Generation distribution in power system of Ukraine in 2022
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
The price of gasoline in August this year may reach the mark of 60.86 UAH/liter, diesel fuel – 55.61 UAH/liter, gas – 26.63 UAH/liter, according to the data of consulting group A-95, posted by its director Sergei Kuyun in his Facebook on Friday.
He commented that the strongest impetus for the movement of prices at gas stations is created by the “delayed integration of increased taxes and the growth of world quotations”.
“If you put everything in a pile, the prospect of reaching 60 UAH/liter of gasoline and 55 UAH/liter of DT is absolutely real. Yes, I think up to 3 UAH/l will be amortized at the expense of retail markup, but this is such a sedative,” Kuyun wrote.
According to his calculations, the rise in the price of gasoline in July by less than 4 UAH / l, diesel fuel – a little more than 4 UAH / l and autogas by 1.5 UAH / l, despite the forecasts, providing at least a doubling of prices, due to the sale by market players of fuel stocks formed in May and June – before the abolition of preferential taxes.
“The key contribution to July stability was made by well-prepared OKKO, WOG and Ukrnafta, thanks to which prices have not yet crossed the 50 UAH/liter mark,” the expert noted.
At the same time, he pointed out that July fuel is increasingly replacing preliminary volumes with low production costs, and this process will be completed by mid-August.
He called its appreciation on the world market another factor in the projected increase in the price of motor fuel.
“Gasoline and diesel fuel added $130-140/t, which is an average of 5 UAH/liter (of course, with the new 20% VAT). Gas soared by $70/t (1.7 UAH/liter). We are in the season of maximum consumption worldwide, so hope for a significant cooling of prices, in my opinion, is not worth it,” – said the director of A-95.
In addition, he drew attention to the shelling of Ukrainian ports by the Russians, as a result of which tanker owners, according to him, have lost the desire to carry fuel to Romanian ports and Moldovan Giurgiulesti.
“Those who agree have raised freight rates by almost 50% (and some, they say, by 100%) and demand insurance for the lives of the entire crew, including families. One can understand: it’s like that rocket to fly across the Danube… There have also been cases of direct threats to civilian ships by Russian warships. The problems in the south will also keep the prices up,” the expert described the situation.
In his opinion, in order to overcome these problems, which he called not new for the Ukrainian market, it is necessary to increase contracts on land, in the northern and western directions.
In addition, he spoke in favor of consolidation of traders who together could conclude long-term contracts for large tanker shipments, in particular with American companies.
“This would guarantee a resource and a good price on a large volume. In addition, this product would guarantee to replace various toxic resources of diesel fuel from Turkey, India, Saudi Arabia, which frankly smell of “narrow” perfume,” – summarized Kuyun.
As reported, in mid-March 2022, the Rada adopted a law on additional tax incentives to support business during the war, aimed, among other things, to keep fuel prices down. According to it, temporarily, for the period of martial law, zero excise tax and VAT of 7% instead of 20% were set on fuel.
On September 21, 2022, the Rada passed Bill No. 7668-d on the return of excise taxes on motor fuel, setting them at EUR100 for gasoline and diesel (hereinafter – per 1,000 liters), EUR52 for liquefied gas, butane and isobutane, and EUR100 for alternative motor fuel and biodiesel. VAT for all types of fuel remained at 7%.
However, according to this document, from July 1, 2023 the level of fuel taxes returned to the pre-war level: VAT – to 20%, excise duty on gasoline – to EUR213, on diesel – to EUR140 per 1,000 liters.
Ukrainian enterprises in January-July this year increased exports of ferrous scrap metal 3.5 times compared to the same period last year – up to 101.615 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS) on Monday, in monetary terms, scrap metal exports for the period amounted to $29.807 million (an increase of 2.4 times).
At the same time, the growth of scrap metal exports was recorded since March: if in January about 8.28 thousand tons of scrap metal was exported, in February – 16.5 thousand tons, in March – 15.45 thousand tons, in April – about 16.19 thousand tons, in May – 21.003 thousand tons, in June – 14.6 thousand tons, but in July it decreased to 9.567 thousand tons.
Scrap metal exports in January-July-2023 were to Poland (87.70%), Greece (5.80%) and Bulgaria (3.65%).
In the first two months of the year the country did not import scrap metal, in March-July imported 573 tons of scrap for $222 thousand (45.05% from Slovakia, 21.62% from Poland, 12.61% from Estonia).
Earlier, the president of Ukrmetallurgprom, Oleksandr Kalenkov, stated in his column on the Interfax-Ukraine website that scrap metal is exported through the European Union, where there is a preferential export duty of EUR3 per ton, and from there the raw material is redirected to real customers. To export the raw materials to the clients at once would cost EUR180 export duties – and the Ukrainian budget has already lost UAH 350 mln on this.
According to him, the State Bureau of Investigation is already interested in such export schemes.
The head of Ukrmetallurgprom called for a temporary ban on the export of ferrous scrap to provide metal companies with strategically important raw materials amid the ongoing war.
“If scrap metal remains in the country – more than 500 thousand people will have jobs, and the country will have millions of foreign exchange earnings from steel exports. At the same time, the military will also benefit, because metallurgists help the fighters a lot, buying equipment and cars for them, and even producing body armor. No one will benefit from the export of scrap metal. Therefore, the authorities should act proactively and temporarily ban exports until the situation stabilizes and ceases to threaten national economic security,” said Kalenkov.
He specified that a ton of scrap metal processed into steel gives 10 times more to the budget than the export duty to the EU – about $300 per ton.
As reported, Ukraine in 2022 reduced exports of ferrous scrap in 11.5 times compared to the previous year – to 53.557 thousand tons, in money terms decreased by 12.4 times – to $19.271 million. At the same time, last year the country reduced imports of scrap metal in physical terms in 12.6 times – to 1.824 thousand. Imports of scrap metal in 2022 were mainly from Turkey (78.92% of supplies in monetary terms), Russia (13.25%) and Cyprus (5.08%); exports – to Turkey (38.97%), Poland (34.25%) and Greece (10.12%).
Specialists of the production and elevator areas of Prometey Group of Companies received new Renault cars.
Three Renault Express will be used by mechanics and agronomists who service the company’s production facilities, and the keys to two Renault Duster got regional directors of the elevator business.
These service cars will increase the efficiency of Prometey middle managers, making the fulfillment their duties more productive and operative.
The cars were purchased at the expense of the leasing limit from OTP-LEASING, the total amount of which is $3 mln.
KSG Agro Holding has completed the harvesting campaign of winter crops – barley, rape and wheat on a total area of about 6.34 thousand hectares, including barley from 1.1 thousand hectares, rape from 2.138 thousand hectares, wheat from 3.1 thousand hectares, according to the group’s press release on Wednesday.
It is specified that barley yield amounted to 3 tons/ha, rapeseed – 2.5 tons/ha, which corresponds to last year’s indicators. The yield of winter wheat is twice as high as last year and showed 5 tons per hectare.
Efficient work of the holding farms’ collectives and weather conditions with sufficient rainfall allowed to obtain a good harvest result. Despite the pessimistic moods about winter crops in autumn and winter, associated with the rise in prices of fertilizers and NWR, we reached the break-even point and even remained in the pluses”, – the press service of the agricultural holding quoted the head of the plant division Dmitry Emelchenko.
In the harvesting campaign 13 combines were used – 2 of them John Deere, and the others – Claas Lexion. In addition, 4 hopper-loaders and about 50 trucks were used to transport the harvest.
KSG Agro, a vertically integrated holding company, is involved in pig farming as well as the production, storage, processing and marketing of cereals and oilseeds. Its land bank is about 21 thousand hectares in Dnepropetrovsk and Kherson regions.
According to the agroholding, it is among the top 5 pork producers in Ukraine.
Last year KSG Agro, due to the full-scale war started by Russia, ended 2022 with a net loss of $1.68 mln compared to $17.71 mln net profit in 2021, its EBITDA decreased 5.5 times to $1.79 mln, and its revenue decreased by 47.3% to $16.2 mln.
Agriholdnig earned $1.53 million in net income in January-March 2023, down 17% from the same period last year. Its EBITDA rose 23% to $1.87 million, with revenue up 45% year-on-year to $5.12 million, gross profit up 46% to $2.06 million and operating profit up 37% to $1.54 million.
Ukrainian agrarians in 2023 grew 1.45 million tons of vegetable crops, harvested from 88.4 thousand hectares (23.2% of the total sown areas) with an average yield of 163.9 c/ha, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine reported.
According to the report, in general, Ukraine has grown: 105.4 thousand tons of cabbage, 310.3 thousand tons of cucumbers, 175 thousand tons of tomatoes, 428 thousand tons of onions, 51.7 thousand tons of carrots, 35.3 thousand tons of table beets and 344.3 thousand tons of other vegetables.
According to the Ministry, as of August 9, Ukraine harvested more than half of cucumbers – 51.4%. Agrarians in Vinnytsia and Ivano-Frankivsk have fully completed their harvesting.
A similar situation with onion harvest, which was collected on 51.4% of the area. It has been finished in Ivano-Frankivsk and Kharkiv regions and almost finished in Kherson region.
Potatoes were harvested 711.5 thousand tons with an average yield of 13.9 tons per hectare. The highest yield of potatoes in farms in Khmelnytskyi region – 29 tons per hectare, stated the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.
