Ukraine should remain a transit country for Russian gas, and Berlin expects the transit agreement with Russia to be extended, the German government’s official representative, Steffen Seibert, told reporters on Monday in Berlin.
“It remains central for the German government that Ukraine remain a transit country even following the completion of construction on Nord Stream 2. There is a transit agreement,” Seibert said.
The representative said that the current transit agreement “is valid at least until 2024, though the agreement envisages that the parties will review the possibility of extending the agreement until 2034.”
“We expect the agreement to be extended,” Seibert said.
Commissioning of housing in Ukraine in January-March 2021 increased by 20.5% compared to the same period in 2020, to 2.306 million square meters, the State Statistics Service has reported.
At the same time, it is clarified that the data are given taking into account the housing introduced in accordance with the temporary procedure for the acceptance into operation of houses built without permission to perform construction work.
According to the report, since the beginning of the year, 1.609 million square meters have been commissioned in cities (70% of the total), 697,600 square meters in rural areas. At the same time, 43% of the total volume of housing was commissioned in single-family houses, 56.6% – in houses with two or more apartments, 0.4% – in dormitories.
In general, during the reporting period, 30,371 apartments were commissioned, while in cities – 24,100 apartments, in villages – 6,200 apartments.
The average apartment area was 75.6 square meter, while in single-family houses – 158 sq m, in multi-apartment buildings – 54.2 sq m.
In Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Ivano-Frankovsk regions, according to the results of the first quarter, 56% of the total housing volume was commissioned. Moreover, in Kyiv – 145,000 square meters (6.3%).
According to statistics, a decrease in the volume of housing commissioned was recorded in Sumy, Rivne, Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Volyn regions.
Consolidated revenue of Metinvest B.V. (the Netherlands), the parent company of the international vertically integrated mining and metallurgical group Metinvest, in January-March this year increased by 43% compared to the same period last year, to $3.624 billion.
According to the published preliminary unaudited consolidated results of the company’s financial statements, adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter was $1.462 million, which is 3.92 times higher than in the same period last year ($373 million). The margin was 40% (15% in Q1, 2020).
It is noted that Metinvest’s consolidated revenues rose by 43% which is driven primarily by higher selling prices of steel and iron ore products in line with global benchmarks. In addition, the Group increased sales volumes of flat products by 6% y-o-y, as a result of a recovery in demand in several strategic markets for the Group, as well as recently implemented investments.
Metinvest also boosted pellet shipments by 34% y-o-y, amid higher pellet premiums globally.
During the reporting period, revenues in Ukraine increased by 30% y-o-y, to $947 million. This was mainly due to higher average selling prices of steel and iron ore products, as well as higher sales volumes of iron ore products (up 17%) and coke (up 18%). The share of Ukraine in consolidated revenues edged down by 3 percentage points (p.p.) y-o-y, to 26%.
Sales to other markets increased by 48% y-o-y, to $2.677 million in the first quarter of 2021, accounting for 74% of total revenues. Sales to Europe surged by 54% y-o-y, primarily amid higher steel and iron ore selling prices. In addition, sales volumes of cast iron, flat products and pellets rose by 32%, 28% and 51%, respectively. As a result, the region’s share in overall revenues increased by 3 p.p. y-o-y, to 35%.
Revenues from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region rose by 48% y-o-y, mainly amid higher steel selling prices, as well as greater shipments of pig iron (up 29%), slabs (up 73%) and flat products (up 4%). The region’s share in consolidated revenues remained unchanged at 18%.
Sales to Southeast Asia increased by 9% y-o-y, amid higher iron ore selling prices despite practically no shipments of semi-finished and finished steel products to the region. Southeast Asia’s share in consolidated revenues declined by 2 p.p. y-o-y, to 8%.
Revenues from the CIS rose by 20% y-o-y, primarily as a result of higher selling prices for flat products. Meanwhile, the region’s share in consolidated revenues declined by 1 p.p. y-o-y, to 5%.
In the first quarter of this year, consolidated EBITDA was $1.462 billion, which is 3.9 times higher compared to the same period last year. This was primarily driven by an increase in the Mining segment’s contribution of $676 million and in the Metallurgical segment’s contribution of $494 million. In addition, corporate overheads decreased by $2 million, while eliminations increased by $83 million.
The increase in consolidated EBITDA was primarily attributable to higher average selling prices for steel and iron ore products, the effect of which on sales of Metinvest’s goods totaled $778 million. Higher prices also improved earnings from resales (up by $23 million) and the contribution of both joint ventures (up by $216 million).
In the first quarter of this year, the Group’s consolidated EBITDA margin increased by 25 p.p. y-o-y, to 40%. The Metallurgical segment’s EBITDA margin rose by 16 p.p. y-o-y, to 24%, while that of the Mining segment climbed by 38 p.p. y-o-y, to 75%.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine will make every effort to find alternative markets for the sale of their goods to Ukrainian companies affected by the sanctions of Belarus, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
“We certainly calculated that Belarus would want to do something in return, and we were ready for this scenario … Any Ukrainian company that suffers from Belarusian sanctions should immediately contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and we, together with the trade representative of Ukraine will make every effort to find an alternative market for selling goods of this company,” Kuleba said on the air of Savik Shuster’s Freedom of Speech (Svoboda Slova) program on Ukraine TV channel.
Earlier on Friday, Deputy Minister of Economy, Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka said that Belarus was introducing a 6-month individual licensing regime for a number of Ukrainian goods imported to that country.
PJSC ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (Dnipropetrovsk region) is considering the possibility of putting into circulation 1,200 new rail cars in 2021-2022, while the company’s own car fleet will increase by 1.5 times.
According to a press release from the company, this will allow for faster deliver products to customers and timely supply raw materials for the plant.
Virdy Bikram, the chief procurement officer of the company, noted that several factors are pushing the company to the decision to purchase new cars on a large scale.
“Currently, we are increasing the shipments of our products for export. At the same time, we are not quite satisfied with the technical condition of the wagon base in Ukraine. The renewed wagon fleet will ensure safe and efficient transportation of our products to Ukrainian ports. We will be able to plan our logistics regardless of the situation on the railroad market/transportation and availability of wagons. This will help reduce the cost of delivery of outgoing and incoming goods. In addition, own wagons are cheaper – the approximate payback period is 3-4 years,” he said.
According to him, according to the company’s estimates, initiatives to write off high-sided cars that exceed the standard service life, presented to the government, could lead to a shortage in the market and a large jump in transportation prices. Also, some manifestation of the shortage of wagons can traditionally be expected in the summer-autumn period due to the revival of the construction cargo market.
“Therefore, we would like to count on our own modern wagons and be more flexible in terms of working with Ukrzaliznytsia and freight operators,” the top manager summed up.
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the decision to attract a $211 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the Clean Technologies Fund (CTF) for PrJSC Ukrhydroenergo as part of an investment project to improve the sustainability of the integrated power system (IPS) for European integration, providing for the establishment of hybrid power generation systems, the Ministry of Energy has said.
According to the report, the decision, initiated by the Ministry of Energy, was made at a government meeting on Wednesday, although it was not on the agenda and was not discussed during the broadcast.
“To implement the project, loans will be attracted in the amount of $177 million from the IBRD and $34 million from the Clean Technologies Fund,” the ministry said.
According to the ministry, these funds will be channeled, in particular, for the installation of 197 Li ion battery energy storage systems at Ukrhydroenergo facilities, which are planned to be attracted to provide auxiliary services for frequency and power support. In addition, it is planned to install 63.9 MW of photovoltaic plants for the own needs of HPPs and PSPs and for charging the energy storage systems.
“Hybrid power generation plants based on battery storage will allow Ukrhydroenergo to provide the transmission system operator with an additional frequency regulation reserve and expand the regulating range of the automatic frequency recovery reserve required to ensure reliable operation and compliance with the operational safety of the IPS of Ukraine and good quality of electrical energy,” the ministry said.
At the same time, the Ministry of Energy said that highly maneuverable and fast-acting reserves, in terms of their parameters, have no analogues in the IPS of Ukraine.
The terms and conditions of the loans were not disclosed.
At the same time, the Ministry of Energy added that the Cabinet of Ministers approved the draft decree of the President of Ukraine on the delegation for negotiating and concluding guarantee agreements with financial institutions.
According to government resolution No. 550 dated June 2, 2021, published on the government portal, loans from the IBRD and CTF will be attracted by Ukrhydroenergo under government guarantees, the payment for which is 0.5% per annum of the selected and outstanding loan amount.
