Ukrtelecom in January-March 2018 received UAH 153 million of net profit, which is 24.4% more than for the same period in 2017, company director general Yuriy Kurmaz has said at a press conference in Kyiv. According to him, net income for this period fell by 2.9%, to UAH 1.615 billion.
EBITDA decreased by 1.3%, to UAH 383 million, while the EBITDA margin increased by one percentage point to 23.7%.
Kurmaz added that revenue from telecommunications services in the first quarter of this year decreased by 5% compared to the same period last year, to UAH 1.435 billion.
In January-March the operator provided fixed-line telephony services worth UAH 747.3 million, while by the end of the quarter it serviced 4.5 million active telephone lines.
Revenues from providing broadband Internet services for this period rose by 4.1%, to UAH 455 million. At the same time, the operator serves 1.445 million subscribers in more than 2,200 settlements.
By the end of the first quarter, Ukrtelecom serviced 3.6 million fixed-line subscribers, 1.3 million subscribers to Internet access services, and 93,000 TV subscribers in the B2C segment. Revenues in this segment from telephony decreased by 6.8%, to UAH 562 million, revenues from providing access to the Internet grew by 0.6%, to UAH 322 million.
Norway has provided EUR 3.6 million (NOK 34 million) for the implementation of projects of the Council of Europe for Ukraine, Norwegian Ambassador to Ukraine and Belarus Ole Terje Horpestad has said.
“Norway has decided to further support the four-year action plan with EUR 3.6 million… I also want to emphasize that we expect that Ukraine will continue full and deep cooperation with the Council of Europe and will fulfill its obligations. The action plan is important for international confidence and support for further reforms in Ukraine,” he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.
In turn, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine Morten Enberg said that the funds would allow continuing the implementation of the Council of Europe support, in particular, to the judicial reform, the execution of court rulings, decentralization, corruption fighting and support of internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Enberg said that this is the assistance to the Ukrainian government in support of national minorities and the implementation of the action plan under the new law on education.
He said that the total amount for the implementation of the action plan is around EUR 29 million for four years.
Nova Poshta (Kyiv), the leader of express delivery in Ukraine, in partnership with private co-investors is implementing a project on construction of a new logistic terminal of class A with gross area of 3,200 square meters in Chervonohrad (Lviv region).
“The Nova Poshta company gave us all terms of reference and requirements [to the facility], and we designed the facility and are building it. Then we will lease the premises to Nova Poshta. Decoration works inside the warehouse are being done. I think that in two or three months the facility will be launched,” the head and co-investor in the project Nazariy Bilobran told Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that the new warehouse of Nova Poshta will be located on two parcels of 0.8 ha (0.5 and 0.3 has) at 1 and 1B, Kopernik Street in Chervonohrad.
“The logistic terminal will be designed for reloading goods. There will also be a Nova Poshta branch, a client zone. This will be the third warehouse in Lviv region that will cover the northern part and probably part of Volyn region. Local business is carrying out all works to build the facility, taxes will be paid to the city budget,” Bilobran said.
According to Bilobran, this facility will become the second logistic terminal realized for Nova Poshta: in 2017 a similar project was constructed in Stryi (Lviv region).
Nova Poshta told Interfax-Ukraine that the company plans to build new terminals in partnership with developers.
“This year, Nova Posta is building a Khmelnytsky terminal, for which the EBRD has provided a loan. Other terminals will be built in partnership with developers, in particular, they have already begun to build in Lviv region and we are now in the process of negotiations with developers in Kharkiv,” the press service said.
Pharmacy sales in Ukraine in January-March 2018 in monetary terms increased by 43% compared to the same period in 2017, to UAH 22.886 billion. Business Credit told Interfax-Ukraine pharmacy sales in natural terms for the first quarter increased by 8%, to 411.515 million packs. According to the company, in particular, retail sales of medicines in monetary terms increased by 45%, to UAH 18.976 billion, in natural terms by 24%, to 287.662 million packs.
The average weighted price of goods in the pharmacy basket for the first quarter of 2018 was UAH 55.6 per package, medicines some UAH 66 per package. Pharmacy sales in March 2018 amounted to UAH 7.752 billion, which is 36% more than a year earlier, drug sales grew by 39%, to UAH 6.416 billion.
As reported, in 2017 pharmacy sales in money terms increased by 19% compared to 2016, to UAH 68.271 billion, in natural terms by 12%, to 1.513 billion packs. Retail sales of medicines for the year in monetary terms rose by 19%, to UAH 54.653 billion, in natural terms by 12%, to 942.777 million packs. The average weighted price of goods in the pharmacy basket in 2017 amounted to UAH 45.12 per package, medicines some UAH 58 per package.
T.B.Fruit, one of the largest processors of fruits and berries in Ukraine, plans to occupy at least 30% of the Ukrainian juice market, group founder Taras Barschovsky has said. “Our plan is to occupy at least 30% of the Ukrainian juice market. I have all the opportunities for this,” he said in an interview with the Business edition. Currently, according to Barschovsky, T.B.Fruit is represented in the market of concentrates and in the expensive segment of 100% juices. At the same time, the company plans to enter the market with cheaper products.
“Concerning concentrates, we occupy 23-25% of the European market and 8-11% of the world’s market. Regarding juices, in the Ukrainian market, Galicia is positioned in the expensive segment (100% natural juices), and this is 20% of the Ukrainian juice market. Our products account for 60-70%. We are now entering the market with a new product in the cheap category. This is the new trademark Svitanok, which is already on sale,” the founder of T.B.Fruit said.
T.B.Fruit Group owns eight juice concentrate plants in Ukraine, Moldova and Poland. T.B.Fruit produces freshly squeezed juice under the Galicia trademark in Ukraine.
Grain harvest in Ukraine in the 2018/19 agricultural year (July-June) could grow by 3% compared with the previous year, to 61.85 million tonnes, according to projections of the Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA). “In the 2017/18 agri-year exports of grain will be 40.6 million tonnes, and next agri-year we forecast growth of exports by 6%, to 43.3 million tonnes,” UGA President Mykolav Horbachev said.
In particular, wheat harvest in the 2018/19 agir-year could expand by 2.2%, to 27.1 million tonnes, that for corn – by 9%, to 27 million tonnes, and the barley harvest could narrow by 9.3%, to 7.8 million tonnes.
The association said that in the 2018/19 agri-year wheat exports could grow by 5.8%, to 18 million tonnes, corn – by 10.5%, to 21 million tonnes, and barley exports could fall by 6.5%, to 4.3 million tonnes.
As of April 24, 2018, Ukraine exported 15.4 million tonnes of wheat, 4.1 million tonnes of barley and 13.8 million tonnes of corn, according to the UGA.
