PJSC Ukrnafta in March 2019 increased oil and condensate production by 6.4% (7,700 tonnes) compared to March 2018, to 128,800 tonnes, the press service of the company has reported.
Natural gas production increased by 12.9% (11.4 million cubic meters), to 100.1 million cubic meters.
The average daily production, respectively, amounted to 4,200 tonnes of oil and 3.2 million cubic meters of gas.
As reported, according to the non-audited statements, in 2018 Ukrnafta received UAH 6.628 billion of net profit against UAH 101.771 million of profit for 2017.
Last year, the company increased its oil and gas condensate production by 5% compared with 2017, to 1.448 million tonnes. Gas production decreased by 2.3%, to 1.082 billion cubic meters, production of liquefied gas by 5.2%, to 110,000 tonnes.
GAS, OIL, PRODUCTION, UKRNAFTA
China in 2019-2020 will provide Ukraine with free technical and economic assistance for 200 million yuan ($29.7 million), most of which will be used to purchase special emergency rescue vehicles and equipment for the State Emergencies Service.
The corresponding intergovernmental agreement was signed in Kyiv on April 11, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade reported.
According to the report, the State Emergencies Service should receive more than 50 units of machinery, in particular, cranes, crawler bulldozers, motor graders, fire trucks with lifting platforms and fire trucks with a ladder for rescue operations.
The signed intergovernmental agreement also provides for the provision of equipment for simultaneous translation and conference systems of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, as well as the implementation of other coordinated Ukraine-China intergovernmental projects.
The Hilton Hotel will be built on the site where a museum in the Bohdan Khmelnytsky Park of Lviv that was closed, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy said at a meeting of the executive committee of Lviv City Council.
“We have made a decision: in Lviv, they want to build a hotel, it seems, Hilton. There should be half of the building – a classic hotel, half of the building – an apartment hotel. This should be a building of high architectural level – a work of art,” Sadovy said.
According to him, the developer agreed to finance the reconstruction of the Bohdan Khmelnytsky Park.
According to the text of the decision of September 20, 2018, the Lviv City Council approved the sale of a land parcel of 1.06 hectares located at 1, Lyzhvyarska Street in Lviv to Aparthotel LLC for UAH 18.52 million.
According to town planning conditions, the height of the building should not exceed 34 m. The building area is approximately 1,600 square meters. The total area of apartments is 8,300 square meters, or 157 apartments. The infrastructure of the facility will also include an underground parking area of 1,400 square meters.
UFuture Investment Group has opened Plank Electrotechnic, Ukraine’s first plant to produce modern electrotechnical systems. The building of the enterprise meets international BREEAM sustainability standards (compliance with about 50 criteria for environmental construction). Plank Electrotechnic products are now undergoing EU certification procedures.
“We have invested $2.8 million in the enterprise and expect to return the investment within five years. The Ukrainian market is a priority, but the company plans to expand the outreach to Eastern European consumers. I believe that the development of modern technological industries is a very promising area, both from business and social points of view – it is not only profit, but also taxes and jobs,” Vasyl Khmelnytsky, the founder of UFuture, has said.
Plank Electrotechnic will produce about 4.6 million units annually and will compete mainly with Chinese and Turkish manufacturers on the Ukrainian market. This high-tech enterprise will produce electrical fittings, accessories and components: sockets, switches, mounting boxes, cable ties, buttons, etc.
“Opening a new plant marks the beginning of the development of Plank innovative production cluster at Bila Tserkva Industrial Park which will make goods from high-tech materials in the field of electrical engineering, construction and mechanical engineering. We offer entrepreneurs who plan to work in these areas to quickly scale their businesses without unnecessary administrative and bureaucratic obstacles,” Chief Executive Officer of Bila Tserkva Industrial Park Volodymyr Khmurych has said.
The construction of three new plants at Bila Tserkva Industrial Park will start within the year, and 20 modern enterprises will be created in the next four years.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
UFuture is a Ukrainian private equity firm and group of companies, based in Kyiv. UFuture consolidates UDP, which is a real estate development company specialized in large infrastructure projects, the country’s second biggest Kyiv Sikorsky international airport, national Ukrainian outdoor advertising operator RTM, and Bila Tserkva industrial park. The group develops new and innovative businesses such as renewable energy generator UDP Renewables, pharmaceutical producer Biopharma, and innovation parks UNIT.City and LvivTech.City. UFuture supports and coordinates numerous impact and sustainability projects related to education and economics, some of which are annual Kyiv International Economic Forum, Small and Medium Entrepreneurship School, cutting-edge IT coding school UNIT Factory and Lean Institute Ukraine.
Bila Tserkva Industrial Park is a large-scale investment project aimed at facilitating establishment of modern manufacturing in Ukraine. It is a one-window platform that allows producers to access all necessary assets, utilities and services and focus on the development of their businesses. The park offers industrial land and property with all engineering infrastructure for rent or purchase, turn-key solutions and a possibility of co-investment in manufacturing. Local market insight and substantial experience in real estate development allows the park’s team to provide clients with additional consulting services on setting up an efficient production.
The European Business Association (EBA) has called to annul the excise label for wine, as it does not help to fight counterfeit products, while creates additional expenses for manufacturers, the press service of the association has reported.
According to the EBA, Ukrainian legislation requires the application of an excise label on all beverages with an ethyl alcohol content of more than 8.5% ABV. At the same time, wines with 1.2-15% ABV are subject to excise tax at a rate of UAH 0.01 per liter, while the value of the label is UAH 0.19 per piece. Alcohol importers also bear the cost of sending labels abroad.
“According to the calculations of the member companies of the association, there are UAH 278.6 of additional expenses per UAH 1 of the paid excise tax. Moreover, the major part of the sum does not go to the budget of Ukraine, but remains abroad,” the EBA said.
According to the EU regulations on labeling and protection of names of origin of alcoholic beverages, which Ukraine will have to adapt, beer from malt, grape wines, vermouth, cider and ethyl alcohol are not considered to be alcoholic beverages. Consequently, their quality control in Ukraine should not take place with the help of excise labels, but according to the general legislation on product safety, the EBA said.
“The products with alcohol content up to 8.5% ABV do not apply the excise labels. However, the safety control of such products is carried out. Therefore, it is reasonable to introduce the same logic for products with 1.2-15% ABV,” the EBA reports.
According to the press service, to abolish the excise labels, it is necessary to make changes to the Tax Code. “The business has already submitted the relevant proposals to the government. We hope that they will be taken into account in the near future,” the EBA said.
The relaxation of the rules for opening accounts by nonresidents reflects the immutability of the regulation relaxing policy and would positively influence the conditions for doing business in Ukraine, according to lawyers polled by Interfax-Ukraine.
Commenting on the update of the rules of opening and closing accounts of banks’ resident and nonresident clients and correspondent accounts of banks by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), which entered into force on April 4, Gabriel Aslanian, counsel to the Asters law firm, said that another important effect of innovation is a “positive signal to foreign companies that the situation in the country is improving, since there is no longer any need to maintain tight restrictions on operations.”
However, the lawyer believes that the inability to open accounts in Ukraine was not a clear obstacle to the work of foreign companies in the country.
“If a foreign company had an intention to operate in Ukraine, it could always establish or acquire a subsidiary here, open a representative office with the right to open current accounts,” he said, adding that, at the same time, the current restriction on opening accounts was quite noticeable for foreign lenders.
Aslanian said that after the lifting of the restriction on opening accounts, a foreign creditor “gets the opportunity, not on paper, but in reality, of selling his pledges in respect of hryvnia payments to residents’ accounts or on proceeds from hryvnia contracts between residents of Ukraine.”
In addition, it is important for the lender to directly, as a beneficiary, receive insurance indemnity from the Ukrainian insurer in case of loss of the funded project.
In turn, Kateryna Tkachenko, a lawyer at the K.A.C. Group international law firm, said that, thanks to the innovations, when changing the name of a legal entity, you will not need to close existing accounts. The presentation of bank cards with specimen signatures is also canceled when customers of banks open accounts, the accounts will be managed only by persons who, according to the legislation, have the right to do so.
In turn, managing partner of the RI-Group law firm, Alexander Keer, said that the introduction of the new rules by the NBU is “a significant step towards currency liberalization in Ukraine.”
“The macroeconomic effect of this decision is likely to be the improvement of investment climate and the attraction of investments in Ukraine. According to the document, foreigners have the opportunity of both opening accounts in our banks and making payments in the national currency, which significantly speeds up the movement of funds, simplifies doing business in our territory,” he said.
According to the new rules, foreign companies will be able to open accounts in Ukrainian banks, make settlements (invest) in the hryvnia, which will greatly simplify and accelerate the movement of funds and business in Ukraine in general.
At the same time, according to Keer, the new rules from the NBU “will not lead to an immediate increase in foreign investment in our country, because we all are now hostages of a long electoral cycle (presidential and parliamentary elections of 2019), but for foreign business already operating here this step by the National Bank is a really positive moment and a focus on qualitative changes in the country.”
