The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine for the period of martial law has exempted from VAT operations on the supply of components for vehicles (including special and specialized), as well as fuel and lubricants for security and defense forces, said the Cabinet’s representative in the Verkhovna Rada Taras Melnychuk following a government meeting on Thursday.
The government’s decision is enshrined through amendments to the government resolution from March 2, 2022 N178 “Some issues of imposition of value added tax at a zero rate during martial law”.
“It is established that until the termination or abolition of martial law, operations on the supply of goods (spare parts, batteries, car tires, coolants, components, additional equipment, etc.) for vehicles (including special, specialized vehicles), as well as fuel and lubricants … are subject to value added tax at a zero rate,” Melnychuk wrote in Telegram.
“Poninkivska Cardboard and Paper Mill-Ukraine (PCPF-Ukraine, Khmelnytsky region), a major Ukrainian corrugated cardboard producer, increased its corrugated packaging output by 20.5% in January-June 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, to 46.9 million square meters.
According to Ukrpapir Association statistics provided to Interfax-Ukraine, the company continues to be one of the top three producers of corrugated packaging after Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill and Trypillia Packaging Plant.
In the first half of the year, the company also increased its production of containerboard by 3.8% to 37.5 thousand tons, and produced more paper by 73.4% to 0.53 thousand tons.
In monetary terms, in January-June, PCPF-Ukraine produced products worth UAH 1 billion 289 million (+14.9%).
As reported with reference to the data collected by the association from the main enterprises of the industry, the production of paper and cardboard in Ukraine in the first half of 2-24 increased by 5.7% compared to the same period in 2023 – up to 290 thousand tons, cardboard boxes – by 19.4%, to 283.3 million square meters.
Poninkivska Paper Mill (formerly Poninkiv Cardboard and Paper Mill), once the largest producer of school notebooks, now has one main production line – paper and cardboard, producing mainly corrugated cardboard and corrugated packaging, as well as wrapping and waste paper.
The plant is part of the United Cardboard Company-Ukraine (UCC, Lutsk) owned by businessman Mykola Lobov, whose production assets include, among others, Lutsk KPF-Ukraine (Volyn region), which produced 31.7 thousand tons of various cardboard (11.5% more) and 23.4 million square meters of corrugated boxes in six months (according to UkrPapir).
As reported, in 2023, PCPF-Ukraine produced products worth almost UAH 2 billion 450 million, up 3% year-on-year. Net profit increased 2.7 times to UAH 27 million.
A vessel with 1,000 tons of wheat flour for Palestine arrived from Turkey to Jordan as part of the presidential program Grain from Ukraine, the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, said on his Telegram channel.
“President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Grain from Ukraine initiative in cooperation with the WFP sent the first of three shipments to Palestine, which will provide food aid to more than 100,000 families caught in the middle of the conflict between Israel and Hamas,” he wrote, noting that this shipment was the first to be delivered to Palestine under this initiative.
Yermak emphasized that Ukraine continued to provide vital assistance to innocent civilians suffering from food shortages and at risk of starvation.
“Ukraine has always been and will continue to be a donor of food security for the whole world. Over the course of the program’s existence, Ukraine has supplied essential foodstuffs to many countries, including Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Yemen. Food security is one of the important points of the Formula for Peace, and I call on all countries to join our collective efforts to achieve it,” he wrote.
According to Yermak, other ships are also scheduled to depart in the coming months. “In total, Ukraine plans to deliver more than 7,000 tons of wheat flour to Gaza under the initiative with the support of donors, including Norway, Austria, Estonia, France and Iceland,” the head of the Presidential Office said.
In January-June this year, DTEK Energy machine builders manufactured and repaired 757 units of mining equipment, including 8 new tunnelling and shearers.
“Machine builders also provided miners with 542,000 spare parts and components,” the energy holding said in a press release on Thursday.
According to the company, such volumes of the required equipment make it possible to continue laying a stronger foundation for the thermal generation to go through the next heating season.
“There are only a few months left before the autumn-winter period. We are strengthening the energy front, which suffers from constant enemy attacks, from all sides. Power engineers are working 24/7 to restore the destroyed and damaged capacities of thermal power plants. Miners are working to meet the fuel needs of thermal power plants. And machine builders are working to ensure that the latter have everything they need,” said DTEK Energy CEO Ildar Saleev, as quoted in the press release.
As reported, in 2023, the company’s investments in Ukrainian coal mining amounted to about UAH 7 billion, which is almost twice as much as in 2022.
“DTEK Energy provides a closed cycle of electricity generation from coal. As of January 2022, the company’s installed capacity in thermal generation amounted to 13.3 GW. The company has established a full production cycle in coal mining: coal mining and enrichment, mechanical engineering, and maintenance of mine equipment.
Currently, most of DTEK Group’s thermal generation facilities have been destroyed as a result of Russian attacks.
Metinvest Group’s Zaporizhstal Iron and Steel Works has modernized the transfer trolleys between the departments of its Cold Rolling Shop (CRS), allocating UAH 2 million for this purpose.
According to the company, the upgrade took four months to complete, and the transportation of rolled products from one department of the Cold Rolling Shop to another has become safer and more efficient.
It is specified that the trolleys were replaced with more modern electrical equipment, additional warning beacons, as well as optical and radiation sensors were installed.
“Zaporizhstal is one of the largest industrial enterprises in Ukraine, whose products are in great demand among consumers both in the domestic market and in many countries around the world.
“Zaporizhstal is in the process of integration into Metinvest Group, whose major shareholders are System Capital Management (71.24%) and Smart Holding Group (23.76%).
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
Prices for benchmark crude oil continue to rise on the back of data showing a decline in US fuel stocks for the third week in a row.
Such a long period of decline was last seen in September last year.
The drop in oil reserves exceeded market expectations.
In addition, recent statements by representatives of the Federal Reserve System have increased expectations that the US central bank will cut its base rate in September. This will boost economic growth and, accordingly, lead to an increase in demand for energy resources, Trading Economics writes.
Quotations of September futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange by 8:05 a.m. rose by $0.37 (0.4%) to $85.45. On Wednesday, these contracts rose by $1.35 (1.6%) to $85.08 per barrel.
Prices for August futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) on Thursday morning increased by $0.57 (0.7%) to $83.42 per barrel.
At the end of the previous session, these contracts rose by $2.09 (2.6%) and ended trading at $82.85 per barrel.
Commercial oil inventories in the United States last week decreased by 4.87 million barrels, the country’s Energy Ministry reported.
Gasoline reserves increased by 3.33 million barrels, distillate reserves – by 3.45 million barrels.
Experts had expected an increase in oil reserves by 0.8 million barrels, as well as a decrease in gasoline reserves by 1.7 million barrels and distillate reserves by 0.5 million barrels, according to Trading Economics.
Analysts surveyed by S&P Global Commodity Insights had forecast an increase in oil reserves by 0.54 million barrels and a decrease in gasoline and distillate reserves by 0.7 million barrels and 0.59 million barrels, respectively.
