Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

EPICENTER K BUYS 80% IN VINNYTSIA AGRARIAN-INDUSTRIAL GROUP

KYIV. July 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Epicenter K LLC has become the holder of 80% of shares in the charter capital of Vinnytsia Agrarian-Industrial Group, according to the public register.

As of July 2, 2016, Unar Holding Ltd. (Cyprus) and Nyva and K LLC (Vinnytsia region) held 10% each in the Vinnytsia company.

Ultimate beneficiaries of Vinnytsia Agrarian-Industrial Group are Halyna Hereha, Volodymyr Bartsos and Tetiana Surzhyk.

Ukraine’s Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine reported on Saturday that it fined Epicenter K LLC UAH 170,000 for acquisition of over 50% in the charter capital of Vinnytsia Agrarian-Industrial Group without a permit.

The committee issued relevant permit to the company.

Vinnytsia Agrarian-Industrial Group cultivates around 50,000 ha of land in Vinnytsia and Khmelnytsky regions. It has four elevators with a total capacity of 250,000 tonnes.

POROSHENKO SIGNS LAW ON REDUCING EXCISE TAX ON USED CARS – TSEHOLKO

KYIV. July 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed the law on the promotion of the market of used cars, which until January 1, 2019 significantly reduced excise duty on imports of such cars by individuals or legal entities under the condition of imports of one car per year, presidential spokesman Sviatoslav Tseholko has said.

“The president signed the law of Ukraine on used cars in the presence of deputies of different factions,” Tseholko wrote on his Twitter page.

According to him, it was also agreed the law will be amended on July 7 “to avoid abuse.”

As reported, the relevant bill was passed by the parliament of Ukraine on May 31, signed by Speaker Andriy Parubiy on June 16 this year and submitted to the president for signature.

On July 4 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine proposed Poroshenko sign this law.

The document comes into force on the first day of the month following the month of its publication.

The law provides for reduction of excise tax only on passenger cars manufactured after January 1, 2010, as well as bans imports of cars from the country recognized as an aggressor/invader.

UKRAINE, U.S. SEEK TO LAUNCH SPACE MISSILE IN COMING MONTHS – UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.S.

KYIV. July 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Valeriy Chaly has said that Ukraine and the United States have plans to jointly launch a space missile.

“We plan to launch a joint space missile with the U.S. in coming months,” he said on Channel 5 TV.

He said that Ukraine is among top ten space states thanks to cooperation with the United States.

ARCELORMITTAL KRYVYI RIH OPENS NEW STEEL PRODUCTS WAREHOUSE IN DNIPRO

KYIV. July 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (Dnipropetrovsk region) has opened its new steel products warehouse in Dnipro.

The company said in a press release last week that from its new, eighth storage facility in Ukraine. The company plans to ship over 3,000 tonnes of steel products per month.

The own warehouse of the plant in Dnipro has all the range of steel products which ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih produces.

ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih has opened a new warehouse in central region of Ukraine in accordance with its strategy to develop its own distributing network that the plant started to implement in 2013. The new storage facility holds up to 10,000 tonnes of steel products and occupies the area of 7,000 square meters. It is located on the outdoor and indoor sites. The warehouse in Dnipro possesses a railroad spur and the possibility of trucking services.

“We are not stopping; this is testified by opening of new warehouse in Dnipro. In 2013 we started to develop the warehouse distribution network, as of now we possess eight warehouses, which are capable to ensure the availability of plant’s products in all large regions of Ukraine. Dnipro is the center of steel trade in Ukraine thanks to the favorable location and developed transport infrastructure, thus the presence of warehousing base is a strategic priority for ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih,” Acting CMO of ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih Anastasia Tatarulieva said.

“All the main steel market players are located in Dnipro, we should not be exclusion. Our distribution model is simple: each warehouse is oriented to each region and it excludes the delay of delivery of products to client due to logistic problems. At that, the warehouse in Dnipro will also execute the function of logistic center for separate districts of central, northern and eastern Ukraine,” she said.

UKRAINE INITIATES CREATION OF TRANSPORT CORRIDOR TO LINK BETWEEN BALTIC SEA, CASPIAN SEA

KYIV. July 4 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine has sent the draft agreement on establishment of the Baltic Sea-Black Sea-Caspian Sea international transport corridor to the Azerbaijani side.

Such was the statement of Hennadiy Zubko, Ukraine’s Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Services he made at the meeting of the Ukraine-Azerbaijan intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation in Baku, his ministry’s press service said.

“This is a big transport corridor that will synchronize several routes and become very much important in strengthening trade and economic ties. It is also planned to create a unified management organ as part of the corridor to form an overarching strategy for development of cargo transportation in the region,” he said.

Zubko also revealed that Ukraine and Azerbaijan continue to maintain cooperation on the transportation route dubbed the Silk Road since the results of the pilot run of the Ukraine-Georgia-Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan-China container train proved technical and technological opportunities that such a service brings.

PASSENGER CAR SALES GROW BY OVER 50% IN JAN-JUNE

KYIV. July 4 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Sales of new passenger cars in Ukraine in January-June grew by 52.8% year-over-year, to almost 27,000, AUTO-Consulting has reported.

In January-May growth was almost 56%.

In June the car market grew by 40% on June 2015 and by 6.6% on May 2016, to 4,700 cars.

“The Ukrainian car market continued the upward pace that AUTO-Consulting has been recording since early 2016,” AUTO-Consulting said.

Toyota remains leader in June with over 500 cars sold, and Renault was second.

Dealers of Skoda cars brought the brand to the third position (in May it was fifth) with over 400 cars sold (a rise of 41%). VW was fourth and Kia was fifth, followed by BMW with a 36% rise in sales.

Hyundai climbed from tenth in May to seventh in June. Ford was eighth and Ukrainian ZAZ was ninth. Nissan was the tenth largest brand in sales.

Premium brands dominated in the top 20 cars sold most of all.

AUTO-Consulting said that Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and Land Rover are boosting sales, while Audi did not show success. Lexus left Audi behind.

“If in the first month it seemed like not a pattern, the second month in a row is a trend,” the group’s analysts said.

Peugeot and Mitsubishi dealers are quickly recovering their positions (a rise of 129% and 175% respectively).

According to the statistics published by Ukrautoprom association on Friday, in June 4,781 passenger cars were sold (a 42% rise on June 2015 and 7.5% rise on May 2016).

The top five coincided with data from AUTO-Consulting. Toyota saw a 4% rise in sales on June 2015 and a fall of 4% on May 2016 with 522 cars sold.

Renault sales grew by 18% on June 2015 and by 7% on May 2016, to 442 cars.

Skoda with 411 cars sold saw a 3.9-fold rise in sales on June 2015 and a 42% rise on May 2016.

Volkswagen boosted sales by 2.3 times on June 2015 and decreased them by 37% on May 2016, to 324 cars, while Kia saw a 2.3-fold rise and 8% rise respectively, to 321 cars.