KYIV. April 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The first Ukrainian telecommunications satellite Lybid build in international cooperation with participation of Canada and Russia could be placed into orbit in the fourth quarter of 2017, acting Head of the State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU) Yuriy Radchenko has said.
Assessing the situation with the implementation of the project on Channel 5 TV, he said that the implementation of the project was under a threat of a failure due to the annexation of Crimea and the loss of land infrastructure involved in the project by Ukraine. Taking additional financial liabilities, Ukraine has overcome force majeure: in 2014-2015 a new spacecraft control center was built on Ukraine’s mainland.
“At present, the satellite is ready. The launch vehicle [for the satellite] is ready by 85%,” Radchenko said, adding that Ukraine decided to expand the financing of the project by $17 million.
“The recent meeting in the NSDC [National Security and Defense Council] and in the government allows us saying that the financing of the program is increased,” he said.
Radchenko said that the additional funds will be taken from leasing the resource of the satellite after its launch.
“Under the contract, Canada’s MDA places the satellite to orbit and then transfers it to us for exploitation,” he said, adding that the satellite, the launch vehicle and the launch are insured.
“We hope that the satellite would be launched in the fourth quarter,” he said.
The press service of SSAU told Interfax-Ukraine on Monday that the issues of the implementation of the Lybid project would be discussed during a visit of Canada’s MDA to Ukraine scheduled for April.
As reported, a contract for the construction of a national telecommunications satellite Lybid was signed by the SSAU and Canada’s MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) in December 2009. The MDA is the head contractor under this project. The Lybid is based on the Express-1000NT platform, developed by Russia’s Reshetnev ISS.
The Canadian export agency EDS provided a $254.6 million loan under the Ukrainian government guarantees to finance the project in the summer of 2009. Initially it was planned to put the Ukrainian satellite into orbit in 2012, later it was postponed to 2013, then to April 2014 and eventually to autumn 2016.
Since 2014 the satellite is stored at Reshetnev ISS in Krasnoyarsk (Russia).
KYIV. April 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Public joint-stock company State Food-Grain Corporation plans to send UAH 138 million to modernization of enterprises in 2017, the corporation’s press service has reported.
“This year the capital investment plan includes the implementation of new projects on reconstruction and technical re-equipment and the completion of modernization projects started last year,” Deputy Board Chairman Andriy Zadyraka said.
The corporation plans to upgrade grain drying equipment, modernize or partially buy truck and wagon scales, truck unloading equipment, grain processing equipment and upgrade technological equipment at processing branches. Some funds will be sent to automation of industrial processes.
“We are trying to quickly react to the needs of our branches in technical re-equipment and increase of competitiveness. For comparison: if in 2015 total capital investment was UAH 18 million, in 2016 over UAH 116 million was sent to modernization of enterprises,” Zadyraka said.
The government in August 2010 decided to create the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine. The corporation has a chain of branches, comprised of grain storage facilities, flourmills, fodder factories and a cereals factory. The 53 subdivisions of the corporation can store a total of 3.75 million tonnes of grain, which includes the grain handling capacities of Odesa and Mykolaiv ports of some 2.75 million tonnes of grain cargo per year.
KYIV. April 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Public joint-stock company Kyivenergo plans to invest around UAH 550 million in reconstruction and development of heat networks and power lines in 2017, Executive Director Alina Bondarenko said at a briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday.
“The approximate sum of investment into the heat networks in 2017 will be UAH 243 million and in the power block – UAH 308 million,” she said.
Bondarenko said that this year the company seeks to reconstruct around 120 heat points replacing pump equipment, install around 4,000 modems for remote collection of information from heat meters, continue the installation of these heat meters and replace 7 km of heat pipelines.
In addition, Kyivenergo intends to reconstruct the Center power substation, boosting reliability of power supplies in the central part of the city, in particular, Pechersky District.
LVIV. April 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The largest plant making chimney systems from stainless steel in western Ukraine was opened in Sokolnyky near Lviv on Monday, the press service of Lviv Regional Administration has reported.
The press service said that the plant of Utikom-Ukraine LLC is the largest in western regions of Ukraine: its capacity exceeds 10,000 square meters of chimneys and elements a month.
“This is the largest and the most modern enterprise producing chimneys operating not only on the national market, but will also manufacture products for exports,” the press service said, citing Lviv Regional Administration Head Oleh Syniutka.
The plant is able to produce over 10,000 items of elements of chimneys with diameter from 80 mm to 600 mm.
The press service said that UAH 5 million was invested in construction of the plant.
KYIV. April 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Bank Credit Dnepr, chemical concern BASF and Bershad Agroplus distributor with advisory support of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have created a joint credit program for farmers who will be able to buy BASF plant protection agents, bank Credit Dnepr has said in a press release.
According to the report, the new credit product will work on the basis of the innovative digital platform created by IFC experts jointly with partners. The new platform allows revising the approaches to assessment of risks and reducing spending on the resources. Producers would be able to receive financing within three working days at the grace credit rate.
Bank Credit Dnepr told Interfax-Ukraine that the credit could be issued for one agricultural cycle with an agrarian receipt.
“Our task is to help to provide farmers with financial tools suiting the specifics of their business and allow effectively solving major problems. Our new program would become another step in operation of IFC in Ukraine aiming at the increase of effectiveness and profit-making in agribusiness,” IFC’s Europe and Central Asia Agri-Finance Program Manager Leah Soroka said in the press release.
According to the report, managers of Bershad Agroplus will assess a credit risk at the site where agricultural companies are located. The producers will receive a preliminary decision on the credit at once after providing all information.
“Our plans are to continue jointly with IFC the modernization and improvement of the technological platform to have quicker process of considering applications by bank specialists. We have been working in the agribusiness sphere for more than one year and see the needs of our clients. Among the key demands is the speed of decision making. Farmers do not have time to wait for a decision for weeks due to the seasonal character of its work. One of our key tasks for today, along with the restoration of the acceptable crediting, is the creation of as quick as possible mechanism for providing credits,” the press service of the bank said, citing Deputy Board Chairman Andriy Moiseyenko.
Bank Credit Dnepr was founded in 1993.
Bank Credit Dnepr ranked 21st among 93 Ukrainian banks on January 1, 2017 by total assets (UAH 8.279 billion), according to the National Bank of Ukraine.
KYIV. April 11 (Interfax-Ukraine) – PJSC Kremenchuk plant of road machines (Kredmash, Poltava region) plans in 2017 to increase production by 19.7% compared to 2016, to UAH 625.9 million.
According to the plans outlined in the company’s financial report for 2016, promulgated in the information disclosure system of the National Commission on Securities and the Stock Market, this year the plant plans to produce 38 asphalt and ground-batching plants.
In addition, it is planned to produce spares and components for road building machines for UAH 180 million, consumer goods worth UAH 66.2 million, as well as increase the volume of cooperative supplies to UAH 6.06 million.
According to the company’s website, in January-March this year Kredmash sold 14 asphalt mixers against five as of the same period in 2016.
Kredmash intends this year to purchase new equipment, devices and machines worth more than UAH 4 million. In 2016 the company’s capital investment in the re-equipment of the workshops amounted to UAH 2.57 million.
