The international vertically integrated pipe and wheel company Interpipe in January-June of this year reduced its net profit by 33.8% compared to the same period last year – to $19.532 million from $29.431 million.
According to the company’s interim report on operating and financial results for the second quarter and as a whole for the first half of 2022, pretax profit in January-June decreased by 51%, to $24.899 million from $50.766 million for the same period in 2021.
At the same time, operating profit increased by 6%, to $66.567 million from $62.847 million.
Interpipe in the first half of this year received $50.429 million EBITDA, which is 54.7% lower than in the same period last year ($111.209 million). The company’s revenue for this period decreased by 9.9%, to $595.638 million from $661.055 million.
In addition, Interpipe reduced free cash from $206.008 million at the beginning of this year to $156.767 million by the middle of the year.
Interpipe is a Ukrainian industrial company, a manufacturer of seamless pipes and railway wheels. The company’s products are supplied to more than 80 countries through a network of sales offices located in the key markets of the CIS, the Middle East, North America and Europe. In 2021, Interpipe sold 602,000 tonnes of pipe products and 174,000 tonnes of railway products. Railway products are sold under the KLW brand.
The UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution on respect for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, which also condemns Russia’s attempt to annex the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions of Ukraine.
According to the broadcast from the General Assembly hall, 143 out of 193 participants voted in favor, 35 countries abstained (Algeria, Armenia, Bolivia, Burundi, Central African Republic, China, Congo, Cuba, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Guinea, Honduras, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Mali, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Pakistan, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Zimbabwe), voted 5 against (Belarus, DPRK , Nicaragua, Russia and Syria).
Difficult year awaits Ukraine in 2023: the public finance deficit is estimated at $3-4 billion, it is necessary to ensure the stability of the economy, and the IMF will provide support: an international forum will be convened in the near future to solve this problem, said the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva.
“We need to learn how to ensure the sustainability of the economy. According to our preliminary estimates, three to four billion dollars are needed monthly,” she said at the second meeting of the “round table” of ministers to support Ukraine as part of the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington in Wednesday.
Responding to the call of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to organize an economic forum, which meets on a regular basis, and considers the macro-situation in the country, the lack of funding and solves the problem of its reduction, Georgieva said that such work is already underway.
“We will convene the forum as soon as possible,” the head of the IMF said.
She also noted that the Fund has a new platform for interaction, allowing for monitoring jointly with the board of directors, which is the way to a full-fledged program for Ukraine, which Zelensky called for.
“We are moving with you in the direction of a strong Ukraine,” Georgieva stressed.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen noted that a new IMF program for Ukraine could be early next year.
Georgieva clarified that the Fund’s team, together with the Ukrainian team, immediately after the annual meeting of the IMF and the WB, will determine the macroeconomic framework and budget of Ukraine.
She expressed her hope that the war would end sooner rather than later. “But judging by what we see, we should be close to the Ukrainian people,” the head of the IMF said.
She recalled that Ukraine’s international partners have already mobilized $35 billion, a significant part of which has already been transferred, and called for further support, especially in the form of grants.
According to Georgieva, further needs will be determined, firstly, by the cost of social services, which depends on war and migration, and secondly, the cost of restoring vital infrastructure, which also depends on war and on prioritization.
“And thirdly, what are the energy needs of the country, how much needs to be imported to provide for people in Ukraine, and this depends, of course, on the horrors of war,” the managing director added.
She noted that the senseless war of Russia against Ukraine has sharply worsened the prospects for the global economy and brought the most dramatic consequences for the people of Ukraine.
As reported earlier, Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko said that the government estimates the need to finance the state budget deficit in 2023 at $3.5 billion per month.
The first meeting of such a “round table” was held at the spring meeting of the IMF and WB on April 21. It announced Ukraine’s monthly need of $5 billion to finance the state budget deficit in the context of the war unleashed by Russia.
The draft state budget of Ukraine for 2023, which was adopted in the first reading, provides for external financing of the deficit in the amount of $38 billion, or about $3.2 billion per month.
Vitaliy Litovka, a representative of the Metinvest mining and metallurgical group, has been appointed General Director of PJSC Yuzhkoks (Kamenskoye, Dnepropetrovsk region), previously he held a similar position at PJSC Avdeevsky Coke and Chemical Plant (AKKhZ).
According to the official announcement of the Supervisory Board of the company, Litovka was appointed CEO on September 2, 2022 for the period from September 5, 2022 to April 4, 2023 inclusive.
At the same time, it is specified that earlier Litovka was the general director of AKHZ until September 2022.
The authorized capital of PJSC “Yuzhkoks” is UAH 171.918 million, the par value of the share is UAH 0.25.
Industrial enterprises are asking the National Commission for State Regulation in the Spheres of Energy and Public Utilities (NEURC) not to increase the marginal prices (so-called price caps) for electricity on the day ahead market (RDA), intraday market (HRV) and the balancing market to avoid stopping production.
Sources in the market told Interfax-Ukraine that there is a significant possibility of stopping production, in particular, such statements were made on October 12 during a public discussion of the draft decision at the NEURC.
Thus, Alexander Zavgorodniy, Director for Economics and Finance of the Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant (NFP), said that electricity is the main component of the cost of the plant’s products, so the rise in prices will significantly affect the economy of the enterprise.
“Given the likely increase in price caps, rising prices in the electricity market, as well as intentions to increase the cost of transportation and dispatching of electricity, we have decided to stop the operation of the enterprise from November,” the top manager said, adding that the enterprise plans in advance in this case is idle in the winter.
In turn, Oleg Kachko, Deputy Chairman of the Board for Finance of the Zaporozhye Ferroalloy Plant (ZZF), stressed that an increase in price caps will inevitably lead to an increase in electricity prices and, as a result, will lead to an increase in production costs and an inevitable shutdown of the enterprise.
According to him, the increase in price caps will cost the company an additional UAH 1 billion per year. “It is not known where to get these funds, when there are problems with logistics within the country, you need to keep staff, pay salaries. Therefore, in a war, this is not a very right decision,” said the representative of the ZZF.
At the same time, the Dniprozot plant, the only producer of chlorine for Ukrainian water utilities, has been idle since the very beginning of the war. However, due to the technological danger of the production cycle, the enterprise maintains minimal economic activity. However, according to the representative of the company, due to the increase in price caps for electricity costs, Dniproazot will have to stop completely, and the resumption of work will no longer be possible.
The mining industry is also under threat of a complete shutdown. In particular, Alexander Petrovets, Deputy Chief Power Engineer of the Pokrovsky Mining and Processing Plant (PGOK), said that there is a high probability that the enterprise will shut down in November due to an increase in price caps.
“PGOK is a city-forming enterprise, the existence of the city of Pokrovsk depends on our work. We try to work in extremely difficult conditions: the demand for our products is decreasing, the cost of production is growing, there are problems with the purchase of materials for repairs and maintenance of equipment. Therefore, our enterprise can no longer withstand this difficult situation,” the top manager stated.
Vladimir Bodnar, Deputy Chairman of the Board for Economics and Finance of the Marganets GOK (MGOK), recalled that the enterprise is constantly under fire from enemy artillery. However, due to rising costs, the work of the enterprise may stop. “And if price caps rise, then due to the shutdown of a large number of enterprises, there will be no one to sell this electricity to,” Bodnar concluded.
The Ministry of Economy proposed at a meeting with food industry associations on October 11 that the terms of settlement of goods producers and retailers be set at 24-30 days as a compromise and slightly expand the list of goods for the effective uninterrupted work of both parties.
“We are trying to bring the positions of the parties closer. In particular, as a compromise option, we propose to set a settlement period of 24 or 30 days. If the parties do not agree, we will be forced to use other mechanisms, although the government is fundamentally against strengthening regulation,” the First Deputy Prime Minister is quoted as saying. – Minister of Economy Yulia Sviridenko press service of the department.
According to her, the issue of payments for delivered goods is really painful, since each of the parties believes that it is lending at its own expense to the other.
“We are talking, in particular, about payments for goods of significant social importance, and about debts for previously delivered goods. The government believes that the best solution is to coordinate the positions of manufacturers and sellers in the dialogue process and strengthen the discipline of payments,” Sviridenko said.
During the meeting, issues were also raised of providing food industries with preferential gas, lending to food and processing enterprises under the 5-7-9 program, uninterrupted supply of electricity to food industry enterprises during rolling blackouts, as well as issues of limiting the export of sunflower seeds and obtaining permission for transactions for certain types of import operations.
The Ministry of Economy noted that at present gas at preferential prices is received by enterprises of the baking industry and dairy products, and now the country does not have the opportunity to expand the corresponding list. As Sviridenko explained, first of all, it is necessary to provide the population with preferential gas, but, given the importance of the stable operation of enterprises in the industry, the issue of the possibility of purchasing additional volumes of gas for preferential supplies to the food industry will be worked out.
According to the agency, the head of the Ministry of Economy also supported the request of the food industry to include industry enterprises in the list of critical infrastructure, which will allow them to receive electricity even during rolling blackouts. According to her, this issue will be worked out with the Ministry of Energy and local authorities, which form the relevant lists.
