PJSC State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine in January-October 2019 exported 2.34 million tonnes of grain and sold 160,040 tonnes of flour and bran.
According to a report on its website, during the reporting period it shipped 751,200 tonnes of grain to the main partner, China’s National Corporation CCEC.
Corn ranked first in the commodity structure of grain exports by the corporation, its share in the total volume continued to grow in the reporting period, and reached 67%.
The main buyers of the corporation’s products were Austria, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Italy, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Bangladesh, China, and Venezuela. Deliveries to third countries are carried out through CCEC.
State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine was created by the government of Ukraine in August 2010. It includes an extensive network of branches: linear and port elevators, mills, feed mills and cereal plants. A total of 53 subdivisions can store 3.7 million tonnes of grain, including about 2.5 million tonnes per year of total capacity for transshipment of grains for exports in Odesa and Mykolaiv ports.
Ukraine in January-October 2019 increased export of poultry by 23%, to 333,810 tonnes, the State Fiscal Service has reported.
According to the service, in monetary terms exports of these products rose by 12.8%, to $479.73 million.
At the same time, import of poultry for the ten months of 2019 decreased by 2.1%, to 108,660 tonnes, in money terms by 2%, to $43.29 million.
In addition, according to the service, pork exports in January-October 2019 amounted to 1,790 tonnes compared to 1,540 tonnes for the same period in 2018. These products were delivered for $3.95 million against $3.34 million for the ten months of 2018.
Pork imports to Ukraine during this period decreased by 12.5%, to 20,460 tonnes. Pork worth $39 million was imported to the country compared to $43.17 million in January-October 2018.
Ukraine since the beginning of the 2019/2020 marketing year (MY, July-June) and as of November 8, 2019 had exported 20.755 million tonnes of grain and leguminous plants, which is 44.3% more than on the same date of the previous MY.
According to the information and analytical portal of the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine, to date, the country has exported 12.12 million tonnes of wheat, 5.03 million tonnes of corn, and 3.36 million tonnes of barley.
As of November 8 this year, some 129,300 tonnes of flour had been also exported.
As reported, Ukraine in the 2018/2019 MY exported a record 50.4 million tonnes of grain, legumes and flour, which is 23% more than in the previous MY.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in September raised its forecast for grain exports for the 2019/2020 MY by 400,000 tonnes compared with the August forecast, to 54.44 million tonnes.
JTI Ukraine, a large tobacco company, after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and ministers on Thursday has said that it resumes production at its factory in Kremenchuk (Poltava region) following the similar announcement made by British American Tobacco Ukraine.
“After yesterday’s fruitful meeting with the President of Ukraine, we decided to fully resume production of cigarettes at the Kremenchuk factory. From Monday, November 11, the JTI Ukraine factory will resume production at all lines,” Director Corporate Affairs at JT International Ukraine Gintautas Dirgela told Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.
As reported, British American Tobacco Ukraine after a meeting with Zelensky and ministers on November 7 has announced the resumption of production at the B.A.T.-Pryluky plant (Chernihiv region), starting from November 8, 2019.
“We heard words of support and assurances about an early solution to the problem that has damaged our industry and the country’s economy as a whole. Therefore, despite some uncertainty about the fate of bill No. 1049, but relying on the president’s guarantees, we plan to gradually restore production in Pryluky, starting as early as November 8, 2019,” the company said in the statement.
British American Tobacco Ukraine on October 11, 2019 stopped production at B.A.T.-Pryluky plant. The company explained its decision by the adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of bill No. 1049 with the norm on the state regulation of the trade margin on cigarettes. Then the company turned to the State Fiscal Service to withdraw 25 million excise stamps and return UAH 505 million paid for them.
JTI Ukraine, one of the largest tobacco companies in Ukraine, on October 22 said that it refused to pay for 16 million excise labels worth UAH 350 million in connection with the reduction of production over the adoption of bill No. 1049 containing a requirement of regulating the cigarette markup. The company cut production by 73% compared with its plans in the second half of October.
Earlier Philip Morris Ukraine, British American Tobacco, JTI and Imperial Tobacco in Ukraine are mulling the possibility of decreasing production and later closing the tobacco factories on the territory of Ukraine over the adoption of the legislative requirement on the government regulation of markup on their goods by the Verkhovna Rada.
Bill No. 1049, passed at second reading, introducing a single account for paying taxes and duties, the single social security contribution, sets a fixed markup for wholesale and retail traders of tobacco products at 7% and 13% of the maximum retail price per package.
Ukraine needs to quickly add 2GW of maneuverable electricity generating facilities to balance the Ukrainian power grid in the conditions of the rapidly growing renewable energy sector, which will require around EUR 1.2-1.4 billion, Business Development Director at Wärtsilä Energy business in Eastern Europe Igor Petrik has said.
“The introduction of 2 GW of highly maneuverable generating capacities gives the highest economic effect for the power system,” he wrote in an article published on the Energy Reform resource.
Petrik said that the calculations were made for gas generator stations. According to him, energy storage systems based on batteries at current equipment prices are not so effective. According to the experience of other countries, the most common option are projects of gas generator stations with a capacity of about 100 MW and a cost of EUR 60-70 million, the expert said. According to him, their gas consumption will be “insignificant” – about 40 million cubic meters per year for the installed capacity of 2 GW.
According to Petrik, the introduction of highly maneuverable generation will help reduce the use of the “hot” reserve of thermal power plants by 12.5 billion kWh per year and the volume of coal-burning generation by 4.2 billion kWh per year. As a result, the total reduction in coal consumption will be 3 million tonnes, CO2 emissions will decrease by 7 million tonnes a year.
He added that the volume of renewable energy restrictions could be reduced by more than three times – from 6.5 kWh to 1.9 billion kWh per year, and the overall reduction in operating costs of the power grid – by EUR 300 million per year.
In the current situation, the expert said that renewable energy restrictions may increase to 30% of production during 2020, with fees of EUR 580 million per year for limited energy. Petrik said that such restrictions could arise provided that the installed capacity of the solar power plants and wind farms by the end of 2020 would increase to 7.5 GW and the existing feed-in tariffs and priority dispatching of cheaper energy, such as nuclear energy, would remain.
The Ukrsadvinprom Association has convened a congress of Ukrainian winemakers as part of the large-scale specialized exhibition Wine & Spirits in Kyiv and introduced an umbrella brand, Wine of Ukraine, which, according to the organizers, should help Ukrainian wine with winning solid positions in foreign markets.
Head of the Ukrsadvinprom Association Volodymyr Pechko, who was a co-organizer of the event, says Ukraine has already proved that it is a country with producers of high-quality wine, sparkling wine, vermouth, brandy, fruit wines and distillates, however, marketing Ukrainian-made produce in other countries should be backed by regular support of the state and an alliance of Ukrainian wine producers around one brand on the “Made in Ukraine” principle.
“The Ukrsadvinprom Association, the country’s leading winemakers recognized the urgent need for joint actions to enter foreign markets. Our trips and participation in top wine trade fairs in Chile, Argentina, France and other countries have shown in practice the success of other countries implementing joint projects under a single wine brand. Only together we can successfully present our products, and the common Wine of Ukraine brand will allow us to position our products abroad in the right way, reduce costs when participating in foreign exhibitions and forums, and lower advertising and PR expenses,” Volodymyr Pechko said.
“Our plans include the development of our project around the Wine of Ukraine brand as early as in 2020 and encourage all Ukrainian winemakers – both large and small enterprises – to join it,” Volodymyr Pechko, the head of the Ukrsadvinprom Association, added.
The Ukrsadvinprom association includes about 200 enterprises from different regions of Ukraine. Ukrsadvinprom was established in March 2016 to bring together market players and provide practical assistance in resolving problematic issues in viticulture and winemaking, as well as horticulture, including berry and walnut growing.
The main areas include lobbying interests and representation of enterprises in state executive agencies, expanding the geography of exports of products, formation of commodity lots, legal support of economic activities, consultation on issues of applying for state support, development of technological instructions and technical specifications necessary for the production of wines, cider, drinks made of fruit and other types of wine products.
Volodymyr Pechko heads the Ukrsadvinprom Association.
Interfax-Ukraine is a media partner of the event.
