Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) of National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom in January-June 2021 generated 42.1 billion kWh of electricity, which is 6.8% more than in the same period last year (39.4 billion kWh).
“Some 42.1 billion kWh were generated, which is 54.2% of the total electricity generated in Ukraine. In 2020, the share of electricity generated by Energoatom was 51.4%. The electricity generation target has been fulfilled by 106.6%,” Energoatom said on its website on Thursday.
As the company said, Energoatom managed to produce 1.6 billion kWh out of 2.7 billion kWh of additional electricity volumes in the first half of the year by reducing the time for scheduled preventive maintenance at NPPs by almost 75 days.
The installed capacity utilization factor (ICUF) of NPPs amounted to 69.9%, which is 5 percentage points more than in the first half of 2020.
The volume of funding for capital expenditures of Energoatom amounted to UAH 5.1 billion, which is 40.2% more than the same indicator for January-June 2020 (UAH 3.66 billion).
Among the most significant projects in the first half of the year, the company noted construction and preparation for commissioning of the Central Spent Fuel Storage Facility (CSFSF), completion of the first stage of splash pools of the South-Ukraine energy complex, construction of a radioactive waste processing complex at Khmelnytsky NPP, as well as construction of the Vilcha-Yaniv railway track with a length of 43 km, which will connect the CSFSF with the railway network of Ukraine.
The Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade has extended for five months the antidumping investigation into Ukraine’s import of plywood originating from Belarus, initiated on June 22, 2020.
The decision of the commission of July 13, 2021 to initiate an investigation comes into force from the moment of its publication, it is indicated in the notification published in the Uriadovy Kurier newspaper dated July 23.
“The commission, in accordance with the adopted decision, decided to extend the antidumping investigation into the import of plywood originating from the Republic of Belarus to Ukraine by 18 months,” the notice says.
As reported, the said antidumping investigation, the decision on which entered into force on June 25, 2020, was initiated by Ukraine on the basis of complaints from Ukrainian companies, namely Kostopil Plywood Plant LLC, Ukrhosptovary Private Enterprise, Uniplit LLC, Standard 2002 LLC, Start production cooperative.
According to the applicants, during the observation period up to the third quarter of 2019, the share of plywood imports from Belarus increased in absolute terms by 691%, in terms of consumption – by 559%, and production – by 858%. At the same time, the price of imported plywood was higher than the price of the applicant (except for 2016-2017), which led to a negative trend in its performance in the domestic market.
Demand for apartments in Ukraine as a whole remains stable, and with the end of the lockdown there has been an upward trend, Director General of the Finance and Investment Association (FIMA) Viktoria Volkovska has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“According to a FIMA study, still the majority [76.9%] – buyers who report a desire to improve their living conditions. The share of investors purchasing housing for rent is about 38.5%. Such categories as displaced persons from the East and Crimea, of course, are present, but do not constitute a significant amount,” she said.
According to an online survey of construction finance fund managers, conducted following the first half of 2021, some 61.5% of respondents said that demand for housing has not changed significantly, and 15.4% said that demand has decreased by 10-20%. At the same time, 15.4% of respondents said that demand increased by 10-20% and 7.7% – by more than 20%.
“In early 2021, due to a prolonged quarantine period and a drop in income, we noted shrinkage in real demand. In April-May 2021, the situation changed for the better and the number of apartments sold reached the pre-quarantine level. Now the real estate market is showing a tendency towards full recovery to the indicators of a relatively successful 2019,” Yuriy Zavialych, the director of financial company Intersvit LLC (Lviv), said.
The Finance and Investment Management Association (FIMA) was established in May 2020. It unites 41 financial companies-managers of construction financing funds in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Khmelnytsky and Kharkiv.
Ukraine is to place an additional $500 million 2029 eurobonds at 6.3%, a banking sector source told Interfax.
Initial yield guidance for the additional tranche maturing in 2029 was 6.625%. During book building, Ukraine was able to reduce the yield, with final guidance set in the range of 6.3%-6.4%.
Demand for the country’s eurobonds exceeded $1.8 billion at its peak, and stood at about $1.7 billion in final bidding.
BNP Paribas and Goldman Sachs are the organizers of the deal.
Ukraine placed $1.25 billion in eurobonds maturing in 2029 in April of this year at a coupon rate of 6.876%.
The Swedish government has allowed Ukrainian citizens to enter the country since July 26.
“On July 22, the government decided that residents of Ukraine will be exempted from the entry ban, and residents of Rwanda and Thailand will no longer be exempted from the entry ban. These amendments apply from July 26, 2021,” the Swedish government said on its website.
According to the tripadvisor.mfa.gov.ua website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the requirement for a negative PCR test for COVID-19 or a vaccination certificate (COVID certificate) remains in force when foreigners enter the country, who are not covered by entry ban.
Currently, Sweden only recognizes vaccination certificates issued in the EU/EEA countries or in Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland or the Vatican.
Entry into the country will be allowed if 14 days have passed since the date of the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
It is also noted that Sweden recognizes vaccines approved under the EU regulation 726/2004, or approved by WHO for emergency use. In particular, Sweden approved vaccines such as Comirnaty (COVID-19 vaccine BioNtech Tozinameran,) Spikevax (COVID-19 vaccine Moderna), Vaxzevria (COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca), COVID-19 vaccine Janssen, COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca/SKBio, COVISHIELD (Serum Institute of India COVID-19 vaccine), COVID-19 vaccine BIBP/Sinopharm, CoronaVac (COVID-19 vaccin Sinovac).
The PCR test must be done 48 hours before entering Sweden (the time is counted from the moment of delivery of the biological material). The requirement applies to foreigners who are over 18 years old. A COVID-19 test can be done at Arlanda Airport (http://www.airportsky.se/). Citizens traveling from Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway are exempt from the requirement to have a negative test for COVID-19 upon entry into the country. Detailed information is available on the websites of the Swedish government and police.
FOREIGN TRADE TURNOVER BY THE MOST IMPORTANT POSITIONS IN JAN-APRIL 2021 (EXPORT)
