At an informal meeting in Brussels, EU defense ministers agreed to fulfill their promise to supply 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said.
“We have just agreed with the EU defense ministers that we will fulfill our promise to supply 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine. By the end of March, we will have delivered more than 0.5 million shells. More than 1.1 million shells by the end of 2024. The EU’s production capacity will increase to 1.5 million by the end of 2024,” Pevkur wrote on social media site X.
Last spring, the EU countries jointly agreed to send one million shells to Ukraine by March 2024 to repel Russia’s military aggression.
The Enforcement Division of the State Enforcement Service Department of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has put up for sale through the OpenMarket electronic auction (SE “SETAM” of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine) an integral property complex located in Odesa at the 19th km of Starokyivska road, 34.
The building has an area of 25,659.90 square meters. The lot consists of:
– the main building with utility blocks, a loading dock and a railway track;
– administrative building, security building, weighbridge, electrical workshop building;
– oils and greases warehouse, material warehouse, water measuring unit;
– switchgear, boiler house, carpentry shop, repair and mechanical shop;
– a trade pavilion, a car wash, a gas station, a warehouse of oils and lubricants and other property.
The full list is available at the link to the lot: setam.net.ua/auction/540581
“The auction is scheduled for February 7, so potential bidders have time to pay the guarantee fee and participate in the auction. The lot is being auctioned for the second time, so its starting price has been reduced by 15% from the first auction. Now the starting price for the complex, including VAT, is UAH 112,325,800, which is approximately UAH 4,377 per 1 sq. m.,” said Oleksandr Mamro, CEO of SE SETAM.
The OpenMarket auction (SE SETAM of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine) is a simple and effective means of selling and purchasing property via the Internet. The online auction has been operating throughout Ukraine since 2014. The total amount of sales since its launch is UAH 21.8 billion.
The engineering and construction company Rauta is starting to implement a business center project in Podil, Kyiv, which will be the first project in which Rauta will perform customer service functions, the company’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine.
“The client service is a new service in Rauta’s offer, but the company already has several projects in its portfolio in which it performs work that allows it to build turnkey buildings,” said Andriy Ozeychuk, the company’s owner.
The functions of the construction customer service include support at the pre-project stage, development of design and estimate documentation, its examination, selection of a general contractor, obtaining a building permit, preparatory work at the construction site, construction of the facility itself, construction and connection of external engineering networks, and commissioning.
Rauta clarified that the business center with an area of about 3 thousand square meters is being built for an international IT company in the historical center of Kyiv, at 10b Kontraktova Square.
Rauta is a leading provider of reliable construction solutions in Ukraine and the European Union.
According to the company’s data, Rauta Group LLC was registered in Ukraine in 2014, with an authorized capital of UAH 388 thousand and revenue of UAH 102 million 396 thousand in 2022.
27 EU leaders have agreed on an additional €50 billion package of support for Ukraine within the EU budget, European Council President Charles Michel said.
“We have an agreement. We have unity. All 27 leaders have agreed on an additional €50 billion package of support for Ukraine within the EU budget. This provides sustainable, long-term and predictable funding for Ukraine. The EU is taking the lead and responsibility in supporting Ukraine; we know what is at stake,” Michel wrote on social media platform X on Thursday.
Ukraine’s seaports are not yet at full capacity and are able to increase the potential of grain transportation, said Yuriy Lytvyn, Head of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA), at a meeting of the Grain Club of the Ukrainian Grain Association on Tuesday.
“The potential of transportation, in particular, from Odesa, is significantly higher. The proof of this is the record results of the Ukrainian “grain corridor”, which was opened after the termination of the “grain initiative” in December 2023,” he said.
According to Lytvyn, the figures for grain exports in January 2024 are slightly lower than the previous month. However, January is the month of the traditional decline in sea transportation.
At the same time, he noted an increase in the delivery of grain cargo to the ports of Greater Odesa by both rail and road.
“Today, the port of Chornomorsk has increased its car handling fivefold compared to the pre-war period. However, unfortunately, bulk cargo is not very good for Chornomorsk itself. There are some difficulties with the organization of the process,” said the USPA head.
He also emphasized that traders and local authorities are doing everything possible to speed up the process and reduce the time for unloading vehicles.
Speaking about the work of Pivdennyi port, Lytvyn noted that it is being used at 30-48% of its capacity to receive grain cargo.
“The Ministry of Infrastructure, together with the Armed Forces of Ukraine and us (USPA – IF-U), are working to expand the acceptance of cargoes that may be damaged (during the shelling of port infrastructure by the Russian side – IF-U). I mean container and ferry transportation,” Lytvyn said.
Answering a question about the fate of the port in Mykolaiv, the head of the USPA explained that the agency pays much attention to its fate and constantly consults with the military.
“The military leadership is unanimous in its position: due to security issues, unblocking the port of Mykolaiv is impossible. The ports of Mykolaiv region are under direct enemy fire from potentially dangerous areas. The military is not giving any forecasts (on the timing of their unblocking – IF-U),” he said.
The head of the USPA also reminded that Ukraine still has the occupied Kherson port, which has not yet had a single employee of the agency on its territory – it is closed.
As reported, the USPA said that Ukrainian seaports are ready to work in any case of destruction and can increase exports of agricultural goods.
Ovostar Union, a vertically integrated holding company, one of the leading producers of eggs and egg products in Ukraine, increased its livestock to 7.7 million heads in 2023, including 6.4 million laying hens, compared to 7.2 million and 6.0 million a year earlier.
“In 2023, the company focused on the gradual restoration of the livestock, which resulted in a 7% increase in the number of chickens. Efforts have also been made to restructure the product portfolio and sales channels to achieve greater efficiency,” Ovostar CEO Boris Belikov said in a stock exchange announcement.
He noted that, given the fairly successful solution of these problems, the management is satisfied with the group’s performance.
It is indicated that the volume of egg production in 2023 decreased by 1% to 1 531 million, and sales in the shell egg segment decreased by 10% to 970 million.
At the same time, Ovostar indicated that the volume of egg exports increased by 18.6% to 344 million units, accounting for 35% of total sales in the segment, compared to 27% in 2022.
According to the report, in 2023, the volume of egg processing amounted to 492 million eggs, which is 15% higher than the previous year. At the same time, the production of dry egg products decreased by 1% to 2.512 thousand tons, while the production of liquid egg products increased by 20% to 12.998 thousand tons.
It is specified that the volume of sales of dry egg products increased by 15% to 2,468 thousand tons, including exports – by 17.2% to 1,695 thousand tons, which increased its share to 69% from 68%.
Sales of liquid egg products in 2023 increased by 20% compared to 2022 and amounted to 12.828 thousand tons, including exports – by 19.8% to 5.17 thousand tons, which maintained its share at 40%.
As reported, Ovostar earned $29.08 million in net profit in 9M2023, which is 12.2 times better than in the same period of 2022. Its revenue for the first nine months increased by 36.3% to $123.06 million, mainly due to higher prices for its products.
