Generation distribution in power system of Ukraine in 2022
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
The Lithuanian government may help Ukraine export up to 1 million tons of grain by rail after Poland temporarily banned grain imports from Ukraine, said Lithuanian Economy and Innovation Minister Ausrini Armonaitė.
“The port of Klaipeda and Lithuanian Railways can play an important role in creating momentum to help Poland resolve the situation and guarantee grain exports outside the EU. Lithuania could help safely transport up to 1 million tons of grain from Ukraine by rail. This would be a real solution for Ukraine and a benefit for Poland,” Verslo zinios quoted the minister as saying.
In turn, the president of the Association of Lithuanian Sea Cargo Companies Vaidotas Shileyko noted that the port of Klaipeda is able to process more than 1 million tons of grain a year, but because of the difficult logistics, it is impossible to import more.
“Lithuanian railroads started transporting small volumes of Ukrainian grain through Poland to the port of Klaipeda last May. The main problem here is different railway gauges: Ukraine and Lithuania still use Russian gauges, while Poland uses European ones, which means that rolling stock has to be changed at the border,” he explained.
European stock indexes declined on Thursday for the second day in a row as investors assessed statistical data and company reports.
The Stoxx Europe 600 composite index of the region’s biggest companies was down 0.37% at 1:02 p.m., trading at 466.41 points.
The French CAC 40 was down 0.4% during the session, the British FTSE 100 – 0.2%, the German DAX – 0.7%, the Italian FTSE MIB – 0.9% and the Spanish IBEX 35 – 0.5%.
The index of business confidence in the French economy in April fell to 101 points from 104 points the previous month, said the national statistics office Insee. This is the lowest level in the last five months. The result was worse than analysts’ average forecast of 103 points.
Renault SA share price collapsed by more than 7%. The French carmaker boosted revenue in the first quarter by 30% year-over-year, while exceeding forecasts. However, the company said it continues to face logistical difficulties.
German carmakers are also down, including Porsche down 3.4%, Volkswagen down 2.8%, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG down 2.7% and Mercedes-Benz down 2.6%.
Stellantis shares dropped 5% on news of the unexpected resignation of its chief financial officer Richard Palmer, who will be replaced by Natalie Knight, according to Trading Economics.
In addition, securities of Pirelli & Co. and Ferrari are becoming cheaper – by 1.7% and 2.2%, respectively.
Britain’s Deliveroo Plc, a food delivery service operator, increased its revenue by 7% in the first quarter and confirmed its outlook for the current year. Nevertheless, the stock is down 0.6% as the number of orders and monthly number of active customers fell.
Finnish telecommunications equipment maker Nokia Corp. boosted revenue 9.6% in the first quarter, but net income was worse than the consensus forecast. The company’s market value is down 6.3 percent.
Autoliv, a Swedish-American maker of safety systems for cars, said it will build an airbag factory in Vietnam that will be operational by the end of 2025. The company’s stock is down 0.4%.
Following the fall in oil prices, securities of oil companies, including TotalEnergies – by 0.5%, BP Plc – 0.9%, Shell – 0.7%.
Meanwhile, the capitalization of the Swedish Volvo AB grows by 1.7%. In January-March, the car concern recorded a record for the first quarter deliveries of trucks and its order book grew by 32%.
Shares of French L’Oreal SA are up 0.3%. Growth in comparable sales of one of the world’s largest cosmetics manufacturers in the past quarter exceeded analysts’ expectations.
Italian oilfield services company Saipem SpA is up 2.1 percent, also thanks to good quarterly reports.
Yield of main crop crops in 2021-2022 (million tons)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
Oil prices of benchmark grades fell again on Thursday.
Investors fear that high interest rates may have a negative impact on global economic growth and fuel demand. The Federal Reserve is expected to raise its benchmark rate by 25 basis points in May and the European Central Bank is expected to hold three more hikes in the next few months, Trading Economics reported.
The price movement shows “evidence that there are still some concerns about the demand outlook,” said Warren Patterson, head of commodity strategy at ING.
Brent June futures on London’s ICE Futures exchange stood at $82.16 a barrel by 8:23 a.m. Thursday, down $0.96 (1.15%) from the previous session’s close. The day before those contracts fell $1.65 a barrel (nearly 2%) to $83.12 a barrel, the lowest level since March 31.
The price of WTI futures for May crude oil fell by $0.88 (1.1%) to $78.28 per barrel at the electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). The contract value decreased by $1.7 (2.1%) to $79.16 per barrel at the end of previous session.
The market was not supported even by the latest data on changes in fuel reserves in the USA.
The country’s oil reserves decreased by 4.58 million barrels last week, the Energy Department said on Wednesday. Experts from S&P Global Commodity Insights expected a reduction of only 400,000 barrels.
Meanwhile, gasoline stocks increased by 1.3 million barrels, while distillate stocks decreased by 355 thousand barrels. Analysts forecasted the reduction of the first indicator by 1.6 million barrels, the second – by 600 thousand barrels.
Cherkasy Bus JSC which produces Ataman buses based on Japanese Isuzu units is planning to invest UAH 200 million in the project for creation of two buses exceeding the buses produced today, deputy Dmitry Kisilevsky said after his visit to Cherkasy.
“Due to localization, the owner of Cherkasy Bus, Alexander Dorosh, is bolder in his plans to invest. He is preparing two new larger buses for production. The volume of investments in this project is 200 million hryvnias,” he wrote in Facebook on Thursday, summarizing some results of the law on localization in machine-building, initiator of which he is.
According to him, during the period of the law (since June 2022), which in 2023 provides for mandatory availability of at least 15% of the Ukrainian component in public procurement (and +5% annually until it reaches 40%), the plant has produced 324 buses, won 60 tenders in public procurement – not only for buses, but also for other wheeled vehicles with localization.
“The largest of them is for the supply of 126 school buses for the Lviv region. The localization index in these buses is 60%. Today, two-thirds of the company’s production is an order from the public sector,” Kisilevsky stressed.
In this connection, he noted inappropriate, in his opinion, limitation of the maximum support, which industrial manufacturers can get from the state on the program 5-7-9, to the sum of 60 million hryvnias.
“For comparison, this ceiling is set at 1 billion UAH for retail chains. Such priorities, in my opinion, should be changed to the exact opposite. “Cherkassy bus” program 5-7-9 successfully took advantage of, but the need for investment funds is much more, “- emphasizes the people’s deputy.
Kisilevsky noted that “Cherkassy bus” was idle only a few days in February 2022 (immediately after the Russian invasion), and now 450 residents of Cherkassy work at the plant, another 50 specialists the company is ready to hire. The average salary is 15,000 hryvnias.
He stressed that in Ukraine today there are at least four major manufacturers of buses, jointly capable of covering the needs of the state in this form of transport.
“Buying Ukrainian public transport, state departments, companies and communities win three times. Firstly, they save on service, because the manufacturer is close by. Secondly, they get back more than 40% of their money spent in taxes. Thirdly (and most importantly) this way the State encourages investments and job creation in the country, not abroad”, summed up the MP.
Founded in 1994, “Cherkassy Bus” plant until now has been producing only small class buses, as well as other wheeled vehicles using Isuzu equipment.
According to the resource opendatabot, in 2022, the plant increased its net profit by almost 2.9 times to UAH 65.02 million, while its net income grew by 32.5% to UAH 842.29 million.
The Kiev-based “Investments for Development” LLC and Oleksandr Dorosh own 24.79% of the stock, Anna Suprun and Konstantin Vorushylin – 8.2498% each, another four natural persons (including the long-term director of the plant Vitalii Raabe) own 5.3999% of shares each.
The charter capital of Cherkassy Bus JSC is 162.96 mln hryvnia.
