The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has appointed Matteo Patrone as Managing Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, according to a report on the EBRD’s website. “Matteo Patrone will be responsible for the bank’s operations and engagement in Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. The EBRD’s combined investment in the six countries stands at almost EUR 24 billion throughout all sectors of their economies to date,” the report says. “Patrone will work in Kyiv. He is taking over the position from Francis Malige, who was the first Managing Director of the EBRD’s Eastern Europe hub and has recently been appointed Managing Director, Financial Institutions, at the bank’s headquarters in London,” according to the document.
“I am honored and humbled to take on this new position at the EBRD in an exciting region. We have seen impressive progress in all countries under my predecessor and it will be my priority to create the conditions for our strong local teams to build on this and expand further. The needs are huge and our offer is attractive. Our aim will be to continue promoting the competitiveness of the local economies as they are moving closer to Europe,” Patrone said.
“Patrone, an Italian national, joined the EBRD in 2008 in London as a member of the corporate equity team after a successful career in the private sector. He was appointed Director for Serbia in 2012 and Regional Director for Romania and Bulgaria in 2015.
The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. Since the beginning of its activities in the country in 1993, the bank has undertaken total commitments to provide almost EUR 12.1 billion for about 400 projects.
CAUCASUS, DIRECTOR, EASTERN EUROPE, EBRD, ITALY, MATTEO PATRONE
Lakshmi Mittal, the chairman and CEO of the world’s largest steelmaking company ArcelorMittal, says that the economic situation in Ukraine has stabilized, which now allows Ukraine’s largest steelmaker РJSC ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih to operate successfully and continue to make investments in its economy.
“At present, the situation in Ukraine is stable. And our enterprise ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih has been operating smoothly,” Mittal told Interfax-Ukraine at the General Assembly of the World Steel Association (Worldsteel), which opened in Tokyo on Monday. At the same time, he was unable to comment when asked about his estimate of a decent wage for steelworkers in Kryvyi Rih who have been trying to have it raised up to EUR 1,000 a month and which currently is about a half of that figure.
“I have no idea about a wage for steelworkers in Kryvyi Rih. All this depends on the companies involved and the situation within them,” Mittal said. He refrained from any comments regarding his company’s capabilities and timeframes for raising wages for steelworkers employed by ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih.
As was reported earlier, employees of ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih held a press conference on March 27, 2018 to make public their demands to their management, in particular, about raising wages up to EUR 1,000 a month from April 1, securing the safety conditions at work, and preventing any ungrounded cutting of jobs there.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has said he expects the Verkhovna Rada to adopt the country’s draft state budget for 2019 at first reading during the current plenary week from October 16 to 19. “This week we are expecting budget conclusions and the first reading of the draft state budget for 2019. People’s deputies have already submitted more than 2,000 proposals,” Groysman wrote on his Facebook page.
BUDGET, DRAFT, PARLIAMENT, PM
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
The production of milk in Ukraine (excluding the temporarily occupied Crimea and Sevastopol, part of Donbas) in January-September 2018 declined by 2% compared to the same period in 2017, to 7.908 million tonnes.
At the same time, egg production in the first nine months grew by 3.1% compared to the same period in 2017, to 12.484 billion eggs, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine said.
Production of meat (in live weight) in January-September 2018 grew by 0.3%, to 2.276 million tonnes.
According to earlier statistics reports, milk production in Ukraine in 2017 decreased by 0.5% from 2016, to 10.329 million tonnes, meat (in live weight) by 0.4%, to 3.259 million tonnes. Production of eggs in 2017 rose by 3.2%, to 15.578 billion eggs.
