KYIV. Sept 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine has helped Ukrainian companies-exporters to sign contracts worth $700 million in 2014, Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said.
“Last year our companies signed contracts worth over $700 million with the direct assistance of the Foreign Ministry,” Klimkin said at a meeting of the Council of Exporters and Investors at the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine in Kyiv last week.
The minister said that raising the awareness of foreign partners about Ukrainian should be made a priority to help Ukrainian businesses.
The ministry has proposed that a new secretariat of the Council of Exporters is created and the respective website – www.rei.mfa.gov.ua – has been launched. It would be the key instrument of the Council of Exporters, comprising the economic and business information aggregator from the Foreign Ministry, foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine, and national producers to promote Ukrainian goods to foreign markets. Foreign companies would find information they need on the website to invest in order to invest in the Ukrainian economy.
The consolidated data on the prospects of doing business abroad, primary trends of promising foreign markets, announcements on holding tenders abroad, and business offers of foreign companies could be found on the website, as well as announcements on business forums and fairs, the required contacts of foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine abroad, and the formats of inquiries to promote entering foreign markets.
The English version of the website is oriented to foreign companies interested in establishing cooperation with Ukrainian partners and realizing investment projects in Ukraine.
KYIV. Sept 4 (Interfax-Ukraine) – National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom (Kyiv) has announced a tender to raise two renewable multicurrency credit lines equivalent to UAH 505 million each as well as a third credit line of $17 million, according to the company’s announcement in the Visnyk Derzhavnykh Zakupivel state procurements bulletin.
The company said that the funds will be raised for one year from the moment of the signing of the credit agreement.
Bids can be submitted until September 28, 2015. They will be opened on the same date.
Energoatom operates 15 nuclear power blocks, equipped with VVER reactors, with a combined capacity to generate 13.835 gigawatts.
KYIV. Sept 4 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Public joint-stock company Turboatom (Kharkiv), Ukraine’s largest producer of turbine equipment, has finished production of energy equipment for unit five of Aksu thermal power plant (TPP) in Kazakhstan, Turboatom said on its website.
The company said that in August the turbine was completed and transferred for shipment. In July, the enterprise tested the regulating system and transferred it for shipment. Previously, specialists of the plant provided the control assemblage of cylinders of turbine К-325-23.5 with rotors to the customer.
As reported, under the contract signed in July 2012, Turboatom is to replace unit K-300-240 with the next generation K-325-23.5 turbine at unit five of Aksu TPP. After modernization, the turbine capacity will increase by 25 MW, efficiency will be increased, the life-span of the unit and the whole power plant will be extended, and the environmental performance of TPP will be improved.
Turboatom is the sole producer of turbine equipment in Ukraine for hydro, heat and nuclear electricity stations. Turboatom specializes in manufacturing turbines for thermal and nuclear power plants, hydraulic turbines for hydroelectric power plants and pumped storage power plants, gas turbines for thermal power plants, steam and gas equipment, and other power equipment.
KYIV. Sept 4 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The total volume of investment transactions in the secondary real estate market in Ukraine in the second half of the year could potentially amount to about $10-20 million, DTZ consulting company has reported in a survey for the first half of 2015.
“It is difficult to predict the actual semi-annual rate due to the current instability in Ukraine and uncertainty regarding the further development of the country,” the company said.
The company indicates that the rate of return from investment in real estate in Kyiv from June 2014 to June 2015 had not changed and will be stable by the end of the year.
According to DTZ, at the end of the first half of 2015 net yield rates for office and commercial premises in the capital were at a level of 13.5%, for logistics facilities at 15%. In general, during this period, total investment in the secondary real estate market amounted to $40 million.
“During the first six months of 2015 the most active sellers of real estate in Ukraine were commercial banks, which confiscated real estate from borrowers unable to pay debts. The banks offered the discounts of 10% to 30% of the book value of assets put up for sale,” reads the report.
KYIV. Sept 4 (Interfax-Ukraine) – A memorandum on grain exports in the 2015/2016 marketing year (July-June) between grain traders and the Ministry of Agricultural Policy and Food will be signed after September 20, 2015.
“This year the memorandum has not been signed, yet. We will sign it after September 20, when there will be data on the quality of harvested wheat,” President of the Ukrainian Grain Association Volodymyr Klymenko said at a press conference in Kyiv.
He added that Ukraine has harvested a good wheat yield this year, and the country also has rather large wheat ending stocks from last year.
“This year we expect the harvest to reach 60 million tonnes. We do not know what we’ll have on corn, Europe has lost 20% of its harvest,” the expert said.
According to him, since the beginning of the MY, Ukraine has exported 5.817 million tonnes of grain, specifically wheat – 2.64 million tonnes, barley – 1.86 million tonnes, and corn – 1.3 million tonnes.
KYIV. Sept 4 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will issue a credit line of up to EUR75 million to Ukrainian banks as financing of the residential sector energy efficiency program, which at the first phase includes OTP Bank and Raiffeisen Bank Aval in the program (both based in Kyiv).
Senior Communications Adviser at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Anton Usov told Interfax-Ukraine that the bank’s board of directors approved the relevant projects at a meeting on September 2.
It is expected that the EBRD will provide funds to financial institutions, which, in turn, will lend to end borrowers in the housing sector, including individual homeowners, groups of homeowners, housing associations, construction associations and cooperatives. These projects should foresee the use of investment in high technology and energy efficiency measures to reduce energy consumption by at least 20%.
The document states that the bank’s funds are supplemented with the mobilized hryvnia resources of Ukrainian banks participating in the program in the amount of up to EUR65 million.
