By the summer of 2024, the Podorozhnyk pharmacy chain plans to expand its network to 2 thousand pharmacies, said Taras Kolyada, CEO of the chain.
“We currently have 1763 pharmacies. In 2023, we opened 400 new pharmacies. By the summer of 2024, we will grow to 2 thousand pharmacies,” he said in an interview with Forbes.
Mr. Kolyada said that the chain is currently expanding at a fairly rapid pace: “In 2019, we opened 486 pharmacies, and now 400 pharmacies a year is a normal rhythm for us.”
At the same time, he noted that “we usually have 150 outlets in back closer – somewhere we are doing repairs and looking for people, somewhere we are signing a contract or waiting for the lease with the previous owner of the premises to end.”
“Landlords perceive a pharmacy as a stable business and are ready to cooperate. We are building the coverage of the country. For us, the key is to penetrate the regions, small towns from Chop to Seredyna-Buda, from Reni to the north of Chernihiv region,” he said.
In addition, Kolyada said that in 2023, sales of Podorozhnyk across all channels increased by 40-50% compared to 2022.
At the same time, Kolyada predicts that in general, “the trend for network expansion in Ukraine is still there, but the redistribution of the market will favor system operators.”
According to Kolyada, the average investment in opening a pharmacy is up to UAH 3.5 million.
Number of dead and wounded civilians in Ukraine from 24.02.2022 till 15.11.2023 un data
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. is considering the possibility of building an electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Canada, the Nikkei newspaper reports.
Investments in the project could reach 2 trillion yen ($14 billion).
Honda is considering several sites for the construction of the plant, including a site near the company’s existing facility in Ontario. The project may include the creation of facilities for the production of electric vehicle batteries, Nikkei notes.
The automaker intends to make a decision on the site for the construction of the Canadian plant by the end of 2024. The plant is expected to start operating in early 2028.
Honda is preparing to start production of electric vehicles and batteries in the US state of Ohio in 2026, and the Canadian plant will become the second largest Japanese company in North America.
This region accounts for about 40% of all Honda sales.
The state budget deficit of Ukraine in December 2023 amounted to a record UAH 285 billion, compared to UAH 145.1 billion in November and UAH 98.4 billion in October, according to the State Treasury. It specified that the general fund deficit jumped to UAH 274.4 billion from UAH 162.5 billion in November and UAH 87.7 billion in October. The Ministry of Finance noted that the cash expenditures of the state budget in December also became a record and exceeded UAH 548.2 billion compared to UAH 337.9 billion in November and UAH 292.1 billion in October.
The general fund expenditures increased to UAH 397.7 billion from UAH 286.3 billion in November and UAH 228.1 billion in October.
According to the Ministry of Finance, in December 2023, revenues to the general fund of the state budget increased slightly to UAH 127.1 billion from UAH 121.7 billion in November, which is, however, less than UAH 139.4 billion in October, while US grant international assistance amounted to UAH 20.5 billion, while in November it was not, and in October it amounted to UAH 42 billion.
In total, in 2023, state budget revenues amounted to UAH 2.67 trillion, including UAH 1.66 trillion from the general fund, of which UAH 425.4 billion was international grant aid (the US – UAH 400.5 billion).
Last year’s cash expenditures of the state budget exceeded UAH 4 trillion, including UAH 3.03 trillion from the general fund, or 98% of the plan, compared to 93% a month earlier.
According to the Ministry of Finance, in 2023, the state budget was executed with a deficit of UAH 1.33 trillion, including a deficit of UAH 1.36 trillion in the general fund against the deficit of UAH 1.83 trillion planned in the general fund plan.
In 2022, the state budget was executed with a deficit of UAH 911.1 billion, including UAH 909.5 billion in the general fund, including UAH 99 billion and UAH 101.3 billion in December, respectively, and in pre-war 2021, the deficit of the general fund of the state budget of Ukraine was equal to UAH 166.8 billion.
State budget expenditures in 2022 amounted to UAH 2.70 trillion, including UAH 2.41 trillion for the general fund, which was 91.7% higher than in 2021. In December 2022, cash budget expenditures amounted to UAH 408.8 billion, including UAH 330.5 billion for the general fund.
The general fund of the state budget in 2022 received UAH 1.491 trillion, of which grant funding amounted to UAH 480.6 billion, while in 2021 revenues amounted to UAH 1.084 trillion. In December 2022, the general fund revenues amounted to UAH 229.2 billion, of which UAH 138.4 billion was grant aid.
As reported, on October 6, the Verkhovna Rada approved the next amendments to the state budget for 2023, mainly to increase spending on the security and defense sector. The new amount of state budget expenditures amounted to UAH 3 trillion 393.0 billion, including UAH 3 trillion 94.5 billion for the general fund, while revenues amounted to UAH 1 trillion 416.4 billion, including UAH 1 trillion 253.9 billion for the general fund. The limit for the deficit was set at UAH 2 trillion 10.35 billion, including UAH 1 trillion 834.6 billion for the general fund.
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Global stainless steel production in January-September 2023 increased by 2.5% compared to the same period in 2022 to 42.604 million tons, while production declined in all major regions except China, according to a press release from the International Stainless Steel Association (formerly the International Stainless Steel Forum, ISSF).
According to the information, in Europe, stainless steel production decreased by 8% in the first nine months of last year to 4.407 million tons in January-September 2022, and by 12.9% in the United States to 1.384 million tons.
In Asia (excluding China and South Korea), stainless steel production decreased by 12.4% to 4.937 million tons, while in China it increased by 13.4% to 26.606 million tons.
Other regions (Brazil, Russia, South Africa, South Korea and Indonesia) recorded a 13.2% decline in production to 5.270 million tons.
As reported, global stainless steel production in 2022 decreased by 5.2% to 55.255 million tons. At the same time, in Europe in 2022, production decreased by 12.4% to 6.294 million tons, and in the United States – by 14.8% to 2.017 million tons. In Asia (excluding China and South Korea), stainless steel production decreased by 4.9% to 7.411 million tons, while in China it fell by 2% to 31.975 million tons.
Other regions recorded a 9.1% decline in production to 7.557 million tons.
Since August 2023, the new Ukrainian Sea Corridor created by the Ukrainian Navy has exported almost 15 million tons of products, including 10 million tons of agricultural products, said Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for the Restoration of Ukraine, Minister of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development.
“Over the five months of the corridor’s operation, 469 new vessels have entered our Ukrainian ports for loading. Currently, 39 vessels are being loaded in the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi,” Kubrakov wrote on his Facebook page on Monday.
He noted that another 83 vessels have confirmed their readiness to enter the ports and export 2.4 million tons of cargo.
Earlier, on December 30, Kubrakov said that the volume of exports amounted to 13 million tons by 400 vessels, and a total of 430 vessels passed through the corridor for loading.
According to previously published statistics from the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, exports via the new Ukrainian corridor amounted to 6.08 million tons in September-November: 0.28 million tons in September, 2 million tons in October, and 3.8 million tons in November. The agency expected that in December it could reach 5 million tons, but, according to Kubrakov, in December it was close to 7 million tons.
It was noted that in November, the number of vessels increased to 110 from 52 in October and 5 in September, and the total for the three months was 167.
In the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI), which operated earlier, the peak ship passages were 176-180 per month in September-October 2022, and exports were 3.8-4.2 million tons per month.
