As part of cooperation, the Nova Poshta group of companies purchased 20 Fifish sapper robots for underwater demining for UAH 5 million for the State Emergency Service.
As noted in the message of “Nova Poshta” on Wednesday, thanks to these robots, pyrotechnics will neutralize the ammunition remaining at the bottom of the reservoirs after active hostilities in the Nikolaev region.
“Such works detect explosive objects in water bodies and transmit to sappers the exact coordinates of their location. With the help of a special working arm, the device can move the ammunition or place a detonator next to it in order to subsequently neutralize it. The robot is equipped with VR glasses. Thanks to them, the sapper sees what is happening under water and directs device in the right direction,” the Nova Poshta report says.
The first eight robots have already been handed over to rescuers. In the near future, another 12 sapper robots will arrive in Ukraine: the company will also transfer 11 of them to the State Emergency Service, and one sample will remain with the Ukrainian Robotics Association for further improvement. It will be finalized by Ukrainian specialists in accordance with the requirements of the State Emergency Service. Their task is to improve the engine, increase the operating time of the device and improve lighting.
Nova Poshta has led the process of developing an ultra-modern sapper robot for Ukraine. We took responsibility for the financial and technical directions, as well as for the search and attraction of partners. Our task is to make our own, taking into account the advantages of foreign robots, so that it meets all the needs of pyrotechnicians. In addition, the Ukrainian robot will cost less than its foreign analogues and will have more space for modernization, since we will process feedback from colleagues from the State Emergency Service faster,” Oleksiy Taranenko, director of development at Nova Poshta, is quoted in the message.
The company noted that Ukraine is now one of the most mined countries in the world. About 200 thousand square kilometers, which is almost a third of the state’s territory, need to be cleared
Another area of partnership between Novaya Poshta and the State Emergency Service is the logistics of rescue teams. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine prepares lists of necessary goods, from electronic devices to cars, and the company is engaged in their search, purchase and delivery. Nova Poshta also provides logistical support to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
Stock indices of Western European countries are changing weakly and in different directions on Wednesday, investors are waiting for the results of the November meeting of the US Federal Reserve System (FRS) and evaluate the quarterly reports of European companies, as well as macroeconomic statistics.
The composite index of the largest companies in the Stoxx Europe 600 region rose by 0.15% by 11:37 a.m. to 415.22 points.
The British stock index FTSE 100 fell by 0.13%, the German DAX – by 0.04%, the Spanish IBEX 35 – by 0.36%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 rose by 0.22%, the Italian FTSE MIB – by 0.12%.
The penultimate meeting of the Fed this year will end on Wednesday evening. According to the general opinion, its result will be the fourth consecutive increase in the key interest rate by 75 basis points.
Investors will be closely watching Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech, hoping to catch signals of a possible slowdown in the pace of rate hikes in the near future.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday it became known that the number of unemployed in Germany in October increased by 8 thousand instead of the growth expected by analysts by 12.5 thousand, and unemployment remained at around 5.5%, as expected.
The total volume of German exports, adjusted for calendar and seasonal factors, in September decreased by 0.5% compared to the previous month, imports fell by a record 2.3% since January.
Germany’s foreign trade surplus amounted to 3.7 billion euros the month before last, compared to 11.7 billion euros a year earlier and 1.2 billion euros in August.
Shares of A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S fall 5.4%. The Danish transport and logistics company’s third-quarter 2022 financial performance beat market expectations, but the company lowered its full-year demand guidance as the global economy deteriorated.
The price of GSK papers rises by 1% on the news that the British pharmaceutical company increased its revenue in the last quarter by 18% and improved its forecast for the year.
Capitalization of Next Plc rises by 1.8%. The British chain of clothing stores increased sales in the third quarter of the current financial year, slightly stronger than its own forecasts, by 0.4%. At the same time, over the last five weeks of the reporting period, the indicator jumped by 1.4% due to a surge in demand for warm clothes at the end of September.
Aston Martin Lagonda’s stock tumbled 14% after the British sports car maker reported a sharp increase in its pre-tax loss in the third quarter.
The market value of the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk jumped 4.7%. The company reported an increase in net profit in the last quarter to 14.41 billion Danish crowns ($1.91 billion) from 12.12 billion crowns a year earlier, as well as an increase in revenue by 28%, to 45.57 billion crowns. Both indicators exceeded market forecasts.
The leading gainer among Stoxx 600 components is cloud provider Sinch AB, which soared 30%. The company reported an 83% increase in July-September revenue to SEK 7.2 billion ($653 million) and a threefold increase in adjusted EBITDA to SEK 901 million.
The buildings of the Truskavets sanatoriums “Rubin” and “Yantar” (Lviv region) will be modernized for housing for internally displaced persons (IDPs), the pro bono consultant of the Truskavets urban community on this project is the law firm Integrites, Interfax-Ukraine was informed in the press – service of the law firm.
“As part of the project, it is planned to modernize the buildings of the Rubin and Yantar sanatoriums with a total area of approximately 32 thousand square meters, located in the central part of the city of Truskavets, into houses with common premises (canteens, social centers). They were mothballed at the beginning of Russian aggression in 2014-2022,” Oleg Zagnitko, partner of Integrites, told the agency.
According to him, as a result, from 1.6 thousand to 3 thousand people. – both families and single persons will receive housing.
The project is proposed to be implemented on the basis of a public-private partnership (PPP) with the aim of integrating IDPs into the economy of the subregion. Integrites has been advising the city on the financial and management structure of PPPs since July 2022.
“We, as a company, represent a public partner – a city that solves its problems: it wants to revitalize the site in the center and integrate IDPs. and will remain as long as the property is empty,” Zagnitko explained.
Integrites is currently in the process of legal and financial structuring for the redevelopment and repurposing of several downtown buildings. This will make it possible to quickly revitalize the microdistrict in the resort subregion with the involvement of a number of resource sources.
The Truskavets project is part of the Rehousing Ukraine Initiative. The Affordable Housing Institute is a partnership between the Affordable Housing Institute, a non-profit organization registered in the United States, and Integrites, with the involvement of individual and institutional specialists where necessary. The IZH team is helping Ukraine recover from the Russian invasion and sees housing in general, and IDP shelters in particular, as the key to a fast, strong and modern recovery.
“We are honored to work with Truskavets Mayor Andriy Kulchinsky to realize his vision of converting a mothballed hotel into IDP housing. We see this not only as an urgent solution for Truskavets, but also as a prototype or pilot project to further scale similar conversions throughout Ukraine “, – commented the executive director of the Institute of Affordable Housing (USA), co-founder of IJU David Smith.
Earlier it was reported that in October 2022, the property of Truskavetskurort was seized as part of criminal proceedings regarding the alienation of property of real estate objects that were managed by the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine, PJSC Ukrprofzdravnitsa and PJSC Ukrproftur.
“As we see from the motivational part of the court’s ruling, the facilities may return to state ownership under the control of the Federation of Trade Unions. In this case, the implementation of PPP may be simplified, but holding a tender for the selection of a private partner will most likely require more time to prepare,” commented on the situation. Zagnitko.
He added that at this stage, the property will be administered by ARMA, but it will be a kind of PPP, since the management of real estate by the agency should be carried out “on the terms of efficiency, as well as maintaining (if possible, increasing) (…) the economic value” of real estate property, according to Art. 21(3) of the ARMA Act”.
The structure of PJSC “Truskavetskurort” includes sanatoriums “Spring”, “Crystal”, “Almaz”, “Yantar”, “Rubin”, “Birch” (all – Truskavets). The ultimate beneficiary is Pavel Yakubenko. The registered capital of PJSC is UAH 174.8 million.
According to the company’s data for 2019, its net profit amounted to UAH 91.9 million.
Oil prices rise on Wednesday on data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), which showed a sharp decline in US inventories.
The market is also supported by information from The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg that Saudi Arabia fears Iranian attacks on facilities within the country, as well as in Iraq. This could lead to interruptions in oil supplies from the region and an increase in oil prices.
The cost of January futures for Brent crude on the London ICE Futures exchange by 8:10 pm on Wednesday is $95.73 per barrel, which is $1.08 (1.14%) higher than the closing price of the previous session. As a result of trading on Tuesday, these contracts rose by $1.84 (2%) to $94.65 per barrel.
The price of futures for WTI oil for December in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) increased by this time by $1.2 (1.36%), to $89.57 per barrel. By the close of previous trading, the cost of these contracts rose by $1.84 (2.1%) to $88.37 per barrel.
U.S. oil inventories fell 6.53 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 28, after rising 4.52 million barrels a week earlier, according to API data released on Tuesday.
Official data on energy stocks in the United States will be released by the US Department of Energy on Wednesday at 17:30 square meters.
Experts surveyed by S&P Global Commodity Insights, on average, expect a decline in oil inventories last week by 1.6 million barrels, gasoline – by 1.9 million barrels, distillates – by 1 million barrels.
LLC Pobuzhsky Ferronickel Plant (PFC, Kirovograd region), which is part of the international investment group Solway, is forced to suspend production.
According to a press release from the company on Tuesday evening, as a result of the missile attack and global damage to the power grid, the company is unable to resume the operation of furnaces.
At the same time, it is specified that on the morning of October 22, the military forces of the Russian Federation carried out 3 missile strikes on an energy facility that provided power to the PFC, as well as a number of settlements in the Kirovograd and Nikolaev regions, including a water intake station on the Southern Bug (PS “Long Pristan” 35 kV).
As a result of power failure at PFC, the metallurgical process and water intake were stopped. PFC suffered significant economic damage, and production was forced to stop until the state-owned substation is properly restored and the necessary repairs to the main equipment are completed.
At the same time, the enterprise took all necessary measures to prevent situations that could have a negative impact on human health or the environment.
“Currently, power supply has been restored, but it is very unstable and barely enough for the needs of the population. Due to the impossibility of conducting the production process, the company is forced to suspend its main production activities,” the press release states.
The downtime start date is November 1, 2022.
It is also noted that since the beginning of the military aggression against Ukraine, the PFC has been operating at a loss due to high energy costs, logistical obstacles, lack of raw materials, and was subsidized by its Swiss investor Solway Investment Group, trying to fulfill its obligations to workers and the community as much as possible.
Given the forced decline in production by more than half, for 9 months of this year, the total volume of processed raw materials amounted to 0.643 million tons (62.8% compared to the results of 9 months 2021), which corresponds to 42.299 thousand tons of ferronickel (77.5% ) by 9 months-2021), or 7.4 thousand tons of nickel (63.5% by 9 months 2021).
During the specified reporting period, the plant paid taxes to the budget of Ukraine in the amount of UAH 113.8 million (7.9% more than in 9 months of 2021). Of these, UAH 56.1 million is a single social contribution (up 8.6% compared to 9 months 2021) and UAH 44 million are payroll taxes (up 9.1% compared to 9 months 2021).
According to the press release, despite the decline in production capacity with the start of full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, wages and social benefits were maintained in full. In addition, with the participation of the parent company Solway, the employees of the plant carried out a complete set of first-aid kits for the military according to the standards of NATO and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and established the process of purchasing and delivering the necessary funds and medical equipment from abroad. At present, the financial assistance of PFC and the Solway investment group in the acquisition of medical equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine amounted to about UAH 5 million.
The press service clarifies that during the period of downtime, jobs will be saved for all staff. Personnel involved in the maintenance and operation of critical infrastructure facilities and the protection of the plant’s facilities will be paid for the actual hours worked. In accordance with Article 113 of the Labor Code of Ukraine, employees who are not involved in the protection or operation of equipment will be paid for downtime in the amount of at least two thirds of the established tariff rate or salary.
“We remain on the ground and will try to keep the team, to be useful to society and the defenders of Ukraine for the sake of Our Victory,” says PFC General Director Denis Shevchenko, quoted by the press service.
During the period of forced downtime, PFC will continue to fulfill its social obligations to the society in terms of water supply, drainage, gas and heat supply.
Currently, PFC is fully integrated into the production process of Solway Investment Group. The total investment of the group in the plant amounted to more than $130 million.
International investment group Solway started its activity in 2002. It is a private company with a diversified business in the mining and metallurgical industries. The key companies of the group are registered in Switzerland, Luxembourg, Estonia and Malta. 100% of the share capital belongs to EU citizens. Solway’s main production assets are located in North Macedonia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Argentina and Ukraine.
The United States has launched a $47.6 million demining assistance project in Ukraine, the State Department said on Wednesday.
“September 30, the State Department provided $47.6 million to Tetra Tech, Inc. of Pasadena, California to provide emergency humanitarian mine clearance assistance to Ukraine,” the statement said.
Under the terms of the project, the company will “strengthen Ukraine’s ability to detect and clear landmines, unexploded and abandoned ordnance, improvised explosive devices and other explosive objects from civilian areas.”
In addition, Tetra Tech will provide Ukraine with the tools needed to carry out demining work.
This project is part of a $91.5 million demining assistance the State Department will provide over the coming year.
