Ukraine’s real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 19.5% in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the second quarter of 2022, after falling by 10.5% in the first quarter and 31.4% in the fourth quarter of last year.
According to the State Statistics Committee’s operational estimate released on Friday, GDP grew by 0.8% in the second quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter (seasonally adjusted).
As reported, in the past year as a whole, Ukraine’s GDP fell by 29.1%, according to the State Statistics Committee.
At the end of July, the National Bank of Ukraine raised its GDP growth forecast for Ukraine in 2023 from 2% to 2.9%, but lowered it for 2024 from 4.3% to 3.5%. At the same time, it estimated growth at 18.1% in the second quarter of this year.
The Ministry of Economy forecasts Ukraine’s GDP growth to 4% in 2023 and 5% next year.
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Structure of approved state budget income of Ukraine in 2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
Changes in consolidated budget expenditures in 2021-2023 (%)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
PJSC “Zaporozhkoks”, one of Ukraine’s largest producers of coke-chemical products and a member of Metinvest Group, continues implementation of the annual program on overhaul of coke shop production facilities with the investment volume of UAH 180 million in 2023.
According to the press release, within the framework of the program of production capacities renewal Zaporizhcoke is implementing the next stage of overhaul of coke battery No. 2.
Thus, in June the re-laying of five partitions of coking chambers has been started, ceramic cladding of furnaces is being performed. The overhaul is carried out in the conditions of the existing production, which allows to maintain the planned production volumes. At coke oven complex No. 2, the extinguishing car and coke pusher are also being repaired, auxiliary sites and railroad tracks are being renovated.
At coke battery No. 5 the repair of coke expeller, installation of bag filters and air ducts was completed. Specialists of the shop together with contractors are carrying out overhaul of the coal loading machine and quenching car.
“Carrying out repair of coke batteries and auxiliary equipment of the shop is a systematic work, on which the life activity of the enterprise in wartime conditions depends. Among the set of measures ensuring constant operation of the chambers is the use of ceramic cladding of the furnaces. This technology allows to support the operation of the chambers and at the same time to perform a stronger sealing of the seams of coking chambers, to increase the thermal resistance of the entire refractory masonry”, – said the General Director of “Zaporozhkoks” Alexander Bekhter, who is quoted by the press service.
The main contractor of the repair is the plant “Zaporozhogneupor”, which with the beginning of the full-scale war expanded the line of refractories for coke batteries of “Zaporozhkoks” and mastered the process of their lining.
As reported, “Zaporozhkoks” for 8M-2023 increased production of blast furnace coke by 22% compared to the same period last year – up to 572.3 thousand tons from 466.7 thousand tons.
“Zaporozhkoks” in 2022 decreased production of blast furnace coke by 11.9% compared to 2021 – to 737.4 thousand tons, including 70.8 coke produced in December.
“Zaporozhkoks” produces about 10% of coke produced in Ukraine, owns a full technological cycle of processing of coke-chemical products. In addition, it produces coke gas and pitch coke.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated mining group of companies. Its major shareholders are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage the company.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
Mining and Metallurgical Group Metinvest has managed to balance the number of employees and production productivity, which allowed it to approach the pre-war level of salaries, the company’s CEO Yuriy Ryzhenkov said, commenting on delo.ua inclusion in the list of five best employers in Ukraine according to the magazine “TOP-100. Ratings of the biggest”.
According to him, the rate of movement of salaries at the enterprises of the group is different, but the company finds opportunities to implement effective motivational systems, so that the income of employees is growing, and the situation in the company is stabilizing.
The top manager stated that the war has crushed Metinvest’s business. The company lost control over metallurgical enterprises in temporarily occupied Mariupol. It also had to suspend operations at its coke plant in frontline Avdeevka. The Group was forced to radically restructure its production activities, create completely new logistics and find alternative ways to export its products.
Another challenge for the company since the beginning of the war has been the mass migration of personnel and tangible loss of their qualifications. A significant part of Metinvest’s employees left for other regions or countries, changed their profession or specialization, or simply cannot work under such conditions. Besides, already more than 10% of Metinvest employees (more than 8 thousand employees) serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to the CEO, all this significantly reduces not only the potential of the Ukrainian mining and metallurgical complex in general, but also of Metinvest Group in particular. He emphasized that the outflow of human capital makes it too difficult to maintain current production volumes and restore it in the future, so the company pays great attention to the reintegration of employees returning to work from war.
“The company is deploying maximum resources to support employees. We have to make sure that our people are as safe as possible now, receive decent pay and have conditions for professional development,” Ryzhenkov said.
At the same time, it is noted that the company is interested in ensuring that military and civilians, who gave their health in the fight against the aggressor, return to full life as soon as possible and with the slightest discomfort. “Exactly such opportunities for the victims are provided by the equipment for early verticalization, which is now available in Ukraine thanks to the initiative “Saving Life”, – specified Tetyana Petruk, Director for Sustainable Development and Human Resources of Metinvest Group.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of mining and metallurgical enterprises. The group’s enterprises are located mainly in Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhya and Dnepropetrovsk regions.
The main shareholders of the holding are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), jointly managing the holding.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
Romanian and Ukrainian Agriculture Ministers Florin Barbu and Minister of Agricultural Policy and Food Nikolai Solsky have agreed on a new strict mechanism that will allow four types of grain to be imported to Romania again. The new system will require Ukrainian and Romanian farmers to obtain licenses, the Romanian newspaper Europa Libera Romania reported.
“Export licenses for Ukrainian companies will start in 30 days. During this time, Romania will also create a clear import licensing procedure for Romanian farmers and processors,” the publication quoted a Romanian minister as saying.
Another agreed rule is that imports are carried out only by farmers and processors, not by intermediaries, the sources say.
“A farmer who wants to import, for example, 1,000 tons of sunflower seeds from Ukraine must prove that he does not have that amount and that his animals cannot live without it,” a source close to the talks between the ministers explained to the newspaper.
Romanian authorities will check the stocks of farmers who ask to import grain from Ukraine.
Another condition is obtaining a quality certificate. The farmer will have to take a sample of the imported goods to the National Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA), where he will receive a certificate stating that the goods are of high quality and do not contain banned pesticides.
The licensing system for grain exporters/importers will be introduced within 30 days.
Barbu said that Kyiv will coordinate Ukraine’s proposal to license exporters with each of the five European countries that have banned imports of Ukrainian wheat, corn, sunflower and rapeseed since May.
As reported, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine held talks with the relevant ministries of Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria, which are studying the Ukrainian action plan and preparing comments on it. Next week, the next stage of Ukraine’s negotiations with neighboring countries will take place.
