Business news from Ukraine

KYIV. Jan 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian producer of lubricants Agrinol together with East Petronics Ltd (the UAE) will build two plants for the production of oils and lubricants with a capacity of about 10,000 tonnes per year each in Latvia and Georgia, the press service of Agrinol has said.

“Participation in the project for Agrinol is to design, manufacture and install equipment, create technical regulations and organize production processes. This project is financed by foreign partners,” reads the report.

Industrial facilities will be built in Latvia (near Liepaja city) and on the basis of the former Kutaisi automobile factory in Georgia.

“The plant in Kutaisi is now at the stage of installation and commissioning of equipment, that in Liepaja is at the stage of design,” the Ukrainian company said.

The new plants will produce goods for the markets of the European Union, the Middle East and Central Asia.

KYIV. Jan 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Metinvest B.V. (the Netherlands), the parent company of Metinvest international vertically integrated mining and metallurgical group, in November 2015 had a negative EBITDA of $4 million, whereas in the previous month this figure was positive in the amount of $2 million.

According to the published preliminary unaudited consolidated financial statements under IFRS, the company’s revenues in November 2015 amounted to $475 million, while in the previous month $530 million.

Comparable results for November 2014 and October 2014 are not given.

The report states that the adjusted EBITDA of the group’s steel division for November 2015 amounted to “minus” $2 million (in October of 2015 some $1 million), the mining division $2 million ($15 million), the costs of the management company “minus” $9 million (“minus” $10 million), intercompany sales $5 million (“minus” $5 million). As a result, total EBITDA in November stood at “minus” $4 million (in October $2 million).

Total revenues in November consisted of revenues of the group’s metal division in the amount of $392 million (in October 2015 some $447 million), mining division $202 million ($279 million), intercompany sales “minus” $119 million (“minus” $196 million). As a result, total revenues in November were $475 million (in October $530 million).

KYIV. Jan 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Participants in the World Economic Forum in Davos have advised Ukrainian authorities to focus on holding a transparent privatization, deregulation and the introduction of high technologies in 2016, Ukraine’s Minister of Economic Development and Trade Aivaras Abromavicius has told Interfax-Ukraine.

According to him, a session dedicated to Ukraine was held in Davos on January 21, which was attended by the heads of state, representatives of the European Union, the United States and the leaders of multinational companies who are interested in or are already present in Ukraine.

“We are required acceleration in many areas. Almost all of them noted that among the main reforms for this year are privatization, which must be transparent,” he said.

According to Abromavicius, the participants in the meeting also noted that Ukraine needs to conduct deregulation, reform the civil service system, which will allow to increase the level of wages to civil servants, as well as reform the law enforcement system.

KYIV. Jan 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov as part of his working visit to Turkey met Turkish Undersecretary for Defense Industry İsmail Demir and discussed the intensification of military and technical cooperation.

The press service of NSDC reported last week that the negotiations were held in Ankara. The parties agreed that uniting the resources the countries could achieve more things together than if they work separately.

Demir said that Turkey highly appreciates Ukrainian designs in rocket production, aircraft engineering and tank construction.

“This list could be named by a few, while Turkish defense industry has significant exploratory studies and solutions, the combination of which with Ukrainian ones could give a completely new quality,” he said.

The sides discussed the possibility of creating joint ventures, as well as of the Ukrainian-Turkish research center for the study and analysis of the use of advanced military and technological developments in the conditions of modern military conflicts.

“During the negotiations, it was agreed to establish a joint working group to coordinate the work on joint projects, which will consist of the representatives of defense industries,” the council said.

According to Turchynov, Ukraine and Turkey are at the forefront of the threats the civilized world faces.

“Geopolitical challenges our countries face is the unifying factor for us and leaves no alternatives to our victory”, – he said.

Moreover, the Ukrainian NSDC secretary held meetings with the heads of leading defense industry enterprises of Turkey, during which the questions of implementation of joint projects were discussed, and visited defense enterprises Aselsan and Roketsan.

KYIV. Jan 22 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The first stage of building a new two-track Beskydsky tunnel has been completed.

According to the press service of the Infrastructure Ministry of Ukraine, as a whole the new two-track tunnel will replace the existing single track one, which was built in 1886. It has a speed limit of 15-40km/h and remains the only “narrow” place in the Chop-Lviv direction. The new tunnel is designed for a speed of 60-70 km/h and increase the capacity of this section of the track from 47 to 100 pairs of trains per day.

The ministry points out that the tunnel is of strategic importance because it is part of the fifth corridor from Italy to Ukraine.

“The construction of a new tunnel is another project thanks to which Ukraine will be able to realize its transit potential. Today 60% of traffic that goes through the western border, including in transit, are carried out through the Beskydsky tunnel. The new tunnel will allow us to create competitive conditions for freight carriage on this direction,” Minister of Infrastructure Andriy Pyvovarsky stated.

The Ministry for Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities

On January 20, 2016, the building of the Ministry for Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities housed an official ceremony of signing a memorandum of cooperation to develop and implement a social and economic project of joint action “Bila Tserkva Development Strategy.”

This document outlines an agreement on cooperation between Bila Tserkva’s local authorities, the public and the business community in the implementation of the strategy for the development of the town of Bila Tserkva until 2025. The implementation of this strategy should contribute to the successful and sustainable operation and development of the town, which could become a successful combination of progressive civil society and effectively used human resources to build a modern management system, reactivate entrepreneurial activity, and create a comfortable and high-quality urban environment for local residents of Bila Tserkva and visitors.

“Businesses, the public as well as experts from Poland are being engaged in the development of this strategy, therefore it will be based on the standards that have already proven their effectiveness in European countries. The town will thus get a document that opens opportunities for further development, attraction of investment, creation of jobs, and improvement in the quality of services provided to residents. It is impossible to develop without a strategy, therefore every community that thinks about its future should have such a document,” First Deputy Minister for Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Vyacheslav Nehoda said during the ceremony of the signing of the memorandum.

“It’s not very hard to develop a strategy, it’s much harder to follow it. We will develop this document jointly with the residents of the town, so it is important not to betray the trust of the people during its implementation,” Tomáš Szuba, an authorized person of the European Innovation Centre (Poland), said.

Bila Tserkva Mayor Hennadiy Dykyi assured in turn that the strategy would be developed with the involvement of the public, entrepreneurs and experts to become an effective tool to develop the town.

The memorandum of cooperation was signed by Bila Tserkva Mayor Hennadiy Dykyi, First Vice President of the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Vasyl Khmelnytsky, representatives of the following NGOs: GoLocal, Bila Tserkva. Tomorrow, the Center for Community Development, the Smart City public council, representatives of such charitable funds as Ruh Molodi Foundation and K.Fund, and authorized person of the European Innovation Centre Tomáš Szuba.