The modernization of CHP plants is one of the key priorities for 2024, which the management of Naftogaz Group discussed with the company’s Supervisory Board at an offsite meeting on March 20, 2024.
“The thermal generation facilities transferred to Naftogaz are in an extremely poor condition. They have not been modernized for years, and the war has also had a negative impact on their operation. In today’s environment, they cannot operate efficiently and ensure the proper level of reliability. Therefore, we need to find funds to modernize these facilities,” the Naftogaz Group website said on Thursday, citing its head Oleksiy Chernyshev.
Among the key priorities of the group this year, Naftogaz also highlighted the growth of gas and oil production, an increase in the volume of gas from foreign energy companies in Ukrainian underground storage facilities, the development of customer services for household consumers and the protection of facilities in times of war.
In particular, the group plans to increase natural gas production by 0.5 bcm this year and attract about 4 bcm of gas from foreign traders for storage in Ukrainian underground storage facilities, up from 2.5 bcm in 2023.
“As in the previous year, our top priority remains to increase our own Ukrainian gas and oil production. Our plan for 2024 is to increase natural gas production by at least half a billion cubic meters. We are increasing the pace of drilling new wells, using modern technologies for both subsoil exploration and direct gas production,” Chernyshov said.
As reported with reference to the head of Naftogaz, the group plans to produce 15 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2024 at the expense of PJSC Ukrgasvydobuvannya (UGV) and PJSC Ukrnafta.
According to Chernyshev, in 2023, UGV produced 13.5 billion cubic meters of gas.
For his part, according to UGV CEO Oleh Tolmachov, in 2023, the company increased gas production by about 700 million cubic meters compared to 2022. In 2022, the company produced 12.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas (commercial).
“In 2023, Ukrnafta increased oil and condensate production by 3% (by 39.9 thousand tons) compared to 2022, to 1 million 409.9 thousand tons, and gas production by 5.8% (by 60.4 million cubic meters), to 1 billion 97.4 million cubic meters.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine decided to transfer six CHPPs from the State Property Fund to Naftogaz of Ukraine (Dniprovska in Kamianske, Mykolaivska, Kryvorizka, Khersonska, Odesa, and Centralized Metallurgical Plant of Sievierodonetska CHPP) in early August 2021. Later, the government decided to increase the authorized capital of the NJSC by UAH 646.248 million through an additional share issue by contributing additional stakes in these CHP plants.
According to preliminary data, a large Ukrainian manufacturer of sowing and tillage machinery Elworthy JSC (formerly Chervona Zirka, Kropivnitsky) has completed 2023 with a loss of UAH 85.85 mln, which is 81.6% more than the same indicator of 2022.
The corresponding information is contained in the agenda of the general meeting of shareholders of the company, scheduled for April 25, published in the disclosure system of the National Commission on Securities and Stock Market (NCSSM).
According to the draft decision of the meeting, the losses are planned to be repaid at the expense of retained earnings of previous years.
According to the Clarity-project resource, the company’s retained earnings amounted to UAH 611.039 million by the beginning of this year.
The meeting also intends, in particular, to re-elect the Supervisory Board.
JSC “Elworthy”, which is part of the group of enterprises “Elworthy Group” of businessman Pavel Shtutman, specializes in the production of seeding and tillage equipment: seeders for sowing grain and row crops, cultivators for continuous and inter-row tillage, disc harrows for resource-saving tillage.
As reported, in January-September 2023, the company has received UAH 59.17 million loss against net profit of UAH 29.3 million for the same period of 2022, with net income falling by 35% to UAH 422.93 million.
According to Clarity-project, net income for the whole of 2023 fell by 34.3% to UAH 490.7m.
The state enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” has signed an agreement to supply 110,000 pine and spruce seedlings with a closed root system (CRS) to Slovakia, said the company’s CEO Yuriy Bolokhovets.
“We are replacing raw material exports with products of our own production. (…) We are negotiating the purchase of seedlings with a number of clients. Not only European ones,” he wrote on Facebook.
Bolokhovets recalled that for the first time, the Lviv Seed Breeding Center of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” exported seedlings in 2022. The feedback from European customers was positive. Therefore, in 2023, the state-owned enterprise again received a large contract.
The CEO of the state-owned enterprise noted that one of the advantages of planting material from the SCA is the ability to plant it almost all year round, which greatly simplifies the work of foresters. At the same time, the cost of creating a forest is reduced by 35%. After all, modern plants require much less seeds, fertilizers, space, and post-planting maintenance, as seedlings with SCA have more growth energy.
Currently, forest seed plants of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” operate in Zhytomyr, Ternopil, Khmelnytsky, Lviv, and Kirovohrad regions. This year, another center in Ivano-Frankivsk region has already been launched.
“Our goal is to produce 40 million seedlings per year with SCA. Most of them are intended for Ukraine, but we plan to increase exports as well,” summarized the CEO of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”.
As reported, Ukraine launched a forestry reform in 2016. As part of it, the sale of raw wood at electronic auctions has already been introduced. Since 2021, an interactive map of wood processing facilities has been operating in a test mode in a number of regions.
The industry has implemented the Forest in a Smartphone project, which contains a list of logging tickets for timber harvesting and allows you to check the legality of logging on the agency’s online map.
On June 1, 2023, Ukraine launched a pilot for the electronic issuance of logging tickets and certificates of origin of timber. In addition, the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” has launched a pilot project to procure timber harvesting services through the electronic platform Prozorro.
New York has once again taken the top spot in the list of the world’s largest financial centers, according to a survey by Z/Yen Group Ltd. financial advisory company, which calculates the Global Financial Centers Index (GFCI).
New York has been in the lead since the fall of 2018. Compared to the previous version of the ranking, published in September last year, New York’s score increased to 764 from 763, and London’s, which ranks second, to 747 from 744.
The top three leaders are still Singapore with 742 points, followed by Hong Kong in fourth place and San Francisco in fifth. Shanghai moved up to sixth place, Geneva to seventh, while Los Angeles slipped two positions to eighth. Chicago retained its ninth place, while Seoul moved up to tenth, displacing Washington.
The most significant rise in the ranking was demonstrated by São Paulo (up 21 places) and Wellington (up 15), while Miami (down 14 places) and Helsinki (down 12 places) showed the sharpest drops.
Among the financial centers of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Astana is in the lead (66th place).
The World Financial Centers Index was first published in 2007 and is updated every six months (the current edition is the 35th). The latest ranking was based on a survey of nearly 8.5 thousand respondents.
In January-February this year, Ukrainian enterprises reduced their consumption of rolled metal products by 24.95% year-on-year, down to 370.2 thousand tons from 493.3 thousand tons.
According to a press release issued by Ukrmetallurgprom on Thursday, 171.2 thousand tons, or 46.25% of the domestic rolled steel market, were imported during this period.
According to Ukrmetallurgprom, in January-February 2024, steel companies produced 900 thousand tons of rolled metal products (152.5% compared to the same period in 2023), of which, according to the State Customs Service of Ukraine, about 701 thousand tons, or 77.9%, were exported. In January-February 2023, the share of exports amounted to 38.5% (227 thousand tons with a total production of 590 thousand tons of rolled metal products).
The share of semi-finished products in export deliveries in January-February 2024 amounted to 47.50%, which is the same as in January-February 2023 (47.58%). The share of flat products in export deliveries significantly exceeded the figure for January-February 2023 (38.66% and 28.19%, respectively), while the share of long products was significantly lower than in January-February 2023 (13.84% in 2024 vs. 24.23% in 2023).
“In January-February 2024, the domestic market capacity amounted to 370.2 thousand tons of rolled steel, of which 171.2 thousand tons or 46.25% were imported. In January-February 2023, the domestic market capacity amounted to 493.3 thousand tons, of which 130.3 thousand tons, or 26.41%, were imported. Thus, in January-February 2024, there was a decrease in the domestic market capacity by 24.95% compared to two months of 2023, with a simultaneous increase in the share of the import component by 19.84%,” the press release states.
The structure of imports in January-February 2024 is still characterized by a significant dominance of flat products over long products (85.05% and 13.67%, respectively); in January-February 2023, the dominance of flat products over long products was also significant (77.97% and 20.49%, respectively).
According to the State Customs Service, the main export markets for Ukrainian rolled steel products in January-February this year were the European Union (80.6%), the rest of Europe (7.3%) and Africa (3.9%).
Among metallurgical importers, the first place was occupied by other European countries (42.9%), the second by the EU-27 (39.9%), and the third by Asian countries (16.9%).
As reported, Ukraine’s rolled steel market grew 2.19 times in 2023 compared to 2022, to 3 million 505.6 thousand tons. The company imported 1 million 118.6 thousand tons, or 31.91% of the domestic rolled steel consumption market.
In 2023, Ukrainian steelmakers produced 5.37 million tons of rolled metal products (100.4% compared to 2022), of which, according to the UAVtormet Expert and Scientific Council, about 2.99 million tons, or 55.6%, were exported.
In 2022, the share of exports amounted to 81.7% (4.37 million tons with a total production of 5.35 million tons of rolled metal products).
The share of semi-finished products in export deliveries in 2023 was 40.30%, which is significantly lower than in the same period in 2022 (43.45%). The share of flat products in exports for the year was also significantly higher than a year earlier (40.41% and 36.34%, respectively). At the same time, the share of long products is comparable to the figure for the previous similar reporting period (19.53% in 2023 vs. 20.21% in 2022).
In 2023, the domestic market capacity amounted to 3,505.6 thousand tons of rolled steel, of which 1,118.6 thousand tons, or 31.91%, were imported. In 2022, the domestic market capacity amounted to 1598.6 thousand tons, of which 621.6 thousand tons, or 38.88%, were imported. Thus, in 2023, there was an increase in the domestic market capacity by 119.29% compared to 2022, while the share of the import component decreased by 6.98%.
The structure of imports last year was still characterized by a significant dominance of flat products over long products (76.08% and 23.87%, respectively); in 2022, the dominance of flat products over long products was also significant (68.69% and 30.41%, respectively).
According to UAVtormet, the main export markets for Ukrainian steel products in 2023 were the EU (82%) and the rest of Europe (7.5%).
Among metallurgical importers in 2023, the first place was occupied by other European countries (42.4%), the second by the EU-27 (37.3%), and the third by Asian countries (18.2%).
Ukraine has received a CAD2 billion loan from Canada, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on social media site X on Wednesday evening.
“Ukraine has received CAD2 billion from Canada. Vital funds for our resilience… This is a significant investment in global security and peace,” the head of the Ukrainian government said.
“Canada is a reliable partner of Ukraine that supports us in difficult times. Today we have received USD 1.5 billion from Canada. Since February 2022, budgetary assistance has reached USD $5.1 billion,” wrote Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko.
Shmyhal and Marchenko thanked the people and government of Canada for their support of Ukraine.
The Ministry of Finance clarified that the financial assistance was received under the third supplemental agreement, which is a continuation of the original agreement signed on August 8, 2022. The additional loan is provided for a period of 10 years, with an interest rate of 1.5% per annum. The grace period is 4.5 years from the date of disbursement.
As reported, on Wednesday, the state budget of Ukraine received the first tranche of EUR 4.5 billion from the EU under the Ukraine Facility program, while before that, all external revenues amounted to only $1.2 billion since the beginning of the year.
According to the National Bank’s forecasts, Ukraine may receive external financing worth $10 billion or even more between mid-March and the end of April, against the $37.3 billion required in the state budget for the whole year.
