Business news from Ukraine

Ukraine since the beginning of the 2017/2018 marketing year (MY, July-June) and as of January 31, 2018 had exported 23.953 million tonnes of grain.
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, the country has exported about 12.2 million tonnes of wheat, 3.9 million tonnes of barley, and 7.7 million tonnes of corn.
In addition, farmers exported 255,400 tonnes of flour.
As reported, with reference to the ministry, Ukraine in the 2016/2017 MY exported 43.9 million tonnes of grain.
According to the ministry’s forecasts, grain exports from Ukraine in the 2017/2018 MY will amount to 41 million tonnes.

Botiyevska wind power station (Zaporizhia region), part of DTEK RES, in 2017 increased its electricity production by 4.2% (by 25.916 million kWh) compared to 2016, to 639.142 million kWh, according to the calculations of Interfax-Ukraine based on data from the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry.
As reported, in 2011 DTEK began the construction of Botiyevska wind farm in Zaporizhia region and in October 2012 launched its first stage. At present the installed capacity of the plant is 200 MW.
DTEK RES’ portfolio, in addition to Wind Power with the operating 200 MW Botiyevska wind farm, also includes projects for the construction of other wind farms at various stages of development. The project to build Prymorska wind farm with a capacity of 200 MW is at the latest stage of development. The possibility of its implementation until 2020 is being considered.
In January 2017 DTEK signed a contract with General Electric Renewable Energy for the supply, installation and maintenance of 26 wind turbines with a capacity of 3 MW each for the construction of the first stage of Prymorska wind farm. The wind turbines will be delivered to Ukraine and installed on the site of Prymorska wind farm in 2018.

UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER VOLODYMYR GROYSMAN has said that the Verkhovna Rada should adopt 35 bills, which, in his opinion, will create conditions for improving the business climate and economic growth in the country.
“We are talking about 35 bills that are very necessary for us to accelerate economic growth. It is very important that this growth be not wavy and we keep this growth trend as much as possible,” he said at a government meeting in Kyiv on Wednesday.
According to him, the bills are only part of the state policy that will help the government create conditions for economic growth.
“A package of measures, following the adoption of the necessary bills in the Ukrainian parliament, will help create conditions that will be assessed by business, and the business will do its job. It will invest in the development of the national economy,” Groysman added.
He named a number of priorities for the government in 2018 that will help change the business environment and create conditions for rapid economic growth, in particular, ensuring transparent access to public resources for business, ensuring deregulation and improving the business climate, protecting business rights, easing access to finance, as well as promoting innovation.

Experience of large Swedish companies like IKEA and H&M in Ukraine would be a guideline for Swedish investors, Swedish Ambassador Martin Hagström has said.
“IKEA’s experience in Ukraine will be also important for future investment of Swedish companies. This will be a guideline for them… They will be attentively monitor experience of H&M, one of the largest retail chains in the world, which also announced its arrival to the Ukrainian market,” Hagström said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, Swedish consumers are apprehensive about the information that Swedish companies may be involved in corruption, so investors think twice before they master the new market.
“It’s no secret that for IKEA, which is currently planning to enter the Ukrainian market, one of the biggest issues is the situation with corruption. I think that the fact that IKEA decided to come to Ukraine is a sign that the company sees the changes and it is confident that it will be able to work here based on its principles,” Hagström said.
The ambassador also said that corruption is still a big obstacle for investors in Ukraine.
“When I meet with companies that think about coming to the Ukrainian market, their questions mainly concern two things: corruption and the functioning of courts, because if you come to the market, you want to know that your investments will be protected,” the diplomat said.
He said that there are about a hundred Swedish companies operating on the Ukrainian market.
As reported, late 2017, it was announced that IKEA is studying the Ukrainian market and plans to open a first store in Kyiv within two years.
H&M in 2017 signed a contract to open a store with Lavina Mall in Kyiv.

Ukraine boosted gas imports from European countries by 27% or 3 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2017, to 14.1 bcm, the press service of national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy has reported.
“The important result of the year was the increase in the volumes and the share of imports by private traders and gas consumers. Last year these companies imported 1.8 times more gas than in 2016: 5.4 bcm against 2.9 bcm. In 2017, 67 companies imported gas to Ukraine (34 companies in 2016),” the company said.
Last year Naftogaz imported 8.7 bcm of gas from the European market, which is 6% or 0.5 bcm more than a year ago. The company purchased gas from 13 European suppliers compared with 15 suppliers in 2016.
“No one of these companies supplies more than 30% of the total volume of imported gas,” the company said.
Naftogaz recalled that in 2017 the company did not buy gas from Russia’s Gazprom.