Public joint-stock company Ukrzaliznytsia tentatively saw UAH 20 million of profit in January and February 2018, the company’s press service has reported.
The press service said that revenue from transportation totaled UAH 12 billion, which is UAH 1.3 million or 12.2% more than a year ago.
In January and February 2018, freight flow grew by 1.6% of the target and passenger flow – by 5.2% year-over-year.
“The upward pace in the financial performance of Ukrzaliznytsia in the first months of 2018 was achieved thanks to well-coordinated work of the team, constructive relations with customers and government support of the industry,” acting Board Chairman of Ukrzaliznytsia Yevhen Kravtsov said.
According to the report, among other things, one of the strategic tasks for the industry is capital investments in the renewal of fixed assets. So, in the two months of 2018, at own expense, almost UAH 1.7 billion of capital investments were made, which is 2.5-fold more than in the same period of 2017. This includes more than UAH 94 million sent to the construction of the Beskydsky tunnel. Another UAH 304.2 million was allocated for modernization and UAH 156.7 million for capital repairs.
The National Commission for Communications and Informatization Regulation (NCCR) expects that the next stage of introduction of 4G communications in Ukraine will be for the 900 MHz band.
“The next priority is the 900 MHz band. We are working on it. As soon as all preparation works are completed, we will present a plan how to introduce 4G communications for this band to the sector and government. We see three spectra of 5 MHz each in duplex not occupied by military, but we require additional studies and approvals,” NCCR Chairman Oleksandr Zhyvotovsky told Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that operators need “low frequencies” in the 800-900 MHz bands to improve communication in remote areas and cover a wide area with stable signal.
Zhyvotovsky said that the situation with the 900 MHz band is significantly complicated by the fact that many different users are working there with different technologies. Refarming and amendments to Ukrainian legislation are required to create the conditions for launching 4G communications in this band.
He said that the commission is also working on a tender for the 2300 MHz band.
“We have applications from two operators for the 2300 MHz band – Giraffe and Datagroup [Krayevyd belonged to Datagroup]. At present, the applications have been sent to the Cabinet of Ministers,” Zhyvotovsky said.
He said that these companies own the frequencies in this band and seek to receive a chance of introducing 4G services there using the same scheme designed for telecom operators for the 1800 MHz band.
As for the last band announced by the commission where it is planned to introduce 4G – the 800 MHz band (the so-called “digital dividend”), Zhyvotovsky failed to name the approximate date.
He said that all questions on the launch of mobile communications for this band should be asked from the profile regulator responsible for release of these frequencies from analog television signal – the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting.
Private joint-stock company Jacobs Douwe Egberts Ukraine (Trostianets, Sumy region) saw UAH 289.7 million of net profit in 2017, which is 13.9% less than a year ago (UAH 336.6 million).
The company said in a report on holding a general meeting of shareholders on April 19, its assets slightly grew, reaching UAH 1.176 billion.
Undistributed profit fell by 10.1%, to UAH 416.6 million, and total bills receivable – by 29.1%, to UAH 371.9 million.
Current liabilities grew by 6.7%, to UH 743.5 million.
In summer 2015 Mondelez International Inc. and D.E. Master Blenders 1753 BV completed the merger of coffee businesses. Following the merger, Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE), one of the leading coffee companies in the world, was established with a head office in Amsterdam (the Netherlands).
Swiss International Airlines, part of Lufthansa Group, on March 26, 2018 will resume flights from Zurich to the Boryspil international airport (Kyiv).
The airport’s press service reported that partnership with Swiss International Airlines would allow Ukrainians to travel to Switzerland four times a week – on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
As reported, airlines of Lufthansa Group want to increase the number of flights to Kyiv in the 2018 summer navigation schedule.
Lufthansa airline would offer six additional flights a week from Frankfurt to Kyiv from March 25, 2018, and Swiss airline will return to Ukraine and will service four flights a week to Zurich from March 26, 2018.
Increasing the number of flights from Frankfurt from 14 to 20 a week, Lufthansa will service additional six flights a week every day, apart from Saturday using Airbus 320 planes with economy and business class seats.
Swiss International Airlines will service four flights a week using A320 planes with business and economy class seats on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
Lufthansa Group started flying to Ukraine in April 1991.
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has said that during his official visit to Qatar intensive negotiations have taken place resulting in a number of extremely important agreements.
“I am confident that it is a powerful impetus that significantly intensifies Ukraine’s cooperation with the Gulf countries, particularly Kuwait and Qatar,” the president’s press service quoted him on Tuesday.
The president says that Qatar is investing money now to ensure the diversification of food security and Ukraine plays an extremely important role here. According to him, unique opportunities are opening up for us.
“Ukrainian enterprises are represented here on the Qatar International Agricultural Exhibition 2018. We met with both business representatives of Kuwait and Qatar. We expanded extraordinary opportunities for possible investments both in Ukraine and in Qatar,” Poroshenko said.
According to him, Ukrainian constructors are waiting for the reconstruction of infrastructure in preparation for the FIFA World Cup 2022, which will be held in Qatar. In particular, hotels, stadiums, traffic junctions will be built. He expressed confidence that in the near future, several well-known Ukrainian companies would take part in the tenders.
“A number of extremely important documents have been signed. In particular, documents on investment promotion – mutual protection of investments and avoidance of double taxation,” the president said.
He also informed that an “ambitious document” on military-technical cooperation had been signed. He added that the scope of bilateral cooperation with Qatar in the defense industry would be very broad. “I am very pleased with the results of these talks,” he said, adding that in the near future there would be visits of groups that would work out specific areas of cooperation.
The president also announced the establishment of an intergovernmental joint commission on economic, trade and technical cooperation. He said that he had reached an agreement with the Emir of the State of Qatar that the first constituent meeting of that commission would be held in a few months.
Poroshenko also noted that the Memorandum of Understanding between Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and the Qatar University had been signed, providing for the exchange of students and lecturers.
Also, the parties discussed the possibility for Ukrainian military and diplomats to study Arabic language in Qatar.
France’s AgroGeneration Group with assets in Ukraine is mulling a possibility of expanding its land bank, plans to upgrade machinery in 2018, AgroGeneration Vice President Serhiy Bulavin has said.
“We are considering a possibility of increasing the land bank and are planning to update the equipment. Recovery of the equipment significantly influences the economic efficiency. With the planned updating of equipment, the agricultural company reduces the maintenance and repair costs, cuts the risks of non-fulfillment of production plans due to sudden breakdowns,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
In addition, according to the vice president, in 2017 an independent audit of the group’s technologies was conducted and a number of improvements were made.
“We bought new equipment and updated old one for $6.5 million. Thanks to these changes and the price forecast for our products harvested in the 2017-2018 season, we decided to expand the area with winter crops by about 10% of the total land bank size to some 48,000 hectares. These areas are distributed among all our farms in Kharkiv, Sumy, Zhytomyr, Ternopil and Lviv regions. Winter wheat, rapeseed and barley are sowed on these areas,” Bulavin said.
He also said that the structure of fields with spring crops has also been revised depending on the price forecast.
The main task of the company for the near future, according to Bulavin, is to have as largest economic efficiency as possible.
“For this [ to have largest economic efficiency as possible] in 2017 we invested in the training of our specialists under the Lean Six Sigma program and the introduction of this technology in the company. Now we have about 50 projects related to obtaining additional efficiency. Most of them will be completed in 2018 and the new projects will be launched,” he said.
The French group AgroGeneration was founded in 2007. It grows grains and oilseeds. In Ukraine it currently processes about 120,000 hectares.
