KYIV. May 17 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Investment Bank (EIB) intends to invest about EUR800 million in projects in Ukraine in 2016, while in future mulls the annual funding of up to EUR1 billion for the country, EIB Senior Corporate Banker Jean -Jacques Soulacroup has told Interfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of the fourth international investment conference New Ukraine in Kyiv.
“Last year we provided loans worth EUR1.2 billion, this year, I believe, there will be about EUR800 million. We work with the European Commission to see whether it is possible to expand the portfolio and reach a figure of EUR1 billion per year and maintain this volume,” he said.
According to him, about 60% of lending falls on public sector – development of transport infrastructure, energy, energy efficiency projects, municipal projects, environmental projects, and 40% is aimed at lending to small and medium-sized enterprises through local partner banks.
According to the banker, the EIB’s total portfolio of loans in Ukraine is EUR4.3 billion.
KYIV. May 17 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Kyiv Investment Agency (KIA) plans by the end of 2016-the beginning of 2017 to raise about $2 billion for projects in real estate and infrastructure, KIA Head Oleh Mistiuk has said at the fourth international investment conference New Ukraine in Kyiv.
“There will be a few transactions in 2016 and in early 2017, not only in real estate but also in other areas, which together will amount to about $2 billion,” he said.
He said some 25 projects are to enter the market by the end of the year, another 50 projects of Kyiv Investment Agency are to be brought to the market by 2017.
According to Mistiuk, most projects are designed for 3-4.5 years. They are supported by international financial institutions within the EBRD, the European Investment Bank.
“The basic idea is to ensure the profitability of certain projects. There is always a balance between the social needs of the city and commercial interests. Therefore the city tries to add a social element to each of these projects, making it quite valuable to society. This applies not only to residential real estate but also commercial property,” he said.
KYIV. May 17 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The mayors of the Ukrainian capital and three regional centers (Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk and Lviv) have expressed their willingness to host the Eurovision 2017 song contest in their cities.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that the capital will properly prepare to host Eurovision “at the highest level.” “Kyiv will host Eurovision for the second time and we will try our best to properly prepare and host the contest at the highest level. We are already starting the preparations,” the Kyiv mayor’s press service quoted him as saying.
Klitschko named the Olympiysky National Sports Complex, which is located at the center of Kyiv, as the one of possible venues for holding the contest.
Dnipropetrovsk Mayor Boris Filatov said that he will address Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman with the proposal to host Eurovision 2017 in this city on Monday. “I am preparing the proposal to the Prime Minister for May 16,” he wrote on his Facebook page following the list of reasons to host the contest in Dnipropetrovsk (well-developed infrastructure, in particular).
Odesa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov expressed the opinion that this city is fitting for hosting Eurovision. “The place fitting to host such a prestigious contest can absolutely be our Odesa, the beautiful cosmopolitan European city with rich history and cultural traditions,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Moreover, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy expressed the willingness to host the contest. “If necessary, Lviv will host Eurovision at the top level. We are always ready to host events at the top level. We proved this when we were hosting the European Football Championship and the World Chess Championship,” he said during the broadcast of the one of TV channels.
As reported, the Ukrainian singer Jamala, with the song ‘1944’, won the final of the Eurovision 2016 song contest in Stockholm, Sweden, on Saturday. Following the voting of the national juries of the countries participating in Eurovision 2016 and the viewers’ voting via SMS messages Jamala scored 534 points.
Overall, 26 countries participated in the final of the contest. Australia’s Dami Im won second place having scored 511 points, and Russian singer Sergei Lazarev won third place with 491 points.
Ukraine had already won the Eurovision 2004 song contest; the singer Ruslana Lyzhychko, with the song ‘Wild Dances’, was declared the winner.
According to the contest rules, the next Eurovision should take place in the country, the representative of which won the previous one. Thus, Ukraine will host the Eurovision 2017 song contest.
KYIV. May 17 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine and Turkey have agreed on cooperation in nuclear energy, aircraft industry, development of transit corridors, implementation of joint construction projects, facilitating access of Ukrainian metallurgical companies to the Turkish market, the Southern Gas Corridor, infrastructure projects in Crimea to support Crimean Tatars, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister – Regional Development Minister Hennadiy Zubko summarized the results of the 10th session of the Ukrainian-Turkish Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation.
“We have agreed on the Ukrainian-Turkish partnership in the development of aircraft industry and space technologies. Together with Turkey, Ukraine is ready to develop and produce new passenger and cargo planes at the Antonov State Enterprise. In particular, these include the development and production of the TAN-158 passenger aircraft based on the An-158 aircraft, a transport aircraft based on the An-178 and an aircraft based on the An-70,” Zubko said.
The head of the Ukrainian delegation said that the parties agreed that Turkey would consult Ukraine on the safety of its nuclear power plants and on the training of all categories of NPP personnel and training of Turkish students and graduate students in Ukraine.
According to him, the agreements include the creation of favorable conditions for bilateral transit shipments, in particular for transporting Turkish goods through the territory of Ukraine to Poland, Slovakia, and the Scandinavian countries. “The next steps of cooperation will be the introduction of uniform rules for sea waybills between the ports of Ukraine and Turkey. At the moment, the parties are agreeing on the tariff and technological conditions of shipments,” Zubko said.
The vice premier also said that the parties decided to hold a joint international construction forum in Kyiv in 2016-2017, having agreed by that time on a number of strategically important infrastructure facilities.
“We are negotiating the opening of its market by Turkey to our metallurgical companies. Ukraine is ready to join the development and reconstruction of Turkish steel companies. We have agreed on cooperation in the field of energy, in particular in the design of new ‘green’ buildings,” Zubko said.
In addition, he said Turkey and Ukraine were planning to set up a joint committee on customs issues to improve the bilateral trade relations.
“We have discussed the possibility of Ukraine’s entry into an important project – the Southern Gas Corridor if it is economically feasible and to ensure non-discriminatory access to the respective capacities,” the deputy prime minister said.
He also stressed the importance of Turkey’s position on the Crimean issue, in particular the fate of the Crimean Tatar people. “We will contribute to the Turkish infrastructure projects aimed at the support of Crimean Tatars,” Zubko said.
As reported, Kyiv hosted the 10th meeting of the Ukrainian-Turkish Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation on May 12-13 co-chaired by Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Utilities Services of Ukraine Hennadiy Zubko and Minister of National Defense of Turkey Ismet Yilmaz. The head of the Turkish delegation also met with the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman.
According to the State Statistics Service, in 2015, Turkey was 2nd in terms of the volume of Ukrainian exports abroad and 5th in terms of the volume of trade. Meanwhile, last year, the exports of goods from Ukraine to Turkey fell by 22.2% to $2.77 billion, while the imports shrank by 34.5% to $0.85 billion.
KYIV. May 17 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Milkiland, a dairy group with assets in Ukraine, Russia and Poland, finished registration of one Polish and two Panamian trading subsidiaries in the first quarter of 2016.
The group said in a report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE), UA TRADE Sp.zo.o was registered in Poland and Newholm Systems S.A. and Agrointer Corporation – in Panama.
Milkiland Group of companies is one of the largest dairy producers in Ukraine and Russia. In Ukraine the group has 10 plants, which produce a wide assortment of dairy products including cheese, fresh dairy products and butter. In Russia Milkiland produces dairy products at the Moscow-based OJSC Ostankino Dairy Plant. In the summer of 2012 Milkiland bought Masovia Province’s Ostrowia cheese-making plant in Poland, and at the start of 2013 – OJSC Syrodel in Russia.
KYIV. May 17 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The profit of Kredobank (Lviv) in January-March 2016 amounted to UAH 66.609 million, which is 6.4 times more than in the corresponding period of 2015 (UAH 10.402 million).
According to the quarterly financial statements of the bank, its net interest income in the first quarter increased compared to the corresponding period of 2015 by 78%, to UAH 217.370 million.
Total assets in the first quarter increased by 11.5%, to UAH 9.225 billion, loans issued to customers grew by 8.3%, to UAH 4.482 billion.
Charter capital remained at the level of UAH 1.919 billion, net worth rose by 8.3% and stood at UAH 898.72 million.
Kredobank was established in 1990. Its strategic investor is Poland’s largest bank PKO BankPolski S.A., whose share in the charter capital of the Ukrainian bank is 99.6%.
Kredobank ranked 21st among 123 operating banks in the country on October 1, 2015 by total assets
