%.
In January-August 2019 compared with January-August 2018, the drop in the volume of construction work was recorded in three regions of Ukraine, in particular, in Ivano-Frankivsk (9.7%, to UAH 1.767 billion), Cherkasy (by 0.8%, to UAH 1.054 billion) and Odesa (by 8.8%, to UAH 9.31 billion).
The largest growth in the volume of construction works during the eight months of 2019 was recorded in Vinnytsia (2.1 times, to UAH 4.805 billion), Chernihiv (1.68 times, to UAH 1.026 billion), and Kherson regions (1.45 times, to UAH 1.132 billion).
In Kyiv, the volume of construction work over the eight months of this year increased by 24.7% and amounted to UAH 23.084 billion.

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UKRAINE INTERESTED IN COOPERATION WITH JAPAN IN IT SPHERE – PM

Ukraine is interested in cooperation with Japan in the sphere of IT, the press service of the government has reported after a meeting of Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk with a Japanese delegation.
“During the meeting, the issue of possible cooperation in the field of information technology was discussed,” the press service said.
The head of the Japan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship League Eisuke Mori said that the IT vector could be the impetus for the development of Ukraine.
In turn, Honcharuk added that today, the IT industry is one of the most progressive in Ukraine. “One of the priorities of our government is the development of IT. We would be glad to consider the opportunity of sharing experience with you,” the prime minister said.
In addition, Honcharuk said that Ukraine plans to invest in projects in the exclusion zone of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and will be glad if Japan becomes a partner in this matter. In this regard, Mori said that the safety associated with nuclear energy should be one of the key areas of bilateral cooperation.

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NOVUS INVESTS UAH 161 MLN IN OPENING OF LARGEST STORE OF CHAIN

Novus Ukraine LLC (Kyiv), the managing company of the Novus hypermarket and supermarket chain and Novus Express proximity stores chain in Ukraine, on September 21 officially opened the largest supermarket of the chain in the Sky Mall.
“We entered this facility at the beginning of summer, that is, construction took about three and a half months. Investments totaled UAH 161 million. This is the largest outlet in the network, which contains the largest production facilities, the widest range of shelves and the largest online shop that will service two large areas – Troyeschyna and Obolon,” Director General of Novus Ukraine LLC Mark Petkevich said at a press conference on the grand opening of the store on Saturday.
The store became the 28th Novus store in Kyiv and the 36th in Kyiv region. The supermarket’s range of goods includes 50,000 items of goods, including 5,000 items of own import. The total area of the facility is 12,000 square meters, of which 6,300 were used for retail space. The remaining areas are reserved for storage, production facilities, an online store, administrative premises, recreation areas for staff.
As Petkevich said, products from the Novus store are delivered through a partner – Zakaz.ua. The launch is expected a week after all processes are established in the new store.
“This is the fourth Internet point, after the opening of the fifth point next year in the Varshavsky microdistrict, we will be able to serve the entire Kyiv city and the region,” the company’s director general said.
Novus Ukraine LLC was established in 2008, in the same year the first Novus supermarket in the country was opened. The development of the Novus supermarket chain is carried out by BT Invest (Lithuania).

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COAL STOCKS IN THERMAL POWER PLANTS’ WAREHOUSES IN SEPT GROW BY 55.7%

Coal reserves in the warehouses of thermal power plants (TPP) of Ukraine’s energy generating companies as of September 23, 2019, totaled 1.072 million tonnes, which was 55.7% (383,700 tonnes) more than in early September, but 36.9% (626,000 tonnes) down year–over–year, according to the Energy and Environment Protection Ministry.
Interfax-Ukraine’s estimates show that since the start of autumn, anthracite coal reserves in thermal power plants’ warehouses have increased by 12.3%, or by 29,200 tonnes, to 265,800 tonnes (31.1%, or 63,100 tonnes up year-over–year). Gas coal reserves for the reporting period have grown by 78.4%, or 354,400 tonnes, to 806,200 tonnes (46%, 689,100 tonnes, down year-over-year.
Anthracite and gas coal reserves in the warehouses of cogeneration plants (CHPP) from the beginning of the month have increased by 2.4%, or 33,100 tonnes, to 131,400 tonnes. However, this is 54.1%, or 155,000 tonnes, down on last year’s reserves.
As reported, consumption of thermal coal by Ukraine’s TPPs and CHPPs in 2018 grew by 5.7%, or 1.409 million tonnes, compared to 2017, to 26.22 million tonnes.

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ZELENSKY SIGNS IMPEACHMENT LAW

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has signed the law “On a special procedure for removing the president of Ukraine from office (impeachment)” (No. 1012) adopted by the Verkhovna Rada.
On September 23, the bill was “returned with the signature of the president,” the parliament’s website said.
As reported, on September 10, the Verkhovna Rada adopted on the whole the presidential bill No. 1012, according to which the parliament can remove the president of Ukraine from office by impeachment only if he commits treason or another crime.
When a motion of impeachment is added to the Verkhovna Rada’s agenda, an ad hoc investigative commission is set up to look into the fact and circumstances of the president’s treason or other crime.
After the Verkhovna Rada decides to impeach the president, the parliament must appeal to the Constitutional and Supreme Courts.
“If the Constitutional and Supreme Courts confirm the constitutionality of the investigative and impeachment procedures and signs of treason or another crime committed by the Ukrainian president, the Verkhovna Rada … decides to remove the Ukrainian president from office as a result of impeachment … The relevant resolution passes according to at least three quarters of a constitutional majority of Verkhovna Rada deputies,” the bill says.
If the impeachment resolution does not pass, the Verkhovna Rada chairman will apologize to the president.

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CENTRAL BANK BOOSTS CURRENCY PURCHASES BY 36.2% LAST WEEK

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) bought $269.6 million on the interbank foreign exchange market from September 16 to September 20, which is 36.2% more than the previous week.
Some $80 million was purchased at the best purchase price (using a matching tool), $189.6 million was purchased at a flat rate (using the matching tool), the NBU said on its website. The central bank did not sell currency last week.
Since the beginning of 2019, the NBU has bought $3.81 billion and sold $248.23 million on the interbank market. In particular, the National Bank bought $582.1 million in the three weeks of September, purchases from August 5 to August 30 totaled $316 million, they amounted to $760.9 million in July and $322.3 million in June.

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