Internal and external debt of Ukraine in 2009-2022
SSC of Ukraine
It is necessary to achieve an extension of the Istanbul food deal, as this will help feed the world, US President Joe Biden said during a speech at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.
“I am grateful for the work of the UN, including the leadership of Secretary General António Guterres, thanks to which it was possible to create a mechanism that allows exporting grain from Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea … We need to ensure that it is extended,” Biden said during of his speech, noting “faith in the need to feed the world”.
The US President added that Russia is trying to blame the food crisis on the sanctions that Western countries have imposed against it. However, according to him, “our sanctions regimes quite clearly allow Russia to export food and fertilizers.”
Biden also said the US will donate $2.9 billion in humanitarian aid and food security assistance this year.
Agroholding KSG Agro has begun exporting sunflower oil to Poland and Italy, and the first batch of 2,000 tons of rapeseed has been sent to Slovakia, according to a press release from the agrarian group on Thursday.
“Currently, there are very good conditions for agricultural producers to export to the EU – in fact, there are no taxes (in particular, VAT) and import duties. So, if you solve problems with transportation, establish efficient logistics, you can have a good source of replenishment of foreign exchange income”, – quotes the agricultural holding of its owner Sergey Kasyanov.
According to him, the export of agricultural products to the EU makes it difficult to increase the cost of logistics and increase its time. So, if earlier one delivery to the EU was carried out on average in 5-7 days, then in the conditions of the Russian military invasion and queues at border crossings, delivery can last 20-30 days.
It is specified that the supply of sunflower oil to Poland and Italy will be carried out with the help of flexitanks – polymer containers designed for the transportation of liquid cargo on conventional trucks.
In addition to KSG Agro LLP, we are currently negotiating with partners regarding the possibility of bottling and refining sunflower oil in the EU countries in order to quickly increase its exports and sell products ready for consumption.
“We managed to build effective supply chains for export supplies of both grain and high value-added products (vegetable oil) to the markets of the EU countries, despite the blockade of seaports. In 2022-2023, we plan to focus on developing the export of our products in order to increase foreign exchange earnings. There are all the prerequisites for this, for example, high demand in the EU for grain and the same rapeseed,” Kasyanov summed up in the message.
The vertically integrated holding KSG Agro is engaged in pig breeding, as well as the production, storage, processing and sale of grains and oilseeds. Its land bank is about 21 thousand hectares.
According to the agricultural holding, he is in the top 5 pork producers in Ukraine.
In 2021, the holding increased its net profit by 16 times compared to 2020, to $20.27 million, revenue by 44%, to $30.75 million, while doubling EBITDA to $12.28 million.
The owner and chairman of the board of directors of KSG Agro is Sergey Kasyanov.
The US dollar continues to strengthen against the euro in trading on Thursday after jumping the day before at the results of the meeting of the Federal Reserve System (FRS).
The American Central Bank raised the base interest rate on Wednesday by 75 basis points (bp) to 3-3.25% per annum. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said during a press conference following the meeting on the need for further rate hikes to curb inflation.
The median forecast of Fed officials suggests that the rate will reach 4.4% per annum by the end of this year and will be 4.6% by the end of 2023.
The euro/dollar pair is trading at $0.9828 as of 09:05 Moscow time on Thursday, compared to $0.9839 at the close of the previous session. On the eve of the euro lost 1.31% against the dollar.
“The Fed, in addition to another 75 bp rate hike on Wednesday, signaled that it sees the need to keep rates high for a long time,” said Sophia Ng, a currency analyst at MUFG Bank, quoted by Dow Jones.
The yen exchange rate against the dollar updated a 24-year low on Thursday after the publication of the results of the meeting of the Bank of Japan.
The Japanese Central Bank left unchanged the main parameters of monetary policy: the short-term interest rate on deposits of commercial banks in the Central Bank was left at minus 0.1% per annum, the target yield on ten-year government bonds is about zero.
The Bank of Japan also confirmed that it intends to keep the rate “at the current level or below.”
As of 9:05 Moscow time, the dollar/yen pair is trading at 144.89 yen against 144.08 yen at the close of the previous session. During the auction, the dollar rose to 145.37 yen.
The pound sterling depreciates against the dollar ahead of the Bank of England meeting. The pound dropped to $1.1241 from $1.1271 the day before.
Experts believe that the British Central Bank may raise the base rate on Thursday by 75 bp, which will be the highest increase since 1989. In this case, the rate will reach 2.5% per annum.
The ICE-calculated index, which shows the dynamics of the dollar against six currencies (the euro, the Swiss franc, the yen, the Canadian dollar, the pound sterling and the Swedish krona), adds 0.89%, the broader WSJ Dollar Index – 0.31%.
U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Liz Truss discussed Ukraine, energy and economic security during the first official talks since she headed the British government, the White House reported on Wednesday.
“We want closer cooperation with the US, in particular on energy and economic security issues, as well as reaching out to other democracies around the world to ensure the triumph of democracies,” Truss said, quoted by the US administration.
In turn, Biden told Truss that he expects further close cooperation between the United States and Britain, and that they have a lot to do together.
“I look forward to working closely with you, our closest ally in the world,” the US president said.
Truss also added that she is “very eager to work with the US to make sure we support the Ukrainians.”
The government of Ukraine plans to attract $37.9 billion to finance the state budget deficit and $13.6 billion for restoration, the largest contribution is expected – $18 billion and $6.5 billion respectively – from the United States through USAID, such data are given in the presentation of the project state budget-2023.
According to information on the website of the Ministry of Finance, it is assumed that assistance from the United States will be monthly: for the budget – $1.5 billion, and for recovery – from $0.4 billion to $0.6 billion.
The second most important source of budget financing in the presentation is the IMF – $ 15 billion: $ 2 billion each in January, February and September, $ 1.6 billion in June, $ 0.6 billion – in August and from $ 0.8 to 1.1 billion – in the rest months.
As for macro-financial assistance from the EU and other sources, it is expected to be restored in the amount of $7.1 billion – monthly at $0.6 billion, except for $0.5 billion in December. While state budget funding from this source is projected at $4.9 billion: $1.9 billion in the first quarter, $1.3 billion in the second, $0.2 billion in the third and $1.3 billion in the fourth.
Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko specified that this year, as part of negotiations with international partners, Ukraine has already received $19 billion in financial support, of which almost 50% is grant funds.
“By the end of the year, we plan to raise about another $17 billion in additional funding,” he said, presenting the draft state budget in the Rada on Wednesday.
