Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest Internet provider by subscribers, continues to secure its Home Internet service in case of power outages. In 2023, the company invested more than UAH 200 million to provide uninterruptible power supplies for Home Internet. It will invest an additional UAH 50-70 million by the end of February 2024. The provider also continues to actively launch GPON Internet in different cities of Ukraine.
Kyivstar employees started connecting the Home Internet network to uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) in October 2022 and will continue to do so to provide 700 thousand subscribers with Internet access even in the event of a power outage. This modernization will allow the Home Internet network to operate in the absence of power for up to 5 hours.
In total, the service users will be provided with equipment for uninterrupted operation in 44 cities of Ukraine. In total, the provider plans to cover more than 22.3 thousand addresses where UPS will be installed. 180 specialists are involved in the process of installing, checking and testing equipment throughout Ukraine.
Kyivstar also started connecting the Internet using GPON technology at the end of 2023. In 2024, the company plans to partially modernize and replace existing technologies with GPON in some cities. This connection technology is more energy efficient.
“In the context of short- and medium-term outages, GPON can provide consumers with Internet access for longer, including because we build lines from base stations with mobile diesel generators. And as long as we have the human resources and the ability to supply fuel and components to keep the generator running at the base station, users connected via GPON technology will have the Internet signal,” commented Sergiy Sukhoruk, Head of Fixed Line Communications.
About Kyivstar
Kyivstar is Ukraine’s largest electronic communications operator, serving more than 24 million mobile subscribers and more than 1.1 million Home Internet subscribers as of September 2023. The company provides services using a wide range of mobile and fixed technologies, including 4G, Big Data, Cloud solutions, cybersecurity services, digital TV, etc. Kyivstar helps subscribers, society and the country to overcome the challenges of wartime. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the company has allocated more than UAH 1.4 billion in aid for the humanitarian needs of the Armed Forces, society and subscribers. Kyivstar’s sole shareholder is the international VEON Group (headquartered in the Netherlands). The Group’s shares are listed on NASDAQ (New York) and Euronext (Amsterdam). Kyivstar has been operating in Ukraine for 25 years and is recognized as the largest taxpayer in the telecom market, the best employer and a socially responsible company.
ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, GPON, Home Internet, INVESTMENTS, KYIVSTAR
In January this year, Ukrainian mining companies increased exports of iron ore in physical terms by 3.36 times compared to the same period last year, up to 3 million 115.839 thousand tons from 927.433 thousand tons.
According to the statistics released by the State Customs Service on Friday, during the period under review, foreign exchange earnings from the export of iron ore increased by 2.7 times to $295.989 million from 110.857 million.
Exports of iron ore were carried out mainly to China (48.05% of supplies in monetary terms), Slovakia (13.65%) and Poland (10.48%).
Last month, Ukraine imported iron ore worth $7 thousand in a total volume of 9 tons, while in January-2023 it imported iron ore worth $1 thousand in a volume of 1 thousand tons. Imports in January-2024 came from Italy (100%).
As reported, in 2023, Ukraine decreased exports of iron ore in physical terms by 26% compared to 2022 – to 17 million 753.165 thousand tons, foreign exchange earnings from iron ore exports amounted to $1 billion 766.906 million (down 39.3%). Iron ore was exported mainly to Slovakia (28.39% of supplies in monetary terms), the Czech Republic (19.74%) and Poland (19.56%).
Last year, Ukraine imported iron ore worth $135 thousand in the total amount of 250 tons. During this period, imports were made from Norway (34.81%), Italy (28.89%) and the Netherlands (28.89%). While in 2022, iron ore was imported for $65 thousand in a total volume of 101 tons.
In 2022, Ukraine decreased exports of iron ore in physical terms by 45.9% compared to 2021 – to 23 million 984.623 thousand tons, while foreign exchange earnings decreased by 57.8% to $2 billion 912.974 million. Iron ore was exported mainly to Slovakia (19.23% of supplies in monetary terms), the Czech Republic (17.32%) and Poland (16.49%).
In 2022, Ukraine imported iron ore worth $65 thousand in a total volume of 101 tons, while in 2021 – $184 thousand in a volume of 1,202 thousand tons. Imports were carried out from Norway (36.92%), the Netherlands (27.69%) and the UK (16.92%).
In January this year, Ukrainian companies increased imports of copper and copper products in value terms by 2.6 times compared to the same period last year, to $16.833 million from $6.368 million.
According to customs statistics released by the State Customs Service of Ukraine on Friday, exports of copper and copper products decreased by 17.6% to $5.279 million from $6.407 million over the period.
In addition, in January 2024, Ukraine increased imports of nickel and nickel products by 11.5 times compared to January 2023 – to $3.573 million from $312 thousand, aluminum and aluminum products – by 26.3%, to $33.501 million.
At the same time, it increased imports of lead and lead products by 4.2 times to $135 thousand, imports of tin and tin products by 51.2% to $260 thousand, and increased imports of zinc and zinc products by 82.9% to $4.094 million.
Exports of aluminum and aluminum products in the first month of 2024 increased by 18% compared to January 2023 to $7.999 million, lead and lead products decreased by 46.5% to $873 thousand, nickel and nickel products amounted to $3 thousand, at the level of January 2023.
Zinc exports last month amounted to $8 thousand, while in January 2023 they were absent. Exports of tin and tin products were absent in January 2024, while in January 2023 they amounted to $17 thousand.
In December 2023, copper was imported for $20.856 million, and exported for $6.906 million. Last December, Ukraine imported $1.025 million worth of nickel and products, $31.951 million worth of aluminum, as well as $70 thousand worth of lead and products, $310 thousand worth of tin, and $3.665 million worth of zinc.
At the same time, in December 2023, Ukraine exported $8.433 million worth of aluminum, $704 thousand worth of lead and lead products, $24 thousand worth of nickel and nickel products, $13 thousand worth of zinc, and $79 thousand worth of tin.
As reported, in 2023, Ukraine increased imports of copper and copper products by 2.2 times compared to 2022 – up to $140.795 million, while exports decreased by 20.1% to $72.078 million.
In addition, in 2023, Ukraine reduced imports of nickel and products by 74.2% compared to 2022, to $15.391 million, and increased imports of aluminum and aluminum products by 7.7%, to $366.463 million.
At the same time, it reduced imports of lead and lead products by 65.2% to $989 thousand, imports of tin and tin products by 23% to $2.728 million, but increased imports of zinc and zinc products by 18.8% to $45.966 million.
Exports of aluminum and aluminum products last year increased by 0.7% compared to 2022 to $97.616 million, lead and lead products increased by 23.5% to $14.778 million, and nickel and nickel products amounted to $532 thousand, while in 2022 it was $1.268 million.
In 2023, the company exported $130 thousand worth of zinc, compared to $1.331 million in 2022. Exports of tin and tin products amounted to $159 thousand against $424 thousand in 2022.
As reported, in 2022, Ukrainian enterprises reduced imports of copper and copper products in value terms by 64.3% compared to the previous year to $65.370 million, while their exports decreased by 56.3% to $90.245 million.
In addition, in 2022, Ukraine reduced imports of nickel and nickel products by 49.9% compared to 2021, to $59.754 million, and aluminum and aluminum products by 33.4%, to $340.398 million. At the same time, it reduced imports of lead and lead products by 66.6%, to $2.839 million.
Imports of tin and tin products fell by 33.5% to $3.312 million, and imports of zinc and zinc products decreased by 58.7% to $38.690 million.
In 2022, exports of aluminum and aluminum products decreased by 42.7% compared to 2021, to $96.972 million, lead and lead products – by 68.7%, to $11.970 million, and nickel and nickel products – by 73.9%, to $1.268 million.
Zinc exports in 2022 amounted to $1.331 million, while in 2021 they amounted to $550 thousand. Exports of tin and products in 2022 amounted to $424 thousand, compared to $346 thousand in the previous year.
In January this year, Ukraine’s steelmaking companies increased revenues from ferrous metal exports by 65.4% year-on-year to $274.077 million from $165.690 million.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS) on Friday, ferrous metals accounted for 8.06% of total export revenues during this period, compared to 5.29% in January 2023.
At the same time, in January this year, Ukraine increased imports of similar products by 59.5% to $109.414 million from $68.593 million.
In addition, in January, Ukraine increased exports of metal products by 3.5% to $64.327 million from $62.127 million. Imports of metal products increased by 41.7% to $72.646 million from $51.263 million.
In December 2023, revenues from exports of ferrous metals amounted to $214.531 million, while in the previous month – $174.380 million. In December 2023, the company imported these products for $107.367 million.
In December, the company exported steel products worth $56.083 million and imported $74.186 million.
As reported earlier, in 2023, Ukraine’s steelmaking companies reduced revenues from exports of ferrous metals by 41.59% compared to 2022, to $2 billion 647.722 million, with ferrous metals accounting for 7.32% of total revenues from exports of goods during this period, while in 2022 the share was 10.26%. At the same time, in 2023, Ukraine increased imports of similar products by 37% to $1 billion 307.046 million.
In addition, last year, Ukraine reduced exports of metal products by 16.6% year-on-year to $877.916 million. At the same time, imports of metal products increased by 40.3% to $902.565 million during this period.
In 2022, Ukraine decreased revenues from ferrous metal exports by 67.5% compared to 2021, to $4 billion 533.088 million. During this period, ferrous metals accounted for 10.26% of total revenues from exports of goods, compared to 20.49% in 2021. At the same time, in 2022, Ukraine reduced imports of similar products by 38.3% to $954.387 million.
In addition, in 2022, Ukraine reduced exports of metal products by 18.6% to $1 billion 52.512 million. Imports of metal products fell by 42.9% to $643.162 million over the year.
In 2023, the Dobrobut medical chain increased the number of patients by 14% compared to 2022 – up to 257 thousand, the number of patient visits to the chain’s medical centers and hospitals amounted to more than 1.1 million.
According to Dobrobut’s press release, the chain’s revenue in 2023 amounted to UAH 2.3 billion.
The healthcare network clarifies that in 2023, the most popular medical areas, as in the previous year, were therapy, otolaryngology, gynecology, neurology, and gastroenterology.
“Dobrobut clarifies that the new multidisciplinary clinic on Bazhana Avenue in Kyiv, which the chain opened in 2023, has already seen about 140 thousand patients, and 930 operations have been performed there. In 2024, the chain plans to at least double these figures.
The report also reminds that in 2023, the healthcare network opened an ophthalmology clinic based on a multidisciplinary clinic on Bazhana Avenue, which can see up to 2.5 thousand patients per month. In addition, last year, the company opened an oncodermatology center and a somnology center, and increased the number of dental clinics to three.
In addition, in 2023, Dobrobut launched a physical rehabilitation department, where military personnel are currently recovering.
In 2024, Dobrobut plans to open a new clinic in the center of Kyiv, develop a network of dental centers, expand the surgical unit, inpatient department and anesthesiology and intensive care unit at the clinic on Bazhana Avenue, as well as expand the range of services of the ophthalmology clinic and perform laser vision correction procedures.
“Dobrobut is one of the largest private medical chains in Ukraine. It includes 17 medical centers in Kyiv and Kyiv region, an emergency medical service, dental centers and pharmacies. The chain’s medical centers provide services for children and adults in more than 75 medical areas. More than 9000 surgeries are performed annually. The network employs more than 2900 people.
Currently, 119 Dobrobut employees have been mobilized and are serving in the Armed Forces and the ATO, and the company has paid UAH 21.6 million to mobilized employees.
When implementing digital services, developing digital products and working with customer experience, the OTP Bank team correlates its approaches with 4 aspects of customer values. This was stated by Oleg Klymenko, Member of the Management Board of OTP Bank responsible for retail business development, during the conference DIGITALIZATION BANKING: the next stage – 2024, organized by the International Financial Club BANKIR.
“OTP Bank is working to improve customer satisfaction in four aspects: functional, emotional, life-change, and social. Most of the competition in banking digital services takes place at the first level – functional. But when you have an operational base, you can start working with emotions,” he said.
According to the banker, the Bank’s Information Center uses AI technologies to analyze customer emotions. “We distinguish 8 different emotions, and when a customer calls, we track their mood by the timbre of their voice. This is necessary for the manager to understand the interlocutor as correctly as possible, because where there is human-to-human interaction, sometimes there can be misunderstandings. Instead, artificial intelligence allows the operator to better navigate the situation,” emphasized Mr. Klymenko.
Life-change, according to the banker, helps customers learn how to use new products that improve their living standards. “One such example is the online purchase of government bonds in the OTP Bank UA app. This is the most convenient and comfortable way to get acquainted with this instrument of investing in government bonds,” emphasized O. Klymenko.
Accordingly, the life-change level allows customers to move to the social level. “OTP Bank cooperates with the prosthetics center Superhumans Center. To raise funds, we held two charity auctions, one of which was fully implemented in the app. It’s like a game, because each auction contains a game element combined with a social mission,” he said.
According to internal research, the NPS level at OTP Bank increased by 8% in 2023 and amounted to 58%. 93% of the surveyed customers are satisfied with the work of the Information Center operators, and 97% with the work of the branch employees.
As a reminder, the charity Christmas auction held in the OTP Bank UA app raised UAH 5.8 million. All the funds were transferred to the Superhumans Center to provide prosthetics to Ukrainians.
