Sugar production in Ukraine as of December 4 amounted to 1.517 million tonnes. According to the Ukrtsukor National Association of Sugar Producers, at present sugar refineries in the country have processed 11.25 million tonnes of sugar beets. As reported, Ukraine started a new sugar making season on August 31.
In 2018, the area under sugar beets was 280,000 hectares, which is 13% less than in 2017.
Ukraine exported 560,400 tonnes of sugar in the 2017/2018 agricultural year (September-August), which is 27.2% less than in the previous agri-year. Sugar production in the 2017/2018 agri-year increased by 6.5% and amounted to 2.14 million tonnes. Some 46 sugar factories were operating during the season.
Ukraine reduced crude steel production 1% year-on-year in January-November 2018 to 19.3 million tonnes, according to preliminary data.
The Ukrmetallurgprom (Dnipro) association told Interfax that roll output grew 1% to 16.835 million tonnes, and pig iron production rose 3% to 18.78 million tonnes.
Crude steel production was 1.744 million tonnes in November alone, down 2.5% from October, roll production was 1.473 million tonnes, down 3.6%, and pig iron 1.695 million tonnes, down 5%.
The pace of growth of retail lending in Ukraine in 2019 could be 30-40%, according to bankers polled by Interfax-Ukraine. “In 2019, consumer loans will remain the main component and driver of growth in the loan portfolio of banks and the main direction of retail lending: they now form more than 80% of all retail loans in hryvnias. The growth rate of retail loans may reach 40%, the most dynamic growth will remain in short term loan segments – up to one year, as well as from one to five years,”, Deputy Board Chairman, Director for Retail Business at Credit Dnepr Bank Oleh Pakhomov said.
Pakhomov said that in 2019, GDP growth is expected to slow down to 3% from 3.2-3.5% in 2018, while the consumer segment will be again the driver rather than the real economic sector. At the same time, inflationary dynamics forces the NBU to maintain a tight monetary policy, raising the refinancing rate and thus increasing the cost of the hryvnia resource in the market. In these circumstances, banks will still prefer to place part of their resources not in credit programs, but in risk-free operations with deposit certificates and government bonds.
Board Chairperson of IBOX Bank Halyna Kheilo said that the growth rate of lending to the population in 2019 could reach 30%.
Head of the RwS Bank’s lending department Natalia Holub said that retail lending will grow by 30% next year.
“Given that the average loan term for retail products is two years and the outlined pace, the growth of the retail loan portfolio in 2019 will be 12-15%, and the volume of retail lending will grow by 30%,” she said.
Deputy Board Chairman for Retail Business at FUIB Sebastian Rubaj said that the portfolio of retail lending to banks will grow by approximately 15%.
Director of Retail Banking at Ukrgasbank Oleh Kliapko said that in 2019, the focus of retail lending will shift to high-margin products with short turnarounds. Priority areas will be cash loans and credit cards.
Bankers believe that retail loan rates in 2019 will remain high.
Ukrainian insurance companies in January-September 2018 collected net premiums for the amount of UAH 25.389 billion, which is 22.1% more than a year ago, the national commission for financial service markets regulation has told Interfax-Ukraine.
Some UAH 8.713 billion was collected under car insurance policies (voluntary car insurance (KASKO), compulsory vehicle owners’ civil liability (OSAGO) and Green Card), which is 22% more than a year ago, UAH 2.451 billion under medical insurance policies (a rise of 21%), UAH 2.407 billion – property insurance (25.9% up), UAH 1.479 billion – fire and natural disaster risk insurance (33.2% up), UAH 1.321 billion – insurance of responsibility to third parties (25% up), UAH 1.251 billion – financial risk insurance (14% down), UAH 1.113 billion – cargo and luggage insurance (42.2% up), UAH 981 million – accident insurance (35.5% up), UAH 838.8 million – medical expenses insurance (32.2% up), UAH 371 million – loan insurance (66.3% up) and UAH 337.4 million – aviation insurance (37.7% down).
During the reporting period, insurance companies specializing in life insurance collected UAH 2.741 billion of net insurance premiums, which is 35.6% more than in January-September 2017, and paid out UAH 536.8 million of insurance claims (a rise of 29.8%).
According to the regulator, the volume of net insurance payments in January-September 2018 increased 18.3%, to UAH 8.467 billion.
Of these, the majority of payments fall on car insurance (KASKO, OSAGO, Green Card) – UAH 4.149 billion, which is 19.6% more than in the same period a year earlier, medical insurance – UAH 1.470 billion (22.9% up) financial risks insurance – UAH 1.050 billion (11.4% down), property insurance – UAH 397 million (2.1 times more), medical expenses insurance – UAH 222.8 million (a rise of 14.1%), fire and natural disasters risk insurance – UAH 170.8 million (4 times more), accident insurance – UAH 139 million (21.6% up), and loan insurance – UAH 63.5 million (a fall of 38.8%).
The regulator also said that reinsurance operations for the first nine months of the current year decreased 11.6%, to UAH 11.719 billion, including a 16.2% fall in nonresident reinsurance, to UAH 2.232 billion.
A group of people’s deputies on the initiative of the Ukrainian Agrarian Council on December 4 registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine bill No. 9355-5 extending the land moratorium until January 1, 2020, the association said. “Despite the fact that Ukraine is constantly debating on the possible introduction of the land market, we have not yet been submitted a draft law on farmland turnover. This issue is extremely worrying for domestic farmers and raises many questions. Under such circumstances, it’s too early to talk about lifting the moratorium,” deputy chairman of the Ukrainian Agrarian Council Denys Marchuk said.
The authors of the draft law on amendments to the Transitional Provisions section of the Land Code of Ukraine regarding the extension of the ban on alienation of agricultural land were Oleksandr Bakumenko, Petro Yurchyshyn, Mykola Kucher, Valeriy Davydenko, Leonid Kozachenko, Andriy Kot, Mykola Liushniak, Serhiy Labaziuk, Valentyn Didych, Ivan Kyrylenko, Anatoliy Kuzmenko, Oleh Kulinich, and Vadym Ivchenko.
The association noted, with reference to the explanatory note to draft law No. 9355-5, that political speculation that the land market will be introduced from January 1, 2019 creates tension in the society and does not contribute to citizens’ confidence in the reforms that are implemented in the state.
