Sales of meat for slaughter (in live weight) decreased by 2.5% in Ukraine in January-June 2021, year-over-year, to 1.60 million tonnes, milk production by 5.3%, to 4.32 million tonnes, eggs by 13.6%, to 7.38 billion pieces, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine said on the website on Friday.
According to it, as of July 1, the poultry population in Ukraine decreased by 3.8%, year-over-year, to 239.2 million heads, cattle by 6.5%, to 3.23 million heads (including the number of cows decreased by 5.8%, to 1.67 million heads), sheep and goats by 5.0%, to 1.39 million heads, while the number of pigs increased by 0.7%, to 6.11 million heads.
The sale of poultry for slaughter by agricultural enterprises decreased by 0.6% in the six months of 2021 versus January-June 2020 and amounted to 325.06 million heads, the sale of pigs increased by 10.1%, to 2.51 million heads, cattle decreased by 14.2%, to 157,900 heads, sheep by 27.9%, to 24,000 heads.
Agricultural enterprises for the same period sold 21.5% fewer eggs, 3.52 billion pieces.
The State Statistics Service said that for the specified period, Kyiv region became the leaders in the production of eggs with 1.32 billion pieces (2% more year-over-year), Khmelnytska with 260 million pieces (33.2% less), Kherson with 252.3 million pieces (28.6% less) and Dnipropetrovsk regions with 249.9 million pieces (5.2% less).
According to the statistics department, in the first half of 2021 most milk was produced by the enterprises of Poltava some 195,800 tonnes (1% less year-over-year), Cherkasy some 143,200 tonnes (5.1% less), Kharkiv some 123,200 tonnes (1.7% more) and Chernihiv some 115,100 tonnes (7.0% less).
Denmark is lifting the entry restrictions previously imposed on Ukrainian citizens as part of countering the spread of COVID-19, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said.
“Denmark opens for all types of travel of Ukrainians tomorrow, July 17, from 16:00. Visa-free travel, as in the good old days. Entry is possible with a fresh negative test and a test upon arrival. Country by country we are restoring the visa-free regime with the EU,” Kuleba wrote on his Twitter on Friday.
The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) is considering a portfolio of projects in Ukraine for possible implementation in the amount of $155 million, including road infrastructure, agribusiness, commercial property, financial facilities, bank’s president Dmytro Pankin said.
In an interview with Interfax-Ukraine, he said that in 2021 the bank has updated its trade financing mechanism in the amount of $5 million with Creditwest Bank, and also completed operations to provide a number of loans: $15 million to Interpipe to support the company in the debt capital markets and modernization of production facilities, some $20 million to a chain of furniture shopping centers Araks to improve energy efficiency, some $23 million to Epicenter to improve agricultural infrastructure.
With regard to the project announced in 2020 with Halnaftogaz, Pankin said the bank was successfully cooperating with the company, but, unfortunately, could not agree on the price of the operation announced last summer.
“The bank is ready to consider other opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation with the company in the future,” the BSTDB president said.
He also said the bank is developing financing and placement of securities in local currency in member countries to provide loans in local currency to businesses in these countries. According to him, BSTDB was the first multilateral development bank to offer such operations in Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“As for Ukraine, at present the market situation does not allow us to attract local currency by issuing domestic bonds at a cost that would allow us to offer attractive prices for Ukrainian borrowers,” Pankin said.
DYNAMICS OF CHANGES IN DISCOUNT RATE OF NBU
DTEK Energy Holding has not abandoned plans to invest in the generation of electricity from renewable sources in Europe, and is now exploring opportunities for this in different countries, CEO of DTEK Renewables Maris Kuniсkis has said.
“Yes, this is in our focus. Plans to invest in Europe remain. As long as there is no stability in Ukraine, we focus on abroad,” he said during the 12th International Ukrainian Energy Forum of the Adam Smith Institute on Friday.
At the same time, he said that, since the market in Europe is also changing, the company has to reorient itself to other countries, abandoning the development of projects in those that were considered in 2020. In addition, Kuniсkis did not disclose the details of possible projects.
Cargill became the majority (51%) owner of a joint venture with Neptune Port Holding B.V. brothers Yehor Hrebennikov and Andriy Stavnitser of M.V. Cargo LLC, a grain terminal Neptune with a design capacity of 5 million tonnes per year in Pivdenny port in the Black Sea.
“Neptune is meeting the growing demand for deep water port infrastructure in Ukraine by giving farmers access to new distant markets,” Cargill said in a statement on Friday.
The U.S. company said that in 2016 it signed an agreement with Stavnitser and Hrebennikov on the construction of the terminal, which started operation in 2019.
“Neptune is strengthening Cargill’s port infrastructure in the Black Sea region, therefore, we continue to invest in the agricultural sector of Ukraine,” Cargill said.
Neptune handles various types of grains and oilseeds, primarily maize, barley and wheat, with a depth of 16 meters at the terminal berth, which allows it to receive large-tonnage vessels. Cargill is an important user of the terminal, exporting a significant portion of the products purchased in Ukraine from it, but Neptune serves other customers as well.
“In short: Cargill had an obligation to enter the project, and we signed to bring the terminal to the level of Cargill’s space standards. Now Yehor and I are practically equal partners with the largest private food corporation in the world,” Stavnitser said on Facebook.
He said that in 2014, when the war broke out, an oil extraction plant in Donetsk was taken away from the U.S. investor, but Cargill was persuaded to make a new investment in Ukraine.
Stavnitser said that two years after the launch and in the process of completion, Neptune became grain terminal No. 2 on the Black Sea in terms of cargo turnover.
The statement does not contain information about the cost of the transaction. It is said that Cargill, as the majority shareholder, will lead the strategic development of the Neptune terminal, with a local team responsible for operational management.
