Myronivsky Hliboproduct (MHP) could acquire the French poultry producer Doux Group, the French edition Challenge’s has reported. According to the publication, the holding on March 9, 2018 filed documents to the industry restructuring committee of France (ComitЁ¦ InterministЁ¦riel de Restructuration Industrielle) for the restoration of Doux Group suffering economic difficulties. The committee does not make any decisions. At the same time, it contributes to the development of the best plan for the rehabilitation of enterprises, as well as search for buyers.
According to the edition, MHP estimates the amount of required investments to restore the group at EUR150 million, while requiring that at least EUR70 million be compensated at the expense of state subsidies.
In addition, the MHP plan offers the reduction of up to 550 jobs.
According to the website of Doux, the group’s enterprises employ more than 2,300 people. At the same time, it says at present the number of workers is about 1,200.
Epicenter K and Nova Linia, the networks of construction materials hypermarkets, part of Epicenter group of companies, occupy a leading position in the retail construction materials market in Kyiv and Kyiv region.
According to an annual report from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMC) for 2017, the share of the Epicenter K trading network in the market of Kyiv is 53%, that of Nova Linia some 1.6%. The French network Leroy Merlin ranks second in the capital with 9.3%.
Epicenter also dominates in Kyiv region: the share of Epicenter K is 29.3%, that of Nova Linia some 29.8%.
“Despite the significant number of players in this regional market, market power [in 2017] belonged to one economic entity Epicenter K LLC and Nova Linia LLC. The availability of market power does not violate the legislation on protection of economic competition. The committee has not revealed any signs of violations in the actions [of Epicenter],” the AMC report says.
As reported, Epicenter acquired the Nova Linia network of construction hypermarkets in October 2013.
Epicenter K LLC was established in 2003. Its first hypermarket opened in Kyiv in December 2003.
Ukraine imported 150,577 tonnes of crude oil (according to foreign economic activity code 2709 – petrol, diesel fuel, fuel oil, jet fuel, etc.) worth $80.272 million in January-February 2018, respectively 32% and 54.3% more than in the same period in 2017, the State Fiscal Service has reported.
Ukraine imported $41.757 million worth of oil in February alone.
Imports for the two months of 2018 included crude oil worth $77.587 million from Azerbaijan, $1.844 million from Iran, $295,000 from Hungary and $546,000 from other countries.
Ukraine did not export oil or crude oil in January-February.
Ukraine imported 1.04 million tonnes of petroleum products (foreign economic code 2710 – petrol, diesel fuel, fuel oil, jet fuel, etc.) in January-February 2018 worth $646.651 million. Russia supplied petroleum products worth $257.085 million (39.76% of the total), Belarus $240.383 million (37.17%), Lithuania $62.709 million (9.7%) and other countries $86.473 million (13.37%).
Imports of petroleum products were down 9.8% in natural terms and up 11% in monetary terms.
Ukraine exported 48,633 tonnes of petroleum products worth $29.489 million in January-February, of which $7.94 million to Latvia, $5.346 million to Lithuania, $3.934 million to Hungary, and $12.269 million to other countries.
Imports of coal and anthracite (foreign economic code 2701) rose to 4.015 million tonnes in January-February 2018, a 63% year-on-year increase, worth $516.656 million, 44.5% more.
Ukraine imported coal worth $340.05 million from Russia (58.85% of the total), $149.508 million from the U.S. (28.94%), $48.365 million from Canada (9.36%), and $14.733 million from other countries (2.85%).
Ukraine exported 43,338 tonnes of coal worth $7.8 million in the two months of 2018, including $4.597 million to Russia, $3.201 million to Slovakia, and $2,000 to Hungary.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in March improved its forecast for wheat exports from Ukraine in the 2017/2018 marketing year (MY, July-June) by 200,000 tonnes compared to the forecast in February, to 17.2 million tonnes.
According to a report on the website of the U.S. agency, the forecast for corn exports for the 2017/2018 MY did not change and remained at the level of 20 million tonnes.
In general, USDA predicts grain crop in Ukraine in 2018 at the level of 61.05 million tonnes, including 26.98 million tonnes of wheat and 24.12 million tonnes of maize.
According to the forecasts of the U.S. department, grain exports in the 2017/2018 MY will amount to 42.31 million tonnes.
As reported, with reference to data from the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, grain and flour exports in the 2016/2017 MY amounted to 44.44 million tonnes.
Exports of wheat amounted to 17.531 million tonnes (592,000 tonnes more from the previous MY), maize to 20.703 million tonnes (3.294 million tonnes more), barley to 5.354 million tonnes (941,000 tonnes more), rye to 11,400 tonnes (7,000 tonnes less), other grains to 304,000 tonnes (61,000 tonnes more), and flour to 402,900 tonnes (54,000 tonnes more).
China’s Xinjiang Beiken Energy Engineering has started drilling a first well for public joint-stock company Ukrgazvydobuvannia under a contract to drill 24 wells signed last autumn, the press service of the Ukrainian company has reported. The press service said that it will take 112 days to drill the well in the Yablunivske field (Poltava region) with a projected depth of 4,940 meters.
As reported, Ukrgazvydobuvannia late October 2016 announced a tender to attract external contractors for drilling operations in Kharkiv and Poltava regions. The contracts were signed with OOO Spetsmekhservis (lot No.1, May 29), Crosco (lots Nos. 8 and 10, June 7 and July 12) and Xinjiang Beiken (lots Nos. 4, 5, 7, 12, September 5). In addition, Ukrgazvydobuvannya in late December 2017 announced a tender for drilling 42 more wells (seven lots). As a result of the tenders held in early February, Xinjiang Beiken won lots Nos. 1-5, Zhongman Petroleum and Natural Gas Group – lot No. 7 and Energofinans LLC (Kyiv) – lot No. 6.
Ukraine and Saudi Arabia are working on plans to launch bulk production of Ukraine’s new light multipurpose An-132 aircraft with a capacity of 9.2 tonnes designed by Antonov State Enterprise (Kyiv) at the production facilities in Taif (Saudi Arabia).
The press service of Antonov State Enterprise said on its Facebook page that during a visit of a delegation from Antonov headed by Antonov President Oleksandr Kryvokon to Saudi Arabia Ukrainian specialists studied a project on building a technological cluster where bulk production of new An-132 aircraft would be launched.
The press service said that this project is to be a part of the scientific and technical development program of Taif city located in the western part of Saudi Arabia. King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia officially announced the start of the program in October 2017.
The program includes building of industrial and university campuses, a residential quarter with 10,000 apartments and an international airport. The technological cluster will be built in cooperation with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), which is one of the key partners in the An-132 program. The technological cluster will include: an airplane factory with an airfield, an enterprise for manufacturing solar panels and a solar power plant.
“TAQNIA Aeronautics and Antonov State Enterprise are working on a feasibility study for the construction of an aircraft plant with the participation of Western experts. The construction of the plant is scheduled to begin in 2019. It will take nine months to build the plant. The bulk assembly of An-132 aircraft should be launched in 2021,” the press service said.
The An-132 multipurpose plane with a carrying capacity of 9.2 tonnes is modification of the An-32 light transport aircraft aimed to replace the An-32 and the An-26 planes on the market.
Antonov is implementing the program under a contract signed in April 2015 with Saudi Arabia’s KACST and TAQNIA Aeronautics Co. The plane is being built with participation of leading western manufacturers: Pratt & Whitney Canada, CMC Electronics (Canada), U.S. Honeywell, France’s Liebherr and Britain’s Dowty Propellers.
The assembly of the prototype showcased at the air show was finished at Antonov’s facilities in December 2016. In March 2017, the plane successfully carried out its maiden flight.
