KYIV. June 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Sugar exports from Ukraine since early 2016/17 agricultural year (September-August) totaled 732,000 tonnes, the Ukrtsukor national association of sugar producers has reported.
The association said in a press release that in May Ukrainian companies exported 48,400 tonnes of sugar (33% down on April).
“In May sugar exports almost halved compared to April, as the global price fell. According to our estimates, further supplies of sugar this agri-year will be small,” Head of the analytical department of the association Ruslana Butylo.
Largest batches in May were shipped to Togo (15,000 tonnes), Turkey (8,800 tonnes) and Gambia (8,000).
The association said that sugar beets were sowed on 310,000 ha in 2017 (6% more than a year ago).
Ukrtsukor anticipates that sugar production in 2017/18 agri-year will be left unchanged compared to the previous year, being some 2 million tonnes. Bad weather in April and May could affect the sugar beets yield.
Exports of sugar in the new season could be some 500 tonnes with the domestic market consumption of 1.5 million tonnes.
KYIV. June 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The project on construction of a breakwater pier for a container terminal at the Quarantine Mole of the Odesa seaport will be completed by 2021.
According to a report of subsidiary Container Terminal Odesa of Germany’s HHLA International GmbH, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy of Germany Rainer Bomba said at the conference entitled “Development of German-Ukrainian Cooperation in Southern Ukraine” last week.
He also said that the German government decided to provide some EUR 50-60 million to Ukraine to implement the project and important political decisions are to be made to finish the project by no later than 2021.
President of International Federation of Consulting Engineers VBI Cornelius Volker said that the German government in the person of Bomba asked the association to help to settle the issue of restoring the breakwater pier at the Quarantine Mole of the Odesa seaport.
“We are seeking to do our best to have the pier completed by 2021,” he said.
Director General of Container Terminal Odesa Anastas Kokkin said that thanks to support of Germany the project that had been frozen for two and a half years has made a new start.
Head of Ukrainian Sea Port Authority Raivis Veckagans also pointed out the important of finishing this project.
“At the end of May we signed supplementary contracts to the investment contract on construction of the pier. The completion of the Quarantine Mole project would boost capacities for handling containers, create new jobs and increase payments to the country’s budget. Ukrainian Sea Port Authority as a state-owned company is ready to join the search for funds to develop the sector and implement not only this but also other projects,” he said.
Container Terminal Odesa is a subsidiary of HHLA International GmbH. It is part of HHLA AG (Hamburg).
Since 2010 the company has been building a new container terminal jointly with Ukrainian Sea Port Authority.
The Quarantine Mole project would expand the handling capacity of the port by 600,000 TEU a year. It is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the Ukrainian marine transport sector. Investment exceeds UAH 5 billion. Construction was started in April 2010. In September 2014 first two container vessels were handled in the test mode. In 2016, around 40% of all container flows were handled by Container Terminal Odesa at new berths of the Quarantine Mole.
KYIV. June 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, plans in 2017 to attract about $250 million for projects in Ukraine, which is significantly higher than the figure of 2016, Jason Pellmar, who from June 1, 2017 was appointed head of the IFC regional office in Belarus and Ukraine, has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“We plan in June and over the next two or three months to invest and raise funds in the amount of about $150 million to support new projects and new customers. I think in general over 2017 we will reach a figure of about $250 million,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
Pellmar noted Ukraine is an important country for the IFC in the region. Now its economy is starting to recover and more projects appear the corporation would like to support as they are important for the long-term growth and the development of the country. As an example, he cited the agreement signed in March this year to provide $37 million for building the MV Cargo grain terminal.
According to him, the volume and specifics of IFC projects, as a rule, depend on the demand in the market, therefore in the previous several years the corporation focused on supporting the existing customers, for example, prolonged partial loan guarantees for Raiffeisen Bank Aval and Bayer, issued credit lines to replenish working capital to Astarta and Nyva Pereyaslavschyny.
(Nikopol, Ukraine) – June 12, 2017, TIU Canada Ltd. Broke ground on a 10-megawatt solar energy plant in Nikopol, Ukraine. The project represents the first investment by TIU Canada in Ukraine and the first Canadian investment under the Canadian-Ukrainian Free Trade Agreement. TIU Canada is owned and operated by the family office of Refraction Asset Management (RAM), an investment manager based in Calgary, Alberta Canada.
Michael Yurkovich, President of Refraction Asset Management, said, “we are pleased to take this first step in the Ukrainian renewable energy market”. Hani Tabsh, Chief Operations Officer for RAM read a letter from the Canadian Embassy in Ukraine addressed to the Nikopol City Council (attached) which cited this investment as “the start of a fruitful partnership which benefits all of Ukraine”. Nikopol Mayor Andriy Fisak, representatives from the Dnipro Oblast State Administration, and other local officials and media were also present for the event.
KYIV. June 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The economy of the city of Kyiv expects to attract over $4 billion in foreign investment this year, Kyiv City State Administration’s press service has said.
“Foreign direct investment (equity capital) injected in the city’s economy in 2016 exceeded $3.6 billion, which was 13.3% up on FDI in 2015($3.2 billion),” the press service quoted First Deputy head of Kyiv City State Administration Hennadiy Plis as saying.
The most attractive sectors are insurance, finance, commerce, and real estate, he said.
KYIV. June 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Allseeds group of companies has started building the second stage of a multifunctional soybeans processing plant with a processing capacity of 5,000 tonnes per day at Yuzhny port (Odesa region).
According to a company press release, the construction of the plant and bringing its infrastructure to the necessary parameters will take about three years.
“The commissioning of such an enterprise means that in the course of the year the company will need in addition to the available volumes to bring and take, accept and send about 1.7 million tonnes of raw materials and finished products – meal and oil – per year,” the press release reads.
Given this factor, it is planned to make additional investments in the development of infrastructure of the oil complex in Yuzhny port: elevators, warehouses, tanks and railway facilities.
According to the report, the build-up of processing facilities will enable Allseeds to obtain a synergistic effect, increase business efficiency by substantially saving conditionally constant expenses per unit of output and ultimately to become more competitive.
“With the processing volume of about 2.5 million tonnes per year, Allseeds will become company number two in the oilseed market of Ukraine. The total amount of its investments in Ukraine will reach $400 million,” the company said.
