KYIV. Feb 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Grain and oilseeds harvest of Industrial Milk Company (IMC) in 2016 grew by 12% compared to 2015, to 717,000 tonnes.
The holding said in a press release on Thursday that milk production in 2016 fell by 22%, to 15,000 tonnes. The decrease in milk production volumes was associated with the implementation of the project on optimization of the cattle herd. As a result of the project, the average milk yield in the IMC increased by 2% compared with 2015, to 5.6 tonnes per forage cow.
Potato harvest last year rose by 31%, to 21,000 tonnes.
Sales in the crop planting segment totaled 691,000 tonnes (9% down on 2015), including around 502,000 tonnes of corn (17% down). The decline in sales in the crop farming segment was due to lower carry-over stocks of corn at the beginning of 2016. 80% of sales in the crop farming segment (about 556,000 tonnes) was exported.
According to the report, improvement of cultivation technology, along with favorable weather conditions have led to significant yields growth of almost all crops: corn gross yield grew by 24%, to 8.1 tonne per ha, soybeans – by 31%, to 3.4 tonnes per ha, potatoes – by 38%, to 40.4 tonner per ha, and for wheat it fell by 5%, to 4.8 tonnes per ha.
IMC focuses on cultivation of grains, oilseeds and potatoes. It is one of the largest milk producers in Ukraine. It owns a storage capacity of 554,000 tonnes of grains and oilseeds. Its land bank is 136,600 ha in Poltava, Chernihiv and Sumy regions.
KYIV. Feb 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Interpipe Pipe and Wheel Company (Dnipro) has signed a five-year contract to supply railway wheels and axles to Progress Rail Services, a large suppler of railway products and solutions in North America belonged to Caterpillar.
The company said in a press release on Thursday that under the terms of this contract, Interpipe will annually deliver more than 10,000 finish-machined railway wheels and more than 1,000 finished-machined railway axles to its American partners.
The first shipments of railway wheels have been already made. The production of axles is scheduled for Q2 2017.
All the products will be manufactured in accordance with the standard of Association of American Railroads and additional customer requirements.
“We started to work with Progress Rail Services, the leader of the American railway industry, back in 2014. Previously we conducted several short-term contracts, up to a year. This successful cooperation has enabled to sign of a new multi-year contract. In addition to that, we are expanding the framework of our partnership. Thanks to our continuous endeavor on the mastering of new products and the investments made, this year we will commence deliveries of finish-machined railway axles to the American market,” Intepipe CCO Oleksandr Harkavy said.
Interpipe is global producer of steel pipes and railway wheels, based in Ukraine. The company’s products are marketed in more than 80 countries around the world through a network of sales offices located in key markets of Ukraine, the CIS, the Middle East, North America, and Europe.
KYIV. Feb 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Cabinet of Ministers intends in March to approve the program of development of the Ukrainian aviation industry for the period until 2020, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has said.
“The program of development of the aviation industry until 2020 has been developed. The program is designed not only by officials, but real production workers, institutions, and we in March will approve this program,” the premier said at a press briefing after a meeting on aviation issues at PJSC FED (Kharkiv).
Groysman noted investments in modern technologies are important in this area.
According to him, both public and private companies work in the field of aircraft building, whose efforts need to be combined.
KYIV. Feb 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The largest mobile communications operator Kyivstar has proposed to the National Commission for Communications and Informatization Regulation (NCCR) to distribute some of its frequency bands in the 1,800 MHz range between Vodafone Ukraine and lifecell for introduction of 4G communications, Kyivstar President Petro Chernyshov has said on his Facebook page.
“We proposed to the commission and other operators to share Kyivstar’s frequency bands in the 1,800 MHz range for creating equal conditions for the introduction of 4G. I shall be honest with you. It would be difficult for us. We understand that we should move forward, introduce new technologies and catch the rest of the world,” he said.
He said that if the 4G tender is held only for the 2,600 MHz range, the network coverage will be only in large cities due to small radius of towers in this range.
“The one thing is left: to find common ground with one of the market players, support and understanding of NCCR in distribution of frequencies in line with the needs of subscribers,” Chernyshov said.
According to Vodafone Ukraine, Kyivstar uses 51% of frequency bands in the 1,800 MHz range, Vodafone Ukraine – 32% and lifecell – 17% fit to introduce 4G communications.
KYIV. Feb 23 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Korean company Hyundai Rotem is interested in prolongation of the contract with PJSC Ukrzaliznytsia for the service maintenance of its trains running in Ukraine, company project manager Zekeriya Polat has said.
“We are constantly holding negotiations with Ukrzaliznytsia to extend the contract for service maintenance. We are also interested in servicing Skoda trains and modernizing other trains, because we have experience of modernization in other countries,” he told reporters during the event dedicated to the fifth anniversary of work of the Ukrzaliznytsia branch – Ukrainian High-Speed Railway Company.
Polat noted that since the beginning of cooperation with Ukrzaliznytsia the company has been discussing the possibility of manufacturing Hyundai trains in Ukraine, but the current situation in Ukraine, particularly in the east of the country, is delaying the issue transferring it for the far future.
As reported, Ukraine within the development of high-speed rail traffic on the eve of the Euro 2012 European Football Championship acquired ten Intercity+ class HRCS-2 electric trains manufactured by Hyundai Rotem. The first trip was made on the Kyiv-Kharkiv route on May 27, 2012.
KYIV. Feb 23 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine has signed an amicable agreement with U.S. Gilead Sciences, Inc. biopharmaceutical company on the Sovaldi medicine used to treat chronic hepatitis C infection in adults, acting Ukrainian Health Minister Ulana Suprun said at a press conference on Wednesday.
“The amicable agreement signed on Wednesday morning with our colleagues from Gilead will give Ukrainians more access to medicines treating hepatitis C at affordable prices, including at drugstores,” she said.
The Sovaldi medicine procured through international organizations will be priced at $250, or UAH 6,750 at the current forex rate, per pack.
Head of the Patients of Ukraine charity foundation Dmytro Sherembei said in turn that the price of this medicine at drugstores is UAH 10,000 per pack, whereas the price of its generic, Grateziano, whose registration in Ukraine was cancelled under a Health Ministry resolution on February 22, 2017, is UAH 15,000.
In general, the whole course of hepatitis C treatment with the use of Sovaldi in Ukraine will cost about $750, while it is about $60,000 in Europe and $70,000 in the United States, he said.
Gilead Senior Vice President for Access Operations & Emerging Markets Clifford Samuel said that Ukraine had been included in Gilead’s program for affordable access to chronic hepatitis C treatments because the economic situation in the country is difficult, its GDP level is low, but the pace of the spread of hepatitis C is fast. Thus, the price of Sovaldi and Harvoni is significantly lower for Ukraine.
He also disclosed the company’s plans to register another medicine for the treatment of adult patients with chronic hepatitis C virus, Epclusa.
“Now we’re working to make Epclusa available in Ukraine in the near future,” he said.
Gilead and the Health Ministry plan to jointly work to create programs for preventive medicine to raise public awareness of hepatitis C and boost the number of hepatitis C diagnostic procedures for Ukrainians.
Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko, who was present at the press conference, in turn, commented on the legal side of the amicable agreement, saying that it helped Ukraine avoid a claim from Gilead worth $800 million.
“The Ukrainian government together with civil society, perhaps for the first time in 15 years have found a civilized way for reaching understanding with the largest foreign investor involved in innovative developments of drugs for the treatment of hepatitis C,” he said.
As reported, the Ukrainian Health Ministry in November 2015 registered the Grateziano generic drug with the active substance Sofosbuvirum after Gilead in October 2015 registered the Sovaldi original innovative drug in Ukraine. Therefore the registration of the generic medicine violated the producer’s five-year exclusivity rights.
Kyiv’s district administrative court late in October 2016 refused to cancel the registration of the generic product.
At the end of January 2017, Ukraine’s government decided to sign a settlement agreement with the pharmaceutical producer, under which Ukraine undertook to take measures to eliminate the violations of the legitimate exclusive marketing rights. Gilead, in turn, stated that it would give up the compensation claims against Ukraine and will give a discount on its drug.
Ukraine’s Health Ministry on February 22, 2017 issued an order to cancel the registration of Grateziano and exclude it from the State Register of Medicinal Products of Ukraine.
