Ukrainian corn is sold cheaper than American and Argentine corn by $20/ton on world markets, which is an abnormal distortion and leads to the restraint of sales by Ukrainian farmers, according to the analytical cooperative “Start”, created within the framework of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council (AAC).
“Ukraine actively trades corn, significant volumes have already been contracted in January-February. Market operators fear that the supply of corn from Argentina will increase on the world market and the conditions for the sale of Ukrainian grain will deteriorate,” analysts said, adding that prices on CIF terms have fallen sharply, as the supply of Ukrainian corn is high and the demand for it is low.
According to the experts, Ukrainian corn is traded conditionally at $200-210/ton on the European markets, while corn originating from the USA is traded at $220/ton.
“The gap of $20/ton is abnormally large. Ukrainian corn is too cheap on the world markets compared to its American and Argentine counterparts, and there are no objective reasons for such an imbalance,” the UAC believes.
At the same time, the CPT market is not yet active in terms of trade, many farmers are holding back corn and do not want to sell it at low prices. In Odesa ports, CPT prices are in the range of $147-155/ton, and in small ports on the Danube – $150-155/ton.
Large market players have paused in corn trading, while small and medium-sized traders are active on the market. As prices on CPT terms are so low that they make corn trading unprofitable for the average farmer, many farmers are ready to postpone corn sales until summer or even postpone them to the next season. And although Ukraine has significant corn stocks – about 17 million tons – the amount available for sale is an open question, the UAC summarized.
Scania Ukraine has delivered six 30-ton dump trucks to construction company Express Tekhbud, the distribution company reported on Facebook.
“It is not so often that construction equipment is ordered now, so yesterday’s delivery of 6 Scania dump trucks to Express Techbud was a significant event for us,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
According to Scania Ukraine, cooperation with Express Techbud began in 2021, when the first 10 units of equipment were purchased.
“Currently, the client’s fleet includes 16 Scania P380B8x4HZ Euro5 dump trucks with a Scania P380B8x4HZ body (body heating, Hardox steel) with a technical carrying capacity of 30 tons,” the statement said.
The value of the contract was not disclosed.
Scania Ukraine, a distribution company with foreign investments, has been operating in the Ukrainian market since 1998 and in 2023 became the leader in Ukraine in the segment of trucks with a gross vehicle weight of more than 3.5 tons with sales of 710 vehicles (twice as many as in 2022).
According to opendatabot, in 2022, the company’s revenue amounted to UAH 1.65 billion (14.5% less than a year earlier), while net profit increased by 10.6% to UAH 91.38 million.
Express Techbud LLC is an industrial and transport company established in 2016 that specializes in road construction, transport logistics, building dismantling, drilling and blasting, and the extraction and production of granite crushed stone.
According to its website, the company owns three granite quarries in Ukraine. Its fleet of vehicles includes more than 300 dump trucks and 80 units of special equipment.
In 2022, according to opendatabot, its revenue amounted to UAH 338.28 million and its loss was UAH 3.3 million.
More than UAH 97 million transferred to the account of the Ministry of Economy to finance humanitarian demining activities within the United24 platform will be used to purchase demining equipment, the press service of the Ministry of Economy reports.
“These funds will be distributed between the State Emergency Service and the State Special Transport Service for the following purposes,” the statement said.
In particular, to help the SSTS purchase a heavy-duty remote mechanized demining machine (analogous to MV-10).
Also for the purchase of 400 protective fences and 400 protective aprons for humanitarian deminers for the SES.
To purchase two truck tractors for the SES to transport remote mechanized demining vehicles.
For the purchase of three armored pyrotechnic vehicles of light type for the transportation of explosive devices for the SES.
It is reported that Deputy Minister of Economy Ihor Bezkaravaynyi also addressed the applicants with a proposal to continue to emphasize the purchase of domestically produced equipment.
The number of declarations mentioning cryptocurrencies is growing from year to year. More than 1,400 such declarations were filed in 2022. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether are the most popular among Ukrainian officials. For example, in 2022, one of the Ukrainian MPs declared 121 bitcoins worth over UAH 195 million.
Ukrainian officials filed 1428 declarations with cryptocurrency assets in 2022. This is almost twice as many as in 2021: back then, crypto appeared in 788 declarations.
In the 2021 declarations, the most popular cryptocurrencies among Ukrainian officials were Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), and others. In 2022, the top positions did not change radically: Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) were still in demand, and Tether (USDT) joined the top three.
Which Ukrainian officials declared the most cryptocurrency?
First of all, it is worth noting that the declarants submit their assets both in hryvnia equivalent and simply by indicating the number of cryptocurrency units in their possession.
Bitcoins / Bitcoin (BTC)
In 2021, the largest amount of bitcoin was declared by Anna Pozdnyakova, Director of the Odesa City Heat Supply Utility, which amounted to UAH 53 million. A year later, Deputy Head of the Dnipro Regional State Administration Sergiy Karpenko took over the top spot. He owns bitcoins equivalent to UAH 41 million.
The largest amount of bitcoins in 2022 – 121 BTC – was declared by Mykyta Kuzkevych, a deputy of the Odesa Regional Council. In hryvnia equivalent, at the time of publication, this is more than UAH 195 million.
Ethereum (ETH)
Serhii Karpenko, the official from Dnipropetrovs’k region who declared the largest amount of bitcoins, has also been the record holder for the amount of ethereum for two years in a row. In his declarations for 2021 and 2022, the official noted that he had the same amount of equivalent for this cryptocurrency – UAH 14.6 million.
Crypto dollars / Tether (USDT)
Vitaliy Brovko, Deputy Head of the Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office, declared the most crypto dollars or stablecoins in 2021 – 774,500 units. The same official holds the record for the largest amount in equivalent – UAH 20 million.
The official also held the top spot among the declarants for 2022. The number of crypto dollars in his possession did not change, but their value increased to more than UAH 29 million.
At the same time, the largest amount of crypto dollars/stablecoins was declared by Maksym Kyselyov, Director of the State Enforcement Service Department of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, who earned UAH 25 million.
The biggest losses in crypto
It is also worth noting that there are several officials who have declared their crypto assets but have indicated that they have lost access to them.
380.95 bitcoins, a record amount among Ukrainian officials, were declared and lost by Roman Saramaga, Deputy Head of the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine, in 2021. In hryvnia terms, at the time of publication, this is about UAH 615 million.
The largest amount of ethereum – 1,800 units or more than UAH 160 million – belongs to Ihor Osipov, a deputy of the Podil District Council of Odesa Oblast. In 2021 and 2022, the official stated in his declarations that he had lost access to cryptocurrency.
“Having analyzed a large number of declarations, first of all, it is worth noting their poor quality. It seems that officials spend 5 minutes on declarations on the last day of submission. Despite the fact that there is already a special section where it is necessary to indicate assets in crypto, almost all crypto holdings are filled in differently, with errors and in different parts of the declarations.
Overall, the statistics show that ownership of such an opaque asset as cryptocurrency is not something risky or suspicious for officials. After all, the number of such officials has almost doubled over the past two years,” comments Oleksiy Ivankin, founder of Opendatabot.
Context.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the mandatory verification of officials’ declarations has been temporarily canceled. Despite this, the obligation of officials to report on their property status and changes in it has not been canceled.
Last fall, the verification of declarations was resumed. Therefore, Ukrainian officials had to catch up with the previous period (2021 and 2022) by the end of January 2024.
The deadline for submitting declarations for 2023 remains the same – April 2024.
As a reminder, you can check your MP’s declaration using the Opendatabot. To do this, add the OpenDataBot to your favorite messenger and enter the name of the official.
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/crypto-officials-2022
Bitcoins, CRYPTOCURRENCY, cryptocurrency assets, CryptoDollars, Ethereum
Ukraine’s defense sector grew three times last year, and the industry is expected to grow 6-fold in 2024, Deputy Minister for Strategic Industries Hanna Hvozdyar said at the European Business Association (EBA) conference Global Outlook: A Winning Vision on Wednesday.
“The enemy is, of course, superior to us in terms of numbers and funds they attract. And the needs of the army are so great that it is very difficult for us, even together with our partners, to meet them in full. However, last year alone, we tripled our defense spending. This year we expect a 6-fold increase,” Hvozdyar said.
According to her, the ministry is creating opportunities for civilian companies to engage in military-tech work.
“We are talking about ammunition, ammunition cases. They can be produced by civilian companies that have the appropriate equipment, and we are also moving in this direction,” Hvozdyar said.
The Deputy Minister noted that another niche is in the market of components. According to her, many drone and UAV manufacturers still buy components abroad, while one of their priorities is to equip them with domestically produced parts.
“Our drones should depend on and consist of Ukrainian components as much as possible,” Hvozdyar said.
“The money is all in the defense sector. So, sooner or later, we will still come to the conclusion that it is more profitable for the economy as a whole. It is very important for us to keep our budget within the country,” she explained.
Hvozdyar also noted that the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine (MinStrategProm) is working on creating a communication platform that could serve as a library of proven components of national production.
Israel has opened its market for Ukrainian feed flour and feed fats, the press service of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection reported.
According to the report, the Ukrainian and Israeli competent authorities have agreed on a veterinary certificate for poultry/feather/fish meal and a veterinary certificate for oils and fats for animal feeding.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection continue to open doors for Ukrainian products in the world. Only last week and this week we opened new markets in three countries: China, Qatar and Israel. This is part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ systemic strategy to help Ukrainian businesses in times of war. Within the framework of our Nazovni platform, from January 2023 to February 2024, we processed 84 applications from exporters to enter the Israeli market, so it is interesting for business,” said Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
According to the head of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, Serhiy Tkachuk, the agency is currently studying 220 areas for opening markets in other countries for such commodities as meat, dairy products, fish products, bee products, and others.
The harmonized forms of veterinary certificates for feed flour and feed fats are published on the website of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection in the section “International Cooperation”, heading “Certificates for Export from Ukraine”.
The agency reminded that the first step for exporting Ukrainian products of animal origin is a request from the market operator to the territorial body of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection at the place of location.
