KYIV. Dec 11 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine’s State Property Fund (SPF) has approved a list of almost 100 enterprises of groups B, G and E eligible for privatization in 2018, the press service of the fund has reported, referring to SPF Head Vitaliy Trubarov.
The list includes over 99% of Mykolaiv, Dniprovska and Kherson combined heat and power plants (all private joint-stock companies) and public joint-stock company Kryvy Rih combined heat and power plant, 70% in PJSC Khmelnytskoblenergo and Mykolaivoblenergo, 65% in Kharkivoblenergo, 60% in PJSC Zaporizhoblenergo, 50% in OJSC ternopiloblenergo, 78% in PJSC Centrenergo and 75% in PJSC Turboatom (Kharkiv).
In addition, the fund approved the privatization of enterprises in the chemical sector – PJSC Odesa Port-Side Plant (99.5%), Sumykhimprom (99.9%), Zaporizhia Titanium and Magnesium Combine (51%) and Zaporizhia Aluminum Combine (ZAlK).
The fund will repeat the offer to privatize 40% of Svit Lasoschiv LLC (Cherkasy).
Trubarov said that the SPF has started preparing for the privatization of Odesa Port-Side Plant and energy companies. Their privatization is scheduled for spring 2018.
He said that the fund expects to implement the budget privatization plan in 2018 by UAH 22.5 billion.
KYIV. Dec 11 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has said that UAH 50 million will be allocated in 2018 to finance the Innovation Support Fund and added that the financial management system in science is not perfect.
“We are creating the Innovation Support Fund in the budget, which will now amount to UAH 50 million, because we want to support all innovative solutions that Ukrainians currently produce,” he said at the National Reform Press Club “Decentralization: Results and Achievements for 2017, Tasks for the Next Year” in Kyiv on Monday.
At the same time, Groysman noted that only UAH 8.2 billion is to be spent on science, but the financial management system in science remains imperfect and needs to be improved, and the government plans to work on this in 2018.
KYIV. Dec 8 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Yuzhny seaport (Odesa region), the largest seaport of Ukraine in terms of transshipment, increased cargo handling by 6.8% in January-November 2017 compared to January-November 2016, to 38.713 million tonnes.
According to live data from the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, for the 11 months the port increased transshipment of exported cargo by 4.6%, to 28.37 million tonnes, imported freight by 32.4%, to 5.8 million tonnes, transit goods by 30%, to 4.48 million tonnes, while transshipment of cabotage freight was significantly reduced from 1.2 million tonnes to 37,400 tonnes.
According to the type of cargo, the port for the mentioned period reduced the handling of liquid cargo by 6.7%, to 3.33 million tonnes, but increased dry bulk cargo handling by 6.2%, to 33.6 million tonnes, and goods in containers by 76.6%, to 1.73 million tonnes.
As reported, the port in January-October 2017 increased the handling of cargo by 5.9% compared to January-October 2016, to 34.944 million tonnes. For the ten months, the port increased the transshipment of exported cargo by 5%, to 25.85 million tonnes, imported cargo by 31%, to 5.03 million tonnes, transit goods by 19.2%, to 4.02 million tonnes, and transshipment of cabotage freight significantly reduced.
KYIV. Dec 8 (Interfax-Ukraine) – PJSC Ukrposhta (Kyiv) is interested in strategic partnership with a small bank without a problem loan portfolio, acting director general of Ukrposhta Ihor Smiliansky has said.
“According to our criteria, this should be a small bank, without a problematic loan portfolio. We are not interested in a large network of branches – we already have it,” he told journalists during a meeting in Kyiv, adding that negotiations with the banks are already underway.
According to Smiliansky, Ukrposhta is interested in the launch of providing banking services, while considering options for obtaining the necessary license, as well as buying an existing bank or signing a strategic partnership agreement with such a bank.
According to him, five or seven banks correspond to the Ukrposhta criteria in the Ukrainian market.
As reported, the NBU opposes the provision by Ukrposhta of banking services without an appropriate license.
KYIV. Dec 8 (Interfax-Ukraine) – AGCO, a global leader in production and supply of agricultural machinery and equipment, will start selling tractors on the Ukrainian market in 2018 under the Valtra trademark.
“We have plans to launch one of the main brands of Valtra Corporation in Ukraine in 2018. The Valtra plant in Finland already produces tractors for European countries, including for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Georgia,” Marketing Director of AGCO Eastern Europe Anton Kostyrko said at the Agrarian Olympus Congress in Kyiv.
After the introduction of the new trademark to the Ukrainian market, AGCO plans to optimize and balance its distribution system.
“Distributors who sell Fendt equipment will also sell Valtra. We will comply with the European distribution system, because when focusing on a particular brand, it focuses on the supply of spare parts, the appropriate service tools and the correct distribution of human resources for servicing,” Kostyrko said.
According to him, in 2017 the market of imported tractors in Ukraine grew by 17% compared to 2016.
“In 2018, amid a decline in the yield of sunflower and corn in some regions of Ukraine we do not predict a large increase in sales of agricultural machinery,” the representative of AGCO said.
He said that now AGCO does not consider the possibility of localizing production of machinery in Ukraine, despite the program of 20% state compensation for purchased Ukrainian agricultural machinery.
AGCO sells a wide range of tractors, combines, feed processing equipment, self-propelled sprayers and tillage machines, attachments and original spare parts.
The AGCO machinery is sold under the Challenger, Fendt, Massey Ferguson and Valtra trademarks.
AGCO is headquartered in Duluth (the United States).
KYIV. Dec 8 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Kyschentsi LLC (Cherkasy region) would increase cattle numbers from 1,200 to 3,500 heads in two or three years, the director and founder of the company, Kees Huizinga has said at the Agrarian Olympus congress in Kyiv.
“Now we are building new premises of the dairy farm. We are finishing construction of a milking space and plan to launch it before New Year. We plan to boost cattle numbers from 1,200 to 3,500 heads in two or three years,” he said.
Now the company breeds Holstein cows and supplies milk to Ternopil dairy plant.
The company does not plan to expand its land bank.
“The bank we have – 16,000 ha – is a lot. People in Ukraine have lost their links with reality: 100,000-200,000 per company is too much. The main thing is to have added value of production, not a pile of land,” Huizinga said.
Along with dairy farms, the company plans to expand production of vegetable. This year Kyschentsi LLC sowed onions, carrots and cabbage on 400 ha.
“Next year the company could increase the fields to 500 ha, depending on water in ponds [vegetables are grown using drop irrigation]. We sell vegetables to supermarkets during the year. We have storage facilities. For example, the onion storage facilities can store 10,000 tonnes,” the director of the company said.
