In August 2023, Ukraine increased exports of agricultural products by 16% compared to the previous month – up to 4.3 million tons, and this is without taking into account the growing queues of vehicles at the borders, according to the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB).
“Such export volumes in August 2023 are an incredible result. Despite all the obstacles (Russia’s shelling of the Danube river infrastructure, falling water levels in the Danube, a ban on the export of a number of key Ukrainian exports to neighboring countries, etc.), as well as the lack of sea exports, Ukrainian farmers and traders continue to provide the world with the necessary food,” analysts said.
They specified that the Danube river ports remain the most efficient channel, thanks to which 4% of agricultural exports were delivered to foreign markets in August.
According to UCAB, in August 2023, the share of grain crops in the structure of agricultural exports increased by 2% and amounted to 2.3 mln tons (wheat – 52%, corn – 39%, barley – 9%).
Exports of oilseeds increased 2.3 times to 755.4 thousand tons (rapeseed – 94%, soybeans – 4%, and sunflower seeds – 1%).
The share of oilcake after extraction from vegetable oils in Ukraine’s agricultural exports in August 2023 increased by 15% to 367.3 thsd tonnes (sunflower – 98%, soybean – 2%).
The supply volumes of vegetable oils remained unchanged at 548.9 thsd tonnes (sunflower oil – 81%, rapeseed oil – 17%, soybean oil – 2%).
The analysts noted that the biggest changes in August 2023 were observed in the exports of oilseeds, the volume of which increased by 2.3 times. The main reason was the end of the rapeseed harvest in Ukraine and active exports.
“The next month is important for determining further trends in Ukrainian exports, as the ban on exports of four key items to neighboring countries is due to expire on September 15, 2023. The lifting of this restriction will significantly improve the situation with Ukrainian exports, which is what the entire Ukrainian agricultural sector hopes for,” UCAB summarized.
The Romanian company Vestmoldtransgaz (previously owned by the Moldovan government) has been granted a five-year lease to manage Moldova’s gas transportation system.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Energy of Moldova, the relevant lease agreement was signed with Moldovatransgaz, a subsidiary of Moldovagaz.
Under the terms of the contract, Vestmoldtransgaz will also receive the existing maintenance contracts.
The transfer process is conditioned by Moldova’s obligations under the EU’s Third Energy Package, which provides for the unbundling of supply, transportation and distribution in the gas market.
In June 2023, Moldovagaz announced that it was not in time to complete the certification process and the separation of Moldovatransgaz from the parent company. In July, the government approved a draft law that prescribes the procedure for revoking the license of the GTS operator and transferring its assets to another company. The bill was approved in the first reading by the Moldovan parliament.
“Moldovagaz was established in 1999. Gazprom owns 50% of the company’s shares, the Moldovan government 35.33%, and the Transnistrian Property Management Committee 13.44%.
“Vestmoldtransgaz operates the Iaşi-Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline between Romania and Moldova. The company was established in 2014 and sold to Eurotransgaz (a subsidiary of the Romanian state-owned Transgaz) in 2018. The shareholders are currently Transgaz (75%) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) (25%).
Volunteers of the Pryirpinia Community Foundation have started sewing unique products – portable stretchers for wounded soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Over the summer, about 185 units have already been produced for the needs of the military. In addition, 280 pillows for hospitals and staging areas have been sewn in the sewing shop. This is stated on the organization’s Facebook page.
Sewing of the unique and at the same time highly demanded products by military paramedics and stabilization centers was started by Irpin volunteers. Since the beginning of the summer, they have already produced about 185 units of tactical stretchers,” the Charitable Foundation’s Facebook page reports.
Tactical soft frameless stretchers are soft stretchers for evacuating and carrying the wounded or for carrying loads manually. Sanitary stretchers are designed to transport patients, injured (wounded) to a sanitary transport for further medical care. Such stretchers are used to transport victims over long distances. Also, these stretchers can be used as an awning or as a bedding to protect against moisture. The tactical soft frameless stretcher has 5 pairs of handles: 4 pairs along the stretcher, 1 pair of handles at the ends. The average market price of such stretchers is 1500 UAH.
“We learned about the need for stretchers and pillows from paramedics and stabilization centers themselves, because we regularly deliver medicines and medical supplies to them,” says Tetiana Lagovska, executive director of the Pryirpin Community Foundation. “We started with a few electric sewing machines that our volunteers found and camouflage fabric that was also found by volunteers. At first, cutting and sewing were localized right in the foundation’s premises, and later the volunteers began to do some of the work at home. Among them, by the way, are residents of the modular town in Gostomel who lost their homes during the fighting.”
According to Lagovska, the sewing shop currently has 15 electric sewing machines, some of them even professional, from former garment factories, and a cutting table made by the husband of one of the volunteers. The raw materials, i.e. camouflage fabric, are provided by other benefactors, while the threads were purchased at the expense of the volunteers. As of today, 185 stretchers and 280 pillows – both regular and anti-decubitus – have been made and filled with cereals, chestnuts, and acorns. The paramedics of the 72nd Black Cossacks Brigade, which is currently fighting near Bakhmut, and the Kraken unit were among the first to receive the stretchers. Other recipients include military units in Kharkiv, Kherson and eastern Ukraine. As well as hospitals in Kyiv, Kyiv region, and Vinnytsia oblast, where wounded Ukrainian defenders are treated.
“If in the first six months of the large-scale aggression the Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers needed bulletproof vests, helmets and even clothes, now the most urgent needs are medicines and medical supplies and equipment,” comments Oleksandr Tyhov, a former soldier of the 72nd Brigade and Chairman of the Public Council at the Bucha District State Administration. According to him, civil society organizations in the Bucha region understand these needs. Thus, the Local Communities Movement and its volunteers Myroslav Sorochenko and Oleh Solomakha constantly send medical supplies to the front line – bandages, dressings, plasters, bandages, medical clothing – and hospitals in Kyiv and Kyiv region receive the necessary medical supplies and medicines. With the active organizational involvement of Olga Kvasova, Deputy Head of the Public Council.
Kvasova, the “Ukraine Native” Charitable Foundation constantly delivers medicines to hospitals, and other philanthropists have provided family medicine outpatient clinics in the Buchanan district with much-needed generators. The same “Pryirpinya Community Foundation”, where members of the public council Tetiana Lagovska and Oleksandr Holizdra volunteer, implemented the “Social Medicine” program this year, handing over UAH 9 million worth of antibiotics to hospitals and public organizations from all over Ukraine with the organizational participation of the Public Council at the Bucha District State Administration.
Armed Forces of Ukraine, Holizdra, Pryirpinia Community Foundation, Лаговська
Ukraine’s total public debt in August 2023 increased by 3.1% to a new historic high: in dollar terms – by $4bn to $132.92bn, in hryvnia terms – by UAH 146.2bn to UAH 4 trillion 860.6bn, according to data on the website of the Ministry of Finance.
According to them, the direct state debt increased by 3.3% to $123.63 billion, or up to UAH 4 trillion 521.1 billion, and amounted to 93.0% of the total amount of public and state-guaranteed debt.
It is reported that external direct debt in August increased by 4.4%, or $3.52 billion, to $83.41 billion, while domestic direct debt increased by 1.1%, or UAH 15.8 billion, to UAH 1 trillion 470.75 billion (equivalent to $40.22 billion).
The total external public debt of Ukraine in August-2023 increased by 4.1%, or $3.58 billion, to $90.77 billion, while the total domestic debt increased by 1.0%, or UAH 15.2 billion, to UAH 1 trillion 541.4 billion.
As a result, the share of total external government debt increased to 68.3%.
As a result, the share of total external government debt rose to 68.3%.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the share of liabilities in euros at the end of August rose to 28.36%, in U.S. dollars – to 26.66%, while in hryvnia decreased to 28.87%, in SDR – to 12.89%, in Canadian dollars – to 2.48%, and in yen and British pounds remained at 0.72% and 0.02%, respectively.
The office also clarified that 64.86% of government debt has a fixed interest rate, while 12.89% is pegged to the IMF rate, 7.85% to SOFR, 3.88% to EURIBOR and 0.72% to TORF.
Another 2.99% of government debt is tied to the consumer price index, while 6.49% is tied to the NBU discount rate. We are talking about government bonds from the portfolio of the National Bank. The newest of them were securities linked to the discount rate, which were purchased by the NBU within the framework of emission financing of the budget.
Finally, 0.31% of government debt has a rate linked to the Ukrainian index of interest rates on individual deposits, used in portfolio guarantee programs.
As reported, Ukraine’s public and state-guaranteed debt increased by $13.4 billion to $111.45 billion in 2022. In the first eight months of this year, the state debt increased by $21.47 billion, or 19.3%.
In the framework of the first revision of the EFF extended financing program with Ukraine at the end of June, the IMF significantly improved the forecast of the government debt growth this year – from 98.3% of GDP to 88.1% of GDP, including by revising its estimate for the end of last year from 81.7% of GDP to 78.5% of GDP.
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Quotes of interbank currency market of Ukraine (UAH for $1, in 01.07.2023-31.07.2023)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
Benchmark oil prices are moving mixed near multi-month highs on Tuesday morning.
The price of November Brent futures on London’s ICE Futures exchange is at $88.87 a barrel by 8:29 a.m. Q2, down 13 cents (0.15%) from the previous session’s close. On Monday, these contracts rose by $0.45 (0.5%) to $89 per barrel.
Quotes of futures for WTI crude oil for October at the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by the specified time rose by 32 cents (0.37%) and amounted to $ 85.87 per barrel. On Monday, the main trades were not held due to a day off in the U.S. (Labor Day).
Prices are supported by expectations of the extension of production reduction measures by OPEC+ countries.
Saudi Arabia is also expected to extend the voluntary production cut by 1 million barrels per day for October.
At the same time, traders regard the signs of possible cooling of the American economy as a reason for the end of the cycle of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, which also strengthens market optimism.
An additional positive factor is the news of an unexpected increase in activity in the manufacturing sector of the Chinese economy. The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in China’s manufacturing sector in August hit its highest level since February, Caixin Media Co., which calculates the indicator, said on Friday. The index rose to 51 points from 49.2 in July. The consensus forecast, cited by Trading Economics, called for a rise to 49.3 points. A value above the 50-point mark indicates an increase in activity in the sector.
