AS Silvano Fashion Group (SFG, Tallinn), engaged in sewing and selling women’s underwear under the trademarks Milavitsa, Alisee, Lauma and Laumelle, in the first quarter of 2018 increased sales in Ukraine by 26.3% compared with the first quarter of 2017, to UAH 25.54 million. The company noted in a report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, due to the strengthening of the euro to U.S. dollar exchange rate, in euros its Ukrainian revenue increased by 9%, to EUR760,000.
According to the report, the network of franchise stores in Ukraine during the reporting period remained unchanged and totaled 50 points.
In 2017 the group’s sales in Ukraine grew by 58.8%, to UAH 75.2 million, and in euros by 52.5%, to EUR2.53 million
Revenues in Russia increased at a higher rate, by 27.9%, to EUR10.33 million, while revenues in other markets fell, in particular in Belarus by 13.7%, to EUR3.63 million.
As a result, Ukraine’s share in total revenue for the first quarter of this year increased to 4.7% from 4.1% in the past year and 2.9% in 2016.
EBITDA of the company for the reporting period increased by 91.5%, to EUR5.57 million, and net profit amounted to EUR4.06 million against EUR110,000 in the first quarter of last year.
The production facilities of the group unite Milavitsa factory in Minsk (Belarus) and Lauma Lingerie factory (Latvia).
Ukraine’s State Fiscal Service’s press office has said 185 residents of Lviv region in 2017 registered net worth exceeding UAH 1 million or more. Most of the millionaires live in the region’s capital – 113, followed by the district center of Stryi – 11 and Truskavets – 7.
The total of declared assets was UAH 900.4 million. The millionaires are obliged to pay UAH 25 million extra on personal earnings and UAH 3.3 million in military tax.
The region’s millionaire total increased by 36, compared to last year.
Some 41 millionaires made their fortune selling property, from interest and dividends – 30, salary – 28 and investments – 27.
Over 3.5 million Ukrainians have already chosen a family doctor, the Ukrainian Health Ministry’s press service has reported. A report posted on the official website of the electronic health system says that 3,643,778 people have already chosen a family doctor as of 21:00 on Friday, May 11. Patients selected a doctor from more than 20,000 specialists registered in the electronic health system.
The greatest number of declarations with doctors was signed in Kharkiv region – 404,500, in the city of Kyiv – 326,020, in Vinnytsia region – 298,754, in Dnipropetrovsk region – 282,835, and in Donetsk region – 267,681.
It will be necessary to create infrastructure for vaccine production in Ukraine from scratch, while the state support program could contribute to this, Commercial Director of PJSC Borschahivsky Chemical and Pharmaceutical Plant Yevhen Sova believes. “Today it will be necessary to create infrastructure for vaccine production in Ukraine virtually from scratch. This is quite a long process, because we are talking about the construction of new workshops, the launch of additional production lines, passage of audits and confirmation of quality according to the standards,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
At the same time, the expert noted that “Ukrainian pharmaceutical manufacturers can implement this.” “The technical equipment of domestic companies as a whole allows building new necessary infrastructure, paying special attention to the sites of quality control,” he said.
According to the expert, the state support program can become an impetus for domestic pharmaceutical producers and a signal for starting work on the organization of such production. “Such a program will contribute to the process as much as possible. It can include public-private partnership, tax-exempt status, simplified inspection procedures and other options, including subsidies,” he said.
CREATE, INFRASTRUCTURE, NECESSARY, PHARMACEUTICAL PLANT, VACCINE PRODUCTION
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) confirmed the forecast for 2018 inflation at 8.9% in April. “According to the estimates of the National Bank, the deviation of the actual inflation in April from the forecast is insignificant and can be leveled out in the following months. In addition, the monetary conditions are still tough enough to ensure a gradual decline in consumer inflation in accordance with the forecast of the National Bank (8.9% year-on-year at the end of 2018) and its return to the target range in mid-2019,” the NBU reported.
According to the State Statistics Service, in April consumer inflation continued slowing down for the third consecutive month and amounted to 13.1% year-on-year (compared to 13.2% in March). Inflation in monthly terms decreased from 1.1% in March to 0.8% in April.
“Although the National Bank expected inflation to decline year-on-year, its April figure slightly exceeded the forecast published in the Inflation Report for April 2018, mainly due to the influence of the most volatile components,” the National Bank said in a statement.
The National Bank at the end of October last year worsened the inflation forecast for 2018 from 6% to 7.3%, in January this year to 8.9%, while the Cabinet of Ministers from 7% to 9%.
The NBU, to curb price increases, from March 2 raised the refinancing rate to 17% from 16%.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide additional assistance in the amount of $125 million for Donbas and adjacent territories that felt the influence of Russian aggression.
“This additional technical assistance will be aimed at ensuring further stabilization and consolidation of Ukrainian communities in the region, increasing the resilience of the local economy and accelerating its development,” reads a report posted on USAID Ukraine’s page on Facebook.
It notes that the announcement on the provision of $125 million will be made during a joint press conference on Tuesday, May 15, by Assistant Administrator of the USAID’s Bureau for Europe and Eurasia Brock Bierman, U.S. Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. The press conference will be held in Sloviansk (Donetsk region).
As reported, Volker will arrive in Ukraine on Monday.
“I’m heading to eastern Ukraine next week to see more about the situation on the ground and to learn about the humanitarian crisis in the Donbas,” Volker wrote on Twitter.
