German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says that Germany will soon provide Ukraine with the third Patriot system, IRIS-T and Gepard missiles, rockets and ammunition.
“Ukraine’s most important need today is ammunition and weapons, especially air defense. Therefore, in the coming weeks and months, we will supply Ukraine with the third Patriot system, IRIS-T, Cheetahs, missiles and ammunition,” he said at a conference on Ukraine’s recovery on Tuesday.
According to him, since February 24, 2022, Germany has provided Ukraine with 30 billion euros in military aid, as well as billions in humanitarian aid.
“I would like to address all those present and ask you to support our initiative to increase the capacity of the Ukrainian air defense with everything you can,” Scholz urged.
AMMUNITION, GERMANY, Iris-T, missiles, Patriot, SCHOLZ, гепард
Ukraine is asking its European partners to maximize their assistance in increasing electricity imports to 2.3 GW from 1.7 GW today, First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko has said.
“We need a political and technical decision to increase electricity imports to 2.3 GW,” she said at the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC-2024) in Berlin on Tuesday.
Svyrydenko noted that the energy issue will be the main topic during the two days of the conference, as Russia has already destroyed half of Ukraine’s generating capacity, or about 9 GW, which is enough to provide electricity to 11 million German citizens.
According to her, in addition to increased imports, the three other priorities in this area are rapid restoration where physically possible, the commissioning of up to 1 GW of capacity this year and another 4 GW over the next two years, and loans.
“We desperately need equipment from your decommissioned power plants and direct financial support,” the First Deputy Prime Minister said.
She added that European, especially German, companies are global technological leaders in this field, and the first contracts will be signed at this conference, but more active participation of international financial organizations and expert credit agencies around the world is needed.
Svyrydenko emphasized that the second key task is to ensure reliable air defense.
“We see a direct dependence of economic recovery on the quality of air defense. Thanks to the protection of our ports, we were able to increase exports to 13 million tons of cargo (per month). This is almost the pre-war level,” the First Deputy Prime Minister explained.
Speaking about reforms, Svyrydenko noted that replacing the word “reforms” with the word “recovery” in the title of the conference after the start of the full-scale invasion means recognizing that the reforms combined in the reform matrix are necessary but not sufficient to accelerate economic growth.
“The analysis shows that reforms alone are not enough for economic growth, the only factor that can stimulate long-term growth is investment, it is private sector participation.
If Ukraine wants to have a chance to catch up with the EU countries in terms of GDP, we need investments or technology transfer in the amount of $10 to $13 billion a year over the next 10 years. We need investors to come to Ukraine now, and not wait until the war is over, because this is a prerequisite for rapid economic growth and future victory,” the First Deputy Prime Minister summarized.
Dynamics of export of goods in Jan-Feb 2024 by the most important items in relation to the same period of 2023, %
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has announced that the Italian Republic is ready to send a new package of military aid with enhanced air defense for Ukraine and has agreed on a new package worth 140 million euros for the development of Ukrainian infrastructure.
“I completely agree with Dmytro (Kuleba – IF-U) when he says that the primary strategy for recovery, for reconstruction is to protect Ukrainian infrastructure, Ukrainian buildings with the help of air defense. And that’s why I want to inform you that Italy is ready to send a new military package with SAMP/T for the air defense of Ukraine,” he said at the panel session ”United in Defense. United in Renewal. Stronger Together” on the sidelines of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin on Tuesday.
The minister also emphasized that Italy is ready not only to provide military assistance to Ukraine, but also to provide support in other various sectors.
“There is a second piece of news. A new package of 140 million euros for infrastructure, railways, healthcare, agri-food, humanitarian and demining activities. This is a new, latest decision of the Italian government,” Tayani said.
He also reminded about the allocation of 45 million euros for the restoration of the historic center of Odesa.
“Today we signed a memorandum with the Ukrainian government on our cooperation in these very important sectors. Also, the cultural level, I want to emphasize this point, because it is important for Italy to support the reconstruction of the cathedral (in Odesa – IF-U). It is part of UNESCO,” he said.
The Italian Foreign Minister added that “cultural heritage is very important because Ukraine is part of Europe.”
In addition, the minister emphasized that Italy is ready to invest in Ukraine.
“Count on us, count on Italy,” Tajani said.
In 2025, the beneficiary of Dragon Capital Investments Limited, Tomas Fiala, will start construction of a new plant for the production of Truskavetska mineral water in Lviv region with a capacity of 1 million bottles per day, which will allow Truskavetska to approach the capacity of the market leader Morshynska and overtake Karpatska Dzherelna, Forbes Ukraine reports.
According to the report, the investment company Fiala is already designing a new plant for the production of Truskavetska. Prior to that, it acquired two existing producers of this brand. The reason for the construction of the new plant is the inability to increase the existing capacity.
The new mineral water plant will be located on the territory of the Bobernia tract, next to the Solonytsia River, which flows into the Truskavets Reservoir. The plant will occupy an area of 20 hectares, but the final size of the site will depend on the results of the design. The production will be located near the Truskavets Ring Road.
“It’s good for logistics,” Fiala said, adding that the Aqua-Eco plant, which is already owned by Dragon Capital, is located nearby.
The company does not disclose the amount of future investments. “They amount to more than EUR35 million in the plant,” said Andriy Kulchynsky, mayor of Truskavets.
According to Serhiy Ustenko, owner of Carpathian Mineral Waters, the amount will be more modest – about EUR20 million.
For the company, such an investment is very significant, as the total revenue of Aqua-Eco LLC and Firm T.S.B. LLC in 2023 amounted to UAH 487.9 million. At the same time, only Firm T.S.B. LLC made a net profit of – UAH 6.7 million, the publication cited data from the YouControl service.
The company with foreign direct investment, Aqua-Eco LLC, is engaged in bottling mineral table water under the brands Truskavetska Aqua-Eco, Truskavetska Kryshtaleva, and Truskavetska Zapovedna. Since 1827, Truskavetska natural mineral water has been produced from the wells of the landscape reserve in the resort of Truskavets, Lviv region.
As reported, in August 2021, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) allowed Dragon Capital Investments Limited (Nicosia, Cyprus) to buy Frolovia Limited (Nicosia, Cyprus), which owns the Truskavets Mineral Water Plant (Aqua-Eco LLC) in Ukraine, which bottles mineral water under the Truskavetska brand.
According to the website of IDS Borjomi Ukraine, as of August 2021, the group of companies included the Morshyn Mineral Water Plant Oscar and Truskavets Mineral Water Plant (both in Lviv region), Myrhorod Mineral Water Plant (Poltava region), IDS Aqua Service distribution company, and the Holoprystan Plant of Nova Kom (Kherson region).
Dragon Capital Investments Limited is a part of the Dragon Capital group of companies, the ultimate beneficiary of which is businessman Tomas Fiala.
Dragon Capital is one of the largest investment groups in Ukraine in the field of investment and financial services, providing a full range of investment banking and brokerage services, private equity, asset management for institutional, corporate and private clients. The company was founded in 2000 in Kyiv. One of Dragon Capital’s key business areas is real estate investments.
CONSTRUCTION, DRAGON CAPITAL, LVIV REGION, PLANT, Truskavetska
Ukrainian Graphite PrJSC (Ukrgraphit, Zaporizhzhia) ended January-March this year with a net loss of UAH 36.466 million, while in the same period last year it made a net profit of UAH 70.723 million.
According to the company’s interim report, net income for the period decreased by 31.1% to UAH 301.441 million.
As of the end of March this year, the company’s retained earnings amounted to UAH 3 billion 837.133 million.
As reported, Ukrgraphite increased its net profit by 42.9 times in January-March 2023 compared to the same period of the previous year to UAH 70.723 million, but reduced its net income by 11% to UAH 437.326 million.
In 2023, the plant increased its net profit by 2.34 times compared to 2022, to UAH 122.941 million, and net income by 1.2%, to UAH 1 billion 564.656 million.
“Ukrgraphite is Ukraine’s leading producer of graphitized electrodes for electric steel-making, ore-thermal and other types of electric furnaces, commercial carbon masses for Soderberg electrodes, and carbon-based lining materials for metallurgical, machine-building, chemical and other industries.
According to the National Depository of Ukraine (NDU), as of the third quarter of 2023, Intergraphite Holdings Company Limited (Bermuda) owns 23.9841% of the company, and C6 Safe Group Limited (Cyprus) owns 72.0394%.
The authorized capital of the company is UAH 233.959 million, with a par value of UAH 3.35 per share.
https://interfax.com.ua/
