Milkiland, a dairy group with assets in Ukraine, Russia and Poland, in January-September 2018 saw EUR 13.42 million of net loss compared with EUR 4.55 million of net profit a year ago.
According to an unaudited report of the group posted on the website of the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE), revenue over the period fell by 6.6%, to EUR 98.8 million, and gross profit – by 24.4%, to EUR 15.92 million. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) grew 1.8-fold, to EUR 4.38 million.
Milkiland in January-September 2018 saw EUR 3.41 million of operating loss compared with EUR 3.01 million of operating profit a year ago.
The loan portfolio of the group was EUR 86.2 million as of September 30, 2018 compared with EUR 86.6 million as of late 2017, mainly thanks to repayment of the indebtedness under the restructuring agreements with Ukrainian and Polish banks. Net debt of the group declined by 1%, to EUR 85.7 million as of September 30, 2018.
The Russian market provided for EUR 59.53 million of the group’s revenue, the Ukrainian market – EUR 28.93 million and the Polish market – EUR 10.47 million.
Cheese & butter segment contributed approximately 38% to the group’s total revenue. Segment’s revenue increased by 19% to EUR 37.34 million, the whole-milk dairy segment – EUR 47.33 million (48% of total revenue) and the ingredients segment – EUR 14.26 million (14%).
“In 9M 2018 Milkiland Ukraine focused on the development of sales of high value-added products, including innovative lactose-free cheese and whole milk products, primarily in the key accounts channel. The company also paid an attention to production and export sales of Kosher dry milk products and butter under the contract with key client from Israel,” the company said.
In 9M 2018 Milkiland put additional efforts aimed at the entering to new and development of the sales at the existing export markets. In line with these efforts, Milkiland Intermarket continued a development of the distribution network of the group’s dry milk products and butter in China. Additional volumes of cheese-like products were sold to the traditional market of the group in Kazakhstan, as well as other Central-Asian countries. The company also continued a fulfillment of the Kosher goods supply contract with the key client in Israel.
Chairman of the parliamentary committee for industrial policy and entrepreneurship (Deputy Head of the Liashko Radical Party for Economic Policy) MP Viktor Halasiuk has said that a special investigation into growth of imports of ferrous metals to Ukraine by 25% should be conducted and he advocates the introduction of safeguard measures for the supplies of ferrous metals from China, Turkey, Russia and other countries.
“The Radical Party demands from the government and the Ministry of Economy to immediately conduct a special investigation into the unprecedented 25% growth this year in imports of ferrous metals and products from Ukraine. In addition, the people’s deputies insist on the introduction of preventive measures to protect Ukrainian metallurgy from predatory imports from China, Turkey , Russia and other countries,” the industrial policy committee said in a press release of with reference to Halasiuk.
According to him, the closure of the largest global markets and the intensification of the struggle for existing sales markets for metal products is a real threat to the Ukrainian industry and economy. At the same time, imports of ferrous metals in Ukraine have already grown by 25%, therefore, hundreds of thousands of jobs in the mining and metallurgy sector and related industries are under attack.
“We demand urgent measures to prevent the growth of imports of metal products from China, Turkey, the Russian Federation and other countries that are fiercely fighting for new markets for their products. It is also important to lobby for access of Ukrainian metal products to foreign markets, including through the export credit agency,” Halasiuk said, stressing that the United States, Canada, the EU, China, EurAsEC, Turkey, some African countries and others actively protect the domestic market of metal products from imports, increasing imports duties by 25% and more.
“Governments of the world’s largest economies are taking all possible and impossible measures to protect their own producers of metal and metal products,” he said.
The launch of the Antares carrier rocket, created by the American Orbital ATK Corporation with the participation of Ukrainian enterprises, has been carried out from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility in the United States, Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. Valeriy Chaly has said. The Antares rocket is a successful example of interaction between the Ukrainian and U.S. space companies in the field of peaceful space exploration, the ambassador said on his Facebook page.
“Thus, the main construction of the first degree rocket was developed by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau and manufactured at the Makarov Southern Machine-Building Plant in cooperation with the Ukrainian enterprises Khartron-Arkos, Khartron-UKOM, Rapid, etc. Ukrainian specialists took an active part in the tests of Antares, which were conducted in the United States,” Chaly said.
“It is this rocket that should deliver the Cygnus automated cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station,” he added.
The ambassador recalled that in June 2018, the American company Orbital ATK, Ukraine’s partner in this project, became a division of one of the most powerful defensive corporations in the United States — Northrop Grumman Inc.
The delegation of the National Democratic Institute (U.S.) and deputies of the European Parliament have prepared 51 recommendations to get ready for the 2019 elections in Ukraine, in particular, they recommended Facebook opening an office in Kyiv, regional director of programs of the Eurasian region at the National Democratic Institute Laura Jewett has said.
Facebook should open an office in Ukraine and, together with other digital platforms, unite to fight disinformation … If we are talking about fighting Kremlin interference to ensure stability in the country, then social networks and digital platforms should help Ukraine in these aspirations. All candidates must have equal access to the media. You also need to combat with the negative impact of misinformation. It is necessary to make efforts to combat manifestations of political corruption, including falsification, and to monitor the financing of parties, she said at a press conference in Kyiv on Saturday.
According to Jewett, it is also necessary to adhere to the equal gender representation of women and men.
Candidates’ campaigns should rest on constructive proposals, be aimed at unification, and the media should note that this is political advertising, not information, she explained.
In turn, MEP Dariusz Rosati noted the intensification of misinformation in Ukraine.
Our recommendations are aimed at encouraging the Ukrainian authorities to adopt key reforms in the electoral legislation and beyond, which will help ensure that the elections are fair and transparent, he explained.
MEP Rebecca Harms clarified that the need to introduce a proportional electoral system instead of a mixed one had been discussed at a meeting with Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Andriy Parubiy.
After the meeting with the CEC (Central Electoral Commission) we recommended the parliament include internally displaced persons and labor migrants in the electoral process, she added.
In addition, the delegation recommended that resources be provided to the CEC for updating technical tools to combat cyber attacks.
Ukraine in 2018 would enter the top ten world’s largest exporters of dairy products, First Deputy Agricultural Policy and Food Minister of Ukraine Maksym Martyniuk has said.
“Livestock breeding has begun to develop in our country. According to preliminary statistics, this year we will enter the world’s top ten exporters of dairy products. Our milking rates are growing. Animal productivity is growing, which is a good trend that needs to be supported next year,” he said at a solemn meeting devoted to the Day of Agricultural Workers in Kyiv on Thursday.
According to him, the ministry in 2019 will keep the system of state support for the agro-industrial complex and take into account the “mistakes made this year.”
“We will change the money delivery mechanisms so that as many entities working in the agrarian business as possible get these funds,” Martyniuk said.
“We are not satisfied with the way how the state support programs for the agro-industrial complex are being implemented today. We need to target this support better. I urge the associations, so that next year we can make better targeted support mechanisms to have more opportunities in the agro-industrial complex, since our the task is to do deep processing [of agricultural products] in Ukraine,” Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman said at the event.
He recalled that Ukrainian agricultural products are exported to 190 countries, and the government intends to “open new markets.”
Ukraine increased imports of coal and anthracite coal (HS code 2701) by 15.5%, or 2.343 million tonnes, in January-October 2018 year-over-year, to 17.426 million tonnes.
Coal shipments over the period under review were estimated at $2.461 billion, which was 14.4% more than in January-October 2017 ($2.151 billion), Ukraine’s State Fiscal Service said.
In particular, coal bought from the Russian Federation (62% of all imports) was estimated at $1.526 billion, from the United States (30.04%) at $739.278 million, Canada (5.16%) at $126.946 million, and other countries (2.8%) at $68.889 million.
In addition, Ukraine in January-October 2018 exported 56,223 tonnes of coal and anthracite to the tune of $8.355 million, including to Russia ($4.597 million), Slovakia ($3.201 million), Moldova ($0.454 million), and other countries ($0.103 million).
As reported, Ukraine plans in 2018 to increase import of steam coal by 11.3% compared to 2017, to 5.669 million tonnes.
In particular, it plans to buy 4.882 million tonnes of coal from Russia (a rise of 29.6% from 2017), 664,000 tonnes from the United States (a rise of 47.7%), and 123,000 tonnes from South Africa (a fall of 83.8%).
In 2011, Ukraine’s coal and anthracite imports totaled $2.761 billion and exports $775.109 million, in 2012: $2.637 billion and $609.392 million, respectively. These indicators in 2013 were $1.974 billion and $737.009 million, respectively, in 2014: $1.773 billion and $521.017 million, in 2015: $1.632 billion and $53.651 million, in 2016: $1.467 billion and $44.762 million, and in 2017: $2.744 billion and $105.494 million, respectively.
