KYIV. July 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry of Ukraine has proposed that a zero excise duty should be set for ethyl spirit used in the production of diluted acetic acid, perfumes and cosmetics, technical and chemical products.
According to a draft law on amending Article 229 of the Tax Code of Ukraine regarding taxation and regulation of the production and use of spirit, posted on the ministry’s website, the measures will stimulate the development of the spirit sector.
The ministry said that since 2005, the requirement to set a beneficial excise duty on ethyl rectified spirit, which is used to produce vinegar, and ethyl denature spirit for production of perfumes and cosmetics, chemical and other spirit-containing technical products. This resulted in the reduction of production of the above-mentioned products and the drop in spirit production, stoppage of distilleries, reduction of workforce and a decline of tax payments to the budgets of all levels.
At present, the full excise duty is set on spirit irrespective of the purpose of its use (UAH 70.53 per liter of 100% spirit), which restricts its application.
According to an explanatory note to the draft law, household detergent producers refused to use technical spirit made in Ukraine at the high price, as the cost of spirit considerably increases the price of detergents compared to the similar imported products. Ukrainian spirit-containing technical products were replaced by similar goods from Belarus, Moldova, Lithuania and Poland.
The ministry said that the annual production capacity of state distilleries totals over 60 million decaliters, which is four times bigger than the market’s needs. Exports are restricted, as the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU includes a quota of 27,000 tonnes.
“The zero excise duty for the said types of spirit would allow harmonizing the structure of the excise duty under Directive 92/83/EEC and it would allow loading Ukrainian distilleries, improve their financial and economic state and increasing payments to the national budget.
KYIV. July 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Public joint-stock company Agrarian Fund saw UAH 624.635 million in net profit in January-June 2015, which is 58.3% up year-over-year, the company said in a quarterly report.
The company said that its net revenue over the period fell by 30.4%, to UAH 1.398 billion.
Gross profit totaled UAH 454.892 million in January-June 2015, which is 45.1% up year-over-year. Operating profit grew by 70.3%, to UAH 540.579 million.
Agrarian Fund was created under a cabinet resolution in spring 2013. Its charter capital is UAH 5 billion.
KYIV. July 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Public joint-stock company Turboatom (Kharkiv), Ukraine’s largest producer of turbine equipment, saw UAH 837.91 million in net profit in January-June 2015, which is 24% up year-over-year, the company said in a financial report.
The company said that its net revenue over the period grew by 24.9%, to UAH 1.294 billion.
Turboatom saw UAH 610.34 million of gross profit (a rise of 59% year-over-year). Operating profit rose by 33%, to UAH 840.71 million.
Turboatom’s liabilities as of July 1, 2015 totaled UAH 1.395 billion, including bills payable for goods and services of UAH 24.79 million, advance payments of over UAH 1 billion, budget payments of UAH 3.2 million, wage payments – UAH 13.05 million, current maintenance – UAH 51.4 million.
Taking into account previously published data, in April-June 2015 the company saw its net profit fall by 45.5% year-over-year, to UAH 153.36 million, while its net revenue grew by 17.1%, to UAH 639.04 million.
The state owns a 75% stake in Turboatom, while Cyprus-based Linfot Ltd., affiliated with businessman Konstantin Grigorishin, holds about 15.3%.
KYIV. July 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Net interest-bearing income of Oschadbank (Kyiv) in January-June 2015 grew by 22.5% year-over-year, to UAH 3.8 billion, the bank said in a press release.
“The bank’s net interest-bearing income grew by 22.5% year-over-year, to UAH 3.8 billion, and net commission income grew by 17.3%, to UAH 700 million,” the bank said.
The bank said that its operating profit soared by almost four times, to UAH 6 billion.
Its loss in January-June 2015 totaled UAH 2.8 billion, while its profit year-over-year stood at UAH 340.01 million.
“With the purpose of removing the influence of destabilizing factors the bank formed reserves of UAH 8.8 billion during six months. The formation of a large volume of reserves is linked to the following factors: worsening of the quality of assets due to the hryvnia devaluation, worsening of the quality of assets in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) zone, the announcement of technical default by some state enterprises which are restructuring their debt and clients of Oschadbank, the downgrading of their credit ratings by rating agencies. As a consequence, in January-June 2015 the bank saw loss of UAH 2.8 billion,” reads the report.
According to the report, as of July 1, 2015 the adequacy of regulatory capital was 15.95% with a limit of no less than 10%
Oschadbank was founded in 1991. Its sole owner is the state.
Oschadbank ranked second among 133 operating banks in the country on April 1, 2015 by total assets (UAH 150.8 billion), according to the National Bank of Ukraine.
KYIV. July 27 (Interfax) – Ukraine has complied with all the necessary preconditions for holding a meeting of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Executive Board on July 31 and expects its positive decision on issuing the next tranche, says Ukrainian presidential representative at the Cabinet of Ministers Oleksandr Danyliuk.
“This is the last step [the endorsement of a law on lifting a moratorium on the sale of assets of companies in which the state holds at least a 25% stake] and the last term for holding an IMF Board of Governors meeting on July 31. This term was complied with after the president signed this law. We have complied with all terms, and we expect the Executive Board to consider the issuance of the next tranche amounting to $1.7 billion,” Danyliuk said at a news briefing in Kyiv on Monday.
KYIV. July 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF) plans to start selling small privatization companies using the Dutch auction principle by the end of this summer, and in September 2015 the online site for these auctions will be launched, SPF Head Ihor Bilous said in Kyiv on Thursday.
“I think that by the end of the summer you will see the launch of an absolutely new thing – this is the sale of facilities using the Dutch auction,” he said while addressing representatives of appraisers.
Bilous said that by using Dutch auctions the fund plans to sell facilities it had failed to sell earlier.
The Dutch auction foresees a deposit fee of 10% and the preliminary selection of bidders to avoid the participation of non-transparent and doubtful buyers in the auctions, Bilous said.
“I hope that in September we will launch the online platform. Everything will be open, always to everyone. We want to allow individuals to take part in auctions,” he said, adding that foreign investors are showing great interest to Ukrainian facilities of small privatization.
He said that the fund plans to introduce the possibility of providing services on a fee basis, as Georgia and Azerbaijan did, which would increase wages.
“Finally, I will try to get any interest from the sale, privatization or leasing that will be left with the fund,” Bilous said.
He said that the top-priority facilities for privatization in 2015 are facilities with state stakes: Odesa Port-Side Plant and three or six pump storage power plants, in particular, Odesa pump storage power plant, and Mykolaiv and Kherson plants.
Among the top priorities are stake stakes in six regional electricity supply companies in Zaporizhia, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Mykolaiv, Khmelnytsky and Ternopil, he said.
“If we are lucky this year, Centrenergo as well, there are some nuances and problems. If we were not lucky, we would prepare better to sell it next year,” he said.
Along with the above-mentioned facilities, it is likely that state stakes in Sumykhimprom, Zaporizhia Titanium and Magnesium Combine, President Hotel in Kyiv and other companies will be put up for sale in 2015.
“A total of around 40 facilities will be brought to the market, and if we cope with our sale program using the Dutch auction, there will be more companies, as we will launch this online,” he said.
