Approximately 60% of the EU and Britain this year are experiencing the effects of drought, which is exacerbated by abnormal heat, the Axios portal reported on Wednesday, citing the European Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service.
“The drought, coupled with high temperatures, is leading to an increase in the risk of fires due to lack of rain and to the appearance of dead wood,” the service said in a statement.
At the same time, EU countries such as France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands are facing water shortages. Such conditions have a negative impact on agriculture, energy and river navigation.
The UK’s main weather service said the south and east of England experienced their hottest July on record. Meteorologists expect the dry weather to last until October.
Employees of the Atmospheric Monitoring Service earlier, after analyzing data for the end of July, found that by the middle of the month up to 45% of the EU was in the drought zone, and 15% had a serious water shortage.
Also in July, service specialists predicted that dry weather conditions in the region would continue in August and September.
A Ukrainian transport company reacted positively to the proposal of Slovnaft and MOL to pay transit fees for transporting oil through the southern branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline, the Slovak company said.
“Slovnaft has already made a payment to the company’s account. Based on this, Slovnaft expects the resumption of oil supplies in the coming days. The Russian side also agreed with this decision,” the company stressed.
According to Bloomberg, the Hungarian MOL also transferred the transit payment and expects to resume deliveries in the coming days.
Earlier, Transneft reported that on August 4, Ukrtransnafta stopped the transit of Russian oil through Ukraine due to a failure to pay the transit fee. It was noted that the funds sent on July 22 for transit in August were returned to the account of Transneft on July 28 in connection with the entry into force of EU Regulation 2022/1269. Through the southern branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline passing through the territory of Ukraine, oil supplies are carried out in the direction of the refineries of Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic on the basis of a long-term agreement between PJSC Transneft and JSC Ukrtransnafta for the provision of oil transportation services on the terms of 100% prepayment.
The Hungarian MOL and the Slovak Slovnaft (also part of the MOL group) initiated discussions with the Ukrainian and Russian sides on the possibility of paying a transit fee to MOL or Slovnaft, which would allow oil supplies to be restored.
“The interruption of supplies occurred after technical problems at the bank level due to the payment of transit fees from the Russian side. However, production at the Bratislava refinery is running smoothly, and deliveries to the market are smooth. During this period, the Bratislava refinery is in close cooperation with the national oil transporter Transpetrol, as well as in cooperation with the Slovak Ministry of Economy, uses all the reserves available in the system for processing,” Slovnaft said.
So far, there have been no reports of a solution to the problem of transit to the Czech Republic.
Last year, 12 million tons of Russian oil was transported through Druzhba through Ukraine, including 3.4 million tons to the Czech Republic, 5.2 million tons to Slovakia, and 3.4 million tons to Hungary.
According to Experts Club founder Maksim Urakin, the humanitarian situation that has developed in Ukraine now requires more effective interaction between volunteers and the diaspora in the United States.
“We need to develop ties with organizations such as Wisconsin Ukrainians, inform them about the requests for humanitarian supplies we have today and that will also be in the near future. This will allow us to provide more effective assistance to our people affected by the war,” he explained.
The Nasha Lepta project provides assistance to families of internally displaced persons, families with many children, children with cerebral palsy and autism, as well as children with serious illnesses and disabilities. It is created on the basis of the community of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The project website is http://nasha-lepta.com.ua/
The Experts Club is an analytical center that conducts research in the field of economics, sociology, healthy nutrition and other areas, as well as conducts educational activities. The YouTube channel of the project: https://www.youtube.com/c/Клубэкспертов.
Wisconsin Ukrainians Inc. is a Wisconsin-based non-profit humanitarian organization. Through the efforts of the organization, more than 61 tonnes of humanitarian and medical supplies were delivered to Ukraine for Ukrainian defenders and the population.
The organization website: https://www.wisconsinukrainians.org/
CHARITY, CLUB_OF_EXPERTS, OUR_MITE, UKRAINIAN_CHARITY_FOUNDATION, UKRAINIANS_WISCONSIN, URAKIN, WISCONSIN_UKRAINIANS_INC, АНГЕЛІНА_ЖЕРЕВЧУК
3,893 new cases of COVID-19 were registered in Ukraine last week, which is 40% more than a week earlier, Interfax-Ukraine was told at the Ministry of Health, citing head of department Viktor Lyashko
“Over the past week, 3,893 new cases of the disease were detected, which is 40% more than a week earlier,” the Ministry of Health said.
The Minister said that as a result of COVID-19 over the past week, 16 people died from complications, a week earlier – 14 people
At the same time, 1,763 patients were hospitalized in hospitals with COVID-19 over the past week, while 1,682 people recovered.
Currently, about 5% of the beds allocated for patients with COVID-19 are occupied in Ukrainian clinics.
Agricultural holding KSG Agro in January-June 2022 increased its normalized profit by 43% compared to the first half of 2021 – up to $1.21 million from $0.85 million.
According to the holding’s report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange website on Wednesday, its net profit over this period decreased 16 times, to $0.86 million from $13.7 million in the first half of 2021. This change is due to the fact that in the first half of last year, the agricultural group received $12.86 million in profit from the sale of subsidiaries, while in the first half of 2022 it spent $0.35 million on the purchase of assets.
In addition, KSG Agro’s EBITDA decreased in January-June 2022 by 17% to $2.22 million compared to the same period last year, while its revenue decreased by 12% to $6.02 million.
The agricultural holding also reduced gross profit by 17% to $2.05 million, operating profit by 22% to $1.48 million.
According to the report, in the first half of 2022, the group of companies received a net loss of $2.1 million due to the difference in exchange rates, while in January-June 2021 this factor generated $0.49 million in net profit.
KSG Agro emphasizes that under the conditions of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, the agrarian group has successfully completed the spring sowing campaign, finished harvesting the winter crops and does not expect significant interruptions in the production cycle in the near future.
The report indicates that the total capital of the agricultural producer by June 30, 2022 decreased by 3.8% compared to December 31, 2021, to $22.44 million, while its net debt increased by 14.6%, to $30.89 million Thus, in the first half of the year the ratio of net debt to capital increased by 15.9% – up to 1.38.
The total assets of the agricultural holding for the specified period decreased by 4.1%, to $68.52 million, while long-term debt obligations increased by 10.3%, to $28.43 million, and current liabilities decreased by 21.1%, to $17, 65 million
“The Board of Directors is developing a new development strategy to expand the group’s activities in the EU with the clear goal of having the majority of assets and revenues there over the next 3-5 years. This goal can be achieved through a series of mergers and acquisitions and is financed by a combination of equity and debt funds, including additional issues of shares,” the agricultural holding announced its plans in the report.
At the same time, KSG Agro does not plan to sell its assets in Ukraine. Its development strategy is to expand and invest only in Ukraine to hedge potential risks, as well as mitigate the negative impact on the group’s activities in the current macroeconomic situation in the country.
The number of sows of the agricultural group by June 30, 2022 increased by 9.5% compared to December 31, 2021 – up to 6.09 thousand. At the same time, the total number of animals (pigs and piglets) increased by 30%, up to 52.9 thousand. heads.
In the crop-growing segment, the agricultural holding in January-June of the current year reduced its net profit by 16.4% compared to the same period last year, to $1.22 million, in the livestock segment it increased by 9.2%, to $0.77 million. “other operations” (production of fuel pellets and thermal energy) net profit decreased by 4.7 times, to $0.07 million.
Thus, the total profit of the agricultural group in the operating segment in the first quarter of this year amounted to $2.05 million (-17% compared to the same period last year.
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 in the Dnepropetrovsk and Kherson regions.
According to the agricultural holding, he is in the top 5 pork producers in Ukraine.
KSG Agro in 2021 increased its net profit by 16 times compared to 2020 – up to $20.27 million, revenue – by 44%, up to $30.75 million, while doubling EBITDA – up to $12.28 million.
The owner and chairman of the board of directors of KSG Agro is Sergey Kasyanov.
Exports of goods in % to the previous period in 2021 and 2022
SSC of Ukraine
