Critical infrastructure protection projects contracted by Avtostrada Group have been funded by only 10%, with the debt for the work performed amounting to almost UAH 9 billion, its founder Maxim Shkil said.
“The third level of protection of substations, which is being carried out by Avtostrada in accordance with the contracts signed in May 2023, was supposed to be completed by the end of June 2024. However, due to lack of funding (only 10% of the cost was financed), large debts were incurred, which led to a complete halt in the work and, as a result, the third level of protection was not built. This applies to all contractors involved in the construction of the third level of protection of energy facilities, without exception. Today, the debt to Avtostrada is almost UAH 9 billion,” he wrote on Facebook.
He reminded that back in April he reported on the critical situation with payments for work performed on infrastructure facilities, in particular for the construction of the third level of protection of energy facilities and a water supply system in the Dnipropetrovs’k region. One of the key contractors for these works is Avtostrada.
In April of this year, Shkil mentioned a debt to Avtostrada of more than UAH 5 billion for the protection of energy facilities alone.
However, according to Shkil, the debt has only grown since then. According to him, after being informed about the critical situation with payments, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal completely stopped all payments and instructed the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) and the State Audit Service of Ukraine (SASU) to check prices and construction of energy facilities protection.
At the same time, according to the group’s founder, the checks showed that Avtostrada’s prices are the lowest among all contractors, and the degree of readiness is one of the highest.
“At our facilities, all the inspecting units recorded the only problem – lack of funding,” he stated.
Avtostrada Group is one of the leaders in the road construction industry and is part of MS Capital holding, with Maxim Shkil as the ultimate beneficiary.
According to the results of 2023, Avtostrada increased its revenue to UAH 8.07 billion, which is 80% higher than in 2022, while net profit decreased more than 10 times, to UAH 46 million 966 thousand from UAH 504 million 934 thousand a year earlier.
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/
In January-June 2024, six Ukrainian ports increased cargo transshipment by 1.6 times compared to the same period in 2023 – up to 52.7 million tons, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) reported, citing operational data.
“According to the operational data of USPA, in January-June 2024, the ports of Ukraine handled almost 52.7 million tons, compared to 31.3 million tons in 2023. Six months, six ports – 52.7 million tons,” the USPA said on Facebook on Monday.
As noted, more than half of the cargo (33.5 million tons) is agricultural products.
In June, seaports handled 6.7 million tons of cargo, which is 30% more than in June 2023. Of these, 4.1 million tons of agricultural products were exported.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, in January-April 2024, seaports handled 35 million tons of cargo. In particular, in January – 6.3 million tons (4.4 million tons of which were agricultural products), February – 7.9 million tons (5.2 million tons), March – 6.4 million tons (4.2 million tons), April – 7.7 million tons (5.1 million tons), May – 6.7 million tons (4.5 million tons).
Ukraine’s public debt to GDP ratio from 2009 to 2023 (UAH mln)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
Internal and external debt of Ukraine in 2010-2024
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
The border with Poland has resumed the passage of freight transport, the State Customs Service of Ukraine reports.
“In connection with the settlement by the Polish side of the issue of crossing the border by trucks with Ukrainian registration, the passage of trucks through checkpoints on the border with the Republic of Poland located in the area of Lviv Customs has been resumed,” the company said in a statement on its telegram channel.
As reported, truck traffic was suspended from 00:00 on July 1.
State-owned energy trader Energy Company of Ukraine (ECU) has transferred UAH 100.4 million in dividends to the state budget of Ukraine based on the results of its operations in 2023.
In a press release on Monday, the company said that by doing so, it became the first company to make such payments among all enterprises managed by the State Property Fund (SPF) of Ukraine.
“Today, our primary focus is to ensure reliable supply of electricity to Ukrainian consumers in the face of energy shortages. To this end, we are increasing imports, developing cooperation with electricity producers, and launching new products and services. At the same time, our activities create new sources of revenue for the state in a very difficult period for the Ukrainian economy,” commented Vitaliy Butenko, CEO of ECU.
According to Vitaliy Koval, Head of the SPFU, ESU demonstrates how state assets can work and generate significant profits for the state, and the dividends paid by the company will be a significant contribution to the state budget, which, in particular, finances the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
The company noted that the amount of dividends paid by it in the first five months of commercial activity in 2022 amounted to UAH 27.1 million.
As reported, Energy Company of Ukraine JSC is a national energy trading company established in the summer of 2022 that carries out operations for the purchase, sale and supply of energy resources, in particular through import and export operations.
“The company is one of the top 5 traders in Ukraine in terms of electricity sales and founded the first state-owned balancing group of electricity market participants, currently the second largest in Ukraine. The company is 100% owned by the state.
In 2023, the net profit of the company amounted to UAH 148.9 million, which is more than four times higher than in 2022, and contributions to the state budget amounted to UAH 209.4 million.
