Krakovets-Lviv-Brody-Rivne and Stryi-Mukachevo may become the first toll roads in Ukraine, but the decision on expediency will be made upon completion of the feasibility study of these projects, Deputy Infrastructure Minister for European Integration Hanna Yurchenko told reporters on Wednesday.
According to her, today there are not so many directions in Ukraine where there can be a toll road, which would be a payback project, due to the level of traffic. This is exclusively about the construction of new concession roads, which will duplicate the existing free routes.
To date, Ukravtodor has received two private initiatives to prepare two new concession projects. Classics of the genre, when it is a road in an open field. It will most likely be paid. The first is the Krakovets-Lviv-Brody-Rivne route (the initiator is Avtomagistral-Yug) – more than 200 km of completely new construction, the alternative road to Kyiv-Chop and M-10 Lviv-Krakovets,” Yurchenko said.
According to her, the second private initiative is the Stryi-Mukachevo road (initiated by Onur). “Today, in principle, it is not a problem to get from Lviv to Zakarpattia region, but because of the passes and buildings on the existing direction, it is technically impossible to expand the road to four lanes. Therefore, the option of building a new road, which will pass slightly east of the existing Kyiv-Chop road, is being considered. If now we usually get from Lviv to Zakarpattia region in 2.5 hours, and even longer in winter, then the new road should reduce travel time by 60%,” Yurchenko said.
The deputy minister added that according to the ministry’s estimates, the feasibility study for Krakovets-Lviv-Brody-Rivne will be completed by the new year, the feasibility study for Stryi-Mukachevo a little later. The decision on the feasibility of each project will be made by Ukravtodor, and then coordinated with the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Finance.
“They can hypothetically be paid, but this will be confirmed after the feasibility study. Then we will be sure whether it is worth charging a fee, whether it will be generated at all, be self-sufficient,” Yurchenko said.
The state-owned enterprise Artyomsol (Donetsk region) in January-June 2021 saw UAH 11.9 million in net profit versus UAH 19.4 million in net loss in January-June 2020, the growth was driven by an increase in salt production by 70%, to 782,000 tonnes, the enterprise has reported on its website on Wednesday.
“An increase in production and financial indicators is the success of the entire team and a sign of the enterprise’s recovery from the crisis of past years. Our plans are aimed at continuing work to improve production efficiency, reduce production costs, increase the profitability of the enterprise and increase the social protection of workers,” the report said, citing Head of Artyomsol Viktoria Lutsenko.
In the first half of 2021, Artyomsol produced and shipped 782,000 tonnes of salt to consumers, which is almost 70% more than in 2020, as well as 5% more than the company’s internal targets.
According to the company, the export of salt over the specified period amounted to 37% of the total production – 291,000 tonnes, the volume of supplies increased to Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. At the same time, shipments of salt across Ukraine in the first half of 2021 increased by 34% compared to the same period in 2020, to 491,000 tonnes.
In addition, in 2021, Artyomsol opened an excursion route Secrets of the Underground Salt World, and in the near future, it is planned to open a second tourist facility.
Artyomsol is one of the largest enterprises for the extraction and sale of sodium chloride (NaCl) in Central and Eastern Europe. The production facilities of Artyomsol are located in Soledar, Donetsk region.
In Ukraine this year, more than one thousand infrastructure projects are being implemented as part of the initiatives of the Office of the President and the Cabinet of Ministers, Deputy Head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Tymoshenko has said.
“This year, within the framework of various initiatives of both the Office of the President and the Cabinet of Ministers, more than one thousand infrastructure projects are being implemented throughout Ukraine within the framework of the Big Construction, Big Restoration programs, new programs Healthy Ukraine, Active Parks and so on,” Tymoshenko said at the Ukraine 30. Decentralization Forum.
According to him, this is not only about roads, but also about schools, kindergartens, sports facilities, which are implemented at the expense of state funds and funds of regional authorities.
“To talk about what we are doing, I think the best example will be what will happen at the end of the year, when we see how we have implemented these projects. Many of them are already being commissioned – by the example of objects that are to be launched on the 30th anniversary of independence, i.e. each region will hand over large significant objects. And this autumn, we will start the season for the commissioning of facilities – schools, hospitals, etc.,” he added.
In Ivano-Frankivsk region, a sports light-engine plane fell on a private residential building, killing four people, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
“On July 28 at about 13.40 near the village of Sheparivtsi, Kolomyia district, a light-engine sports plane crashed onto a private residential building, followed by burning, as a result of which four people died,” the service said.
It notes that the fire that started after the plane crashed was successfully contained at 13.58. Ten people and three units of the service’s equipment were involved in extinguishing.
The cargo terminal will be launched at the Odessa international airport in 2022, Director General of the enterprise Vitaliy Semenchenko said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“We have an arrangement as a letter of understanding, which allow us to discuss, without sealing any rights and obligations, but confirming our interest, with the largest European cargo operator. We are now in almost a daily dialog on technical issues. The terminal is being formed, its volume and structure. It will definitely work in 2022,” Semenchenko said.
According to him, the project of the cargo terminal will be implemented using private investments, but their volume has not yet been named, since it depends, first of all, on the requirements of future tenants. “There will definitely be a cooling zone, a zone of dangerous goods, the necessary equipment will be bought depending from their volume,” Semenchenko said.
Ammonium nitrate in Ukraine as of July 26, 2021 had risen in price by 80% compared to the same date in 2020, to UAH 12,100 per tonne ($448 at the current exchange rate), price growth to the April 2015 level due to the rise in prices for nitrogen fertilizers in international markets, the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB) reported on its website on Tuesday.
“The increase in prices for nitrate occurred amid the growth of the cost of nitrogen fertilizers – urea, ammonium nitrate and urea-ammonium mixture in the international markets. First of all, this is due to the growing demand in Asia and the rise in prices for natural gas, which is one of the main components in the production of fertilizers. As a result, the international prices for ammonium nitrate in the Black Sea ports last week reached $310 per tonne,” the UCAB said.
According to the UCAB, the difference between the cost of ammonium nitrate in the domestic market and international quotations in the Black Sea ports increased from an average value of $45 per tonne in 2020 to the current $63 per tonne (by 37%). This indicator reflects additional logistics costs for fertilizer importers, while for the domestic producer it is mainly an additional net margin in price.
The Ukrainian Agribusiness Club said that in Ukraine, ammonium nitrate is produced by three enterprises of the Ostchem holding company of the Group DF group – PrJSC Rivneazot, PrJSC Azot (Cherkasy) and PrJSC Severodonetsk Azot (Donetsk region).
“In June 2021, more than 9,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate was exported from Ukraine at an average price of $249 per tonne, which is significantly lower than the price of imports and the domestic market. Thus, Ukrainian agricultural producers continue to supply nitrogen fertilizers at inflated prices,” UCAB said.
An increase in fertilizer prices with a simultaneous decrease in prices for grain crops in Ukraine significantly reduces the expected profitability in crop production and has a negative impact on the financial indicators of the agricultural industry: at the beginning of the year, the price of milling wheat reached UAH 9,000 per tonne, having decreased by a quarter as of the end of July, to UAH 6,500 per tonne.
