The assets of insurance companies placed in the instruments of the stock market in January-March 2018 amounted to UAH 11.326 billion, which is UAH 2.625 billion, or 18.8% less than in the same period in 2017, member of the National Commission for State Regulation of Financial Services Markets Oleksandr Zaletov has told Interfax-Ukraine. According to him, due to regulatory requirements and stagnation of the national stock market, the volume of shares and corporate bonds in the structure of insurance companies’ assets is steadily declining. In the first quarter of 2018, investments in shares decreased by 23.7% compared to the same period in 2017, or by UAH 1.746 billion, in corporate bonds by 13.7%, or by UAH 126.5 million.
At the same time, Zaletov notes the growth of investing of insurers’ funds in government domestic loan bonds continues – by 15.5%, or by UAH 859.9 million. At the same time, income from investments in government domestic loan bonds for the period increased by 29%.
“The stability of the hryvnia and higher interest rates contributed to the growth of insurers’ national currency investments both in deposits and current accounts. But this did not save from the decline in the yield of this category of assets by 6.8%. In addition, investment in the economy of the country in the areas defined by the government rose by 54.8%, or UAH 150.5 million,” the expert said.
The Chornomorsk maritime merchandise port (Odesa region) in January-May 2018 increased cargo handling by 32.51% year-over-year, to 8.735 million tonnes.
According to data from the Ukrainian Sea Port Authority, over the period the port boosted transshipment of export cargo by 15.65%, to 6.42 million tonnes, while handling of imported cargo grew 2.45-fold, to 1.867 million tonnes. Transit cargo transshipment rose by 59.3%, to 442,930 tonnes. The port handled 5,860 tonnes of intercoastal cargo.
Transshipment of bulk cargo fell by 20.26%, to 628,950 tonnes, packaged cargo transshipment soared by 97.59%, to 2.21 million tonnes and dry cargo – grew by 25.86%, to 5.897 million tonnes.
Chornomorsk port is a universal international port, one of the largest on the Black Sea. The enterprise has specialized terminals and systems, which allow overloading a wide range of goods: liquid, bulk, general. Its 29 berths are capable of receiving ships with a carrying capacity of up to 100,000 tonnes. The annual designed capacity of the port is more than 30 million tonnes.
The port’s capacity of container handling is 1.15 million TEU. Since 2007 the port has been capable of providing the simultaneous accepting of three ocean-going container ships with a capacity of more than 5,000 TEU and a length of up to 300 meters.
The Economic Development and Trade Ministry of Ukraine plans before august 20, 2018 to work on the issue of the creation of the institution of public intellectual property inspectors.
The respective decision was made at the first meeting of the Intellectual Property Council on June 14, according to materials published on the ministry’s website.
According to the report presented by Deputy Minister Mykhailo Tytarchuk, funding the institution is provided at the expense of penalties for copyright infringements.
According to the report, public inspectors have the right to conduct scheduled and unscheduled inspections to identify violations in the field of intellectual property. In addition, the law imposes on them the function of bringing infringers to administrative responsibility – through registration of administrative protocols and sending them to court. In case of revealing signs of criminal offenses, the public inspector sends relevant materials to law enforcement agencies.
However, today there is no such institution in Ukraine, which forces intellectual property entities to apply to court in case of violations, the ministry said.
The ministry pointed out the need for this step in the context of the “Special Report 301” issued by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
The Cabinet of Ministers established the Intellectual Property Council as a consultative and advisory body on February 7, 2018.
Ukraine and Azerbaijan at a meeting of the bilateral working group for energy issues on June 14 in Baku discussed delivery of oil from Azerbaijan to Ukrainian and European oil refineries, the press service of Ukraine’s Energy and Coal Industry Ministry has reported. “The sides discussed the state of the implementation of a project to supply various types of oil to Ukrainian oil refineries and to the countries of the Central and Eastern Europe,” the ministry said.
The involvement of Ukraine to the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project was also discussed.
As reported, Ukraine increased imports of crude oil (foreign trade code 2709) by 36.8% or 102,260 tonnes in January-May 2018 year-over-year, to 380,196 tonnes.
The State Fiscal Service reported that oil for $205.489 million was imported, which is 66.8% more than in January-May 2017 ($123.194 million).
Ukraine in January-May 2018 imported crude oil for $194.853 million from Azerbaijan, $7.176 million from Algeria, $1.844 million from Iran and $1.616 million from other countries.
Rubizhne cardboard packaging mill in Luhansk region, one of Ukraine’s largest cardboard packaging producers, produced 101.98 million square meters of corrugated cardboard boxes in January-May 2018, including goods from its Trypilsky packaging plant, which is 17.3% up year-over-year.
The mills increased production of components of corrugated cardboard (cardboard and fluting) by 7.1%, to 122,200 tonnes.
The total commodity amount produced by both plants in the period in monetary terms grew by 35.3%, to UAH 2.262 billion.
According to UkrPapir association, cardboard packaging production in Ukraine in January-May 2018 grew by 8.4% and amounted to 416.9 million square meters.
The Rubizhne cardboard packaging mill has worked on the packaging market since 1991, and specializes in the production of components for corrugated cardboard (cardboard and fluting) and corrugated cardboard boxes.
Its most important customers are large confectioneries, juice and tobacco producers.
The Rubizhne cardboard packaging mill acquired Trypilsky packaging plant in 2002 and subsequently began producing corrugated cardboard and corrugated packaging.
Smart Maritime Group (SMG) of Smart-Holding starts implementing a contract to build two chemical tanker hulls under an order of Dutch VEKA Shipbuilding WT B.V. The press service of SMG reported that the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the start of building the first hull for the Dutch customer was held at the Kherson Shipyard on Thursday. According to the contract signed in May, SMG will build hulls, install pipeline network, deck equipment and paint the tanker hulls. The cost of the contract is estimated at over UAH 145 million (some $5.6 million). It will take 11 months and a half to build one hull. The second tanker hull will be built at Mykolaiv Shipyard belonged to SMG.
“This is really an important event for Ukrainian shipbuilding, since it is the first foreign contract in the industry since 2013. We have made great efforts to convince the customer, to convince Ukrainian and European banks to finance this project. Today we have good prospects for work and the conclusion of new contracts,” the press service said, citing Director General of SMG Vasyl Fedin.
Tankers are designed for transportation of petroleum products and chemicals on the inland waterways of Europe. The vessel’s overall length is 110 m, width is 13.5 m, the height of the side is 6.59 m, the hull is 1200 tonnes, and the cargo capacity is 5,320 tonnes.
According to the press service, SMG and VEKA Group cooperate in the shipbuilding market for more than 10 years. During this period, SMG has built eight hulls for chemical tankers for VEKA. In total, 12 vessels of the same class were built for the Dutch market.
