The business environment continues to reduce the number of employees and aggravate the problem of finding qualified personnel, which may become a key factor for the Ukrainian economy in the next months.
These are the main results of the New Monthly Enterprises Survey (#NRES) of the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting (IER).
According to them, in May the rating of obstacles for business has not undergone significant changes. The top three among them have remained unchanged for several months: the danger of working (an obstacle for 56% of respondents), labor shortages (49%), and rising prices (46%).
“56% said that the danger of doing business is the biggest obstacle – and such a high figure was not even at the beginning of the war. Large businesses complain most about this. Also, the problem of electricity supply has been actualized again: compared to April, twice as many businesses complain about it (21% – in April, 41% – in May),” the study quotes the words of IEI expert Eugene Angel.
At the same time, the IEI noted that for the first time in two years the percentage of Ukrainian industrial business operating at full capacity exceeded 15% and amounted to 18% in May, while in April the figure was 13%.
In addition, the percentage of companies that find it difficult to guess what will happen to operations in two years has decreased – from 38.2% in April to 30.9% in May.
The two-year uncertainty rate has been gradually declining since February of this year. Then it was 50.6%, now it is 30.9% and it is the lowest value since October 2022.
The IEI emphasized that a clear trend of stagnation or decline in positive expectations for the two-year period is noticeable.
“That is, businesses understand what they will be doing in two years’ time, but they don’t see that future as positive. Most likely because it is getting more and more used to the view that the war will last a long time,” explained Oksana Kuzyakiv, executive director of the IEI.
At the same time, she added that assessments of the financial and economic situation at enterprises and the general economic environment are growing in the six-month perspective. Accordingly, respondents do not expect deterioration of the situation either at their own enterprises or in the country’s economy as a whole.
Enterprises have had a stable order book for more than three months for almost a year now. The average term of new orders in May amounted to 3.4 months, which is slightly longer than in April (3.3 months), but corresponds to the level of March this year (3.4 months).
In addition, the Business Activity Recovery Index (BAI) increased from 0.33 to 0.40 (on a scale of -1 to +1) in May 2024 compared to April. As explained in the IEI, this was due to an increase in the proportion of businesses that reported that their business activity was better than in 2023, from 45.3% in April to 55.4% in May. Meanwhile, 15.1% (12% in April) said business activity had worsened, with nothing changed for 29.4% (42.7% a month earlier).
The May NRES survey included 534 Ukrainian industrial enterprises of all sizes located in 21 of Ukraine’s 27 regions. The field phase of the 25th wave of the survey lasted from May 20 to May 31, 2024.
Ukraine will kick off the UEFA EURO 2024 soccer championship with a match against Romania on Monday.
The match will kick off at 16:00 Kiev time at the Bayern Munich stadium. It will be officiated by a Swedish refereeing team headed by Glenn Nyberg.
According to the UEFA website, Ukraine will start with Andriy Lunin, Juhim Konoplya, Ilya Zabarny, Mykola Matvienko, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Taras Stepanenko, Mykola Shaparenko, Grigory Sudakov, Viktor Tsygankov, Mykhailo Mudryk and Artem Dovbik.
Ukraine will also play Slovakia on June 21 and Belgium on June 26 in the group stage of Euro 2024.
The AM Best rating agency has revised its outlook for the global reinsurance industry sector from stable to positive, citing expectations of high reinsurer profitability, according to the AM Best website.
Despite the slowdown in reinsurance rate growth, underwriting discipline remains strong and profitability remains high enough to cover higher loss activity, as evidenced by the recently published Best’s Segment Outlook.
At the same time, it is emphasized that AM Best’s outlook for the global reinsurance market is positive for the first time in several years.
“Demand for insurance coverage remains strong due to increasing activity in natural catastrophe losses and general economic uncertainty,” said Carlos Wong-Fupui, senior director of AM Best. “We have also taken into account expectations of a slower decline in interest rates than originally anticipated, which is likely to support strong earnings in the short term.”
It is also noted that the reinsurance portfolios of the largest players continue to expand due to a combination of higher reinsurance rates and increased demand. Although the loss ratios in the first quarter of 2024 were affected by large losses, in particular the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, the insurance margin and annual return on capital remain high.
AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in more than 100 countries and has regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed with Kenyan President William Ruto the creation of hubs for Ukrainian grain in African ports.
“Held a meeting with the President of Kenya William Ruto. Thank you for participation in the Peace Summit and a principled position of support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” – wrote Zelensky in his Telegram channel on Sunday night.
The Ukrainian head of state noted that at the meeting they discussed food security issues, which are very important for both countries, the development of Ukrainian-Kenyan relations and projects in the field of agricultural exports.
In addition, the parties considered the possible participation of Kenya in the creation of hubs for Ukrainian grain in African ports.
AFRICA, hubs, President of Kenya, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE, UKRAINIAN GRAIN
The leading wholesale companies earned more than UAH 535 billion in 2023, according to the Opendatabot Index. The rating includes companies that trade in tobacco products, agricultural products, metal, pharmaceuticals, and food. Such giants as Philip Morris Sales and Distribution, Rinat Akhmetov’s DTEK Trading and West Petrol Market dropped out of the ranking.
The total revenue of the top 10 wholesale companies amounted to UAH 535.34 billion in 2023. Earnings of the top 10 businesses in the Opendatabot Index increased by 17% compared to last year’s leaders.
For the third year in a row, Kernel Trade has been at the top of the ranking despite a 9% decrease in revenue to UAH 62.06 billion. This company, a part of Andriy Verevsky’s Kernel Group, is engaged in the wholesale of grain and sunflower oil. At the same time, the company’s net profit decreased by 15% to UAH 4.37 billion.
It is worth noting that at the end of April this year, the company changed its business line in the registers from wholesale trade to oil production.
Okko Express, a newcomer to the market established in September 2022, moved up to second place. Its revenue in 2023 amounted to UAH 61.89 billion, and its net profit reached UAH 1.15 billion. This fuel trading company ousted another UIG Group company, Okko Business Partner, from its position.
Tedis Ukraine, a member of the Kaufman family group, is in third place. Its revenue decreased by 5% to UAH 61.53 billion, and the company suffered a loss of UAH 539 million. The company is engaged in the wholesale trade of tobacco products.
The fourth place went to Badm, a company specializing in the wholesale of pharmaceuticals owned by Oleksandr Dytiatkovsky and Oleksandr Sukhodolsky. The company increased its revenue by 29% to UAH 56.73 billion, and its profit doubled to UAH 3.89 billion in 2023.
Another pharmaceutical company, Optima Pharm, held the fifth place in the ranking with revenue of UAH 56.73 billion. This is 28% more than in 2022. The owner of the company, which managed to increase its profits by 1.7 times last year, is Andriy Gubsky.
Yuriy Kosyuk’s MHP moved from 4th to 6th place in the Index, despite a 12% increase in revenue to UAH 50.65 billion. However, the company suffered a loss of UAH 1 billion in 2023.
Among the new entrants to the Opendatabot 2024 Index is DL Solution, established in August 2022 and owned by Israeli citizen Ari Weber. The company’s main activity is the wholesale of tobacco products. The company was ranked 7th with revenues of UAH 50.65 billion and net profit of UAH 61.36 million.
VOG Resource, a part of the Continuum group of Sergey Lagur and Stepan Ivakhiv, was ranked eighth, trading in fuel. The company increased its revenue by 30% to UAH 50.13 billion and showed the highest increase in net profit among competitors – 7 times to UAH 275 million.
Fozzy Commerce showed the largest revenue growth, rising to 9th place, increasing its revenue 7 times to UAH 41.85 billion. At the same time, the company’s net profit decreased by 10 times compared to the previous year. The company is part of Vladimir Kostelman’s Fozzy Group.
Rinat Akhmetov’s Metinvest-SMC closes the rating with a revenue of UAH 40.71 billion, up 36% from the first year of full-scale operations. Last year, the company, which wholesales metal and steel structures, made a profit of UAH 881.55 million, up almost a third from 2022.
Who dropped out of the ranking?
Three companies engaged in fuel wholesale dropped out of the top 10 list: Okko Business Partner, DTEK Trading, and West Petroleum Market. Philip Morris Sales and Distribution also left the ranking, despite a 36% increase in revenue in 2023.
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/index-wholesale-trade-2024
Ukraine has started negotiations with a number of countries that have expressed interest in holding a second Peace Summit, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
“Every step towards a just peace has attracted the attention of certain groups of summit participants and countries that have not yet joined but are interested in peace,” Zelensky said at the conclusion of the first inaugural Peace Summit in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, on Sunday.
According to him, “we already have countries that have expressed their interest in holding a second peace summit, and we have started negotiations with them.”
The head of state did not name the list of such countries.
He also noted that “these days, uniting 101 countries and an international organization, we have achieved a great success for Ukraine and all partners.” “And our fair goal is that all countries of the world join this noble cause,” summarized Zelensky.
