The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Union (EU) are extending their support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to EUR 1.15 billion, the EBRD has said in a press release.
A total of almost EUR 1.1 billion is provided in credit lines and trade finance under the EU4Business programme and EUR 58.3 million in EU grants.
The first phase of the SME program foresaw EUR 380 million financing by the EBRD and EUR 19.4 of EU grants.
“We are pleased to announce the extension of our successful programme of access to finance supporting reforms important for the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area to function. The EU4Business-EBRD Credit line has allowed SMEs in sectors such as manufacturing, retail, agriculture and food processing, transport, services and health care to improve their products, strengthen their export potential and adopt EU standards and technical norms,” Deputy Director-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations of the European Commission Katarína Mathernová said at a high-level conference in Tbilisi on Wednesday.
As reported, the EBRD in 2017 invested EUR 800 million in Ukraine, which is 37% more than a year ago.
Switzerland’s Viking Cruises, a large river cruise company in the world, after a four-year break resumes regular voyages in Ukraine in 2018 and announced 10 river cruises across the Dnipro River between Kyiv and Odesa.
According to a report on the company’s website, 11-day tours with visiting Kyiv, Kremenchuk, Dnipro, Zaporizhia, Kherson and Odesa are scheduled in the period from May 17 through September 24.
The fare starts from $3,800 per person, including a flight from the United States, and the tickets for the first cruise have been almost sold out.
Viking Cruises was funded in 1997. First four cruise vessels were bought in Russia. Now the company has over 60 vessels. The company organizes European rivers, Volga, Dnipro, Nile, Chang Jiang and Mekong river cruises.
In Ukraine, until 2014, the company cruised Viking Sineus vessel (formerly Mikhail Lomonosov) for about 200 passengers, which in the past years was in Odesa. The company announced plans to resume cruises in 2016, but later decided not to do this.
A contract on supply of five Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, which the new Ukrainian airline SkyUp (Kyiv) ordered from the Boeing concern, is a direct order of the airline, the press service of the airline told Interfax-Ukraine, answering a question about the mechanism of buying of the planes. “This is the direct order from the airline on supply of planes,” the press service said.
The press service said that information about the source of financing is commercial and confidential.
As reported, on March 20, 2018, SkyUp Airlines announced that the airline and Boeing Corporation had signed a contract for the amount of $624 million for production of five Boeing 737 MAX planes for the Ukrainian airline. Some experts told Interfax-Ukraine that it is likely that these planes will be delivered not directly, but via a leasing company, which is traditional for the aviation market. SkyUp airline was registered in Kyiv in June 2016. The founder of SkyUp was ACS-Ukraine LLC belonged to Tetiana Alba and Yuriy Alba, who also own the JoinUp! tour operator.
Kyiv Post newspaper owner Mohammed Zahoor has entered into a preliminary agreement with a Syrian businessman in Odesa to sell the publication for more than $3.5 million. The buyer is Adnan Kivan, a Syrian millionaire. The sale is expected to be completed before April 1, 2018.
Kyiv Post employees cite Zahoor saying that Kivan will sell the newspaper “for much more” than $3.5 million, but could not give the price. Zahoor said Kivan has already made a substantial prepayment installment.
The State Statistics Service reported an increase of 2.5% in Ukraine’s real gross domestic product in 2017, whereas earlier the agency estimated its growth at 2.2%.
According to the website of the service, GDP growth in 2016 was also revised upwards to 2.4% from 2.3%.
According to statistics data, the annual estimate of GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2017 was improved to 2.2% from 1.8%, quarterly to 0.5% from 0.4%, the annual estimate in the third quarter was improved to 2.4% from 2.1%, quarterly to 0.5% from 0.2%, the annual estimate in the second quarter was raised to 2.6% from 2.3%, quarterly to 0.8% from 0.6%, the annual one in the first quarter was improved to 2.8% from 2.5%, and quarterly downgraded to 0.1% from 0.3%.
Nominal GDP for the past year amounted to UAH 2.983 trillion, the deflator change stood at 22%.
