Coke and chemical plants of Ukraine in January-May of this year imported 4 million tonnes of raw coking coal and coking coal concentrate, which is 4.2% more than in the same period last year.
According to an information note of the Ukrmetalurgprom association, the supply of Ukrainian coal mined during this period amounted to 1.64 million tonnes, which is 8.6% more than in the same period last year.
In general, in January-May 2021, Ukrainian coke and chemical plants received 5.64 million tonnes of coal for coking, which is 5.4% more compared to January-May 2020. At the same time, the share of imported coal in the total supply amounted to 70.9% versus 71.8% in January-May 2020.
Some 3.424 million tonnes of coke (101.8% compared to January-May 2020) were supplied to Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises, including 3.346 million tonnes of Ukrainian origin (100.3%), and 68,000 tonnes of imported (4.53 times more). The share of imported coke in the total supply amounted to 1.99% versus 0.45% in January-May last year.
In addition, in January-May 2021, some 1.5 million tonnes of scrap metal were procured (134.8% compared to the same period in 2020), of which 1.354 million tonnes (123.5%) were supplied to Ukrainian consumers as imported. Exports of scrap metal in January-May 2021 amounted to 146,000 tonnes (887%).
It is noted that the provision of metallurgical enterprises with Ukrainian iron ore raw materials for the specified period was carried out in accordance with the needs of metallurgical production. The iron ore was not imported. Iron ore exports in January-May 2021 amounted to 18.54 million tonnes (98.2% compared to the same period in 2020).
According to the updated data of Ukrmetalurgprom, in January-May of this year, 14.029 million tonnes of sinter were produced (107.8% versus January-May 2020), 4.107 million tonnes of gross coke with moisture content 6% (102.2%), some 8.903 million tonnes of cast iron (109.1%), some 8.987 million tonnes of steel (108.3%), some 8.023 million tonnes of rolled products (108%), and 390,000 tonnes of pipe products (115.8%).
As of June 10, 2021, of the main operating production facilities 18 out of 21 blast furnaces, seven out of eight open-hearth furnaces, 14 out of 16 converters, five out of 15 electric furnaces and 16 out of 17 continuous casting machines were in operation.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal says that as a result of the public administration reform, the maximum number of civil servants in the central executive authorities and their territorial units should decrease by about 10%.
“Efficiency in the work of civil servants should be in the first place. The government is taking important steps to complete the reform of public administration. As part of this initiative, the maximum number of civil servants in the central administrative office and their territorial units should be reduced by about 10%,” Shmyhal said in the Telegram channel.
The prime minister said that a bill is also being prepared to reform the system of remuneration of civil servants based on the classification of positions, which will make it impossible to pay allowances to officials on a subjective basis and will increase the prestige of the civil service.
“The key steps in the implementation of the project were discussed at a meeting with the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the National Civil Service Agency. These four departments will be the first to introduce a new financial model. And then, the remuneration system should make money in other public institutions,” Shmyhal said.
OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde will pay a working visit to Ukraine on June 13 to June 15.
“This will be the second visit of Ann Linde to our country from the beginning of the Swedish chairmanship in the OSCE, which confirms Sweden’s priority attention to the issue of ending the Russian Federation’s armed aggression against Ukraine,” the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
The key subjects of the talks between Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Ann Linde will be the security situation in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, efforts for a political and diplomatic settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict, the activities of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, and freedom of navigation in the Azov and Black Seas.
The ministers will also discuss the development of the political dialogue between Ukraine and Sweden, the increase in trade and investment, the strengthening of interaction in international organizations, the intensification of cooperation in the cultural and humanitarian sectors.
The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office will visit, along with the Ukrainian MFA leadership, the area of the Joint Force Operation, where she will personally get acquainted with the activities of the OSCE SMM in Ukraine and the consequences of the Russian armed aggression, the peculiarities of the movement of ships in the Black and Azov Seas.
On June 15, Kuleba and Linde will hold a joint press conference.
All ten members of the the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) following the meeting on April 14, spoke in favor of raising the discount rate by 1 percentage point (p.p.), to 7.5% per annum in order to bring inflation to the target.
“The MPC members unanimously supported the increase in the discount rate to 7.5%, which is necessary for a gradual slowdown in inflation and its return to the target of 5% in the first half of 2022,” the NBU said in a statement.
According to the document, the participants in the discussion agreed that the forecast trajectory of inflation exceeding expectations, high inflationary expectations, as well as increased inflationary risks on the horizon of monetary policy require a decisive response from the National Bank.
The MPC several members said that temporary shocks related to the rise in fuel and food prices have largely been implemented, and therefore their impact will gradually weaken.
It is noted that the market’s reaction to the increase in the discount rate in March indicates its readiness of the market to perceive the signals of the National Bank, in particular, since the beginning of April, most rates on deposits of various maturities have stopped decreasing, and some of them have slightly increased.
The committee’s members expect that the current increase in the key rate will strengthen the transmission momentum through the interest rate channel, which will first affect interbank rates and rates on corporate deposits of banks, and from the middle of the year – on the profitability of deposits for the population, which will affect the reorientation of part of consumer demand in favor of deposits in banks and, accordingly, will contain its pressure on inflation.
One of the participants in the discussion noted the growth of bank savings of citizens due to the decrease in spending on tourism and certain types of services, access to which was complicated by lockdown.
According to this member, the high liquidity surplus in the banking system weakens the effectiveness of the monetary transmission mechanism: there is no urgent need for banks to strengthen the price competition of deposit resources.
At the same time, another participant in the discussion said that despite the increase in the discount rate, the NBU monetary policy remains soft, since, given the increased inflationary expectations, the level of the neutral discount rate is now from 9% to 9.5%.
He said that if the situation develops according to the basic scenario of the macro forecast, the transition of the National Bank to a neutral monetary policy will take place only in late 2021 or early 2022.
At the same time, he said that the baseline scenario provides for the resumption of cooperation with the IMF in the summer and does not imply an aggravation of the military conflict.
Most of the participants in the discussion believe that the decisions to increase the discount rate in March and April are sufficient to bring inflation to the 5% target in the first half of 2022. At the same time, several participants in the discussion said that inflationary pressures may be underestimated due to the high level of uncertainty, so they did not rule out the need to continue the cycle of increasing the discount rate.
The NBU press service said that the meeting was attended by all ten members of the MPC, including NBU Governor Kyrylo Shevchenko; First Deputy Governor Kateryna Rozhkova; Deputies: Yuriy Helety, Yaroslav Matuzka, Dmytro Solohub and Oleksiy Shaban, as well as department directors: Vitaliy Vavryschuk (financial stability); Volodymyr Lepushynsky (monetary policy and economic analysis); Oleksiy Lupin (open markets) and Yuriy Polovniov (statistics and reporting).
Within the program of celebrating Malbec World Day, a professional tasting was held under the auspices of the Embassy of Argentina, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship of Argentina, the Wines of Argentina association and the Argentine Wine Company.
The organizer of the tasting with food-and-wine pairing was the Cheese Kingdom chain of stores.
The Ambassador’s residence has become a real reflection of the culture of Argentina, where an incredible atmosphere soared thanks to the best professionals in their field.
Ideal pairs were chosen and the wines were commented on: Valeria Gamper – Best Sommelier in Argentina 2019, Juan Pablo Murgia – Best Argentine Oenologist 2021 under 40, Emiliano Stratico – WSET teacher in Bordeaux, and Denis Priimagi – First Cheese Sommelier in Ukraine, the author of Cheese Kingdom and a jury member of The World Cheese Awards.
The tasting was attended by professional figures of Ukraine: the best sommeliers and cavists, the owners of culinary schools, catering companies, event operators and other professionals in the high-end gastronomy segment.
The following best combinations were selected:
1) Argento Organic Malbec 2020 with Beemster Royaal Grand Cru;
2) La Mascota Malbec 2019 – Aged Sheep Cheese (6 months);
3) Santa Ana Malbec Reserve – Gudbrandsdalen;
4) Fuzion Malbec 2018 – Gorgonzola Dolce;
5) La Linda Malbec 2018 – Der Alte old Gouda;
6) Trapiche Malbec – Tete de Moine.
Cheese Kingdom is a family of atmospheric Dutch cheese shops, with 100 types of cheese from Europe. The mission of the Cheese Kingdom chain is to develop the European culture of cheese consumption in Ukraine. To teach understand it, love, create, serve, cut, taste and cook correctly every day. Today there are 74 stores in the Cheese Kingdom chain throughout Ukraine.
A China-Europe freight train carrying household goods is heading from Guangzhou, China, to Odessa, Ukraine’s Ministry of Infrastructure said on its Facebook page on Friday.
“Aa total of 50 containers with a volume of 40 feet each left the territory of Mongolia, 5,330 km are left to the border with Ukraine… This route combines the delivery of goods by sea and rail, as it combines two ports – Chinese Gaunzhou and Ukrainian Odessa. The distance between destinations is 8,408 km,” – the message says.
The ministry said that in Mongolia, the train was reloaded at the railway docking port of Erenhot. More than 6,000 freight trains from China to Europe pass through this hub.
The Ministry of Infrastructure recalled that the first train from the Chinese port of Guangzhou to Europe left for Poland at the end of April this year.
In 15 days, it arrived at its destination almost twice as fast as by sea.
