Ukrainian agricultural holding KSG Agro and pasta producer Makarony Polskie (Rzeszów, Poland) signed a letter of intent to establish cooperation in the field of trade in vegetable oil and grain, as well as cooperation in other areas of agricultural production.
Information about the conclusion of the relevant protocol was made public on the Warsaw Stock Exchange on Monday evening.
According to the announcement, the parties intend to arrange the import of rapeseed and sunflower oil from Ukraine for their processing and sale in Poland and third countries.
It is clarified that the letter of intent is not a binding agreement, but only expresses the desire to start negotiations on mutual cooperation of the parties.
According to the website of the Polish company, Makarony Polskie is one of the largest manufacturers of pasta in the country. The company has production plants in Rzeszów and Częstochowa.
Its products are offered under the brands Makarony Polskie, Sorenti and Abak.
The vertically integrated holding KSG Agro is engaged in pig breeding, as well as production, storage, processing and sales of grain and oil crops. His land bank is about 21 thousand. ha in Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson regions.
According to the agricultural holding, it is among the top 5 pork producers in Ukraine.
In 2021, KSG Agro increased net profit 16 times compared to 2020 – to $20.27 million, revenue – by 44%, to $30.75 million, while doubling EBITDA – to $12.28 million.
Westinghouse Electric Company and NAEK “Energoatom” signed a contract for the development of an updated feasibility study for the construction of two AP1000 units at the Khmelnytsky NPP in Ukraine.
“In accordance with the agreement, Westinghouse will provide technical information on the AP1000 installation in support of Energoatom’s updated feasibility study for the construction of two AP1000 reactors at the Khmelnytskyi NPP,” the American company said in a press release.
These efforts advance the previously signed agreement between the companies on the construction of AP1000 units at units #5 and #6 of the Khmelnytsky NPP, the beginning of the licensing process, and the further development of Ukraine’s initiatives in the field of clean energy.
“This is an important step for Ukraine’s energy independence. We are ready to provide our technologies and equipment for the AP1000 plant in Ukraine, and we are constantly inspired by the unwavering determination and resilience of our strategic partners,” noted David Durham, president of Westinghouse Energy Systems.
As reported, in September 2021, Energoatom and Westinghouse signed a memorandum on the construction of five NPP power units in Ukraine. In early June 2022, the companies signed agreements to increase the number of nuclear power units that will be built using AP 1000 technology in Ukraine from five to nine units, and to create a Westinghouse engineering and technical center in the country.
“Energoatom” is the operator of all four operating nuclear power plants of Ukraine. It operates the Zaporizhia, South-Ukrainian, Rivne and Khmelnytskyi stations with 15 power units equipped with water-hydrogen power reactors with a total installed electrical capacity of 13.8 GW.
Google has decided to maintain special conditions for Ukrainian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) until the end of the war, exempting them from paying for Google Workspace, which was introduced in the rest of the world on July 1, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov has said.
“Since July, Google has been introducing a paid subscription to Google Workspace, but we have agreed on special conditions for our small and medium-sized enterprises. Until the end of the full-scale war, these services will be free,” Fedorov wrote on the Telegram channel on Monday.
He also thanked Google for its regular assistance and support to Ukraine, in particular, for providing the country with $15 million in assistance and free use of Google Workspace by Ukrainian teachers, as well as donating 43,000 laptops to schools.
Google Workspace includes corporate mail, cloud storage and other services.
The Ukraine Recovery Plan for 2022-2032 includes a number of projects in the agro-industrial complex, the implementation of which will require an investment of at least $37 billion, including a project for the development of processing in the agricultural sector in accordance with the Green Deal principles, for which it is planned to raise $10.2 billion.
It is proposed to increase the production of starch, syrups, gluten, lecithin, protein, premixes, meat and milk as the key directions for the development of processing in the agro-industrial complex, according to a detailed document provided to Interfax-Ukraine by Secretary of the National Council for Ukraine Recovery Danylo Hetmantsev.
It is also planned to attract $4 billion of investments in the construction of an irrigation system on a total area of 1 million hectares, $7.7 billion in increasing the production of agricultural products with high added value, $1.6 billion in the reclamation of war-damaged lands, $5.5 billion in increasing livestock production and $1 billion to promote the transition of the Ukrainian agro-industrial complex to “green” development.
According to the document, it is planned to attract $6.5 billion by 2032 to restore 10,500 Ukrainian agricultural enterprises after the war.
The plan for the recovery of Ukraine specifies that the main problems of the Ukrainian agro-industrial complex are the low degree of agricultural products processing, the generation of insignificant amounts of surplus value by the agricultural sector, and the country’s dependence on “oversized imports.”
As reported, the Ukraine Recovery Plan is aimed at accelerating sustainable economic growth. The plan defines a list of national programs to achieve the key results.
In total, the program provides for the implementation of 850 projects during 2022-2032, which will allow Ukraine to enter the TOP-25 countries in the world in terms of the Human Capital Index and the Economic Complexity Index.
The application for the transit of Russian gas through the territory of Ukraine remains at the level of the previous days and months.
Europe has been without Nord Stream gas for the second day.
The energy deficit was aggravated by a two-fold drop in electricity production due to wind.
TRANSIT THROUGH UKRAINE
“Operator GTS Ukrainy” accepted from “Gazprom” an application for gas transit for Tuesday in the amount of 41.2 million cubic meters. m, evidenced by OGTSU data. The indicator on Monday was 41.1 million cubic meters. m. Powers are declared only at one of the two points of entry into the Ukrainian GTS – the Suzha gas measuring station. The application was not accepted for the corridor through the Sokhranovka GIS.
OGTSU announced a force majeure for the acceptance of gas for transit through the GIS station “Sochranovka”, referring to the fact that it cannot carry out operational and technological control over the compressor station “Novopskov”.
Kyiv offered to transfer transit volumes from “Sochranovka” to GIS “Suja”, but “Gazprom” stated that this was technologically impossible.
At the same time, Ukraine insists that payment should still be made on the basis of the estimated volume of transportation of the long-term contract of 109 million cubic meters. m per day according to the “download or pay” rule. “Naftogaz” claims that it is now not receiving payment for transit and is preparing to apply to arbitration.
EUROPEAN MARKET
At the beginning of the new week, the production of electricity due to wind in Europe fell to 7.6% of the energy balance in the EU, while the average indicator for the past week was 15%, according to data from the WindEurope association.
Europe continues to pump gas into underground storage facilities. At the moment, the reserves are about 62.08%, according to data from the Gas Infrastructure Europe association. The increase over the last day was 0.46 percentage points. The current level of reserves in the UGC of Europe lags behind the five-year average by 1.24 percentage points. Since this year, the EU has introduced strict regulation of the use of underground storage facilities. By the beginning of the selection season in 2022, the reserves should be at least 80% of the capacity of the UHP, and 90% thereafter.
European terminals for receiving LNG in July are operating at an average capacity of 63% of their capacity, which is equal to the June indicator. For now, the region remains a premium market for LNG, as prices in Asia are slightly lower than European hubs.
Spot prices for gas in Europe against the background of the Nord Stream repair shutdown are at the level of $1,690 per thousand cubic meters. In Asia, prices are noticeably lower – the August futures on the JKM Platts index (Japan Korea Marker – reflects the spot market value of cargo delivered to Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan) is trading at $1,390.
Ambassadors of the “Big Seven” (G7) countries recalled the critical importance of the timely appointment of the head of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) in Ukraine.
“As we discussed with Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanyshina on July 7, the G7 ambassadors reiterate that the timely appointment of the head of the SAP is critically important for strengthening the anti-corruption institutions of Ukraine,” the message on Twitter states.
As reported, the European Commission recommended granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership “with the understanding that seven steps will be taken.” One of these steps was called “completion of the appointment of the new head of the SAP by certifying the identified winner of the competition” and the launch and completion of the process of selection and appointment of the new director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).
The competition commission for the election of the head of the SAP from 2021 cannot approve the results of the competition, according to which NABU detective Alexander Klymenko received 246 points for the position of head of the SAP, and prosecutor of the Prosecutor General’s Office Andrey Sinyuk – 229 points.
The updated memorandum of economic and financial policy of Ukraine with the International Monetary Fund provided for the election of a new head of the SAP by December 2021.
