In 2023, KMZ Industries (Karlivka Machine-Building Plant, KMZ, Poltava region) fulfilled 46 contracts for the installation, supervision, consulting, and repair of equipment and built 160 thousand cubic meters of elevator capacity, the company’s press service reported on Facebook.
According to the report, this figure is almost in line with the results of pre-war 2021.
“In total, over the year, the company’s installation department managed to install so much equipment that it increased the elevator capacity of our indomitable country by 160 thousand cubic meters of storage,” the press service quoted Vyacheslav Stepanchuk, Director of Installation and Construction at KMZ Industries, as saying.
In addition, in 2023, KMZ Industries installed silos and grain dryers weighing more than 2,300 tons, transport equipment of 1.25 km, and gravity routes of about 1 km.
KMZ Industries manufactures flat-bottomed and conical-bottomed silos, flour storage silos, Brice-Baker (British-designed) and DSP (Ukrainian-designed) shaft grain dryers, transportation equipment (elevators, chain, belt and screw conveyors), grain cleaning separators, and installs and automates elevator equipment and technological processes at grain storage facilities.
Dragon Capital Investments Limited (Cyprus), whose ultimate beneficiary is Tomas Fiala, owns 80% of KMZ shares, while Variant Agro Bud LLC owns 20%.
In 2023, excise tax revenues from alcoholic beverages produced in Ukraine and imported into the country’s customs territory amounted to UAH 10.1 billion, which is 20.7% higher than in 2022 and almost 2 times higher than the revenue figure of UAH 5.2 billion planned by the Ministry of Finance.
According to Danylo Hetmantsev, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, in a Telegram message on Monday, the Ministry of Finance’s revenue targets were met in all months from January to December 2023 without exception.
Hetmantsev noted that excise tax revenues from alcoholic beverages in 2023 were almost 12% (UAH 1 billion) higher than in pre-war 2021, when they amounted to UAH 9.0 billion. At the same time, the excise tax rate increased by only 5% – from UAH 126.96 to UAH 133.31 per 1 liter of 100% alcohol from March 1, 2022.
According to him, sales volumes of vodka and alcoholic beverages in the domestic market, according to 2-RS reports, amounted to 20.6 million dal in January-November 2023, which is 26% or 4.3 million dal more than in the corresponding period of 2022.
At the same time, revenue from the sale of alcoholic beverages through cash registers almost doubled by the end of 2023 – UAH 13.9 billion in December against UAH 7.5 billion in January.
As reported, last week, the head of the Verkhovna Rada’s Financial Committee said that the Ukrainian authorities failed to solve the problem of the illegal tobacco market, despite exceeding the plan for state budget revenues in 2023 by UAH 9.7 billion. He initiated open committee hearings on the illegal tobacco market, to which he invited business, the public and government agencies. The date of the hearings has not yet been determined.
State-owned PrivatBank (Kyiv) offers professional market participants through the OpenMarket platform (SE SETAM) to purchase at a Dutch auction (with a price reduction) the rights to claim a loan portfolio of more than 80 thousand consumer loans at a starting price of UAH 501.4 million.
“This portfolio includes more than 80 thousand unsecured consumer loans granted to individuals, which were recognized as uncollectible and written off against provisions. The portfolio for sale excludes loans for which the debtors are mobilized servicemen – according to information available to PrivatBank,” the press service of the state bank informs.
It is noted that the rights of claim on such a portfolio include only the loan principal and accrued interest.
The sale will be carried out by gradually reducing the starting price of the lot, while the minimum selling price, according to the published terms, is 2.1% of the initial price – UAH 10.53 million.
According to the state bank, only financial institutions that have a valid license to lend money or provide factoring services and meet the bank’s requirements will be allowed to participate in the auction. Applications for participation can be submitted until February 2, and the auction itself will take place on the 23rd of the same month.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of November 1, 2023, PrivatBank ranked 1st in terms of assets (UAH 804.14 billion) among 63 banks operating in the country, and 2nd in terms of the number of branches (1131).
Since January 2024, the land market has been open to legal entities, but it has not undergone significant changes. Mostly, companies that owned a significant number of land plots sell land rather than buy it. In total, since the beginning of the year, companies have sold more than 200 hectares of land, according to the State Land Cadastre.
Since January 2024, the land market has been open to legal entities. From now on, companies have the right to officially purchase up to 10 thousand hectares of land. Despite expectations, businesses have started selling the land they already own rather than buying new land. Companies have already sold 207 hectares of land in the first two weeks of 2024.
Currently, the State Land Cadastre tracks 281 Ukrainian companies, each of which owns land plots of more than 100 hectares.
Which companies in Ukraine own the most land?
The largest amount of land in Ukraine is currently owned by SVITANOK Agricultural Company: more than 5 thousand hectares. The second place is taken by Druzhkivka Ore Mining: 3.3 thousand hectares. ZEMLETRADE closes the top three with 3.1 thousand hectares.
Out of the top 10 companies that own the largest amount of land in the country, only Zemletrade has sold 20 hectares since the land market was opened. Other businesses have not yet conducted any land transactions.
Since the beginning of the year, two companies have already left the SLC’s attention and, accordingly, the top landowners. These businesses have sold off their land bank so that they have less than 100 hectares of land. We are talking about Dolyna and Ekor Garden CTS. As of January 1, 2024, these companies owned 388 and 120 hectares of land, respectively.
Benchmark oil prices are declining on Monday morning after production resumed at Libya’s largest field.
Quotations of March futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 7:11 a.m. amounted to $78.23 per barrel, which is $0.33 (0.42%) below the level at the close of the previous trading. On Friday, these contracts fell by $0.54 (0.7%) to $78.56 per barrel.
Prices for February futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) decreased by $0.25 (0.34%) to $73.16 per barrel. As a result of the previous trading, the price of these contracts fell by $0.67 (0.9%) to $73.41 per barrel. February contracts will expire at the close of the market on Monday. Futures for March, which are traded more actively, are cheaper by $0.31 (0.42%) to $72.94 per barrel.
Last week, Brent rose by 0.3%, WTI by 1%.
On Sunday, the Libyan National Oil Corporation announced the lifting of the force majeure regime and the full resumption of production at the Ash Sharara field, which has a capacity of 300 thousand barrels per day.
The force majeure regime was in effect since January 7 due to protests that led to the suspension of supplies from the field to the Zawiya export terminal.