KYIV. Nov 29 (Interfax-Ukraine) – ESTA Holding, the managing company of ESTA Group, established by CJSC System Capital Management (SCM, Donetsk), on November 28 opened the eight-storey Central Department Store (TsUM) with a total leasable area of 23,500 square meters after reconstruction.
“Today a new, European period of the Central Department Store begins. Our goal was not only to make TsUM store No.1 in Ukraine but also put it in one line with the leading classical department stores of European cities. We focused on Selfridges in London, Galeries Lafayette in Paris and Kaldewei in Berlin,” ESTA Holding CEO Maksym Hromadtsov said during a press conference devoted to the official opening of the department store.
According to him, due to the difficult economic situation in the country the payback period since the launch almost doubled.
The Central Department Store building was completely rebuilt, while its historic facade was preserved, and inside a new center was built in the format of a conventional department store with a wide range of products organized on the principle of specialized departments in the same service area.
The peculiarity of TsUM will be the availability of common cash desks and fitting rooms at all the levels, open planning and a minimum of partitions.
KYIV. Nov 29 (Interfax-Ukraine) – PJSC Sumy machine building plant has signed a contract for the supply of four adsorbers to large petrochemical complex OJSC Naftan (Belarus), the press service of the enterprise has said.
Naftan will use the adsorbers, whose value is not disclosed, for modernization of the dehumidification system. They are vertical capacitive devices with elliptic bottoms, equipped with strainers, whose main task is to prevent ingress of adsorbent particles into the air.
The equipment should be delivered to the customer in April 2017.
According to the report, Sumy plant has been cooperating with Naftan for many years, regularly supplying heat transfer equipment, spare parts for piston compressors.
Sumy plant is one of Europe’s largest producers of gas pumping units and compressor stations for different purposes, a wide range of pumps, compressors, centrifuges, equipment for chemical, gas and petrochemical industry, nuclear power plants.
KYIV. Nov 29 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine’s Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and Sweden’s Foreign Affairs Minister Margot Elisabeth Wallström have discussed cooperation on waste recycling, ecology and decentralization.
The press service of Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers said during the meeting between the officials on Monday Groysman thanked Sweden for systemic assistance in the foreign policy arena and for helping Ukraine to transform its economic and financial sectors.
Sweden has been implementing a number of programs needed in Ukraine, including in the sphere of decentralization, energy conservation, in addition to providing humanitarian assistance to the population in eastern Ukraine, Groysman said.
“Speaking about the possibility of intensifying cooperation, the Swedish Foreign Affairs Minister Wallström expressed willingness to cooperate with Ukraine in the spheres of ecology, including waste recycling, as well as decentralization,” the press service said.
In addition, the Ukrainian prime minister said it is necessary to complete ratification of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. He called on the EU to finish all necessary internal procedures to introduce the EU visa-free regime for Ukrainians.
Ukraine’s PM called for keeping sanctions against the Russian Federation, saying the issue was “of global importance.” “If we lift sanctions, it will encourage the aggressor to become even more belligerent,” Groysman said.
Wallström said Sweden is prepared to continue supporting Ukraine and would continue to support sanctions against Russia.
KYIV. Nov 28 (Interfax-Ukraine) – PJSC Ukrzaliznytsia in the ten months of 2016 increased grain transportation by 12.6% compared to the same period of 2015, but complains about delays in grain wagon return on the part of grain shippers.
According to a company press release, the company will be able to significantly increase grain handling if grain shippers reduce the circulation of grain wagons and stop delaying cars under loading operations.
“Thus, more than 500 loaded grain cars have accumulated only at two port stations in Odesa region – Illichivsk and Kseniyeve,” Ukrzaliznytsia said.
KYIV. Nov 28 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Kyiv-based Ukreximbank is actively preparing a new project jointly with the World Bank on providing access to long-term loans to Ukrainian export oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), according to a posting on the Ukreximbank’s website.
“The Long Term Finance Project (ALTF) Project will provide long term investment and working capital finance to Ukrainian export oriented SME,” the bank said.
Ukreximbank will act as the direct borrower of the World Bank funds and the implementing agency of ALTF Project. Ukrainian commercial banks are expected to be involved in the ALTF Project implementation as financial intermediaries.
All sub-projects financed under the ALTF Project will be subject to an environmental and social assessment of compliance with the Ukrainian and World Bank environmental regulations utilizing the procedures described in Ukreximbank’s Environmental and Social Management Framework.
After drawing up the ALTF Project jointly with Ukrainian governmental authorities, it will be presented to the World Bank Board of Executive Directors for consideration and approval by the end of the first quarter 2017.
KYIV. Nov 28 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) would provide a EUR 10 million debt financing to Lviv-based Trading Company (TC) Meest Express LLC, which is incorporated in the Meest group of companies, in further development and expansion of its domestic and international operations.
The bank said last week that the project was approved by its board on November 15, 2016.
The project is intended to expanding the collection and delivery network points; developing an IT platform; developing processing technology at warehouses and collection and delivery points; developing domestic and international logistics hubs; promoting the ‘Meest’ brand, as well as introducing carbon neutral courier products.
The project loan will benefit from concessional financing under the Green Logistics Programme provided by the Global Environmental Facility to promote energy efficiency and lower carbon emissions in the logistics sector.
The total cost of the project is $20 million.
TC Meest Express LLC was founded in 2005. It is a large delivery company on the market. Meest Group was part of Meest Corporation Inc., Toronto, Canada.
The ultimate beneficiary of TC Meest Express LLC is Canadian citizen Rostyslav Kisil.
