Ukraine will supply the entire crop of the 2023-2024 marketing year and the remnants of last year’s harvest to world markets by mid-to-late May, Deputy Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure Yuriy Vaskov said at the Forbes Ukraine Exporters Summit in Kyiv on Friday.
“It is my opinion that somewhere between mid-May and the end of May, at most, the entire harvest of the current year and the remnants of the previous year will be exported,” he said, adding that prices of terminals for the export of Ukrainian agricultural products in Ukrainian ports will not decrease.
Mr. Vaskov also reminded that the state has several mechanisms to guarantee export transportation through the Black Sea. The first of them is compensation from the state budget in case of a possible attack on civilian vessels.
The second mechanism is the Unity program from Marsh McLennan and the Ukrainian government with the involvement of English clubs, to which Ukraine has also contributed, so that ships transporting agricultural products receive insurance with a premium of 1% or less.
The Deputy Minister also said that a meeting was held in London a few weeks ago. Ukraine has already received confirmation that ships carrying other cargoes, such as iron ore, metal products, and others, will be insured on similar terms.
“Ukraine has also raised the issue of container shipping insurance and received London’s consent to provide attractive conditions for shipowners,” Vaskov summarized.
As reported, thanks to the UNITY insurance instrument, insurance rates in the commercial market of transportation by Ukrainian sea have been halved, while the rate for agricultural products insurance is now 0.75%.
The UNITY insurance instrument is available to all international brokers who can be contacted by ship owners and Ukrainian exporters.
The UNITY program, which aims to provide affordable insurance against military risks for the supply of grain and other important food products around the world, was launched in November 2023. UNITY offers hull hull insurance and separate protection and indemnity (P&I) against war risks at significantly reduced premiums compared to standard market prices.
The volume of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the economy of mainland China in January-February 2024 decreased by 19.9% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 215.1 billion yuan ($30 billion), according to the Ministry of Commerce.
In particular, the inflow of foreign investment in the high-tech sector increased by 10.1% to 28.27 billion yuan.
At the same time, France’s foreign direct investment in China in January-February increased by 6.9 times in annual terms, Spain’s – by 5 times, Germany’s – by 2.4 times.
Over two months, 7.16 thousand new enterprises with foreign capital were registered in the country, which is 34.9% more than in January-February 2023, Xinhua reports.
“The 34.9% growth is the highest in the last five years. This indicates that multinationals are still optimistic about the development opportunities of the Chinese market,” a ministry spokesperson told the agency. – “Despite the decline in the volume of actually utilized FDI in the first two months, this is the third highest figure in the last ten years.
“At present, the favorable factors for attracting foreign investment in China outweigh the unfavorable ones, and the investment prospects are still bright,” the ministry representative added.
As reported, the volume of FDI in 2023 decreased by 8% and amounted to 1.13 trillion yuan.
The Chornomorsk-Poti ferry crossing may start operating in the spring of 2024, Yuriy Vaskov, Deputy Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure, said at the Forbes Ukraine Exporters Summit in Kyiv on Friday.
According to him, Ukraine already has several potential shipowners, as well as potential carriers for the Black Sea-Georgia-Bulgaria-Turkey rail and road connection.
“We are working in all directions. I think that a little later than container transportation (the Chornomorsk-Poti ferry will start operating), but I think it can happen in the spring,” the Deputy Minister said.
The shareholders of Kokhava Paper Mill JSC (KBF, Lviv region) will receive UAH 6.852 million in dividends for 2023 out of the net profit of UAH 137.043 million at the rate of UAH 2.41 per share of UAH 0.25.
The relevant information is contained in the agenda of the general meeting of shareholders of the company scheduled for April 25, published in the disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC).
According to the draft decision of the meeting, the remaining UAH 130.19 million of net profit is planned to be left undistributed.
The authorized capital of the company is UAH 711.83 million, divided into 2 million 847 thousand 328 shares.
According to the NSSMC for the third quarter of 2023, almost 12% of the company’s authorized capital belongs to the Chairman of the Supervisory Board Mykhailo Tytykalo, his daughter and SB member Larysa Tytykalo – 8.49%, his granddaughter Maria Goryanska – 10%, Tamara Tytykalo – 15.5%, Supervisory Board members Oleksandr Telyatkov, Ihor Kostyrko and Roman Pirig – over 11.12%, 11.92% and 7.88%, respectively, and Oksana Serembytska – 7.88%.
The meeting plans to elect for a new three-year term the Supervisory Board chaired by Mykhailo Tytykalo and consisting of Larysa Tytykalo, Ihor Kostyrko, Oleksandr Telyatkov and Roman Pirig.
The Kokhavynka Paper Mill, which has been operating since 1939, produces base paper for sanitary and hygiene products, as well as waste toilet paper and paper towels under the Kokhavynka brand. In 2023, after the commissioning of a new paper machine, the company started producing cellulose sanitary products under the Kokhavynka Paper Mill and Mildi brands.
As reported, in 2023, the mill increased its production by 18% compared to 2022, to UAH 1 billion 151.2 million. Net profit increased 2.7 times.
President of the European Council Charles Michel believes that the negotiation framework for Ukraine will be approved during Belgium’s EU presidency, which ends on June 30.
He said this on Thursday in Brussels at a press conference after the European Council meeting.
Informing that during the meeting the leaders discussed the issue of support for Ukraine in the field of enlargement, Michel said: “The negotiation framework is on the table and we have invited the Council to work quickly in order to make progress, and I sincerely hope that during the Belgian presidency it will be possible to hold the first intergovernmental conference with Ukraine.”
The number of passengers who used buses to travel abroad in 2023 decreased to 7.5 million passengers, compared to 8.5 million in 2022.
Such data Deputy Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Sergiy Derkach made public, opening the forum of the reform of international bus transportation.
According to him, in 2020 only 1.1 million passengers traveled abroad by buses.
“This is a large passenger traffic today for Ukraine. For example, Ukrzaliznytsia carried 2 million passengers last year,” Derkach said.
He emphasized that bus service today, given the lack of air service, has become one of the main for trips from Ukraine abroad.
The average duration of travel by bus in international traffic is 31 hours of which about 7 hours passengers spend waiting at the border.
“This is exactly what the state should change and what you and I should change. That is why today we will present our reform: electronic tools that will primarily help the passenger and carriers,” Derkach said.
According to him, the register of international transportation will soon be available for passengers, in which each passenger will be able to find his route, check the carrier and going to his site to buy a ticket. A carrier’s office is being created for carriers, where they will be able to quickly open new routes without paperwork and bureaucratic procedures.
Deputy Minister expressed hope that the reform of intercity bus transportation will help to increase budget revenues. According to his data, about 25% of carriers operate in the market without paying taxes, and the budget receives up to UAH 500 million annually.
