KYIV. May 30 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Public joint-stock company Ukrhydroenergo increased electricity production by 18.6% in January-April 2016, compared to the same period in 2015, to 3.115 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), the press service of the company has said.
According to its data, the plan for the three months was exceeded by 19.4%, or 506.488 million kWh.
In April this year, Ukrhydroenergo hydroelectric and pumped storage plants produced 1.136 billion kWh of electricity, which is 95.5% more than in April 2015.
As reported, Ukrhydroenergo plans in 2016 to increase electricity production by 24.6% compared to 2015, to 8.008 billion kWh.
Production of electricity by nine Ukrhydroenergo power stations in 2015 decreased by 26.2% compared to 2014, to 6.426 billion kWh.
Ukrhydroenergo in 2015 saw net profit rise by 2.3 times compared to 2014, to UAH 1.091 billion, net income by 1.7 times, to UAH 4.469 billion, EBITDA by 64.7%, to UAH 2.688 billion.
Ukrhydroenergo operates all of the major hydroelectric power plants on the Ukrainian sections of the Dnipro and Dniester rivers. Their total electricity generating capacity comes to five gigawatts. The state owns 100% of the shares of the company.
KYIV. May 30 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Metinvest, the largest Ukrainian mining and metal holding, in 2015 was 40th in the list of largest global steel producers with 9.65 million tonnes smelted last year, compared to the 33rd position in 2014 with 11.18 million tonnes of steel made.
According to an annual report published by World Steel Association, the largest steel smelting company in 2014 was ArcelorMittal with 97.14 million tonnes. Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation was second with 49.3 million tonnes smelted, followed by Hebei Group (47.75 million tonnes), NSSMC (46.37 million tonnes), POSCO (41.97 million tonnes) and Baosteel (34.94 million tonnes).
Metinvest is the only Ukrainian company amongst the 50 largest global steel manufacturers. Industrial Union of Donbas (ISD) was 44th in 2013 and produced 7.9 million tonnes, but did not make the list last year and this year.
Worldsteel said that Ukraine produced 23 million tonnes of steel in 2015, ranking 10th (27.2 million in 2014, 10th). Apparent consumption totaled 3.3 million tonnes (4.3 million tonnes), and consumption per capital reached 74.7 kilograms (kg, 94.8 kg in 2014).
Globally, average apparent consumption totaled 208.2 kg per person, South Korea with 1,113.6 kg per person, Taiwan with 750.6 kg, the Czech Republic (627.4 kg), Japan (497. 3 kg) and China (519 kg) showed the best results.
In 2015, Ukraine was seventh among largest steel exporters. The country sold 17.7 million tonnes of steel products on foreign markets. China was first with 111.6 million tonnes and Russia was fifth with 29.7 million tonnes.
Ukraine was fourth in net exports of steel in the world with 16.9 million tonnes (20.3 million tonnes in 2014, fourth). China was first with 98.4 tonnes and Japan was second with 34.9 million tonnes.
The largest importers of metal last year were the European Union (EU) with 37.7 million tonnes (the European Union was 28th in 2014 with 32.4 million tonnes).
Metinvest Group is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies that manages every link of the value chain, from mining and processing iron ore and coal to making and selling semi-finished and finished steel products. It comprises steel and mining production facilities located in Ukraine, Europe and the US, as well as a sales network covering all key global markets.
KYIV. May 30 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Bilateral meetings between Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif took place in Tehran on Sunday.
“The meetings addressed a broad range of vital issues on the agenda of bilateral relations. Agreements were reached on the intensification of Ukrainian-Iranian cooperation in all spheres,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a report released on Sunday.
In accordance with the report, “the Iranian side emphasized that no third party will have any influence on the development of bilateral relations between Ukraine and Iran.”
During the negotiations, Iran also “expressed its support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry earlier reported on the visit by Klimkin to Iran at the invitation of the Iranian foreign minister on May 29-30. “The purpose of the visit is to discuss the state and prospects of development of bilateral cooperation between Ukraine and Iran. Among other things, the parties will exchange opinions on vital regional issues and modern challenges in the global dimension,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has reported.
The ministry said that important changes involving Iran, specifically, the lifting of economic and financial sanctions, “create opportunities for fuller realization of the potential of this country, which is an important partner of Ukraine in the region, including for the intensification of Ukrainian-Iranian cooperation in the sphere of trade and economics.”
The European Business Summit is the largest annual business and political forum in the European Union, which has gathered leading European and world politicians, businesspeople and public figures for 15 years in a row. In 2016, honorary guests of the event will be President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz, President of the European Council Donald Tusk, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, more than ten EU commissioners, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde and representatives of European financial institutions, namely the EBRD, EIB and the ECB. Other guests include the King of Belgium, the representatives of the governments of France, Turkey, Greece, the Netherlands, the United States, Canada, Iran, and many other countries. The summit will be attended by thousands of representatives of European and international business circles, among them are CEOs and presidents of such companies as Heineken, Marcegaglia, Solvay, YouTube, PIMCO, DS Smith, BlaBlaCar, and others.
The Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE) is one of the major partners of the summit this year, and at the event, Ukraine will be represented by a large delegation of 50 members, including representatives of the Ukrainian business community, Members of Parliament, members of government agencies and local authorities.
The ULIE management at the summit will also be represented at the highest level: President of the ULIE Anatoliy Kinakh will be an honorary speaker at the panel “EU Trade Relations with Neighboring Countries,” which will also be attended by Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, as well as members of governments and business associations from Iran, Turkey, and the United States.
ULIE’s First Vice President Vasyl Khmelnytsky will be another honorable speaker from the organization. He will deliver his report during the panel “EU Regional Development” to represent a strategy for regional development of the town and district of Bila Tserkva. The EU Commissioner for Regional Policy and the President of the European Committee of the Regions will also participate in the panel.
The ULIE will hold the Ukrainian lunch “Ukraine as a New Economic Partner of the EU” on the first day of the summit, June 1. The event is scheduled to begin at 12:30 local time. More than 100 distinguished guests from among politicians and businesspeople participating in the summit have been invited. Senior officials from foreign governments and top managers from international corporations will be honorary speakers.
The EBS website: ebsummit.eu.
EBS accreditation is required, please follow this link: http://www.ebsummit.eu/media.
To get accredited for the Ukrainian lunch “Ukraine as a New Economic Partner of the EU,” please send an email to Iryna Kutsiuk: iryna.kutsiuk@gmail.com.
KYIV. May 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The creation of a state holding company and the transfer of state-run strategic enterprises from ministries is included in the list of top priorities of the new government for 2016.
“The formation of supervisory boards, the reduction of a list of facilities that are ineligible for privatization, conducting independent audits at 100% of state-owned enterprises,” First Deputy Prime Minister and Economic Development and Trade Minister Stepan Kubiv said presenting the government’s steps for 2016 at a meeting of the national Reforms Council.
The government seeks to receive up to UAH 20 billion from privatization with the budget target of UAH 17 billion. The government wants to sell Odesa Port-Side Plant and regional electricity supply companies at transparent tenders, liquidate at least 50 state-run enterprises and introduce free access to information about enterprises.
The document says that the state owns around 3,500 enterprises and only 1,800 of them are operating. 100 largest companies bring almost 90% of total assets and 80% of entire revenue.
A total of 345 companies are placed on the privatization list for 2016. The state potentially can transfer 723 companies for privatization.
KYIV. May 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine’s Ministry of Economic Development and Trade intends in the near future to include international tourism standards in the state plan of standardization.
“The state standardization plan in late May will include 12 international and European standards in the sector of tourism and hospitality,” the director of the ministry’s tourism and resorts department, Ivan Lyptuha, wrote on his Facebook page.
According to him, the decision was made on May 18, 2016 at a joint meeting of the profile department and the technical regulation department of the ministry with the heads of technical committees and national standardization authority UkrNDNC.
“The implementation of common international standards ISO and EN will allow to improve the quality of services in the tourism sector, contribute to the transparency of permitting and licensing systems, reduce corruption risks, as well as allow to more effectively protect the rights of tourism services consumers,” the expert said.
