KYIV. Jan 31 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Siemens business in Ukraine started growing from H2 2016 and in Q4 2016 it exceeded 10% year-over-year and compared to Q1 2016, Siemens Ukraine CEO and a member of the board of the European Business Association (EBA) Maciej Tomasz Zielinski has said.
“We are flourishing. There were more projects and incomes in the third and fourth quarters. What 2017 will be? Frankly speaking, I do not know. The forecast is that it would be better than 2016. Most of sectors where we are operating or even all have rallied,” he said at the EBA conference in Kyiv.
He said that industrial growth in 2017 would considerably exceed the figure of 2016 being 2.4%.
He said that the mining and metal sector and agro-industrial sector have grown most of all. He said that first in the past years capital expenses (CAPEX) projects started appearing in the mining and metal sector along with operating expenses (OPEX) projects. Earlier started projects are being unfrozen, including projects of large holdings.
Zielinski added that the serious growth is seen in automation in the energy and infrastructure sectors. He said that recently Siemens created a hub in Kyiv that is servicing software and startup projects in energy distribution, in particular, implementing the projects for Egypt and Saudi Arabia. He said that the company is expanding the team of engineers of the hub and had to increase salaries for skilled workers by more than 10%. He expects that salaries this year would grow by 13-15%.
Zielinski said that the situation in Ukrainian engineering sector that suffered a lot due to its attachment to the Russian market is improving.
KYIV. Jan 31 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Ukrainian trade mission will go to Israel on March 6 through March 8, 2017, Ukrainian Agricultural Policy and Food Minister Taras Kutoviy has said.
“It is planned to hold B2B meetings, visits industrial facilities, meet retailers and take part in networking events. Israeli partners show special interest towards Ukrainian sugar, flour and products made of it, vegetable oil, dairy products, vegetables, fruit, beverages and sweets,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
According to the report, Deputy Agricultural Policy and Food Minister for European Integration Olha Trofymtseva and Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister, Trade Representative of Ukraine Natalia Mykolska will head the mission.
As reported, on January 24 through January 26, the fourth round of free trade area (FTA) talks between Ukraine and Israel were held.
The Economic Development and Trade Ministry reported the sides made some progress in approving the text of the agreement and in the tariff negotiations.
KYIV. Jan 30 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian IT team dcua in 2016 won first place in the CTFtime ranking among specialists able to determine the degree of system protection against attacks and build it, the press service of Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute has said.
According to the rating, posted on the website of CTFtime, Ukrainian IT specialists from the institute drew ahead of more than 12,000 teams from around the world.
Ukrainian team dcua, created in 2012, is led by research fellow from the institute Mykola Ilyin. Currently the team consists of 43 players.
Dcua has been in the top ten in the CTFtime rating for the past four years. In 2013 the team ranked fifth place, in 2014 and 2015 sixth.
The CTFtime rating is drawn up as a result of participation of teams during the year in international competitions in the field of information security. In 2016 it was based on the results of 70 competitions.
Capture the Flag (CTF) in the field of cyber security is a team competition for protection of information aimed at finding vulnerabilities in the system, determining the extent of its vulnerability and finding the ways to eliminate weaknesses.
KYIV. Jan 30 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The area of certified farmland under organic production in Ukraine could increase by 10% in 2017, to 450,000 hectares, according to the Organic Ukraine union of organic goods producers.
“The medium-term plan of the government’s priority actions, which is now at the stage of public discussion, envisages the increase in the area of organic farming land to 450,000 hectares by the end of 2017, i.e. by 10%,” reads a press release of the organization.
According to the Organic Federation of Ukraine, currently 410,550 ha of land in the country are occupied for organic farming. Compared with 2010, this figure increased by 35%.
The EU has 11 million hectares of certified land for organic farming, more than 270,000 farms are engaged in organic production.
Deputy Minister of Agricultural Policy and Food Olha Trofimtseva during the first international congress Organic Ukraine in Kyiv said in the last 5 years the number of operators in the Ukrainian organic market grew by 90%.
“The organic industry is one of the most dynamic. With 400,000 hectares of land under organic treatment, we could increase this figure by several times,” Minister of Agricultural Policy and Food Taras Kutoviy said.
KYIV. Jan 30 (Interfax-Ukraine) – PJSC Ukrnafta plans in 2017 to invest UAH 2.6 billion in stabilization of production, the press service of the company has said.
“In order to ensure the long-term stabilization of production and create conditions for its growth, Ukrnafta has to invest about UAH 2.6 billion per year. According to the calculations of the company, the effect of lower oil royalties will be about UAH 1.3 billion. The budget for 2017 includes an investment program in the amount of UAH 2.6 billion,” a statement reads.
Ukrnafta in 2016 reduced oil and gas condensate output by 9.2%, to 1.518 million tonnes, gas production by 13.4%, to 1.301 billion cubic meters. Production of liquefied natural gas decreased by 12.9%, to 134,000 tonnes.
Naftogaz Ukrainy owns a 50% plus one share stake in Ukrnafta, Privat Group holds about 42% of the shares.
