In January-October 2024, Ukrainian ports increased cargo handling by 78.1% year-on-year to 82.1 million tons from 46.1 million tons, state-owned enterprise (SOE) Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) reported on Facebook on Monday.
According to its operational data, the volume of agricultural cargo handling for 10 months of this year reached 50.7 million tons.
Earlier, with reference to the operational data of the USPA, it was reported that in January-September 2024, Ukrainian seaports handled 74 million tons of cargo, while in the same period last year – 41.1 million tons.
According to the release, USPA’s revenue for the first 9 months of this year amounted to UAH 5.2 billion, net profit – UAH 2.2 billion, and UAH 3.1 billion will be paid to the state budget.
It is noted that the company “has achieved a high level of protection of critical infrastructure facilities and its elements – up to 95% in each of the ports of Ukraine.”
“All branches are 100% provided with alternative power sources, which guarantees uninterrupted operation of the ports. During 2023-2024, despite the difficult security situation, there was not a single case of suspension of port operations,” the USPA said in a statement.
It is also noted that the ports of the Danube region remain a reliable alternative route for Ukrainian exports and critical imports and, despite constant hostile shelling, ensure the stable functioning of logistics routes vital to the Ukrainian economy.
Since the beginning of the year, USPA has held 200 strategic meetings with international partners, where it has achieved a number of important results. In particular, a diplomatic initiative to exclude Russia from the Danube Council was successfully implemented.
“Active communication with the world’s leading and domestic media contributed to the formation of strong international support, which resulted in the attraction of technical assistance worth more than UAH 1.56 billion, including critical equipment such as pilot boats, booms, skimmers, construction equipment and generators,” the USPA press service emphasized.
In Ukraine, sunflower prices have approached the historical price maximum of 25-27 thousand UAH/ton of CPT, according to APK-Inform news agency.
“There are already the first small enterprises that have switched from sunflower processing to alternative crops due to high prices, but other oilseeds are not so good,” the analysts said, adding that many processors report the margin is almost non-existent.
Large plants can afford to work in the red for some time, while small processing companies will either have to stop working until the price situation improves or switch to processing other oilseeds, APK-Inform stated.
According to the results of the 2024 admission campaign to vocational education institutions, the most popular professions in Ukraine are cook, car mechanic, electric and gas welder, pastry chef, driver and tractor driver, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine reports.
“The admission campaign to vocational schools ended in October. The most popular professions were cook, car mechanic, electric and gas welder, confectioner, driver and tractor driver. Also, the top nine most sought-after professions on the Ukrainian labor market in terms of the number of vacancies on job search sites include cook, driver, and mechanic,” the Ministry of Education said in a statement.
It is noted that in 2024, more than 94,803 thousand students chose vocational education, and a total of 219,438 people started studying.
The Ministry said that the volume of regional order fulfillment is 92%, which is 4% higher than in 2023 (88%). This demonstrates a positive trend in how institutions are adapting to the needs of local businesses.
According to the report, the leaders among the regions that received the largest number of applications for training under the regional order are: Dnipro region – 5,423 students, Lviv region – 4,829 students, and Kyiv – 4,526 students. Among the regions that received the largest number of applications for state-funded education are: Kharkiv region – 809 students, Odesa region – 435 students, and Khmelnytsky region – 426 students.
Dnipro Switch Plant JSC (DnSZ, Dnipro), a major Ukrainian manufacturer of turnouts for mainline railways, doubled its net profit in January-September to UAH 296.6 million compared to the same period in 2023.
According to the company’s financial report on its website, net sales revenue for the period increased by 47.8% to UAH 1 billion 585 million.
From operating activities, the company earned UAH 394.8 million in profit (up 9.4%), and gross profit amounted to almost UAH 607 million (+19.3%).
According to the company’s report for the first half of the year, its net profit increased by 57.7% to UAH 114.3 million in January-June 2023, while net income increased by 13.6% to UAH 641.3 million.
Thus, in the third quarter of 2024, the plant increased its net profit by 2.4 times year-on-year to UAH 182.4 million, while net revenue increased by 85.8% to UAH 943.6 million.
Founded in 1916, DnSZ currently produces various types of turnouts for mainline and industrial transport, subways, and track superstructure elements.
The company has a full production cycle, including its own design bureau.
The plant ended 2023 with a net profit of UAH 510.86 million, up 52% year-on-year in 2022, with revenue up 77% to UAH 1 billion 790 million.
In 2023, the company shipped 410 turnouts, 2.33 thousand frame rails and 1.59 thousand individual crosspieces.
The share of exports was 10.4%, with the main importing countries being: Germany, the Baltic States, Turkey, and Georgia.
The average number of employees at the plant was 606 at the beginning of this year.
In 2023, Ukraine exported 45.8 thousand tons of honey to the European Union, with 28% of imports of this product from Ukraine, said Olena Dadus, Deputy Director of the Agrarian Development Department of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food.
“The markets of the European Union are key for honey exports, as Ukraine is the second largest exporter of honey to the EU, accounting for 28% of all imports of this product by the bloc. According to the Register of Export Capacities, about 72 Ukrainian enterprises are engaged in the supply of honey abroad,” the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food quoted her as saying at the Honey Forum ”European Integration of the Ukrainian Honey Industry: Challenges and Opportunities.”
According to the State Customs Service and the State Statistics Committee, honey exports in 2023 amounted to 55.4 thousand tons worth $121.4 million, including 45.8 thousand tons (93.6% of total exports) worth $94.9 million. At the same time, in the first half of 2024, honey exports to the EU amounted to 40.6 thousand tons worth $70.7 million.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy recalled that the main countries of honey export in 2023 were the European Union (Germany, Poland, Spain, France, Belgium, Romania, Italy, Hungary, Greece) and the United States.
As reported, as part of Ukraine’s association with the European Union, Ukrainian companies were entitled to supply 18.507 thousand tons of honey to the EU market free of duty starting June 5, 2024. After this volume was exhausted, the EU resumed quotas on August 21. From January 1, 2025, and until June 5, 2025, a new tariff quota will be introduced, which corresponds to 5/12 of the threshold set for the emergency braking.
The current President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, won the second round of the presidential election held on November 3. According to preliminary data published on the website of the Central Election Commission, she received 55.41% of the vote, while her opponent, former Prosecutor General of Moldova Alexandru Stoianoglo, received 44.59% of the vote.
As of Monday morning, 99.86% of the voting protocols have been counted. Votes from three polling stations in the United States have not been counted.
According to these data, 1,679,293 Moldovan citizens took part in the elections, which is 54.31% of the voters on the voting lists. Sandu received 930,512 votes, while Stoianoglo received 748,781 votes.
Stoianoglo, who ran as a candidate of the opposition Socialist Party, conceded defeat on Sunday evening, thanking voters for their support.
At the same time, Sandu lost the election in Moldova, gaining 48.81% of the vote against Stoianoglo’s 51.19%. In the Gagauz autonomy, Stoianonglo (a Gagauz by nationality) won 97% of the vote, with almost 80% of the residents of the Transnistrian region who took part in the elections also voting for him. More than 26 thousand voters cast their ballots at 30 polling stations open to residents of the left bank of the Nistru River on the right bank.
Sandu won the election with a large margin thanks to the vote abroad. A total of 328,877 voters cast their ballots at 231 polling stations abroad, which is more than 20% of the total number of voters. This is an absolute record of participation in elections by Moldovan citizens abroad. Sandu received more than 270 thousand votes at polling stations abroad, almost 83% of those who voted.
Sandu pledged to “be a president for all”. She said this at a briefing on Monday night, when it became clear that she had won.
“Dear Moldovans, I am grateful to each of you who came to the polls. I heard your voice: those who supported me and those who voted for Mr. Stoianoglo. I pledge to be president for all of you. No one will lose in our choice of a decent future. We may hold different points of view, speak different languages, but we all want peace, understanding and a decent life for our children. This is my main goal for Moldova in the coming years. We need to unite the society,” Sandu said.
Earlier, the Experts Club think tank presented an analytical material on the most important elections in the world in 2024, more detailed video analysis is available here – https://youtu.be/73DB0GbJy4M?si=eGb95W02MgF6KzXU
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