The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine has permitted Ukrainian Ceramic Technologies LLC (Khmelnytsky) to buy a brick plat from Czech Export Bank (CEB, Prague). As the press service of the regulator reported on Thursday, the company received permission to buy a complex of buildings of the brick factory with equipment and a land parcel, which provides for the production and sale of ceramic bricks of various types.
As reported, early October 2018, a brick factory in the village of Kuzmyntsi (Kaharlyk district, Kyiv region), put up for sale by the Czech Export Bank, was sold for UAH 170 million – a record amount at the OpenMarket electronic trading platform of the state-owned enterprise SETAM. According to the documentation provided in the announcement, the lot included a complex of buildings of the brick factory with a total area of 15,900 square meters, land area of 3 hectares, and equipment.
Kuzmyntsi brick factory, which began operating in 2002, was declared bankrupt in April 2016.
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
HarvEast intends to increase the irrigated area by 500-800 hectares next year and plant walnuts on an area of about 30-40 hectares.
“We will continue to invest in irrigation, we are pleased with the results on the 1,100 hectares that are now under irrigation. Next year we will add 500 or 800 hectares. In addition, we continue to develop walnut growing: this year we’ve planted 30 hectares, we have a total of 90 hectares, and we plan to plant 30-40 hectares annually,” HarvEast Director General Dmytro Skorniakov told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, the company does not set a goal to increase its land bank, but if there is an interesting offer, it is possible.
“In general, this year it is probably the worst year in the last 20-30 years in southern Ukraine. For us, respectively, it is the worst year in the entire history of the company in terms of harvest. We have already harvested the whole crop, but there are no final data yet,” he said.
HarvEast is an agricultural holding, whose core business is plant growing (growing wheat, sunflower, barley, etc.) and dairy farming. It cultivates about 97,000 hectares of land.
The Ukrainian manufacturer of water filters Ecosoft (Irpen, Kyiv region) will join the Best Water Technology (BWT), a leading group on the European water treatment market, the press service of Ecosoft reported on Wednesday.
According to the press service of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, on December 10, the committee granted permission to BWT Aktiengesellschaft (Austria) to acquire a controlling stake in Ecosoft Holding.
Ecosoft is a manufacturer and distributor of water treatment equipment for domestic and industrial use with production sites in Ukraine and Germany and a wide international presence.
BWT Aktiengesellschaft is the holding company of Best Water Technology, the leading European group in the field of water technology with a turnover of about EUR 670 million in 2017 and 3,600 employees. It offers solutions for drinking water, water for pharmaceuticals and industrial processes, heating and cooling systems, air conditioning and swimming pools.
In Ukraine, Ecosoft was founded in 1991. Since 2012, it has been actively supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) through consulting and financing programs.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in December reviewed upwards the forecast for export of corn from Ukraine in 2018/19 agricultural year (July-June) by 1 million tonnes compared with the September forecast, to 28 million tonnes.
According to a posting on the website of the USDA, the forecast for corn harvest for 2018 is increased by 1.5 million tonnes, to 35 million tonnes.
Corn production in in Ukraine increased thanks to larger crops harvested, and if the forecast volumes are harvested the harvest forecast this month would exceed the previous record hit in 2016/17 agri-year by almost 20%, the department said.
USDA retained its forecast for export of wheat from Ukraine in 2018/19 agri-year at 16.5 million tonnes and the harvest forecast – at 25 million tonnes.
In general, USDA revised upwards the forecast for grain harvest in Ukraine by 1.5 million tonnes, to 68.7 million tonnes and grain exports – by 1 million tonnes, to 49.2 million tonnes.
