The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on February 7, 2018 approved the revised financial plan of private joint-stock company Ukrhydroenergo for 2018 with net profit of UAH 2.54 billion, the company’s press service has reported.
“Changes in the financial plan of Ukrhydroenergo for 2018 were made in connection with the approval of the tariffs for electricity supply by the National Commission for Energy, Housing and Utilities Services Regulation, an increase in electricity production for 2018, in accordance with the approved updated forecasted balance of electricity of the Ukrainian power grid, as well as with the change in the investment program of Ukrhydroenergo,” the press service said.
The company said that the financial plan takes into account the decrease in the average tariff of Ukrhydroenergo for electricity supply by 11.4%, to 70.2 kopecks per kWh.
Ukrhydroenergo operates all large hydroelectric power stations located in the Ukrainian sections of the Dnipro and Dniester rivers. The total installed capacity of the company’s hydroelectric power plants is 5,745 MW. The state fully owns the company’s shares.
Medicine, education and infrastructure of the city will be a priority of the Kyiv city budget in 2018, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has said.
“Among the priority areas for development, where large funds will be sent in Kyiv this year – medical and educational areas, renewal and construction of urban infrastructure,” the Kyiv mayor said on Facebook page on Friday evening.
In addition, Klitschko said that despite the need to repay the debts, the city’s budget is almost doubled.
“We received Kyiv with huge debts – almost UAH 27 billion! Over these years, we more than halved the debt, and we almost doubled the budget of the city. Three years ago it was UAH 27 billion, and the estimate for this year is almost UAH 50. Finally we have the financial resources to implement the changes. We need to finance medicine, education, restore neglected infrastructure,” he said.
In particular, the mayor recalled that the financing of these three priority areas increased significantly in the previous year. In the education sphere the city continues to finance construction and renovation of schools and kindergartens.
Austrian Federal President Alexander van der Bellen is to make an official visit to Ukraine in the middle of March. Business representatives will be among delegation participants, the Presidential Administration of Ukraine has reported.
“The key arrangement [during the visit of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to Austria] was an arrangement on the visit of the Austrian President to Ukraine in mid-March. This will be an official visit,” Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Kostiantyn Yeliseyev said on the Inter TV channel on Friday evening.
“It has been also arranged that in its policy Austria, as the future holder of the European Union presidency from July 1, will continue to help us gradually integrate into the European Union,” he said.
At the same time Yeliseyev said that during the visit of the Austrian President to Ukraine a large business forum will be held.
“After all, the Austrian president will come with a powerful business delegation, and of course, our two presidents will open this business forum,” he said.
In addition, the deputy head of the Presidential Administration did not rule out that this year the Federal Chancellor of Austria, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Sebastian Kurz could visit Ukraine.
Inflation in Ukraine in January 2018 was 1.5% compared to 1% in December of the previous year, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine has reported.
According to its data, in annual terms the growth of consumer prices also accelerated in January to 14.1% from 12.6% over the same period in the past year.
Underlying inflation in January 2018 compared with December 2017 amounted to 0.7%, from January last year to 9.8%.
Prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages in the consumer market in January 2018 compared with December 2017 increased by 2%. Prices for vegetables and fruits rose most of all (by 10.8% and 7.6%). Prices for eggs, milk, sour cream, bread, fish, butter, and meat rose by 3-1.1%. At the same time, prices for buckwheat fell by 2.7%, and sugar by 1%.
Prices for alcoholic drinks and tobacco products grew by 1.1%, in particular for tobacco products by 1.6%, alcoholic drinks by 0.5%.
The growth of prices (tariffs) for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels by 0.4% occurred mainly due to the increase in tariffs for the maintenance of houses and adjacent areas by 6%, prices for liquefied gas by 4.8% and housing rent rates by 0.9%.
The increase in transport fares in general by 3% was mainly due to the rise in prices for fuel and oils by 4.4%, cars by 3.4%, and transport services by 2.4%.
In the sphere of communications, prices increased by 2.8%, which is due to the rise in the price of postal services by 25% and local telephony by 8.3%.
The state plans to completely withdraw from the capital of nationalized PrivatBank in five years, Finance Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Danyliuk has said at a press conference in Dnipro.
“We plan to fully transfer the bank to the private sector in five years,” he said.
According to Danyliuk, the corresponding intentions will be fixed in the strategy of development of state banks, which is expected to be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers within one or two weeks.
Speaking about the selling price of the bank, the minister noted it will depend on a number of factors.
“[It will depend] on the way how effectively the management team will work, how successfully it implements the strategy. This is the first. Secondly, this is the quality of regulation of the banking sector. And the third one is market conditions,” Danyliuk said.
“But we have five years, and I’m sure that this will allow us getting the most attractive result for taxpayers,” he added.
Industrial prices in Ukraine in January 2018 increased by 4.4% from December 2017, whereas their growth in December 2017 was by 1.7%, in November 2017 by 1.8% and in October 2017 by 2.3%, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine said on Friday.
Growth of industrial prices in January 2018 compared to January 2017 was 22%.
The statistics service recalled that in January 2017 Ukraine’s industry saw a 0.3% decrease in prices compared to December 2016, whereas they grew by 36.8% compared to January 2016.
Prices in the mining industry and quarrying went up by 2.7% in January 2018 from December 2017, in particular, prices of crude oil grew by 4.1% and those of iron ore by 3.1%, it said.
Prices in the processing industry increased by 2.3%. In particular, chemicals and chemical products went up in price by 1.7%, while prices of vehicles, trailers and semitrailers grew by 6.8%. Prices in metallurgical production, production of finished metal goods, except for machinery and equipment, increased by 3.7%, while those of computers, electronics and optical goods rose by 3.5%. Key pharmaceutical products and pharmaceuticals, and electrical equipment went up in price by 2.8%. At the same time, prices of coke and fuel declined by 1.7%.
Prices in the production of food, beverages and tobacco climbed by 0.8%. In particular, prices of beverages grew by 1.8%, those of meat and meat products by 1%, sugar by 0.8%, bread, bakery and flour products by 1%, and dairy products by 0.5%.
Power rates, gas prices and air conditioning tariffs rose by 10.2% in January 2018.
As reported, Ukraine saw a 16.5% increase in industrial prices in 2017.
