Weapons production in Ukraine doubled in the first eight months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
“In 2023, arms production in Ukraine tripled. In the first eight months of this year, we increased production by another two times compared to the previous year. Today we are producing a quantity of weapons that would have seemed impossible in 2022,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at the second International Defense Industries Forum (DFNC2).
The Prime Minister noted that the draft state budget for 2025 allocates 65% more funds for the production of weapons and military equipment, which is an increase of almost UAH 300 billion.
“This means that next year there will be even more Ukrainian drones, missiles, ammunition, vehicles, artillery, and everything else we need for defense,” the Prime Minister emphasized.
Shmyhal said that Ukraine would produce 1.5 million drones in 2024, which was made possible, in part, by the involvement and support of private companies. “We have created a market for drones, and next year this number and capacity will be even greater… We are also creating a market for ammunition,” the Prime Minister added.
Among other things, the Prime Minister said that the government is forming a mechanism for long-term contracts for weapons manufacturers; building a new architecture for military procurement; expanding locations for weapons production, including the creation of underground sites.
Shmyhal said that the priorities for production include: various types of drones, including ground-based robotic systems; a full-fledged missile program, including ballistic weapons; expanding the production of all types of shells; artillery systems and various types of armored vehicles.
In addition, he said, the government is investing in the development of electronic warfare.
Ukraine exported 99.3 million tons of goods worth $28.9 billion in January-September 2024, up 36.2% in commodity terms and 6% in monetary terms compared to January-September 2023, Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka said.
According to him, in the third quarter of this year, exports amounted to 28.2 million tons, which is 36% more than in the third quarter of 2023, and the increase in monetary terms is also significant – 20.1%, it increased to $9.3 billion.
“There is also a positive trend in September-24 compared to August-24. There is a 12.6% decrease in the weight of exports, but the largest revenue for the quarter is $3.2 billion. This means that we are increasing exports of goods at the best price. This all means that exports are coming to life and are recovering at a fairly active pace,” Kachka wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.
He noted that among the exported goods, metallurgy is one of the best performers: exports of semi-finished products in commodity terms increased by 65.6% to 1.5 million tons in nine months, flat products by 86.2% to 1.1 million tons, and pipes by more than half to 338 thousand tons. Iron ore exports almost doubled, up 99.6% to 25.2 million tons.
Kachka added that cement exports are also growing: 1.3 million tons, up 31% year-on-year.
In the agricultural sector, corn (25.2 million tons exported, up 16.2%) and wheat (16 million tons, up 42.4%) remained the leaders in terms of volumes over the three quarters.
In addition, since the beginning of the year, Ukraine has already exported 4.6 million tons of sunflower oil and 3.6 million tons of meal.
Poultry exports remain stable – 334 thousand tons for 9 months, while in monetary terms there was an increase of 15% to $708 million.
“But the most interesting food product is juices: 82 thousand tons and $160 million. The growth was 65% in volume and 95.5% in value. There is also growth in the confectionery industry – cookies – $190 million (+29%), chocolate – $169 million (+38%), caramels – $151 million (+14%),” the Deputy Minister emphasized.
According to him, in September, the sugar production season began and sugar exports resumed. In September, Ukraine exported 24.7 thousand tons worth $127 million. In general, since the beginning of the year, sugar exports have already amounted to 476 thousand tons for $282 million, which is 60% more than in the same period last year.
As for imports, they amounted to $49.2 billion in January-September, Kachka said.
Most of the money was spent on oil and oil products ($5.1 billion), cars ($3.27 billion), medicines ($1.4 billion), phones/smartphones/tablets ($904 million), UAVs ($904 million), and electricity ($527 million).
Ukraine has launched an electronic system of accounting for the turnover of medical cannabis, the first pharmacy has applied for registration in it, said the Deputy Minister of Health for the development of digital transformation and digitalization.
“On Tuesday, this electronic system started working. We already have the first registration: a pharmacy from Cherkassy has already registered in the system. I hope more pharmacies will join,” she said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Karchevich specified that the sale of medkanabis drugs is carried out exclusively on the basis of an electronic prescription, so technical solutions have been developed to be able to prescribe and omit them.
In addition, the deputy minister recalled that the regulatory framework provides for the sale of both ready-made mednacabis preparations and preparations made in pharmacies from ready-made plant substances.
“In order to make it possible to manufacture these drugs in pharmacies, the requirements for the import of plant substances of cannabis have been determined,” she added.
Karchevych also noted that the registration of such substance can be carried out under a shortened procedure.
Due to technical reasons, the border crossing operations at the Palanca-Mayaky-Udobne checkpoint have been temporarily suspended, the State Customs Service of Ukraine reports.
The resumption of operations will be announced later.
Traffic on the transit section of the Odesa-Reni highway is carried out in the normal mode.
Palanka-Mayaky-Udobne checkpoint, STATE CUSTOMS SERVICE, UKRAINE
JSC OTP BANK and the European Business Association (EBA) in partnership held an offline event for Ukrainian export-oriented companies, as well as all business representatives interested in export opportunities.
“Exporters: Talk & Network” became a platform for discussing the challenges faced by companies in international markets, as well as finding ways to expand exports of Ukrainian goods and services.
In particular, Volodymyr Mudryi, Chairman of the Board of OTP Bank, mentioned programs from international organizations as opportunities for exporters. In his speech, he emphasized that the Bank’s mission today is to build a bridge between global companies and donors represented in Ukraine.
“In order to work in our country, all international organizations need a responsible and reliable partner with a history and a good reputation. Someone with whom you can speak the same language. So, for global companies, we act as a kind of “translator” of the needs that exist in our market. This is one of our missions,” said Mr. Mudryi. He emphasized that OTP Bank was among the first to start cooperation with the EBRD, and now it also has extensive programs with IFC. “In addition, within the framework of cooperation with the USAID Project “Investments for Business Sustainability”, we have closed one program of co-financing for MSMEs on preferential terms ahead of schedule, and recently received the second tranche to support business,” the banker emphasized.
However, in addition to global instruments such as programs with international companies, the Bank also supports exporters in their daily work. According to V. Mudryi, OTP BANK has developed profitable and customized services and products – a separate module “Currency Contracts” in the Click OTPay client-bank system, which has complete information on the status of settlements under export and import contracts, currency SWAP, lending, the “Trading Platform” service, which gives the client the opportunity to fix the exchange rate from 1 cent, and also provides access to the exchange of exotic currencies. “We try to optimize and personalize the work with the Bank for our clients as much as possible, to make it as convenient as possible. To this end, we have set up many processes: for example, any new contract must be processed and confirmed by the Bank on the same day,” said Mr. Mudry.
During the event, he advised entrepreneurs to expand their knowledge of ESG (environmental, social, corporate governance) sustainability standards, which are increasingly required by international organizations from Ukrainian businesses. “It is inevitable and it is already knocking on our door. There are requirements from the EBRD, the World Bank, and the National Bank of Ukraine is also planning to develop its own standards. So now, at the level of the NABU (Independent Association of Banks of Ukraine), we are trying to bring together all the requirements so that there is a common understanding of what we will implement, as well as to develop a schedule for the transition to ESG standards,” said Mr. Mudryi.
Yulia Vitka, Deputy Project Manager, spoke about various programs for exporters and SMEs and the opportunities of the USAID Investment for Business Sustainability Project. Ruslan Gashev, Chairman of the Board of Export Credit Agency, presented ECA’s experience and outlined changes in the Agency’s work that allowed it to expand cooperation with business representatives.
“Exporters: Talk & Network: tools to support export-oriented companies” was the third offline event for exporters that OTP BANK and the European Business Association held in partnership. Previous meetings with business took place in the summer and spring of 2024.
In Ukraine, the administrator of the town-planning cadastre at the state level has been working since October 1, the connection of local governments to the state cadastre has begun, according to Natalia Kozlovska, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure (Ministry of Infrastructure), during an extended meeting of the Confederation of Builders of Ukraine on Tuesday.
“Now local governments must upload to the urban planning cadastre the available urban planning documentation and all approved DPTs. We have started connecting local governments to the town planning cadastre,” Kozlovska said.
As specified in the press service of the Ministry of Infrastructure, the state enterprise “Administrator of town-planning cadastre at the state level”, which is entrusted with these functions, will also be the administrator of the Unified State Electronic System in the field of construction (USESS) and the Unified State Register of Addresses (USRA).
The administrator’s task is to ensure transparency, accessibility and efficient management of the Town Planning Cadastre at the state level. It is expected that the work of urban cadastre at the state level will contribute to greater transparency in urban planning, development of digital economy and improve conditions for investors.
As reported, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the launch of a two-year pilot project for the implementation of the town-planning cadastre at the state level by Resolution No. 909 “Some issues of realization of the pilot project on the implementation of the town-planning cadastre at the state level”.
The cadastre, in particular, provides services to support the development, verification of draft documents, as well as their preservation in a single register. An electronic cabinet of the Cadastre user has also been introduced.
As it is supposed, Gradkadastr will be connected with other information resources, in particular, with the Unified Ecological Platform “EcoSystem”, the State Register of property damaged and destroyed as a result of hostilities, terrorist acts, sabotage caused by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, regarding obtaining information (data) on damaged and destroyed property.
On October 5, the Ministry of Infrastructure will hold a meeting with regional military administrations (OBA) to discuss the issue of providing information on the customers of urban planning documentation, on October 10 the first community training on the functionality of the customer of urban planning documentation is scheduled.
The project on creation of the City Cadastre is implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Community and Territory Development, Ministry of Digital Transformation with the assistance of the project “Support for Digital Transformation”, funded by USAID and UK Dev. The project partner is the Eastern Europe Foundation.
