Ukrainian agrarians are completing the sowing season: last week they sowed 14 thousand hectares of grain and leguminous crops, compared to 133.3 thousand hectares during the previous week and 193.5 thousand hectares a week earlier, the Ministry of Agricultural Policy and Food reported on Friday.
According to its data as of June 15, the area under spring cereals and leguminous plants reached 5.618 million hectares, which is 3% higher than in March forecast.
Sown area is 9.3% lower than last year: as of June 9, 2022, according to reports of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, they accounted to 6196.6 million hectares.
The gap is formed mainly due to the most popular crops – corn, spring barley, sown by 13,5% and 14,9%, respectively, less than last year’s and amount to 4.014 and 810.0 thousand hectares.
At the same time, corn is 11% ahead of the Ministry of Agricultural Policy forecast of 3.618 million hectares, while barley was sown on 78% of the expected 1.041 million hectares.
Sown millet is exceeded last year’s figures, with 49.2 thousand hectares of area, but it is 82% of this year’s expected area.
At the same time areas under other crops are already more than a year ago. It concerns spring wheat – 271.1 thousand hectares (41.9%), pea – 138.5 thousand hectares (5.7%), buckwheat – 119.7 thousand hectares (59%).
Agrarians of 14 regions (Vinnitsa, Zakarpattya, Ivano-Frankovsk, Kirovograd, Lviv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopol, Khmelnytsky, Cherkasy, Chernihiv and Chernivtsi regions) have sown spring crops, as the Ministry of Agriculture informed.
As compared to prewar 2021, spring cereals and leguminous crops are 24.7% lower, sunflower – 17.4%, sugar beet – 6.2%, while the soybeans are 27.6% higher.
Mingaropolitiki informed about the end of sowing of sugar beets, which amounted to 213.1 thousand hectares, or 97% of a plan. The areas under sunflower and soybeans are lagging behind the plan by 94% and 96% respectively, amounting to 5283.8 and 1773.5 thousand hectares.
As it was informed, winter wheat sowing this season amounted to 4166 thousand ha (-834 thousand ha to the previous one), winter barley – 536 thousand ha (-255 thousand ha), rape – 1374 thousand ha (+110 thousand ha).
According to the forecast of the Ministry of late March, the area of grain and leguminous crops in 2023 will amount to 10.24 million hectares, which is 1.4 million less than in 2022, while under oilseeds they will grow by 0.92 million hectares – to 8.85 million.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a $30 million financial package to Astarta, one of the country’s largest sugar producers, to cope with the adverse conditions caused by Russia’s war against Ukraine and ensure more sustainable operations.
According to the agroholding’s announcement on the Warsaw Stock Exchange website Friday, the package consists of a $21 million loan from the EBRD and $9 million from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) aimed at sustainable development. Technical cooperation support for the legal review of the operation will be provided by the Technical Cooperation Fund of Japan and the EBRD.
“Funding for the holding company’s investment plan will help Astarte continue to develop agriculture, soybean processing and sugar production amid the instability associated with the war. The liquidity support provided through this loan will help support operations and maintain the production and export volumes needed for food security, while supporting Astarta’s nearly 7,000 employees along with employees of supply chain partners,” the statement noted.
According to the agri-holding, the financing will be used to modernize and improve the energy efficiency of existing production facilities, implement climate-smart agricultural practices to improve business sustainability, reduce production and energy costs while improving productivity and operational efficiency. The funds raised will also be used as working capital to support the agricultural holding’s operations at pre-war levels.
This is the first transaction in Ukraine supported by the EBRD’s High Impact Climate Program for the corporate sector financed by the Clean Technology Fund. The loan is characterized by an innovative blended finance structure where the price is linked to achieving climate change goals, Astarta noted.
As reported, the EBRD, which accelerated lending to Ukraine after the Russian invasion in February 2022, pledged to invest €3 billion in the country between 2022 and 2023. Food security is one of the five priority investment areas, along with energy security, vital infrastructure, trade finance and private sector support.
“Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It consists of six sugar factories, farms with land bank of 220 thousand hectares and dairy farms with 22 thousand cattle, oil extraction plant in Globino (Poltava region), seven elevators and biogas complex.
Agroindustrial holding Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, received EUR65.16 mln of net profit in 2022, which is 46.8% less compared with 2021. The company’s EBITDA decreased by 23.2% to EUR154.77 mln last year, while revenues increased by 3.8% to EUR510.07 mln.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has arrived in Beijing, scheduled to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Sunday, Bloomberg reported.
“According to a senior State Department official who briefed reporters in Tokyo on his way to China, a smaller meeting was to be followed by dinner. Blinken may also meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and give a speech at a news conference before he leaves,” the website said.
It noted that Blinken is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit China in the past five years.
The main purpose of the secretary of state’s visit is to try to rebuild high-level channels of communication with Chinese counterparts, including between the U.S. and Chinese militaries, to deal with the intense competition between the two countries, the senior official said.
Earlier Saturday, U.S. President Joe Biden said he “hopes to meet with Xi again in the next few months.”
In Odessa, spontaneous trade in fish and seafood of unidentified catch near markets, shopping centers, etc., is prohibited, reported in Telegram-channel of the Odessa City Hall “Odessa. Officially”.
“We also inform the heads of enterprises and institutions carrying out their activities in the territory of the city of Odessa, regardless of ownership of the ban (restriction) of sale of fish and seafood unspecified place of catch”, – said in a message published on Sunday.
The corresponding decision was taken at an extraordinary meeting of the commission on technogenic and environmental safety and emergency situations of the Executive Committee of the Odessa City Council on June 17, 2023.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.1 on the Richter scale was recorded in the area of the Vrancea mountains in Romania on Sunday, the Main Center of Special Control reported.
“On June 17, 2023 at 13:13:06 (Kiev time), the Main Special Control Center registered an earthquake from the territory of Romania, in the area of the Vrancea Mountains, with a magnitude of 4.1 (on the Richter scale),” the SCSC said in a Facebook post on Saturday.
This earthquake is reportedly classified as barely perceptible according to the earthquake classification. The vibrations are only felt by individuals who are calm indoors, especially on the upper floors. This earthquake does not pose a threat to the population of Ukraine.
The last powerful earthquakes from the Vrancea area were registered on December 16 and 17, 2022 with magnitudes of 4.1 and 4.4, (on the Richter scale), respectively.
On June 15, Kirovogradoblenergo announced its intention to enter into a contract with VUSO Insurance Company for compulsory motor third party liability insurance (MTPL).
As reported in the Prozorro e-procurement system, the price bid of the company was UAH 296.8 thousand with an expected purchase price of UAH 660 thousand.
IC “Krajina” also took part in the tender with the offer of UAH 525,9 ths.
IC “VUSO” was founded in 2001. The company owns 50 licenses: 34 – for voluntary and 16 – for compulsory types of insurance, it is present in all the regions of Ukraine. It is a member of MTSBU and FSA, a member of the Agreement on direct settlement of losses and a member of the Nuclear Insurance Pool.
