Corporation Biosphere (Dnipro), the largest Ukrainian manufacturer of household and personal care products, is completing the construction of a new logistics complex at its site with an area of 8,500 square meters worth EUR 4 million, and is also implementing a project for the production of nonwoven fabrics for wet wipes worth EUR 21 million.
“In a month we will launch a warehouse complex – a narrow-aisle, high-class, yet non-automatic. With our assortment, we understand that this [automatic] is the next stage,” the founder and CEO of Biosphere, Andriy Zdesenko, said at the forum “UkraineInvest Talks: Dnipro.”
He added that the corporation is also already building Ukraine’s first facility for production of nonwoven fabric for wet wipes, which it manufactures and exports to 30 countries.
“Previously, we imported about 70 vehicles of cloth per month to produce this product. Having bought the most modern equipment of Austrian-French production, we will start installing it in autumn, and there will be a full cycle: production of non-woven cloth – wet wipes – a brand and a global opportunity to export,” he said.
Speaking about the prospects, he noted the significant growth potential of a fairly large domestic market and the faster and more qualitative development of logistics in it thanks to such companies as Rozetka or Nova Poshta.
At the same time, the CEO of Biosphere advocated the creation by the state in Ukraine of competitive conditions in comparison with Poland or Estonia, where there are tax benefits in the form of a tax on withdrawn capital.
Biosphere Corporation has been operating in Ukraine for over 20 years. Its products are presented in the markets of 30 countries in EUR ope and Asia. The product portfolio includes more than 2,000 items under 13 trademarks Freken BOK, Smile, Selpak, Vortex, Novita, PRO service, Bambik and others.
Mariupol-based Illich Iron and Steel Works (Donetsk region), part of Metinvest Group, in January-April this year increased the production of general rolled products, according to recent data, by 19.9% compared to the same period last year, to 1.34 million tonnes.
As the enterprise told Interfax-Ukraine, steel production during this period increased by 10.7%, to 1.42 million tonnes, cast iron by 8.9%, to 1.56 million tonnes, and sinter by 16.5%, to 4.51 million tonnes.
In April, the enterprise produced about 335,000 tonnes of general rolled products, 350,000 tonnes of steel, 445,000 tonnes of cast iron, and 1.16 million tonnes of sinter.
Illich Iron and Steel Works is part of Metinvest Group, the main shareholders of which are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart-Holding (23.76%), jointly managing the company.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the managing company of Metinvest Group.
PJSC Energomashspetsstal (Kramatorsk, Donetsk region), owned by Russia’s Atomenergomash (Rosatom state corporation), in January-April of this year reduced steel production by 13.6% compared to the same period last year, to 19,000 tonnes.
A source in the industry told Interfax-Ukraine that 5,000 tonnes of steel were produced in April.
As reported, Energomashspetsstal in 2020 increased steel production by 6.8% compared to the previous year, to 63,000 tonnes.
Energomashspetsstal is the largest Ukrainian manufacturer of special cast and forged products of individual and small-scale production for metallurgy, shipbuilding, energy (wind, steam, hydro, nuclear) and general mechanical engineering.
PJSC Ukrtatnafta (Kremenchuk refinery, Poltava region), in response to information about the possible termination of supplies of A-95 gasoline to Ukraine by the Belarusian Oil Company, assured of its readiness to fully compensate for the lack of Belarusian gasoline in the domestic Ukrainian market.
“Taking into account the possibility to almost double refining at PJSC Ukrtatnafta, there will be no shortage of gasoline on the market,” the company said in a press release on Friday.
In addition, as Ukrtatnafta said, an increase in the production of gasoline in Ukraine will lead to an increase in the production of diesel fuel and liquefied gas.
“In recent years, dependence on supplies of Belarusian gasoline in the Ukrainian market was about 50%. At the same time, PJSC Ukrtatnafta met up to 43% of the need in gasoline in the domestic market,” the company said.
As reported with reference to the Enkorr industry publication, Belarusian Oil Company, as of May 28, had not confirm the supply of A-95 gasoline for Ukrainian counterparties for June, while the full volume of A-92 was confirmed.
Minister of Education and Science Serhiy Shkarlet says that the construction of the Presidential University on the territory of the state Expocentre of Ukraine (VDNH, Kyiv) will cost UAH 7.2 billion in three years.
“Geographically, the location is 16 hectares at Expocentre of Ukraine […] In general, the development of the Presidential University together with the biocluster and the bioclinic is a logical completion of the spatial development of the Expocentre territory, so that students have an opportunity to use all infrastructure facilities at the same time,” he said on press conference during the All-Ukrainian forum “Ukraine 30. Education and Science” on Monday.
According to the presented concept, the territory of the University will occupy 16 hectares, the total building area – 25,800 square meters.
There will be 11 campuses on the territory of the institution, including: five specialized scientific campuses, an administrative building, an apart-hotel for students, an apart-hotel for teachers, a hospital, a diplomatic service and a building with offices of foreign companies.
The minister noted that the implementation of the concept over three years with the preparation of documentation, new construction, and the primary necessary equipment will cost UAH 7.2 billion.
The number of booked air tickets for the week increased by 32%, and the frequency of trips of Ukrainians to the place of work also increased by 16%, according to an Economic Recovery Tracker study conducted by the Centre for Economic Strategy (CES).
According to the center’s release on Friday, the week before the lockdown was introduced in mid-March 2020, the number of bookings was 35% lower.
“Now people go to work most often since the beginning of the pandemic. Attendance at jobs has increased by 16% in a week and is now the highest in the last year,” the CES said.
According to its data, visits to the mall and the use of transport increased by 6%. At the same time, the number of visitors to grocery stores and pharmacies increased by 4% and exceeds the indicator of the pre-quarantine period, the study said.
The number of purchased train tickets on RailwayBot has dropped by 11% over the past week, but is generally at a high level. In the same period last year, the railway began to open routes after the end of a strict lockdown in the country, the CES recalled.
The number of card payments through POS-terminals increased by 3.8% over the week.
“Transfers through Privat24 also began to increase by 7% during the last week and by 18.2% of the lowest mark when falling on the May holidays,” the report said.
Revenue of establishments in the last week increased by 13% and became more than in the middle of March 2020. Cafes and restaurants continue to open, increasing the total number of establishments by 10% per week.
In terms of open positions, their number has increased by 17% over the past week. The number of applicants for this period also increased by 7%. At the same time, during the last week, short-term room reservations decreased by 7%. Nevertheless, the number of booked apartments is kept at a high level and is now the same as in the same period in 2019, the Centre for Economic Strategy said.
For the study, the Centre for Economic Strategy uses data provided by PrivatBank and Privat24, as well as Google, Work.ua, Rabota.ua, Jooble, LUN, Ukrenergo, Dragon Capital, Opendatabot, Aviasales, RailwayBot, Poster, Booking.com, Airbnb, Transparent, Vrbo and Tripadvisor.
