President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, called on international investors to become “architects of the success of the new Ukraine.” “Ukraine should become an investment mecca of Eastern and Central Europe. The main driver for economic development is the ability to make profit. And we are one of the few countries that now allows earning such a high return on invested capital. Today we are underinvested and disliked,” he said.
Zelensky called on investors to invest in Ukraine.
“Today, the pragmatic and petrified world is sorely lacking a miracle. And the world economy, which is on the verge of a new global crisis, needs an economic miracle. Ukraine is exactly the place where miracles happen. And my goal is to make Ukraine appear in textbooks next to the cases of Japan, South Korea and Singapore. Therefore, join in!” he said.
The president pointed out that the new Ukrainian authorities are creating equal rules of the game for everyone, cleansing the judicial system, digitalizing processes, implementing vital reforms and adopting vital laws.
“We have everything to become a successful country. Favorable climatic conditions, a very favorable geographic location, an inexhaustible agricultural and industrial potential, and our most valuable resource are incredibly creative and very talented people who are in the top 50 in the Human Capital Index rating,” he noted.
Work on a possible deal to acquire Credit Dnipro Bank by Oleksandr Yaroslavsky from Victor Pinchuk is ongoing. “Work is ongoing. It will be a good business, if you manage to buy. There is experience, you know that we probably have the most successful experience in working in the financial sector with UkrSibbank,” Yaroslavsky told Interfax-Ukraine at the Ukrainian House in Davos, organized by the Pinchuk Foundation, WNISEF and Horizon Capital.
According to him, with the proper operation of the bank, the need for its constant capitalization by the shareholder will disappear.
Yaroslavsky also said that he was ready to take part in large privatization, but so far the facilities offered by the State Property Fund have a lot of problems. “Everything sounds so good, but when you know the inside situation, it doesn’t look very good,” the businessman said.
In particular, with the case of the United Mining and Chemical Company, he pointed out the need to deal with property issues, in the case of the Odesa Port-Side Plant, there is a debt of $250 million to the structures of Dmytro Firtash.
“Elektrotyazhmash is also an interesting enterprise, but it is unclear in what condition it is. And 85% of the market is Russia,” Yaroslavsky added.
Myronivsky Hliboproduct (MHP), certified in the EU, has stopped exports of poultry to these countries as of January 23, the group has said.
“All MHP production facilities continue to operate as normal and have begun to take all necessary steps according to the export sales diversification strategy approved by the group’s management. MHP continues to adhere to existing quality and biosafety standards and sells its products both on the local market and in the countries, where there is no export ban,” MHP said.
The group said that now the production team of specialists and veterinarians at the MHP facilities is following a clear plan to counteract bird flu and is taking all necessary measures to prevent potential outbreaks at all MHP production sites.
According to the group, at present the state veterinary authorities of Ukraine are in close cooperation with the EU authorities in order to coordinate and take all necessary steps to resolve the issue of opening the market and come to a final agreement on the implementation of detailed regionalization, which has not yet been officially ratified.
MHP said that in 2019 about 30% of the group’s total exports were sent to the EU. In January-September 2019, MHP increased poultry exports by 26%, to 269,670 tonnes. In 2018, exports grew by 30%, to 286,800 tonnes.
Ukrainian enterprises in 2019 decreased exports of ferrous scrap metal by 87.2% compared to 2018, to 42,182 tonnes.
According to customs statistics released by the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, exports of scrap metal in monetary terms fell by 88.9%, to $11.781 million.
In 2019, the country increased imports of scrap metal in kind by 17.2% compared to 2018, to 49,934 tonnes. Imports in monetary terms decreased 6.4%, to $34.254 million.
Imports of scrap metal for the mentioned period arrived mainly from Turkey (62.55% of deliveries in monetary terms), Russia (28.45%), and the Netherlands (2.23%); and major exports were shipped to Turkey (85.88%), the Netherlands (6.27%) and Germany (5.37%).
Ukrainian metal companies in 2019 imported 2,502 tonnes of ferrous products obtained by direct reduction of iron ore (HS code 7203) – hot briquetted iron (HBI), which is a substitute for pig iron and scrap metal for $811,000. The HBI was imported from Russia for a total value of $810,000 and China for $1,000.
Ukraine reduced coke and semi-coke exports by 43.6% year-over-year to 14,421 tonnes in 2019.
According to customs statistics, published by the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, coke and semi-coke exports were down 59.8% in monetary terms, to $2.715 million.
The majority of deliveries were made to Belarus (23.78% in monetary terms), Moldova (19.48%) and Romania (17.67%).
Imports of coke and semi-coke rose by 4.4%, to 876,938 tonnes in 2019, worth $263.429 million (4.6% up).
The goods were mainly imported from Russia (77% in monetary terms), Poland (12.28%) and the Columbia (4.46%).
Top managers of PJSC Kyivmetrobud, acting as a contractor general in the project to extend the Syretsko-Pecherska subway line in Kyiv’s subway, is ready to cooperate with law enforcement authorities in order to continue construction works, Director General of PJSC Kyivmetrobud Kostiantyn Saliy said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.
“The owners of Kyivmetrobud unanimously appointed me as director general, so that the previous director, Mr. Metelytsia, could deal with what he is directly doing – the construction of the subway. Political, media and team reorganization issues will be led by the director general,” Saliy said.
According to him, the enterprise will conduct an inventory of material and technical assets, as well as turn to law enforcement authorities regarding the likely embezzlement of funds.
“At the moment, the Prosecutor General’s Office has decided to seize accounts. They are also developing a “recipe” on how to control the distribution of these funds transparently. We believe that it’s good that the Prosecutor General’s Office will be present and observe how the work is being done. The Prosecutor General’s Office will also have access to documents, [will see] where the funds went, what work was done, who signed papers with margins, and will identify the whole range of interested parties,” Saliy added, noting that resolving the situation around the enterprise depends on law enforcement authorities.
As reported with reference to the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the investigating judge of Kyiv’s Pechersky district court seized money in the bank accounts of PJSC Kyivmetrobud and its branches.
“In the future, the Prosecutor General’s Office will appeal to court with a motion to transfer these funds to the ARMA [Asset Recovery and Management Agency] with the possibility of making payments to build the subway under control of the state,” the press service said.
Oleh Tokarev, the head of the Kyivmetrobud’s supervisory board, said at the press conference at Interfax-Ukraine that the reason for the change in the company’s management is the unsatisfactory pace of subway construction towards the Vynohradar area, due to which the launch of the subway line is postponed for a year.
“The amount of the tender is UAH 6 billion. At the end of the year, an advance payment of UAH 2.6 billion was received. During the year that we lived with Director General Vasyl Kobil, UAH 1 billion was spent and work for UAH 150 million was completed but not signed by the customer. “This is only 2.5% of the contract amount. Therefore, on December 17, the supervisory board decided to dismiss Kobil and appoint Oleksandr Metelytsia to the post of director general,” he said.
In turn, Managing Partner of the Ilyashev & Partners law firm Mykhailo Ilyashev said that a “series of myths” about the seizure of the enterprise are being spread and suggested that “the problem was inspired by the former head.”
He also commented on the statement of the Justice Ministry on the reinstatement of the director of PJSC Kyivmetrobud and making appropriate changes to the public register.
“The minister did not annul anything. He did not cancel any decisions of the supervisory board and could not cancel, because this is outside the competence of the Justice Ministry. Most likely, this was about the conclusions made by the commission under the Justice Ministry that the notary who made changes to the register made a technical error. Today, these documents will be submitted to the notary so that the relevant changes are introduced again,” Ilyashev said, emphasizing that the statement of the ministry does not cast doubt on the lawfulness of the decisions of the supervisory board.
As reported, in 2018, Kyiv Metropoliten entered into an agreement on construction work to extend the Syretsko-Pecherska subway line with Kyivmetrobud, which won the tender held on the ProZorro platform.
As part of the first phase of work, it is planned to build two stations, Mostytska and Prospekt Pravdy, at a section of almost 4 km, and branches to the Vynohradar station to extend the line.
It was planned that the work will last until 2021, and its cost will be UAH 5.993 billion.
