Interpipe international vertically integrated pipe and wheel company increased capital investments by 14.3% in January-June 2019 compared to the same period last year, to $24 million from $21 million.
According to Interpipe’s presentation for its first conference call with investors, in the reporting period $17 million of investments were used for the company’s pipe sector and about $4 million to the steelmaking complex (Interpipe Steel), as well as up to $4 million for the sector for production of railway wheels.
At the same time, the presentation notes that in January-June 2018 some $12 million were invested in the pipe sector of the company, $5 million in the steel sector and $3 million in the sector for production of railway wheels.
In January-June 2019 Interpipe increased EBITDA by 37% compared to the same period in 2018, to $125 million, revenue by 3%, to $557 million. At the same time, the company’s sales in the first half of the year decreased by 6.2%, to 423,000 tonnes, in particular sales of railway wheels increased by 1.1%, to 96,000 tonnes, while pipes decreased by 8.1%, to 317,000 tonnes.
It is also reported that in January-June the company increased production of welded pipes by 5.7%, to 56,000 tonnes, but reduced production of seamless pipes by 10.6%, to 261,000 tonnes. In monetary terms, production of welded pipes increased by 27.5%, to $51 million, but output of seamless pipes was down by 10.6%, to $311 million.
The total debt of insolvent VAB Bank and bank Financial Initiative of Oleh Bakhmatiuk to the state is UAH 29.3 billion, including a UAH 11 billion debt to the Deposit Guarantee Fund, a UAH 10.6 billion debt to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) and a UAH 7.7 billion debt to three state-run banks. According to a posting of the NBU press service on Facebook on Friday, the debt of the former owner of VAB Bank and Financial Initiative Bank to the central bank was secured by his personal guarantee to repay a total amount of UAH 8.6 billion and property guarantees of Bakhmatiuk’s companies.
“In order for these guarantees to turn into a real refund, the NBU filed more than 50 lawsuits against him and his companies,” the regulator said.
The central bank said that as of October 15, 19 court decisions on Bakhmatiuk’s guarantee agreements regarding the bank Financial Initiative were made in favor of the National Bank and entered into legal force, while there are no decisions regarding the VAB bank.
“Nineteen victories have not yet allowed for the repayment of debts: the sale of property by the State Enforcement Service is surprisingly sluggish,” the regulator said.
The Parliamentary Budget Committee recommended that the Verkhovna Rada consider the redistribution of gambling proceeds for the construction and reconstruction of swimming pools, the development of sports and water supply in the villages when considering the state budget for 2020, according to the committee’s conclusions to draft state budget No.2000.
According to the conclusions, members of the parliamentary committee recommend to increase financing of the program “Development of physical culture, sports of the highest achievements and reserve sports” by UAH 431.3 million, including UAH 411.3 million meant for a special fund at the expense of payments for gambling licenses.
Besides, the committee members also proposed to establish a budget subsidy program for the construction of new and reconstruction of existing 50-meter and 20-meter swimming pools in the amount of UAH 200 million for the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports with financing provided with the proceeds from these licenses.
Another UAH 150 million from these funds proposed to allocate for the budget program “Priority provision of rural settlements with centralized water supply”.
In addition, the document envisages reduction of expenses for the support of the National Public Television and Radio Company of Ukraine by UAH 300 million, while increasing the costs of supporting the newspaper “Holos Ukrainy” (Voice by Ukraine) by UAH 300 million, reads the document.
At the same time, the committee proposed to cut by UAH 130 million development expenditures under the budget program “Utilization of solid rocket fuel” and to increase the expenses for the program for scientific and technical activities in the agro-industrial complex by UAH 200 million.
Ukrainian banks’ cash exchange rates on 15/11/19
Source: Interfax-Ukraine
The Irish low cost airline Ryanair (Dublin) will launch direct flights from Kherson to Katowice (Poland) from January 15, 2020.
According to the airline’s reservation system, flights will be operated twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays. The flight duration is two hours.
The cost of one ticket without baggage is from EUR19.27.
The actual operator will be the Polish low cost airline Buzz (formerly Ryanair Sun), which is part of Ryanair Group.
As reported, earlier Ryanair announced the start of flights from Kherson to Poland’s Krakow and Vienna (Austria).
Kherson became the fifth city in Ukraine, from which the Irish low cost air carrier operates.
In 2020, Ryanair intends to increase passenger traffic on Ukrainian flights by 33%, to more than 2.1 million people.
Ryanair entered the Ukrainian market in 2018. For the first months, the low cost carrier performed flights from Boryspil Airport and Lviv. In June 2019, the airline began operating flights from Kharkiv and Odesa, then announced flights from Kherson.
Cargo transportation along the Dnipro River in January-October 2019 increased by 22.6% compared to the same period a year earlier, to 9.655 million tonnes.
According to the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, the number of trips on the Dnipro River during this period decreased by 30.7%, to 9,972.
Transportation of metal products increased by 24.1%, to 1.374 million tonnes, grain doubled, to 3.916 million tonnes. At the same time, transportation of construction materials and other goods fell by 5.4%, to 4.328 million tonnes, petroleum products by 37.6%, to 37,400 tonnes.
As reported, in 2018 river transportation in Ukraine amounted to 16.5 million tonnes of cargo.
The volume of traffic along the Dnipro River last year increased by 22.4% compared to 2017 and amounted to about 9.9 million tonnes.
According to the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, for 2016-2018 the volume of grain transportation along the Dnipro River rose by 180%, construction materials by 130%.
In 2018, the volume of traffic by inland waterways increased by 112% compared to 2013-2015 and amounted to 9.9 million tonnes.
