The management of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan discussed with representatives of Tencent Cloud International, a part of the Chinese holding Tencent Holdings Ltd, the issues of bilateral cooperation in the development of digital technologies and cloud infrastructure in the country, the press service of the regulator reports.
During the talks, the prospects of integrating Tencent’s WeChat Pay digital payment system with local payment systems of Uzbekistan, the possibility of making payments using QR codes, as well as expanding cooperation in this area were discussed, the statement said.
Following the meeting, the parties supported initiatives in the field of payment systems and agreed on future joint actions.
Miraziz Mirkhayotov, deputy director of the Central Bank’s payment systems department, told reporters that Chinese mobile payment services WeChat and Alipay (from Ant Group, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group) can be integrated with Uzbekistan’s national payment systems.
According to him, at the first stage, the parties are working to ensure that foreign tourists can make payments in Uzbekistan. At the second stage, similar work is planned to make payments by Uzbek residents in China through the republic’s payment systems Uzcard and Humo.
Naftogaz Group and Polish oil concern ORLEN have signed a new agreement for the supply of 100 million cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Ukraine.
“This is the third contract within the partnership signed in the spring of this year. The total volume of contracted gas is 300 million cubic meters,” the company said on Thursday.
The signing of the contract was announced at the annual ORLEN GAS Meeting, a leading industry event dedicated to the region’s energy security.
The gas will be supplied from the US, regasified at the terminal in Świnoujście (Poland) and transported to Ukraine via the Polish gas transportation system.
“We are already preparing for the next heating season, and such contracts are an important part of our strategy to diversify supplies and ensure the country’s energy stability,” said Roman Chumak, CEO of Naftogaz Group.
In turn, according to Robert Soschinsky, Vice President of Operations at ORLEN, the new agreement with Naftogaz emphasizes the growing role of ORLEN as a natural gas supplier in the region.
“Our partnership significantly strengthens Ukraine’s energy security thanks to ORLEN’s diversified supply portfolio and efficient use of the Polish gas transportation infrastructure,” he emphasized.
As reported, in March 2025, Naftogaz and ORLEN signed a memorandum of long-term cooperation in the field of liquefied natural gas (LNG), under which they signed a contract for the supply of the first 100 million cubic meters. The memorandum establishes long-term strategic cooperation between the companies and will enable Ukraine to create a more diversified gas supply system.
In January-March 2025, Astarta Agro-Industrial Holding, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, reduced its revenue from sales of key products by 19.1% compared to the same period in 2024: the growth in sales of sugar, sunflower, soybean oil and milk could not cover the decline in sales of wheat, corn, rapeseed and soybean meal.
According to the data released by the holding on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the company sold a total of UAH 5.20 billion worth of its main products in the first quarter of 2025, compared to UAH 6.43 billion in the first quarter of 2024.
In particular, sales of sugar increased by 11% in physical terms in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the first quarter of 2024 – to 76.896 thousand tons, while the average selling price decreased by 8% to UAH 22.808 thousand (hereinafter referred to as per ton).
Astarta’s wheat sales in the first quarter decreased by 92% to 6.638 thsd tonnes, while the average price increased by 4% to UAH 8.824 thsd.
In the fourth quarter, corn sales decreased by 48% to 111.423 thsd tonnes, while the price increased by 21% to UAH 9.747 thsd.
In addition, Astarta decreased sales of sunflower seeds in January-March by 18% to 15.965 thsd tonnes, while their selling price increased by 119% to UAH 28.697 thsd.
In January-March 2025, the agricultural holding did not sell rapeseed, while a year earlier in the same period it sold 18.855 thsd tonnes at the price of 17.628 thsd tonnes.
Sales of soybean oil in the first quarter decreased by 12% to 11.97 thsd tonnes, while the price of the product also increased by 45% to UAH 43.48 thsd. Sales of soybean meal increased by 2% to 43.67 thsd tonnes, and its price was 13% lower than last year’s UAH 16.08 thsd.
In January-March 2025, the agricultural holding’s milk sales increased by 1% to 30.899 thsd tonnes, while the price of the products increased by 20% to UAH 20.02 thsd.
Overall, in 2024, Astarta increased sales of its main products by 7.8%: growth in sales of sugar, wheat, rapeseed, soybean oil and milk offset a drop in sales of corn and sunflower. In particular, sugar sales increased by 40% to 395.88 thousand tons, while the average selling price decreased by 9% to UAH 23.85 thousand. The total revenue of the agricultural holding from the sale of its main products amounted to UAH 24.88 billion last year, compared to UAH 23.08 billion in 2023.
“Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding company operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It comprises six sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 220 thousand hectares and dairy farms with 22 thousand cattle, an oil extraction plant in Globyno (Poltava region), seven elevators and a biogas complex.
In January-March 2025, imports of copper and copper products to Ukraine increased by 10.5% compared to the same period in 2024 to $46.42 million.
Exports of copper products increased by 17.7% to $21.35 million.
In March, imports amounted to $16.14 million, while exports amounted to $7.05 million.
For the whole of 2024, copper imports remained stable ($140.8 million), while exports increased by 22.4% to $88.24 million.
Copper is widely used in electrical engineering, pipe manufacturing, alloys, medicine and other industries.
Kharkiv Tractor Plant (HTZ), a member of businessman Aleksandr Yaroslavsky’s DCH group, plans to initiate a preventive restructuring procedure.
According to the announcement of the company’s general shareholders meeting on May 9 published in the National Securities and Stock Market Commission’s (NSSMC) disclosure system, this is the only issue on the agenda.
The notice does not provide any details.
The preventive restructuring procedure was introduced by the Law “On Amendments to the Bankruptcy Code of Ukraine and Certain Other Legislative Acts of Ukraine on the Implementation of Directive 2019/1023 of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union”, which came into force on January 1 this year.
Preventive restructuring has secured the ability of companies to restore their financial stability before insolvency. The law provides more opportunities to resolve relations between the debtor and creditors.
As reported, in June 2020, the shareholders of Khartsyzsk Pipe initiated pre-trial rehabilitation of the company due to the threat of insolvency, and in August of the same year, the court approved a pre-trial rehabilitation plan for a period of two years.
In July 2022, Khartsyzsk Pipe applied to the court for amendments to the rehabilitation plan and approval of a new version, justifying this by the introduction of martial law in Ukraine and the constant shelling of Kharkiv, which led to a complete shutdown of the plant and the inability to pay its contractors.
On August 1, 2022, the court approved a new out-of-court rehabilitation plan and extended the out-of-court rehabilitation for three years.
In 2023, with the support of the United Nations World Food Program and the Swiss Mine Action Fund (FSD Ukraine), Khartsyzsk Pipe developed, certified and launched a demining machine based on the T-150 crawler tractor.
Founded in 1930, Khartsyzsk Tractor Plant specializes in the production of tractors and special equipment for use in agriculture, utilities, and construction. The plant does not report its financial and business results.
According to the Claroty Project, Khartsyzsk Pipe ended 2024 with a loss of UAH 359 million, compared to UAH 14.6 million in net profit a year earlier, with net income up 50.6% to UAH 300 million. Current liabilities increased to UAH 1.7 billion from UAH 251.7 million, but long-term liabilities decreased from UAH 1.2 billion to UAH 86 million.
In March 2025, Ukrainian steelmakers reduced steel production by 9.9% compared to the same period in 2024, to 551 thousand tons from 611 thousand tons, and by 3.7% compared to the previous month, when 572 thousand tons were produced.
In the ranking of global producers of these products compiled by the World Steel Association (Worldsteel), Ukraine ranked 24th among 69 countries.
According to Worldsteel, in March 2025, half of the top ten countries, except for China, India, Japan, Brazil, and Iran, recorded a decline in steel production compared to March 2024.
The top ten steel producing countries in March are as follows: China – 92.840 million tons (+4.6% compared to March 2014), India – 13.789 million tons (+7%), Japan – 7.207 million tons (+0.2%), the United States – 6.712 million tons (-1.5%), and the Russian Federation – 6.2 million tons (-3.2%), South Korea – 5.008 million tons (-5.3%), Iran – 3.332 million tons (+3.7%), Turkey – 3.130 million tons (-2.8%), Germany – 3.1 million tons (-11.7%) and Brazil – 2.944 million tons (+6.6%).
Overall, in March this year, steel production increased by 2.9% year-on-year to 166.123 million tons.
The top ten steel-producing countries for the first three months of this year are as follows: China – 259.330 million tons (+0.6% compared to January-March 2024), India – 40.123 million tons (+6.8%), Japan – 20.393 million tons (-4.9%), the United States – 19.726 million tons (-0.6%), and the Russian Federation – 17.740 million tons (-3.8%), South Korea – 15.543 million tons (-3.6%), Turkey – 9.257 million tons (-3.4%), Germany – 8.482 million tons (-12.6%), Brazil – 8.477 million tons (+2.8%) and Iran – 7.290 million tons (-12.8%).
In the first quarter of this year, Ukrainian steelmakers increased steel production by 2.7% compared to the same period in 2024, up to 1.733 million tons from 1.687 million tons, ranking the country 23rd.
In January-March 2025, global steel production decreased by 0.4% compared to the same period in 2024 to 468.613 million tons.
As reported, in 2024, the top ten steel producing countries among 71 countries were as follows: China – 1 billion 5.090 million tons (-1.7%), India – 149.587 million tons (+6.3%), Japan – 84.009 million tons (-3.4%), the United States – 79.452 million tons (-2.4%), the Russian Federation – 70.690 million tons (-7%), South Korea – 63, 531 million tons (-4.7%), Germany – 37.234 million tons (+5.2%), Turkey – 36.893 million tons (+9.4%), Brazil – 33.741 million tons (+5.3%) and Iran – 30.952 million tons (+0.8%).
In total, 71 countries produced 1 billion 839.449 million tons of steel last year, which is 0.9% less than in 2023.
At the same time, Ukraine produced 7.575 million tons of steel in 2024, up 21.6% from 6.228 million tons in 2023. The country was ranked 20th in 2024.
In 2023, China produced 1 billion 19.080 million tons (at the level of the previous year), India – 140.171 million tons (+11.8%), Japan – 86.996 million tons (-2.5%), the United States – 80.664 million tons (+0.2%), the Russian Federation – 75, 8 million tons (+5.6%), South Korea – 66.676 million tons (+1.3%), Germany – 35.438 million tons (-3.9%), Turkey – 33.714 million tons (-4%), Brazil – 31.869 million tons (-6.5%) and Iran – 31.139 million tons (+1.8%). In total, 71 countries produced 1 billion 849.734 million tons of steel in 2023, which is 0.1% less than in 2022.
At the same time, Ukraine produced 6.228 million tons of steel in 2023, which is 0.6% lower than in 2022. The country was ranked 22nd in 2023.
In 2022, the top ten steel-producing countries were as follows: China – 1.013 billion tons (-2.1%), India – 124.720 million tons (+5.5%), Japan – 89.235 million tons (-7.4%), the United States – 80.715 million tons (-5.9%), the Russian Federation – 71.5 million tons (-7.2%), South Korea – 65, 865 million tons (-6.5%), Germany – 36.849 million tons (-8.4%), Turkey – 35.134 million tons (-12.9%), Brazil – 33.972 million tons (-5.8%), and Iran – 30.593 million tons (+8%).
Ukraine ranked 23rd in 2022 with 6.263 million tons of steel produced (-70.7%).
In total, 64 countries produced 1 billion 831.467 million tons of steel in 2022, which is 4.3% less than in 2021.
