Average retail prices for petrol and diesel fuel in Ukraine in the period from September 24 to October 2, 2018 grew by 2.3-3%, while prices of LPG climbed by 1.1%, according to data from the A-95 Consulting Group (Kyiv). As reported, average retail prices for petrol in Ukraine for 2017 increased by 19.2-20.1% (by UAH 4.61-4.76 per liter), for diesel fuel by 22.6% (by UAH 4.84 per liter). At the same time, average prices for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), despite a sharp increase in August due to deficit, showed an increase of only 2.9% for the year (by UAH 0.36 per liter).
Changes in average retail fuel prices UAH per liter in Ukraine:
The total volume of the cigarette market in Ukraine in January-June 2018 narrowed by 11-12% year-over-year, JTI Ukraine General Manager Paul Holloway has said. “The Ukrainian market has decreased by 11-12% compared to 2017. If in 2016, price wars were observed in Ukraine, then in 2017 the industry left them, and now the situation in this sense is more or less stable. But there is a question of purchasing power of a Ukrainian consumer,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
Holloway said that now the Ukrainian consumer spends on average 21% of his daily income on cigarettes. “For comparison: this is more than in the U.K., where the consumer spends on them 15% of his income,” the general manager said.
According to JTI Ukraine estimates, the share of the premium segment in Ukraine is 13%, and more than 70% of the Ukrainian cigarette market is the low-price segment, which reflects the purchasing power of consumers.
“At the same time, Winston is the fastest-growing brand on the market. It does not belong to the low-price segment. Despite the fact that the low-price segment dominates on the market, there is still room for growth in the high-price segment. We do not expect the ratio of the low-price segment to other segments to change over the next two to three years,” Holloway said. According to him, now the company is actively discussing plans to bring brands to the Ukrainian market in the segment of electronic cigarettes and tobacco heating systems.
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
SkyUp airline has received a Third Country Operator (TCO) License, allowing to fly to 28 countries of the European Union (EU), as well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein.
“We are pleased to announce that SkyUp has passed the TCO procedure, having received permission to fly to European countries! Now the sky of Europe is open for us,” the airline said on its official Facebook page.
The TCO license is a single document for compliance with safety standards that allows flights to EU countries. It is issued centrally by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
The airline announced its readiness to announce new routes to Europe.
As reported, SkyUp airline plans to expand its own fleet by two new medium-haul Boeing 737-700s by the end of 2018, as well as to get one wide-body Airbus A330 into wet leasing.
SkyUp Airline LLC was registered in Kyiv in June 2016. The founder of SkyUp was ACS-Ukraine LLC belonged to Tatiana Alba and Yuriy Alba, who also own JoinUp! tour operator.
The company began charter flights from the end of May 2018.
The Kness Group, a large Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC) contractor on the Ukrainian alternative energy market, this year started building own solar power plants and soon intends to launch the capacity of 33 MW, Kness Director General Serhiy Shakalov has said. “To a large extent, we started building our own capacities only this year. Now we are commissioning 33 MW. These are our capacities,” he told Interfax-Ukraine. Shakalov said that the group mainly acts as an EPC contractor in projects, building solar power plants for clients according to different financial models.
He said that Kness has already implemented projects with a total capacity of more than 200 MW. “And now about 200 MW are being built, and the plans are great,” the general director said.
Speaking at the Ukrainian Financial Forum organized by the ICU investment group recently, he pointed out the high interest of investors in solar power plants for the period before the introduction of auctions.
“Why interest? Because the business is clear, simple and fairly well insured: almost a state guarantee in the form of state purchases of electricity. Plus a very low OPEX,” Shakalov said.
According to him, Kness (at that time, Podilsky Energoconsulting) first started building alternative energy facilities, and at the beginning of 2016 it almost completely focused on solar energy and “did not miscalculate.”
Shakalov said that even with the introduction of auctions expected after 2020, the construction of a solar power plant still remains interesting, since there is more money, technology and construction companies on the market than it was before. Among the problems he highlighted a lack of quality facilities and qualified personnel, which does not allow scaling projects.
“We are not afraid of the auction system. We are actively preparing for them (auctions). We are looking positively in 2020,” the general director of Kness said. In his opinion, the introduction of the auction system will create another competitive field in which other financial models will compete, although there is no clear understanding yet. Shakalov also said that it will have to compete more with large international companies, and also more actively develop new regions, since the density of implemented projects in Kherson and Odesa regions is already high.
