The aggregate state (direct) and state-guaranteed debt of Ukraine in January 2018 decreased by 0.25%, or by $190 million, to $76.11 billion, according to the website of the Ministry of Finance.
In the national currency the state debt decreased by 0.46%, or by UAH 9.82 billion, to UAH 2.132 trillion.
According to the report, public debt in January fell by 0.04%, to UAH 1.833 trillion (in dollars it grew by 0.17%, to $65.44 billion), in particular external rose by 0.67%, to UAH 1.088 billion (in dollars by 0.88%, to $38.83 billion).
The state-guaranteed debt in January declined by 2.94%, to UAH 298.9 billion (in dollars it decreased by 2.74%, to $10.67 billion), in particular external debt by 3.08%, to UAH 285.6 billion (in dollars by 2.88%, to $10.2 billion).
The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a new macro-financial assistance (MFA) program for Ukraine worth up to EUR 1 billion to support economic stabilization and structural reforms. According to the website of the European Commission, this will be the fourth macro-financial assistance program for Ukraine, which is subject to approval by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.
“Today’s proposal follows a request from the Ukrainian authorities and direct discussions between Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko. The new program seeks to build on the progress made in supporting economic stabilization and structural reforms under the three previous MFA operations,” .
European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said that Friday’s proposal on the fourth Macro-Financial Assistance program shows the EU’s commitment to stand with the people of Ukraine. He also said the Commission is counting on the European Parliament and Member States for their support for this program. The Commission said that the disbursements under this program would depend on the implementation of reforms in Ukraine.
“All disbursements under the proposed program, including the first, would be conditional on the implementation of reform measures designed to address vulnerabilities identified in the Ukrainian economy. Established in a Memorandum of Understanding, they would take into account measures that remain outstanding from the previous MFA program and include steps to intensify the fight against corruption,” the European Commission said.
Kyivstar mobile communications operator has proposed the largest price of UAH 1.512 billion at the voice auction to receive 4G communications licenses for the 1800 MHz radio frequencies spectrum for lots four and six, allowing the operator to use radio frequencies in the 1770-1775/1865-1870 MHz and 1775-1780/1870-1875 MHz wide spectra.
“We have bought a contiguous band – two neighbor spectra for reasonable money. I think that this is cool for business,” Kyivstar President Peter Chernyshov told reporters after the auction on Tuesday.
He also said that the company had many various scenarios how to behave at the auction, although during the auction they had to be quickly revised.
“We did not expect that the third bidders would do nothing. No one expected this. However, we received the widest spectra and we are glad about it,” Chernyshov said.
He also said that according to the auction rules, for providing the uninterrupted services to subscribers Kyivstar, using the primary purchase right, bought lot two for UAH 1.325 billion, which along with the acquisition of two lots by voices allowed the operator to have the widest spectrum.
“Kyivstar was the donor of frequencies and voluntarily gave some of its spectra. Other operators would pay compensation of UAH 44.886 million to the company,” the company said in a press release.
Myronivsky Hliboproduct (MHP) is currently studying the situation in the market for the possible refinancing of eurobonds with a circulation term of up to 2020, financial director of the holding Viktoria Kapeliushna has reported. “We have approximately $500 mln eurobonds with maturity in 2020 and we are thinking about possible refinancing. It will depend on the situation in the financial market,” she said during a conference call with investors.
“We would like to provide a transaction to extend the maturity of our current eurobonds,” she said.
How quickly the company will be able to come up with the appropriate offer will depend on the situation in the external debt market, she added. As reported, MHP on the results of a tender for the purchase of eurobonds for $750 million with maturity on April 2, 2020, held in May 2017, received proposals to purchase securities for $245.2 million.
After redemption, the volume of the issue in circulation decreased to $504.8 million. At the same time, the holding issued new eurobonds worth $500 million with maturity up to 2024 and a coupon rate of 7.75% per annum. These two issues of eurobonds account for more than 86% of the company’s gross debt, which as of December 31, 2017 amounted to $1.157 billion.
Myronivsky Hliboproduct is the largest poultry producer in Ukraine. It is also engaged in production of cereals, sunflower oil, and meat.
The Ukrainian government is taking steps to remove Ukrainian products from under the U.S. sanctions for steel and aluminum products, Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade – Ukraine’s Trade Representative Natalia Mykolska has said. “We believe that Ukrainian products, which have been represented on the American market for a long time, do not pose any threat to U.S. national security. We are in constant dialogue with the U.S. government and keep in contact with Ukrainian producers about this matter,” she wrote on her Facebook page on Friday.
U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier that the United States would impose a 25% duties on steel imports and 10% duties on aluminum. The U.S. Department of Commerce concluded after an audit that imports of these metals threaten to impair U.S. national security. Trump has until April 11 to make a decision on steel and April 19 for aluminum.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) continues to insist on the adoption by the Ukrainian authorities of legislation on the Anti-Corruption Court in accordance with the country’s obligations under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) cooperation program.
“Our discussions are ongoing with the Ukrainian authorities. In fact, at the request of the authorities a small staff team from the IMF visited Kyiv to discuss technical aspects of reforms which are supported by the program, including broad discussion on various issues, including draft of the legislation on the anticorruption court. At the conclusion of the visit we issued a statement indicating that further progress needs to be made on delayed measures that are necessary to achieve the program objectives, including in energy sector and fiscal policy as well as I just mentioned Anticorruption efforts,” IMF official representative Gerry Rice said during a regular briefing in Washington.
He added, the date of the arrival of the IMF mission to Kyiv as part of the next revision of the EFF program has not yet been determined.
The four-year EFF program launched by the IMF in March 2015, in the total amount of SDR 12.348 billion (around $17.25 billion), initially involved quarterly reviews of the program, with the first tranche of $5 billion, and the next three, SDR 1.18 billion each (around $1.65 billion), to be paid during 2015, and decreasing quarterly tranches to SDR 0.44 billion ($0.61 billion) in 2016-2018. Ukraine was able to receive, with a slight delay, the second tranche, $1.7 billion, under this program, in early August 2015, followed by a lengthy pause because of the country’s failure to meet a number of conditions, political crisis and changes in the government.
