Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

REAL WAGES IN UKRAINE 10.5% UP IN FEB COMPARED TO FEB 2017

Real wages in Ukraine in February 2018 increased by 10.5% compared to February 2017, while compared to January 2018 it grew by 0.6%, the State Statistics Service has said.
According to its data, the average nominal salary of full time workers in February compared with January 2018 increased by 1.5%, in annual terms it grew by 26.1%, amounting to UAH 7,828, whereas in January 2018 it stood at UAH 7,711, in December at UAH 8,777 and in November at UAH 7,479.
According to statistics, the largest growth in the average salary of full time workers in February this year compared to February 2017 was seen in Zhytomyr (31.2%), Zakarpattia (31.1%), Vinnytsia (29.3%), Cherkasy (28.9%), Lviv (28.7%), Chernivtsi (27.7%), Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk (27.6% each), Kirovohrad and Sumy (27.2%), Kyiv (26.8%), Chernihiv (26.6%) regions and Kyiv city (23.3%).
The wage growth in Donetsk and Luhansk regions (excluding certain areas) was 23.8% and 22.4% respectively.
The largest level of wages in the past month was recorded in Kyiv (UAH 12,124), the lowest one in Ternopil region (UAH 6,040).

UKRAINIAN SEA PORT AUTHORITY WANTS TO CONDUCT DREDGING AT ALL SEAPORTS IN 2018

The Ukrainian Sea Port Authority plans to carry out dredging works in the water areas of Ukrainian seaports before 2019, Head of the Ukrainian Sea Port Authority Raivis Veckagans said. “This year our goal is dredging in all ports. Today we have a number of signed agreements… on April 5, 2018 we will sign a contract for dredging in Chornomorsk,” he said. Veckagans also said that he expects an increase in the export of goods in 2018 thanks to, in particular the increase in the capacity of the ports, as well as in relation with a decrease in port dues rates.
As reported, the seaports of Ukraine in 2017 handled 132.9 million tonnes of cargo, which is 0.9% higher than in 2016.

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UKRAINIAN BEER MARKET STABILIZES FIRST IN NINE YEARS

The Ukrainian beer market has stopped falling and stabilized first in the nine years, Carlsberg Ukraine Director General Yevhen Shevchenko has said.
“According to our internal assessment, the Ukrainian beer market for the first time in nine years has stopped its decline and stabilized. The facilities of Carlsberg Ukraine are not loaded in full, so we focus not only on the beer market, but also on the development of cider and non-alcoholic portfolio – kvass and other drinks,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
At the same time, the general director said that the company’s production capacities are sufficient for all categories of goods.
Shevchenko said that there has been a trend towards the growth of premium and super-premium segments in the past three years, but still about 70% of the market is occupied by medium- and low-price segments of beer.
“Carlsberg plans to develop all brands of the portfolio, meeting the demand. This year the company has already managed to launch two new products: Robert Doms Golden Ale and Lvivske Kneippa Zhyve, and also offered Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc in a new format – matte can of 0.33 liter,” the general director said, adding that “the company will be limited to the release of only these products in 2018.”

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CEREAL PLANET ACQUIRES 100% SHARES OF OLYMP

Cereal Planet Plc has acquired 100% of shares in Olymp LLC, according to a posting on the website of the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE).
According to the report, Cereal Ukraine LLC decided to terminate its operations via the reorganization and joining Olymp LLC. The merger is to take place in H1 2018.
According to a posting on the website of Cereal Planet Group, on February 19, 2018 the company acquired corporate rights of Olymp LLC, becoming the sole owner of the company.
Cereal Planet exports cereals to more than 50 countries (China, India, Germany, Italy, UAE, Poland, Turkey and other countries).
The company’s owners are Anatoliy and Oleksandr Vlasenko (with stakes of 33.53% and 29.93%), Oleksandr Slavhorodsky (29.93%) and Ihor Dobruskin (5.5%).

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FARMERS HAVE FULL AMOUNT OF FERTILIZERS FOR SOWING CAMPAIGN

Ukrainian farmers have the full amount of mineral fertilizers required for carrying out spring field works and the expansion of safeguard measures for the import of mineral fertilizers would not create an artificial shortage of fertilizers, Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Economic Development and Trade Stepan Kubiv has said.
“As of today, the market of mineral fertilizers is fully saturated for the spring field work, which was confirmed by the Ministry of Agricultural Policy and Food, profile associations and producers. Last year, with the efforts of the government, Verkhovna Rada deputies and associations, we launched the fertilizer producing enterprises, but they have not yet loaded their facilities in full. I’m talking about the Odesa Port-Side Plant, Sumykhimprom, Severodonetsk Azot, Cherkasy Azot and others,” he said, responding to a question from Interfax-Ukraine at a press briefing in Tuesday.
The first deputy prime minister also said that 12 safeguard trade measures are in effect with regard to the import of mineral fertilizers from the Russian Federation, including 10 anti-dumping measures, as well as countervailing and special measures.
According to Kubiv, there is no artificial shortage of mineral fertilizers for spring works, but there are questions to the group of fertilizers used in autumn works.
“Now we have a big request to the deputies that in the autumn we would settle this issue not by a resolution, but at the legislative level,” he said.
Kubiv said that the decision of the Interagency Commission on International Trade to expand the effect of anti-dumping measures on the import of ammonium nitrate from Russia to Ukraine with an increase in duties on the import of mineral fertilizers from Russia to 42.96%, made on March 26, was unanimous.

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GRAIN TRADER SWISS MARCOPOLO COMMODITIES PLANS TO OPEN OFFICE IN UKRAINE

Marcopolo Commodities S.A. grain trader (Switzerland) has decided to open its representative office in Ukraine by July 2018 in order to improve the efficiency of work of the Black Sea market. “To maximize the efficiency of work of the Black Sea market, the management decided to establish a local representative office. It is planned by the new season to open a Ukrainian office, whose tasks include purchase of grain and processed products and delivery under the CPT terms for subsequent sale to end users under FOB/CIF terms,” director of the company’s analytics department Olena Neroba told Interfax-Ukraine.
The company plans to reach 1 million tonnes of supplies per season. The company intends to purchase goods directly from manufacturers. “We understand that the availability of our own infrastructure will create additional competitive advantages. And we are aimed at long-term cooperation with the Black Sea region and rely on Ukraine,” she said.
Marcopolo Commodities S.A. plans to open an office not only in Ukraine, but also in Madrid to make it easier to work with the south of Europe and in Singapore to enter the Asian market. The Swiss company Marcopolo Commodities S.A. was founded in 2015. It is engaged in trade in grains, oilseeds, processed products and biofuel. The owner and head of the company is Gonzalo de Lusarreta.

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