Ukrainian low cost airline SkyUp (Kyiv) on October 17 launched Kyiv-Lviv flights.
The press service of the airline reported that before October 26, 2019, the flights will be operated twice a week – on Thursdays and Sundays. From October 27, the number of flights will increase to four per week – on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The cost of a ticket without baggage starts from UAH 508.
“Today, we have launched flights between two Ukrainian cities with million population – Kyiv and Lviv… We will continue further developing internal flights, because this is one of the priority areas of our strategy,” the press service of SkyUp airlines said, citing CEO Yevhen Khainatsky.
In addition, SkyUp said that also on October 17, 2019, Kharkiv-Lviv flights were launched.
SkyUp Airlines LLC was registered in Kyiv in June 2016. The founder is ACS-Ukraine LLC of Tetiana and Yuriy Alba, who also own JoinUp! tour operator.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has improved its hryvnia exchange rate forecast for 2020 as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank did, Ukrainian Finance Minister Oksana Markarova has said, without specifying the concrete figure. In all forecasts and in forecasts of the National Bank, the exchange rate for the next year is strengthened, that is, the rate on which the budget was based (UAH 28.20/$1). Obviously, it will not be like that anymore, the finance minister said in an interview with the Voice of America in Washington.
She added that soon the Finance Ministry and the government will receive an updated forecast of the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture, on the basis of which changes will be made to the draft national budget for 2020.
The forecasts of all the organizations, the National Bank say that the rate is strengthening and this is a long-term trend. Therefore, there will be fluctuations, but we should expect that this strengthening is not some small fluctuation of this year, but this is a new normality, Markarova said.
As reported, since the beginning of 2019, the hryvnia exchange rate has strengthened by 10.3%, to UAH 24.835244/$1.
The National Bank of Ukraine does not officially announce its exchange rate forecasts, at the same time, it sends them to the government for drawing up the draft national budget.
Darnitsa pharmaceutical company in 2018 invested about EUR3.5 million in development and research (R&D), Dmytro Shymkiv, the head of the board of directors of Darnitsa Group, has said.
“Every year we invest about 10% of gross income in development and research. In 2018 the amount of such investments totaled EUR 3.5 million. In total, Darnitsa invested about EUR 200 million in development,” he said at a press conference in Kyiv.
Shymkiv said that in 2020-2022 Darnitsa plans to conduct 9-12 drug bioequivalence studies.
Since 2016, the company has completed eight such studies.
According to him, the development strategy of Darnitsa provides for three priority areas of the product portfolio: cardiology, neurological drugs, and pain therapy.
In 2019, the pharmaceutical company plans to bring 11 brands to the market, in 2020 some 14. In 2018, Darnitsa brought ten brands to the market.
Currently, the company’s product portfolio comprises 250 types of finished medicines.
Darnitsa pharmaceutical company is one of the ten largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in Ukraine and the top ten largest hospital suppliers. Its ultimate beneficiary is Hlib Zahoriy.
Pivdenny seaport (Odesa region), the largest seaport in Ukraine in terms of transshipment volume, increased cargo transshipment by 28.4% in January-September 2019 compared to the same period in 2018, to 38.658 million tonnes.
According to information from the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, for the specified period the port increased transshipment of exported cargo by 36.4%, to 28.304 million tonnes, imported freight by 6%, to 5.292 million tonnes, transit by 19.1%, to 5.043 million tonnes.
In January-September, the seaport handled only 12% of the volume of cabotage cargo compared to the same period in 2018, which amounted to 17,450 tonnes.
According to the nomenclature of cargo, in January-September the port raised transshipment of liquid cargo by 10.3%, to 3.265 million tonnes, dry bulk cargo by 34.8%, to 32.285 million tonnes, and reduced transshipment of packaged goods by 2.9%, to 3.107 million tonnes.
Container transshipment amounted to 144,985 TEU (an increase of 87.8% compared to the same period in 2018).
As reported, in 2018 the port increased transshipment of goods by 1.92% compared to 2017, to 42.702 million tonnes.
Pivdenny port was founded in 1978. It is located on the Adzhalyk firth and is the deepest harbor in Ukraine. The length of its berths is around 2.6 kilometers.
Fitch Ratings has assigned Kernel Holding S.A.’s new $300 million bond due in 2024 a final senior unsecured rating of ‘BB-‘ with a Recovery Rating of ‘RR4’ (50%).
Fitch said in a report on Thursday that the final rating is in line with the expected rating that Fitch assigned to this bond issue on 30 September 2019 and follows the pricing and receipt of the final documentation, which conform to the information already received.
Fitch said that the new $300 million bond’s ‘BB-‘/’RR4’ rating is aligned with the rating on the outstanding $500 million bond due 2022.
As reported, Kernel last week placed five-year $300 million bonds at 6.5% per annum. The pricing was set at 6.625%, the securities were sold at a price of 99.475% of the face value. The organizers of the placement were ING Bank, JP Morgan.
In January 2017, Kernel placed eurobonds worth $500 million. The maturity date of Kernel’s debut eurobonds was January 31, 2022, and the coupon rate was set at 8.75% per annum.
Kernel is the world’s largest producer and exporter of sunflower oil, the leading producer and supplier of agricultural products from the Black Sea region to world markets.
