PrJSC Centravis Production Ukraine, part of the holding Centravis Ltd, in 2022 exported 11.6 thousand tons of seamless stainless steel tubes to 46 countries, reducing shipments in kind by 33% compared with the previous year.
According to the company’s press release on Friday, its revenue last year was EUR125.8 million, down 9% from 2021.
At the same time, it is explained that the decrease in supplies is due to the beginning of a large-scale war and all the consequences caused by the conduct of military operations in Ukraine. In particular, the need to restructure logistics, power shortages, shelling, etc.
At the same time Centravis has kept high volume of production at its main plants and enters top-10 of the largest world manufacturers of seamless stainless tubes, the press release says.
It is also noted that according to Forbes magazine rating, Centravis company (Nikopol, Dnepropetrovsk region) was included in the 50 largest exporters of 2022 – the companies, which, according to the magazine editorial board, “gave the opportunity to the Ukrainian economy to survive”.
“Last year we supplied pipes to 46 countries of the world. Each delivery is a separate story, because after the beginning of the brutal Russian aggression we had to convince our partners that our team is able to fulfill all our obligations. We have adapted, become more stable and continue to develop the company, increase export and support the Ukrainian economy”, – General Director of “Centravis” Yuriy Atanasov said, who is quoted by the press service.
It is specified that “Centravis” delivered more seamless stainless tubes to Germany, Italy and the United States. The greatest demand was for general tubes and pipes for general purposes – 37% of total exports, pipes for machining – 25%, as well as tubes for tool and automotive segments – 24%.
As we reported earlier, in February this year the company opened new production in Uzhgorod, which specializes in tool tubes for the world’s leading automotive brands (Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, and Chevrolet). The total investment amounted to more than 2.7 million euros. The new plant has about 100 employees, but this year it is planned to expand and build the second stage.
“Centravis was founded in 2000 and is among the ten largest manufacturers of seamless stainless steel tubes in the world. Its main production capacities are located in Nikopol (Dnepropetrovsk region). In 2022 the company has realized a number of large-scale orders for such world companies as Benteler Automotive, LINSTER Edelstahlhandel, Rohr Mertel, Buhlmann Group, Webco, MRC. The company employs more than 1400 people.
Holding Centravis Ltd. was created on the base of Nikopol Stainless Tube Works CJSC, service and trade companies Industrial and Commercial Enterprise Yuvis Ltd. Its shareholders are members of the Atanasov family.
Centravis Ltd. owns 100% of shares of Centravis Production Ukraine PJSC.
Stabilization of the Ukrainian energy system and a certain reserve of capacity allow discussing the opening of electricity exports to Europe, Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko said.
“The issue of opening exports is already on the table today. It is being considered,” the minister said on the air of the national telethon “Unified News” on Friday.
Depending on the volume of imports, he said, it could bring Ukraine up to $70 million a month and help restore energy facilities after Russian attacks.
At the same time, the head of the Energy Ministry stressed that Ukraine would refuse to export electricity in case of shortages.
As earlier reported, export of electric power was stopped by order of the Minister of Energy since October 11, 2022, after the beginning of massive Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy system. The capacity allowed by European network of transmission system operators ENTSO-E for export is 400 MW, for import – 850 MW.
The head of Ukrhydroenergo, Igor Sirota, in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine noted that Ukraine has been experiencing a 24-hour power surplus for several weeks in a row, which would be advisable to sell. Nevertheless, he stressed that “there is a lot of politics in this issue,” as there are a number of consumers who do not receive electricity. At the same time, the head of the general company explained that such consumers are deprived of power supply not because of the resource shortage, but precisely because of low network capacity.
The Board of Directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at a meeting on Friday approved Ukraine’s request to open a new four-year extended financing program EFF for a total of SDR11.6 billion ($15.6 billion), an informed source told Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
According to him, the official announcement of the Fund is expected in the very near future on Friday.
According to the agenda published earlier on the Fund’s website, the board also summarized the results of the Monitoring Program for Ukraine with the involvement of the Board of Directors (PMB) opened in December.
As earlier reported, on March 21, the IMF reported reaching a staff-level agreement (SLA) on a new four-year EFF program for Ukraine worth SDR11.6 billion (about $15.6 billion). The fund specified that the final decision of the board of directors is expected in the coming weeks.
On March 24, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the draft Letter of Intent of the IMF and the National Bank of Ukraine and the draft Memorandum on Economic and Financial Policies. At this stage, the documents themselves are traditionally not published.
The program was supposed to be divided into two stages. The first one aims at maintaining stability, lasts 12-18 months and is based on the PMB, while the second phase, with more structural reforms, aims at growth and European integration.
Negotiations on the new EFF program were preceded by the PMB Monitoring Program. With the IMF unprepared to disburse significant funding immediately, Ukraine requested it from the Fund last fall for a period of four months and received approval from the Board of Directors on December 20.
On February 17, an IMF mission concluded in Warsaw, resulting in a statement on the SLA for early termination of the PMB program and the transition to the preparation of a new, expanded program involving financing.
Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) implements three new programs with the EU funds in nearly 30 communities in Ukraine, NEFCO Chief Investment Advisor Yulia Shevchuk said in an interview to Interfax-Ukraine.
“We have three new programs with EU funds covering about 30 communities in Ukraine. They are aimed at restoring critical infrastructure, repairing housing and building new housing for internally displaced persons (IDPs). NEFCO administers and implements these programs,” she said.
One of the programs is the repair and reconstruction of damaged critical infrastructure in the Kiev region. For its implementation EUR50 million of grant funds allocated by the European Union through NEFCO has been directed. The package of measures provides for the restoration of infrastructure related to water supply, drainage and heating. The program will be implemented in 12 cities and towns of Kyiv region: Borodyanska, Borschagivska, Irpenska, Dymerska, Ivankivska, Kalynivska, Nemishayivska, Peskivska, Slavitutska, and Velikodimerska terns.
A second new program with funding from the European Union provides for the construction of housing for IDPs and the reconstruction of liberated towns in Ukraine.
According to Shevchuk, the program currently covers six cities – Chernivtsi, Dubno, Kovel, Lviv, Zhytomyr and Makarov.
Another EU-funded program concerns housing repairs for IDPs, with NEFCO working in 10 cities in western Ukraine under this program.
“The two aforementioned programs are in the procurement phase (https://www.nefco.int/procurements/), and the IDP housing repair program is in the construction phase,” Shevchuk reported.
The projects that received support were selected based on proposals from the Ministry of Community and Territory Development of Ukraine, with the final decision resting with the European Union.
“Together with the European Union, NEFCO began preliminary preparations for these programs in the spring of 2022. There were many more applications than could be included in the new programs. The cities are very active, we are now receiving three to five new applications every week,” Shevchuk said.
NEFCO’s requirements for residential projects include energy efficiency measures and the need to use more environmentally friendly materials in accordance with European building standards.
It is noted that the cities must follow the procedure stipulated by the Ukrainian government for the distribution of social housing for groups of people. Priority will be given to the most war-affected groups. The program also contains a requirement that the housing built for its financing is not subject to privatization, i.e. will be in municipal ownership.
The expert noted possible difficulties in the implementation of projects.
“There may be a shortage of local materials, because as a result of the aggression of Russia destroyed many of the production of building materials. In addition, the male part of the population can be mobilized – this applies to both the staff of contractors and municipalities. That is a weak point concerning the availability of human resources for our new programs. Also we state a difficult financial condition of the municipalities, because of the decrease in activity the tax revenues have decreased, and the cities have to contribute to the approved projects”, – said Shevchuk.
In particular, in the projects of housing for IDPs there is a condition that the community will ensure the connection of the new house to all necessary communications (water, heat, electricity), in addition, the community is responsible for the equipment of the shelter, without which the new house cannot be put into operation.
NEFCO’s procedures minimize the consequences of the complexities of the Ukrainian market. “We plan to have open tenders, in which any companies that are not under sanctions can participate. From previous experience, if we talk about construction, among the contractors – winners of tenders, as a rule, were Ukrainian companies, because local permits and licenses are needed, while materials were from different countries. Now, most likely, we should expect more foreign materials, while Ukraine has destroyed its own production of, say, windows and other materials. But we will see the reality after the tenders,” she said.
Some of the tenders have already begun, some will be announced in the near future.
“We expect the first tenders to be completed by summer. We very much hope that most of the work on all three programs will start this year,” Shevchuk said.
NEFCO is an international financial institution that finances the expansion of Nordic green solutions into global markets. It was founded in 1990 by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. In Ukraine, projects have been implemented in more than municipalities.
WINE&SPIRITS UKRAINE expo is one of the most significant events in the wine and alcohol industry of Ukraine. It is a platform for establishing business relations between wine and alcoholic beverage producers, retailers, sommeliers, restaurateurs, importers and distributors from Ukraine and abroad. In just a few days, WINE&SPIRITS UKRAINE will be held again at the Kyiv International Exhibition Center.
“Despite russian military in Ukraine, our business continues to work, and the national economy needs support. Interest in Ukrainian products and demand for them are growing both abroad and at the domestic market. We have just returned from ProWein international expo in Dusseldorf, where the national Wines of Ukraine stand was presented for the first time, and, in total, 12 Ukrainian wineries participated in the fair. It showed that our wines are successful all over the world, our export of this product is constantly growing, and our wines deserve the attention of both foreign and national consumers. We cannot waste time and opportunities, so we decided to hold our event this spring,” comments Viktoriya Agromakova, founder and organizer of WINE&SPIRITS UKRAINE.
The list of participants of the Wine&Spirits Ukraine exhibition currently includes 36 companies, but it is constantly updated. This year, for obvious reasons, only companies from Ukraine are taking part in the expo, among them are large, medium and craft winemakers, alcohol and beer producers. For them, this is a great opportunity to find new contacts and sign contracts with national retail chains, retail stores and HoReCa. For buyers, there is an opportunity to expand the range of quality Ukrainian wines, beer and spirits.
For the first time, the combined stands of the Association of Craft Winemakers of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Association of Craft Distillers will be presented. 10 manufacturers will showcase their products at each stand.
You can learn more about the participants here.
Durig the expo, Ukraine Wine&Spirits Awards international tasting competition will traditionally take place. The competition is held with the support and participation of the Association of Sommeliers of Ukraine and the International Association of Sommeliers in accordance with the standards of the International Organization of Grapes and Wine, OIV. The jury of the competition this time includes well-known Ukrainian wine experts, sommeliers, as well as buyers of retail chains.
A long-time partner of WINE&SPIRITS UKRAINE — the “UKRSADVYNPROM” union — will traditionally host the Wine&Spirits Congress at the exhibition. The head of the union, Volodymyr Pechko, emphasizes that this year the topic of the discussion panel is the issue of supporting the viticulture industry during war and post-war period. Participants of the discussion panel will learn more about potential and existing programs, projects and grants to support Ukrainian winegrowers and winemakers.
Whenl: March 30 from 12:00 to 14:00.
Where: pavilion 1A, conference hall #3.
During the expo, the Ukrainian Association of Craft Distillers will organize a round table on the topic of “Simplification of distillate production conditions for small producers”. The event will take place on March 30 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., pavilion 1A, conference hall #3.
It may also be interesting for industry representatives to visit the specialized events that will be held by WorldFood Ukraine. The organizers invite producers, associations, regional development agencies, advisory services, profile media and everyone who is interested in the development of partnerships and cooperation, to join the Round Table named “Partnerships in the food market: how to unite to develop?”
When: March 31, 11:00-13:00
Where: pavilion #1, entrance 1A, conference hall #3.
Specialists and market insiders, including Svitlana Tsybak, Head of the Association of Craft Winemakers of Ukraine, will discuss the opportunities and problems of uniting market players in the production, promotion, sales and export of food and beverages, as well as analyze successful national and international cases.
Registration of visitors online: https://wineandspirits.com.ua/visit/
More information about the events and participants of WINE&SPIRITS UKRAINE can be found on Facebook and Instagram pages.
The population of EU countries will decrease by 6% by 2100, the EU statistical service Eurostat predicts. From January 1, 2022 to January 1, 2100, the number of residents in the EU will decrease by 27.3 million, to 420 million. At the same time in 2022, the population began to recover after a decline associated with the coronavirus.
According to preliminary data, 451 million people lived in the EU on January 1, 2023, compared to 443.2 million in 2021. Eurostat attributes the increase to the mass influx of Ukrainian refugees.
The maximum population – 453 million people – is expected in 2026.
In 2022-2100, the proportion of residents aged 0 to 19 years will decrease from 20% to 18%, and from 20 to 64 years – from 59% to 50%. The shares of residents aged 65-79 and older will increase from 15% to 17% and from 6% to 15%, respectively.
Preliminary data of the census for 2021 indicate an increase of the population compared to 2011 in 16 EU countries and a decrease – in 9. The most significant increase for 10 years showed Luxembourg (26%), Malta (24%) and Sweden (10%), reduction – Bulgaria (11%), Croatia (10%), Latvia (9%) and Lithuania (8%).
The leaders in the number of inhabitants in 2021 were Germany (83.2 million), France (67.9 million), Italy (59 million), Spain (47.4 million) and Poland (37 million).
