KYIV. Oct 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine’s State Property Fund (SPF) on Wednesday announced open auctions to sell property of Kostiantynivska and Myheiska hydroelectric powers plants (HPPs) located on the Southern Bug River.
The starting price of the plants is UAH 13.761 million and UAH 10.863 million respectively.
According to an announcement in the Vidomosti Pryvatyzatsii newspaper, the auction to sell Kostiantynivska HPP (Mykolaiv region) will be held on November 22 and that for Myheiska HPP (Mykolaiv region) – on November 24. Bids can be submitted until November 14 and November 16 respectively.
The fund said that Kostiantynivska HPP decreased electricity transmission by 21.6% in 2014, to 4.46 million kilowatt-hours (kWh), and in 2015 – by 15.7%, to 3.76 million kWh, while Myheiska HPP is idle now.
Among the conditions of the auctions is to retain the activity profile for five years – generation of power; a ban to fully block the creekbed and to take into account the conclusions and recommendations of environment audit in further operation of the plants.
KYIV. Oct 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Farmak seeks to supply contrast mediums for magnetic resonance and computer imaging to the Southeast Asian market.
“Why these products? The industry is moving to high-quality diagnostics, which can be applied for effective treatment,” Farmak Business Development Director Oleh Siarkevych has told Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that the company presented its contrast mediums on the Malaysian market as part of a Ukrainian delegation during the official visit of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko early August.
“We presented our most promising and modern products for magnetic resonance and computer imaging in Southeast Asia. We have registered them in all EU countries. The number of radiological clinics is growing in Southeast Asian quickly, as all over the world, and these products would be of great demand,” he said.
Siarkevych said that demand on contrast mediums in Ukraine is growing more slowly compared to other countries.
“For example, we have 80-85% fewer magnetic resonance and computer imaging equipment than all other European countries, even our closest neighbor – Poland,” he said.
As reported, as part of the official visit of Poroshenko to Malaysia the Ukrainian-Malaysian Business Forum was held early August. Ukrainian pharmaceutical manufacturers took part.
By 2020, the company plans to boost sales to $1 billion and reduce the share of its sales in Ukraine from 80% to 60% of total sales. The company plans to ensure 10% of its sales on well regulated eastern European and CIS markets.
KYIV. Oct 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) starts a new $20.6 million program aimed at supporting the Ukrainian agricultural sector and promoting the realization of the country’s potential in agriculture.
According to a press release of Ukraine’s Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry, Minister Taras Kutoviy gave the information after a meeting with USAID representatives.
“I have good news. I met new USAID Regional Mission Director to Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova Susan Fritz. Mrs. Fritz said that a new four-year USAID project to support agricultural and rural development earlier discussed by us with USAID representatives is launched,” the minister said.
The Agriculture and Rural Development Support (ARDS) will be implemented in the period from September 2016 until July 2020.
Kutoviy said that the goals and tasks of the program meet the common comprehensive strategy for developing agriculture and rural territories until 2020 and the comprehensive strategic plan of the ministry “three plus five.”
The ARDS Program will help to form better conditions for small and medium-sized farmers thanks to enhancing the institutional potential of the Ukrainian ministry in implementation of agricultural reforms, creation of transparent legal basis in land relations and the introduction of reforms to help to modernize irrigation systems.
The project would promote growth of exporting competitiveness of small and medium-sized vegetable, fruit, milk and meat producers via helping small and medium players to introduce international quality and food safety standards, export food to foreign markets and use opportunities under the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement.
The program is intended to support development of rural territories via expansion of opportunities for citizens to find jobs and get income, provision of help to concrete territorial communities in designing effect local economy development strategies and stimulating economic growth.
KYIV. Oct 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The presidential administration of Ukraine and the National Commission for Communications Regulation (NCCR) are mulling a pilot launch of the fifth generation mobile communications system (5G) in the country in the near future, head of the presidential administration for administrative, social and economic reforms Dmytro Shymkiv has said.
“We together with Oleksandr Zhivotovsky [the NCCR head] are discussing how to begin experimenting with 5G in Ukraine today. We have clear understanding how to do this,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
Shymkiv has not disclosed other details of the project, adding that all interested market participants will be able to take part in it.
“Our position is very clear – an open market,” he said.
KYIV. Oct 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Mariupol maritime merchant port intends to invest about UAH 800 million in a new grain transfer complex.
According to the port’s press service, with reference to port director Oleksandr Oliynyk, the design capacity of the new grain terminal will be 2 million tonnes per year.
“When completed in 2019, the terminal will be able to accept freight simultaneously from two types of transport: at least 240 trucks and 100 wagons a day,” he said.
He noted the main reason for the emergence of such a project is fighting in the east.
“The war cut the port off from traditional goods – coal and ore. Therefore, to save turnover and profit the port management must involve alternative sources of load,” he said.
Oliynyk said in the next 20 years grain exports will double to 70 million tonnes per year.
“Moreover, the growth of exports in the Azov region is observed now: 1.2 million tonnes passed through the port 2012, while in 2013 the figure was 1.4 million tonnes, in 2014 some 2 million tonnes of grain. Due to growth of exports the actual transshipment of these goods grows in the ports of the Azov region,” the expert said.
KYIV. Oct 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) – National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom seeks to raise $250 million from Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) for building a centralized spent nuclear fuel storage facility before October 2017, Energoatom President Yuriy Nedashkovsky has told reporters.
“The work has been started. At the end of the summer I signed the contract with Bank of America Merrill Lynch… We are waiting for receiving the funds, finishing this work within one year as planned,” he said.
He said that Energoatom Vice President for Economy and Finances Aidyn Aisin is staying in the United States where he is organizing the preparations for a technical, economic and environment audit.
Nedashkovsky said that Energoatom finances the works to build the spent nuclear fuel storage facility using funds foreseen in the electricity transmission tariff set by the National Commission for Energy, Housing and Utilities Services Regulation (NCER). Works carried out by Holtec and Atomprojectengineering are financed.
He said that at present the examination of the project and the preliminary facility safety report are being finished.
He said in early October 2016 Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers changed the intended end-use of land parcels located in the Chornobyl zone to build the facility.
“Here [land and construction works] there is a delay that we estimate will last some nine or ten months. We will actively work on cutting the gap and supply first containers to the facility site in 2018,” he said.
