Dynamics of changes in discount rate of NBU – from 2013 to may 2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
Ukraine in the 2022-2023 marketing year (MY) harvested 70 million tons of grain and managed to export two-thirds of the harvest planned for export even taking into account the record high transitional residues, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solskiy said on air of the marathon “United News”.
“Last year we harvested only about 70 million tons. All that we planned to take out, we took out. This is about two-thirds. We have transitional residues by the beginning of July – several million tons. If we compare it with the transitional residues last year, it is several times less – it was 22 million tons then. This is due to the fact that we were not traveling for a couple of months and had a huge harvest in 2021,” he explained.
Solsky recalled that in May in the Ministry of Agrarian Policy predicted that this year’s grain harvest will be 10% lower than last year. However, now the expectations have changed and the Ministry expects that the grain harvest will be less by about 6% due to favorable weather conditions.
“Agrarians have decided to sow corn not in the same volume (as before – IF-U), but to sow more sunflower and soybeans. It can be the same income in money, but the logistics costs are less and it is necessary to deal with it less, because conditionally the yield of corn per hectare is two to three times higher than that of soybeans and sunflowers,” the minister explained.
Solsky noted that farmers are not accustomed to difficulties and expressed confidence that Ukrainian farmers will cope with the challenges that constantly arise before them.
The minister called the main problem of Ukrainian farmers not difficulties with the realization of the produced products, but with the price for them.
“In the coming months, the work of everyone related to the state authorities will be related to the fact that they (agrarians – IF-U) will be able to sell expensively. This has to do with reducing logistics costs, with expanding opportunities, where it can go, to which countries to sell,” he summarized.
The number of U.S. company bankruptcies in January-July 2023 reached 402, the highest number for the period since 2010, excluding the “covid” 2020, according to a report from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
“High interest rates and a troubled operating environment continue to drive the collapse of U.S. companies,” the analysts wrote.
The number of bankruptcies in the seven-month period is nearly double the rate for the same period in 2022. In January-July 2020, the figure was 407 as the coronavirus pandemic caused many firms to close.
In July alone, 64 companies filed for bankruptcy in the U.S., the highest since March’s 70. The largest of them was the aircraft leasing company Voyager Aviation Holdings LLC, which owes more than $1 billion. In June, there were four companies with debts of more than $1 billion that filed for bankruptcy.
PJSC “Cherkassyoblenergo” in the first half of 2023 in preparation for the fall-winter period repaired more than 430 overhead power lines 0,4-20 kW and 35-154 kV, as well as 96 transformer substations, the press service reported.
As noted in its release on Thursday, in addition, 64 6-20 kV transformers have been repaired and put in proper condition, 187 damaged cable lines with voltage above 1,000 V have been restored, and about 1,800 km of overhead lines have been cleared.
“Currently, all planned tasks are performed in a timely manner and in full, so tentatively the work will be completed before the start of the heating season,” commented Oleg Samchuk, Chairman of the Board of PJSC PJSC, whose words are quoted in the release.
The press service added that the accumulation of emergency stocks of materials and equipment continues.
Net profit of state-owned PrivatBank (Kyiv) for January-June 2023 amounted to UAH 29.75 billion, which is 4.7 times higher than in the same period of 2022, according to the unconsolidated semi-annual report of the bank.
According to it, in particular, in the second quarter of this year net profit reached UAH 13.7 billion, which is 5.3 times higher than the net profit for the second quarter of last year.
It is indicated that the net interest income of PrivatBank for the first half of the year increased by 81.4% to UAH 27.86 billion, including in the second quarter the growth amounted to 74.2% to UAH 14.09 billion.
Meanwhile, net fee and commission income in January-June this year increased by 41.3% to UAH 11.64 billion, including in the second quarter – by 43.65% to UAH 5.94 billion.
A significant contribution to the improvement of the bank’s financial result was made by a decrease in the loss from utility reduction in the first half of this year to UAH 769 million, while for the same period last year this indicator amounted to UAH 7.54 billion. According to the report, in the second quarter of this year, this item even generated UAH 51 million in profit against a loss of UAH 5.67 billion in the second quarter of last year.
PrivatBank also reports that its total profit for the first half of this year reached UAH 35.89 billion, which is 7.4 times higher than the figure for January-June last year, including a total profit of UAH 19.325 billion in the second quarter-2023 against UAH 4.85 billion in the same period of 2022.
According to the report, the bank’s assets grew by 5% in the first half of 2023, reaching UAH 568.84 billion by June 30.
This growth is explained by an increase in cash and funds with the NBU from UAH 96.4 billion to UAH 148.23 billion and loans and advances to customers from UAH 68.08 billion to UAH 76.53 billion, while investments in securities increased marginally from UAH 239.75 billion to UAH 240.64 billion, and debts of other banks decreased by 24.6% to UAH 78.3 billion.
PrivatBank’s customer funds increased from UAH 471.97 billion to UAH 488.06 billion in the first six months of 2023, while capital increased from UAH 57.79 billion to UAH 69.52 billion.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine as of June 1, 2023, PrivatBank is the leader in terms of total assets (UAH 742.433 billion) among 65 operating banks in the country.
According to the NBU, Privat closed 79 branches in the second quarter, reducing its network to 1,131 units across Ukraine, although its report said it had eight branches and 1,199 operating outlets at mid-year, just one less than at the beginning of the year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is confident that “Transcarpathia will be one of the drivers of economic and social growth”.
He wrote this in his Telegram channel following a coordination meeting on the security and social situation in Transcarpathia held in Uzhgorod on Wednesday.
“Strategic for the region border issues. Relocation of business and the creation of new jobs in different communities of the region is an important area of work. Facilities for the rehabilitation of our warriors are the right projects. A lot of initiatives to develop the economy of Transcarpathia – those opportunities that have not been used for decades,” – emphasized the head of state.
“Transcarpathia will be one of the drivers of economic and social growth. Thank you to everyone in Transcarpathia, who works for the good of Ukraine and helps to bring our victory closer,” – wrote Zelensky.
