PrivatBank (Kyiv) in 2018 saw UAH 11.7 billion of net profit, Board Chairman Petr Krumphanzl has said.
“2018 was not easy, but we were successful. I think that this figure [profit] is a contribution for the state, because it helps the development of the country, it helps the stability of the financial system, and it helps us to implement the strategy [of the bank’s development] approved by the Ministry of Finance. This is the best result since the economic crisis and the outbreak of war, and I am pleased that today I can name this figure – UAH 11.7 billion,” he said at a briefing in Dnipro on Tuesday.
Ukraine in 2018 exported $229 million worth of fruits and berries, which is 17% more than a year earlier.
According to the Ukrsadprom association, the main products in this group were walnuts, which were delivered for $117 million, frozen fruits and berries for $78 million, apples and pears worth $15 million. Their total share in exports of horticultural products was 92%.
According to Ukrsadprom, in 2018 exports of walnuts rose by 32%, to 41,000 tonnes, frozen fruits by 14%, to 48,000 tonnes, apples and pears by 79%, to 43,000 tonnes.
Apples of Ukrainian production were exported to 60 countries, the leaders are Belarus (40%), Moldova (14%), and Sweden (9%).
The average price of domestic apples in foreign markets exceeded $350 per tonne, peeled walnuts $3,670 per tonne, and frozen berries $1,640 per tonne.
Traditionally, the main markets for Ukrainian exporters remained the EU countries, which buy about two-thirds of Ukrainian fruits and berries. The largest number of Ukrainian products was exported to Poland (for $39.8 million), Turkey ($20.4 million), France ($15.7 million), Belarus ($13.8 million), Greece ($12.9 million), the Netherlands ($11.2 million), and Italy ($10.2 million).
It is planned to launch automobile traffic through the Podilsko-Voskresensky bridge in Kyiv in a year or two, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has reported.
“Now you can see the rusty constructions – these are pylons. In summer we will remove them and you’ll see what a beautiful bridge is that,” the mayor said.
He noted that the bridge will be two-level. The upper level is for motor vehicles, while the metro line will be below.
According to Klitschko, for all the years about UAH 5 million of budget funds were spent on the bridge construction. Another UAH 7 million is needed to complete it.
The construction of a hotel at Boryspil International Airport will begin this spring, and a total of four hotels can be built at the airport, director general of the airport Pavlo Riabikin has said in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
“We have issued technical conditions for connecting to networks for two objects that are positioned as hotels. Private investors are building them. Two more companies are interested. Therefore, we consider four potential hotels. Construction work at one of them will start this spring,” he said.
According to the airport’s director, if construction companies successfully implement their plans, about 200 rooms could appear at the airport, which will allow to cover the basic demand.
Riabikin also noted that he had not heard “any well-known names from the point of view of hotel business operators,” but he connects this with the fact that the operators themselves do not build housing but manage.
Retail trade turnover in Ukraine in 2018 in comparable prices increased by 6.1% compared with 2017, the State Statistics Service has reported. According to the State Statistics Service, retail trade turnover in December increased by 19.1% compared to November 2018 and by 4.9% compared to December 2017.
The largest growth in retail trade turnover at enterprises (legal entities and individual entrepreneurs) in 2018 compared to 2017 was recorded in Luhansk (by 26.8%), Donetsk (by 14.2%), Zakarpattia (by 12.7%), Poltava (by 12.3%), Vinnytsia (by 11.1%), Ivano-Frankivsk (by 10.7%), and Ternopil regions (by 10.1%).
Ukraine is negotiating visa facilitation or the introduction of a visa-free regime with 22 countries, said Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin.
“As of today, we are conducting negotiations and consultations on further simplifying the visa regime, or on visa free travel with 22 countries. In the near future, in just a few months, negotiations will begin with several more countries,” Klimkin said at a press conference.
The minister noted that today citizens of Ukraine can visit 86 countries of the world without visas, of which 34 need a biometric passport.
Of the remaining 112 states, there is a simplified entry [e-visa or visa upon arrival] in 54 countries, and one need to obtain a visa at diplomatic or consular offices in another 58 countries, the Ukrainian foreign minister noted.
