The major pipe enterprises of Ukraine in January-May 2018 boosted production of pipes by 10% compared to the same period last year, to 448,000 tonnes, including in May they manufactured 91,000 tonnes. The Ukrtruboprom association told Interfax-Ukraine that enterprises, which are members of the association, boosted production by 23.5% year-over-year, to 336,000 tonnes, including 72,000 tonnes made in May.
Khartsyzsk Pipe Plant (Donetsk region), located in the government uncontrolled zone, remained idle in January-May 2018, while it made 3,400 tonnes of pipes in January-May 2017.
Pipe production at Interpipe Nyzhniodniprovsky Pipe Rolling Plant in the period rose by 28.4% compared to January-May 2017, to 124,000 tonnes (26,400 tonnes in May 2018 alone), Interpipe Novomoskovsk Pipe Plant increased output by 16.7%, to 44,100 tonnes (10,400 tonnes in May), while Interpipe Niko Tube raised production by 30%, to 147,400 tonnes (30,900 tonnes in May).
Dnipropetrovsk Pipe decreased pipe production by 7.9%, to 9,300 tonnes, making 2,100 tonnes in May. Production at Centravis grew by 10.5%, being 8,400 tonnes of stainless pipes (1,800 tonnes in May).
Pipe production at Trubostal rose by 8.3% in the first five months, to 1,300 tonnes of pipes (200 tonnes in May 2018).
Mariupol Illich Steel Works, which is not a member of the association, reduced pipe production by 14.8%, to 50,500 tonnes (6,800 tonnes in May), while Kominmet saw an 18.8% decrease, to 61,700 tonnes (12,100 tonnes).
Luhansk Pipe Rolling Plant, created on the basis of Luhansk Pipe Plant, remained idle according to unofficial information.
As was reported, major pipe producers of Ukraine in 2017 boosted pipe production from ferrous metals by 23.5% from 2016, to 1,047,800 tonnes. Ukrtruboprom’s enterprises alone saw a 27.8% rise in output, to 705,500 tonnes.
Ukraine’s State Property Fund (SPF) has called first six tenders to hire a privatization adviser to prepare the sale of six out of 22 enterprises approved by the Ukrainian government for privatization this year. In particular, tenders were called to hire advisers to sell 99.5667% of PJSC Odesa Port-Side Chemical Plant (OPZ) in Odesa region and 100% of Kyiv-based PJSC United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC), the SPF said in announcements in the Vidomosti Pryvatyzatsii privatization bulletin on Monday.
Other four tenders will be called for advisers to sell 70.7016% of PrJSC Indar and 100% of PrJSC President Hotel (both are based in Kyiv), and two wholly state-owned enterprises: Krasnolymanska Coal Mining Company in the town of Rodynske, Donetsk region, and Kharkiv-based Electrotyazhmash Plant (ETM).
The deadline for Indar, President Hotel and OPZ is July 20 inclusively. The first stages of the tenders are scheduled for July 26, and the second stages for July 30.
Applicants for UMCC, Krasnolymanska and ETM are to send their bids before July 23. The tenders will be held in two phases: on July 27 and July 31.
In all cases, the fixed sum of an adviser’s fee is set at no more than 0.5% of an enterprise’s state-owned assets. In case of the sale of an asset, the size of the variable part is up to 2% of the value of the sold asset, it said.
As was reported, Ukraine’s Cabinet late in May 2018 published a list of large-sized enterprises subject to privatization this year. It includes 23 enterprises: five regional power distribution companies, Centrenergo, Turboatom, Zaporizhia Titanium and Magnesium Combine (ZTMC), and Sumykhimprom. Only an adviser on Centrenergo has been selected as of now. It is Ernst&Young, which on June 19 submitted its status report.
Pharmacy sales in Ukraine in January-May 2018 in money terms grew by 38% compared to the same period in 2017, to UAH 36.607 billion.
Sales in physical terms increased by 6% in January-May 2018, to 654.188 million packs, the Business Credit company told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to the company, in particular, retail sales of medicines in money terms increased by 41%, UAH 30.3563 billion, sales in packages grew by 18%, to 454.508 million packs.
The average price of goods in the so-called “pharmacy basket” for the first five months of 2018 was UAH 55.96 for the package, the average price of medicines was UAH 66.78 for the package.
In May 2018, pharmacy sales amounted to UAH 6.579 billion, which is 26% more than a year earlier, medicines sales increased by 28%, to UAH 5.441 billion.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC, the division of the World Bank Group) and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) have signed an agreement to facilitate energy efficiency renovations in Ukraine’s residential sector.
According to a posting on the website of the IFC, Switzerland will provide up to $1.8 million to IFC Advisory Services to support legal reforms that will support energy-efficiency refurbishments by engaging with housing management companies on behalf of homeowners’ associations.
According to the report, the initiative represents the third and the final phase of IFC’s Residential Energy Efficiency Advisory project in Ukraine, which started in partnership with SECO in 2010.
Turkey’s resorts remain most popular in the number of charter flights from Ukraine in the 2018 tourist season, and around 80 charter flights to this country is serviced from Ukrainian airports every week.
Analysts from TripSee online service told Interfax-Ukraine that the share of charter flights to Turkey in the 2018 tourist season is 72-75% of all charter programs of tour operators working in Ukraine.
About 15-20% of the charter programs of Ukrainian tour operators are flights to Egypt, then Greece, Bulgaria and Tunisia.
Analysts of TripSee also said that in 2018, new charter destinations for the resorts of Italy – to Calabria and Ancona, as well as to the Peloponnese Peninsula in Greece – were launched from Ukraine.
“Only one operator has several flights a day to Turkey, so the client can choose the most convenient time for departure. In Europe, this year there is also a more extensive flight program. The cost of tours has increased, but insignificantly. The market has hot tours and tours for later dates,” the TripSee analysts said.
Commenting on the pace of prices for package tours in the summer season of 2018, they said that prices for tours to Turkey start from UAH 7,000 all inclusive, Greece – from UAH 10 thousand per person with breakfasts, to Spain – from UAH 12 thousand with breakfasts and dinners.
At the same time, the analysts from TripSee said that, as before, most customers are looking for hot tours, especially to Turkey, but in the season of 2018 there is a noticeable upward pace in earlier purchases.
Ukraine as of June 22, 2018 threshed 1.1 million tonnes of early grain and leguminous crops from 349,000 ha, the press service of the Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry of Ukraine has reported.
The press service said that average yield is 31.6 centners per ha.
A total of 211,000 tonnes of winter wheat was harvested from 73,000 ha with the average yield of 29.1 centners per ha, some 877,000 tonnes of winter barley from 269,000 ha with the average yield of 32.6 centners per ha.
Harvesting of winter rapeseeds continues: 62,000 tonnes from 36,500 ha with the average yield of 17 centners per ha.
Some 13,000 tonnes of peas were harvested from 7,000 ha with the average yield of 17.9 centners per ha.
