The OKKO network in 2021 invested more than UAH 25 million in arranging solar panels at its filling stations, the company’s press service said.
According to its data, thanks to this they were installed at 50 more filling stations of the company, in total there are already 63 such complexes. In particular, in Lviv region – 15, in total in Kyiv region and the capital – 15, in Odesa and Zakarpattia regions – 5 in each.
In 2022, OKKO plans to continue equipping its filling stations with solar panels.
The total design solar capacities of OKKO are currently about 1.4 MW. The volumes of electricity that they are able to generate per year make it possible to save more than 1,000 tonnes of standard fuel from non-renewable sources.
The press service clarifies that the generated electricity is used to cover the filling stations’ own needs in energy resources. In summer months, their capacity is sufficient for a medium-sized filling complex to be able to fully provide itself with its own electricity.
“Our company will continue to actively develop this area. We consider it not only in the context of economic benefits, but also from the point of view of developing alternative sources of energy supply, preserving exhaustible resources, both within the company and in the country as a whole,” Vice President of OKKO for Development and Technical Support Oleksandr Hehedysh said.
Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises are expected to increase steel production by 4% by the end of 2021 compared to 2020 – to 21.444 million tonnes.
According to the documents of the Ministry of Economy, available to Interfax-Ukraine, production of general rolled goods will also increase by 4% – to 19.175 million tonnes, pig iron smelting – also by 4%, to 21.238 million tonnes.
The forecast is based on production indicators for January-November this year, summarized by the Ukrmetalurgprom association, the ministry said.
At the same time, the source added that if the existing trends continue, the supply of scrap metal to metallurgical enterprises in 2021 will increase by 13% – up to 3.264 million tonnes.
Production of pipes in 2021 may increase by 16% – to 990,000 tonnes, coke will decrease by 1%, to 9.541 million tonnes, but production of refractories will increase – by 9%, to 240,000 tonnes.
Sinter output may increase by 4% – up to 33.158 million tonnes.
As reported, over the ten months of this year, the enterprises produced 27.875 million tonnes of sinter (106.1% against January-October 2020), 8.003 million tonnes of 6% moisture coke (at the level of last year), 17.724 million tonnes of pig iron (105%), 17.903 million tonnes of steel (105.5%), 15.986 million tonnes of rolled products (105.4%), and 820,000 tonnes of pipe products (115.9%).
A survey of 101 tax experts from the companies that are members of the European Business Association (EBA) in the framework of the Tax Index Survey 2021 showed a slight improvement in the assessment of the situation with taxation – 3.01 points with a maximum of 5 compared to 2.9 points in the previous wave of the survey, which covers the second and third quarters of 2020.
“For the first time in the decade-long Index history, its integrated value has reached the neutral plane with 3.01 points out of 5 possible. In the previous period, the tax index amounted to 2.90 points,” the report says.
“The increased integrated value is largely due to a significant improvement in the fiscal pressure evaluation as one of the index components. Survey participants rated the situation regarding fiscal pressure at 3.63 points out of 5 possible. Thus, the number of respondents who did not notice any displays of pressure on their company has doubled compared to last year and amounted to 36% in 2021. Another 14% reported that fiscal pressure was almost absent,” it reads.
“The number of respondents who reported significant displays of pressure also decreased slightly to 19% (32% in the previous period). In this regard, businesses experienced most often the unreasoned interpretation of tax legislation by regulatory bodies and baseless information requests,” according to the document.
“On the other hand, the quality of tax legislation received the lowest score among the index components with a slight decrease compared to last year – 2.71 points out of 5 possible. The tax administration and tax reporting were also given moderate evaluations. Only 12% of respondents consider this procedure easy. Another 28% believe that it is complex, although the majority of respondents, namely 64%, rate it satisfactorily,” it says.
“The main negative factor to the easiness of tax administration and reporting is the rapid implementation of new rules and lack of time for adaptation as reported by the business. Although previously the factors of the amount of time spent on taxes and the number of payments prevailed,” the release says.
“I would like to note that the survey was conducted on the eve of the mass blockade of VAT invoices in December, so the Tax Index does not reflect the full picture for 2021. In particular, companies have begun to actively seek help and support in unblocking VAT invoices, and also, we have all witnessed several high-profile tax decisions based on the results of inspections. So, we would like to point out that despite the general improvement in the situation with fiscal pressure, business is still facing blatant abuses from the tax service at the end of the year,” Svitlana Mykhailovska, the EBA Deputy Director for Advocacy, said.
“The number of respondents who believe that the current tax regime has contributed to the development of their business remains dramatically low. These are only 6% (7% last year). As for the tax areas that need improvement, the experts put personal income tax as the first priority, then corporate income tax, and finally the value-added tax,” the report says.
Creative States flexible workspace network plans to open a new location in the Capital Towers shopping and office center under construction in Kyiv by the end of 2022, founder & CEO of Creative States Ilia Kenigshtein said on Facebook.
According to him, the area of the new facility will be 5,500 square meters. The three floors of the office will house an event hall, meeting rooms, children’s areas, office premises, business suites, and a garden on the terrace.
“This is not our only new creative space in Kyiv, we will soon come out with announcements for one more, when we finalize the terms and conditions,” Kenigshtein said.
According to him, the company intends to enter the market of Kharkiv and Odesa in 2022, as well as expand the first location in Dnipro and open the second. In addition, it is planned to launch a location in Podil district in Kyiv.
Creative States markets itself as a premium, flexible workspace network with a full range of operational services. Today, the network includes three locations in Kyiv: in the Senator business center, the Gulliver business center, the Creative States of Arsenal, and also in the Creative State of Dnipro in Dnipro. It is planned to open the second location on the territory of the former Arsenal plant in Kyiv by the end of 2021.
Kyiv Sikorsky International Airport (Zhuliany) expects a significant increase in the number of flights in 2022-2023, as a result of which it is planned to double passenger traffic, according to the airport’s website with reference to Board Chairman Denys Kostrzhevsky.
“Our forecasts for the resumption of passenger traffic came true by 98%. We celebrate the new year with pleasure from the work done in difficult 2021 and look to the future with the hope of an even greater increase in passenger traffic,” Kostrzhevsky is quoted as saying.
In his opinion, the next few years will not be easy for the airport team, since it will require considerable efforts, in particular, in connection with the planned expansion of Wizzair’s presence at the airport and preparations for a runway reconstruction in 2023-2024.
“2022 and 2023 are extremely important for us. We will have to make a lot of efforts, because we expect a significant increase in the number of flights. We plan to double our passenger traffic and actually accumulate a financial reserve so as not to lose the team during the period when reconstruction begins,” he said.
The board head also explained that reconstruction will last two years and will take place in two stages.
“In 2022, a runway reconstruction project will be approved and a source of funding for it will be found. The first stage of reconstruction is 2023. The airport staff will work as usual. During this year, aprons, taxiways and lighting equipment will be reconstructed. The second stage is 2024. We will stop the airport operation for the runway reconstruction, but we will keep all the jobs and salaries of employees. We will live on the savings that we will make in 2022-2023. After all, it is very important for me to preserve jobs, professional skills of our employees,” Kostrzhevsky said.
He also said that as a result of reconstruction, the airport’s production capacity will be increased, equipment will be updated, the quality of service and flight safety will improve, and the number of jobs will increase by a third.
On the 30th anniversary of the official recognition of Ukraine as an independent and sovereign state, the U.S. Embassy said that relations between the countries are now stronger than ever.
“Today, we celebrate 30 years since the United States officially recognized Ukraine as an independent and sovereign state. The U.S-Ukraine relationship now stands stronger than ever as we work in partnership to ensure Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and forge Ukraine’s prosperous, democratic, and Euro-Atlantic future,” the embassy said on Facebook on December 25.
