KYIV. Aug 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Economic Development and Trade Ministry of Ukraine has forecast that the grain harvest in Ukraine in 2015 could total 59.1 million tonnes.
“It is projected that due to the reduction of fields with spring crops (as of June 1, 2015 the decline is 6.4%) with the small reduction of grain yield (a decline of 0.6% as of August 1, 2015) at the end of the year the pace of plant growing would slightly worsen (the grain harvest would be 59.1 million tonnes compared to 63.9 million tonnes in 2014),” the ministry said on its website.
The ministry said that cattle breeding is steadily declining due to companies in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) zone reaming inactive.
KYIV. Aug 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The starting price of a 94.5% stake in Odesa port-side chemical plant will be no less than $500 million at auction, Head of the State Property Fund (SPF) Ihor Bilous said at a meeting of the plant supervisory council.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Bilous noted that at present ten potential investors are interested in the privatization of Odesa port-side plant.
Bilous also said it is planned to attract a large international investment bank as an advisor for privatization by the end of August, while a road show for investors will begin in September.
As reported, the State Property Fund of Ukraine intends to put 5% of PJSC Odesa port-side chemical plant up for sale through Perspectiva stock exchange on August 26.
The sale of a 94.5% stake in PJSC Odesa port-side plant is scheduled for November.
KYIV. Aug 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Board of Directors of the World Bank plans to consider at a meeting scheduled for August 25 the issue of the Second Development Policy Loan (DPL-2) in the amount of $500 million to Ukraine.
According to a report on the website of the World Bank, the issue will be the first one on the agenda of the Board of Directors after a two-week pause in its work.
Earlier, deputy head of the presidential administration of Ukraine Dmytro Shymkiv and government officials clarified that the World Bank’s issue of a $500 million DPL-2 will enable Ukraine to receive $300 million from the government of Japan under a bilateral intergovernmental agreement on the promotion and protection of investment (an investment agreement between Japan and Ukraine).
The Verkhovna Rada adopted the necessary laws for this new funding in the spring and summer of this year along with other laws that have allowed Kyiv to get a $1.7 billion second tranche from the International Monetary Fund within the EFF program in early August.
KYIV. Aug 19 (Interfax) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker have announced their readiness to begin implementing the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area treaty between Ukraine and the European Union starting from January 1, 2016.
“The parties welcomed the positive dynamics of the process of ratifying the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union and confirmed their readiness to start to implement the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area starting from January 1, 2016,” the Ukrainian presidential press service reported on Tuesday following Poroshenko’s telephone conversation with Juncker.
KYIV. Aug 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The National Commission for Communications Regulation (NCCR) at a meeting on August 18 approved an action plan for the implementation of the LTE communications standard (4G), according to which a tender for licenses is scheduled for the second half of 2017, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported.
A commission representative said the plan envisages measures for the release of the first and second “digital dividends,” refarming the frequency spectrum and technology neutrality, as well as holding a relevant tender.
According to commission head Oleksandr Zhyvotovsky, the plan has been agreed with telecommunications operators, professional associations and will be posted on the official website of the commission this week.
Then the plan should be agreed by the relevant executive authorities and approved by a government order.
Under the plan, it is necessary in September-October this year to approve a technical specification for the execution of research work on activities for the implementation of 4G, in the development of which, in addition to the authorities, market participants, who agreed to finance this study, will take part. Then a foreign consulting company, which will conduct the study, should be selected in October-November. A relevant contract should be signed with the company in November.
KYIV. Aug 18 (Interfax-Ukraine) – International investors should enter the Ukrainian oil and gas market now as the market will become occupied, Ukrgazvydobuvannia Board Chairman Oleh Prokhorenko has said.
“Everyone understands that the present situation would be resolved, it would stabilize and those who enters as early as possible would win most of all. We would establish relations with those players who will enter [the market] now, and later it would be harder to enter it, as the places will be occupied. We will study now with whom we can work in this direction,” he said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
Prokhorenko said that each company has its own concept of investment risk, but Ukraine is looking for partners to start working with now.
“The objective situation is the following: large players see Ukraine as a risky place for investment, but there are other companies, which have a more opportunistic approach to this. For example, Frontera worked in Georgia when the country faced Russia’s aggression. They have shown their interest to Ukraine, and they are not embarrassed with Russia’s aggression and they are ready to work in the present situation,” he said.
As reported, national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy and U.S. Frontera Resources Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding during the Ukrainian-U.S. business forum in Washington on July 13. According to the memo, both sides agreed to cooperate in investing in exploration and development of oil and gas fields in Ukraine and realizing a project on imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the facilities of the American company in Georgia.
