The indicator of economic sentiment in Ukraine, calculated by the State Statistics Service, in the third quarter of 2018 was 109.6% compared with 104% and 108.8% respectively in the second and first quarters of this year. According to the service, three out of the five indicators of business confidence improved: in retail trade (from 5.3% in the second quarter to 10.7%), in services (from minus 5% to 0.3%), and in construction (from minus 21.5% to minus 18.7%).
At the same time, consumer confidence (from minus 27.1% to minus 29.1%) and business confidence in processing industry (from minus 3.9% to minus 4.8%) worsened.
The agency said that in the third quarter of 2017, the indicator of economic sentiment was 103.9%, but in the fourth quarter it dropped to 100.4%.
The indicator is calculated according to the methodology for calculating business expectations indicators in accordance with the requirements of the expanded International Monetary Fund Special Data Dissemination Standard, updated by the State Statistics Service in December 2017.
The indicators of business confidence, depending on the sector, are estimated on the basis of surveys on the current level of orders and finished goods stocks, changes in sales volumes for the last three months, forecast of changes in production/sales and the number of employees in the next three months. The State Statistics Service calculates the indicator of consumer confidence using the data of such a study of GfK Ukraine.
The European Union has decided to issue EUR 15.5 million of budget assistance to Ukraine for the reform of the public administration sector, the press service of the EU Delegation to Ukraine has reported. Based on the results achieved by Ukraine in reforming the public administration sector in 2017, the EU decided to increase assistance to Ukraine in this important area of public policy. Some EUR 15.5 million of the total amount of EUR 90 million that constitute the EU’s commitments to supporting this reform are to be transferred to the national budget of Ukraine for 2018, the agency said. The EU noted this is the second payment after the first tranche of EUR 10 million, which was provided in May 2017.
In addition, the diplomatic mission noted that in 2016 the EU approved a special program of assistance to reform the public administration sector in the amount of EUR 104 million, which provides EUR 90 million for budgetary support and EUR14 million for technical assistance, which is used to provide advisory services to state bodies involved in implementation of the reform.
The decision to send EUR 15.5 million from the EU funds to the national budget of Ukraine for 2018 is our recognition of the tangible progress that Ukraine made in the implementation of the public administration reform, Thomas Frellesen, Chargé d’Affaires of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, stated.
Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers Oleksandr Sayenko, in turn, clarified that in accordance with the agreement on financing the program “Support to Comprehensive Reform of Public Administration in Ukraine,” the first part of the tranche is fixed and amounts to EUR 5 million, while the second part depends on the success of the reform implementation, as measured by certain program indicators.
“Thanks to their implementation, the second part of the tranche is EUR 10.5 million. The funds for budget support are transferred to the national budget,” he said. According to the minister, Ukraine has fulfilled 75% of the indicators set for 2017. “Due to the implementation of these and other indicators Ukraine received another tranche,” Sayenko added.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry together with Korean companies KERSO and KOTRA plan to implement pilot projects for the use of Smart Grid technology for 0.4-110 kV electricity grids, the ministry’s press service has reported. As of now, energy ministry employees are searching for sites to implement the pilot projects. In particular, some facilities of JSC Khmelnytskoblenergo power supply company are being considered. The Smart Grid technology is designed to improve the efficiency of managing the electric grids, reduce process losses, and improve the quality of electricity supply.
The accredited key certification center under the State Fiscal Service has issued 554,800 digital signatures (strengthened public key certificates) since the beginning of 2018, while since the beginning of the center’s work 6.7 million digital signatures have been issued, according to the website of the department. The center has serviced 197,900 customers since the beginning of this year, of which 140,600 are individuals, the service specified. At the same time, 57,300 legal entities received 263,200 digital signatures, the report says.
As reported, electronic keys issued by the center allow reporting online both to the bodies of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine and the Pension Fund.
Golden Tile ceramic group in the first half of 2018 increased tile exports by 21%, to 2.8 million square meters, Oleh Lysokon, the deputy chairman of the Golden Tile board, has told Interfax-Ukraine. According to him, the group also increased domestic sales to 4.2 million square meters, which is 10% more than in the first half of 2017. According to the group’s report on its website, in the second half of this year Golden Tile plans to export 2 million square meters of tiles. The geography of its exports covers 26 countries. The key areas of foreign trade are Great Britain, Germany, Romania, Hungary, and Poland.
“The key to foreign markets is DIY networks. We sold 556,000 square meters of our products in foreign trade networks in the first half of 2018. The growth compared to 2017 was 54%. Ukrainian tiles took their place on the shelves of the largest European trade networks: Leroy Merlin, Praktiker, Mercury Market, Hornbach, OBI, and Arabesque,” chairman of the group board Dmytro Salimonov said.
According to him, the group plans to open a representative office in Israel and Lithuania, as well as to sign a contract with the British DIY networks ToppsTiles and Homebase.
Golden Tile ceramic group is a vertically integrated group of companies providing a full cycle of production and distribution of ceramic tiles.
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
