In January-September 2023, Kryvyi Rih Iron Ore Plant (KZHRK) cut its net profit by 45.7% compared to the same period in 2022 to UAH 699.465 million.
According to the interim report of the company, available to Interfax-Ukraine, net income for the period decreased by 18% to UAH 4 billion 430.021 million.
Retained earnings as of the end of September 2023 amounted to UAH 6 billion 210.007 million.
In 2022, KZHRK reduced its net profit by 72.2% to UAH 1 billion 117.502 million and net income by 43.6% to UAH 6 billion 290.171 million. Production in 2022 amounted to 2.888 million tons, while sales volume was 2.383 million tons. The total volume of products exported in 2022 amounted to 84.7% of total sales.
Proven (balance sheet as of January 1, 2023) reserves of rich ores amount to 262.4 million tons with an average iron content of 58.66%.
As reported earlier, in 2021, KZHRK increased its net profit by 2.37 times compared to 2020 to UAH 4 billion 23.95 million, while net income increased by 68.9% to UAH 11 billion 158.331 million.
KZHRK specializes in underground iron ore mining. The company has four mines: “Pokrovska (formerly Zhovtneva), Kryvorizka (Batkivshchyna), Kozatska (formerly Gvardiyska) and Ternivska (formerly Ordzhonikidze and then Lenin).
According to the third quarter of 2023, the main shareholder of KZHRK is Starmill Limited (Cyprus), which owns 99.8812% of its shares.
Earlier it was reported that SCM Group owns a certain share in KZHRK, while Metinvest Group has no relation to KZHRK. At the same time, SCM Group is only an investor, while Privat Group exercises operational control over the plant.
The authorized capital of the company is UAH 1 billion 991.233 million.
In 2023, Zaporizhzhia-based Zaporizhstal Iron and Steel Works increased its rolled steel output by 57.2% compared to 2022, to 2 million 54.7 thousand tons.
According to the company’s information on Friday, steel production for the year increased by 65.4% to 2 million 466.9 thousand tons, and pig iron production by 35.3% to 2 million 718.9 thousand tons.
In 2023, the plant operated at an average of 70% of its capacity.
In December, Zaporizhstal produced 265.5 thousand tons of iron, 228.6 thousand tons of steel, and shipped 206.5 thousand tons of rolled products, compared to 262.7 thousand tons of iron, 240.8 thousand tons of steel, and 195.6 thousand tons of rolled products in the previous month, and 141.9 thousand tons of iron, 70.7 thousand tons of steel, and 57.7 thousand tons of rolled products in December 2022.
“The increase in production in December 2023 compared to December 2022 is due to the removal of blast furnace No. 2 from hot mothballing and the establishment of three blast furnaces,” the press release explains.
As noted, enemy shelling and destruction, interruptions in the supply of raw materials and energy, and disruption of logistics routes for the export of finished products due to the blockade of seaports in 2023 led to a reduction in steel and rolled products production at Zaporizhstal compared to pre-war levels. However, compared to 2022, the steelmaker increased production of steel products by increasing capacity utilization, finding new logistics routes for raw materials and sales, and expanding its product portfolio.
“The implemented anti-crisis solutions allowed us to stabilize the production process and refocus on more efficient work in the ever-changing wartime environment, maintain production and retain our team. In 2024, we plan to maintain production volumes, and, given the favorable conditions on foreign markets and demand for rolled steel in the domestic market, to increase production capacity utilization,” said Roman Slobodianiuk, CEO of Zaporizhstal, as quoted by the press service.
As reported, in 2022, Zaporizhstal reduced its rolled steel output by 60.4% compared to 2021, to 1 million 304.3 thousand tons, steel by 61.7%, to 1 million 491.3 thousand tons, and pig iron by 54.3%, to 2 million 9.9 thousand tons.
“Zaporizhstal is one of the largest industrial enterprises in Ukraine, whose products are in great demand among consumers both in the domestic market and in many countries of the world.
“Zaporizhstal is in the process of integration into Metinvest Group, whose major shareholders are System Capital Management (71.24%) and Smart Holding Group (23.76%).
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for continued mask-wearing and social distancing to avoid COVID-19 infection, these recommendations are linked to an upward trend in many countries where coronavirus cases have been observed, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“Many countries have seen an increase in respiratory illnesses caused by COVID-19, influenza and other pathogens for several weeks and this trend is expected to continue after the recent holidays,” he wrote on social media X.
Gebreyesus called for mandatory testing and seeking medical attention if necessary, as treatment for COVID-19 can prevent severe illness and death.
He also mentioned the need to use masks, ventilation and social distancing to reduce the risk of infection. In addition, recalled COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations.
In turn, governments need to ensure access to reliable tests, treatment and vaccines, especially for those most at risk of severe infection.
“Continue surveillance, sequencing and reporting to track the evolution of the COVID-19 virus, and clearly communicate risks and risk reduction measures to your population,” the WHO chief emphasized.
According to him, these recommendations provide more information on what governments need to do to combat the ongoing global COVID-19 threats.
A new sub-variant of the Omicron coronavirus strain, JN.1, has reportedly been discovered in many countries around the world, including China, India, the UK and the US, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified it as a “variant of interest” because of “its rapid spread,” the BBC reported Wednesday.
International hotel operator Accor Live Limitless (France) will open a three-star ibis Kyiv Beresteiska hotel in late 2023, according to the operator’s website.
“I am pleased to announce the opening of ibis Kyiv Beresteiska. It will be a great addition to the Accor family in Ukraine,” commented Andriy Davydenko, CEO of Accor Northern Europe – Ukraine, Georgia and the CIS, in a linked post.
As reported, the international hotel operator Accor Live Limitless planned to launch three new hotels in Ukraine in 2022-2023, ibis & Adagio Kyiv, ibis Lviv and Novotel Lviv. At the end of December 2022, Adagio Kyiv Beresteiska also started operating. Both hotels are located in the same building at 55 Peremohy Ave. Adagio Kyiv Beresteiska has 105 rooms and Adagio Kyiv Beresteiska has 156 rooms.
Adagio Kyiv Beresteiska is an apart-hotel, its rooms are adapted for long-term stays: they have fully equipped kitchens, special workspaces, WIFI and other necessary facilities for work and leisure. The ibis Kyiv Beresteiska has six meeting rooms for business events and conferences.
The 77-room ibis Styles Lviv Center hotel, located in the business center of Lviv at 3 Shukhevycha Street, was opened in December 2022.
Accor Group, one of the world’s leading hotel operators, opened the first hotel under the Novotel brand in Lille (France) in 1967.
As of December 2023, Accor operated 5,487 hotels, resorts and residences in 110 countries under more than 40 brands (Raffles, Sofitel, Fairmont, OneFineStay, MGallery, Pullman, Swissotel, Grand Mercure, The Sebel, 25 hours hotel, Novotel, Mercure, Adagio, Mama Shelter, Ibis, Ibis Styles, Adagio success, Ibis Budget, Jo&Joe, hotelFormule1, hotel F1, Thalassa sea&spa, greet, etc. ).
Accor SA shares are listed on Euronext in Paris and traded on the US over-the-counter market.
In Ukraine, AccorHotels manages three-star Ibis hotels in Kyiv, Ibis Styles and Gruner in Lviv, five-star Fairmont Grand Hotel in Kyiv, and Mercure Kyiv Congress Hotel. In addition, one hotel under Accor’s management is located in Odesa – MGallery Hôtel de Paris.
The number of border crossings in Ukraine between December 30 and January 5 decreased by 18.4% compared to the previous week, to 475,000, and the number of vehicles let through decreased by 18.2%, to 90,000, according to the State Border Guard Service’s Facebook post.
According to the data, while the flow of people entering Ukraine had been exceeding the flow of people leaving by 22-24 thousand every week for two weeks, the situation reversed on New Year’s Eve: the number of people crossing the border decreased from 302 thousand to 224 thousand, while the number of people entering the country decreased from 280 thousand to 250 thousand.
The number of cleared vehicles with humanitarian cargo decreased to 340 from 576 a week earlier.
Compared to the situation a year ago, the inflow to Ukraine has shifted a week ahead, which may be due to the postponement of Christmas celebrations.
Statistics from the Polish Border Guard Service during the New Year’s week also show a change in dynamics after two weeks of net inflows to Ukraine: during the New Year’s week, 23.5 thousand more people leaving Ukraine than entering were recorded, with a decrease in total passenger traffic by 18.3% to 311.5 thousand. A year ago, net inflows to Ukraine across the Polish border were recorded until January 6 inclusive.
In total, from the beginning of the war to January 5, 2024, 18.27 million people arrived in Poland from Ukraine, while 16.48 million people traveled in the opposite direction.
As reported, since May 10, 2022, the outflow of refugees from Ukraine has been replaced by an influx, which lasted until September 23, 2022 and amounted to 409 thousand people.
However, since the end of September, possibly under the influence of news about mobilization in Russia and “pseudo-referendums” in the occupied territories, and then massive shelling of energy infrastructure, the number of people leaving has been exceeding the number of people entering. It temporarily stopped in the second half of December and early January during the holidays, but then resumed again and reached a total of 223 thousand people from the end of September to the anniversary of the full-scale war.
Since then, the number of border crossings to enter Ukraine has exceeded the number of crossings to leave by 64 thousand people.
As Deputy Economy Minister Serhiy Sobolev noted in early March this year, the return of every 100,000 Ukrainians home results in a 0.5% increase in GDP.
According to the UNHCR, the number of Ukrainian refugees in Europe was estimated at 5.937 million as of January 3, and 6.340 million worldwide, which is only 1-2 thousand more than a week earlier.
In Ukraine itself, according to the UN, as of November 6, there were 3.674 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), compared to the previous estimate of 5.088 million. “This (significant reduction) is not due to a significant return of IDPs, but rather, first of all, to a change in the methodology for calculating the number of IDPs. The new baseline population figure used to extrapolate IDP estimates now takes into account the absence of some 6.2 million refugees from Ukraine who are no longer in the country,” UNHCR explains.
India’s solar space observatory Aditya-L1 was successfully placed into a halo-orbit near Lagrange point L1 – 1.5 million km from Earth – on Saturday, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said.
“The Aditya-L1 solar observatory was put into halo-orbit at around 16:00 Indian time (12:30 Q) on January 6, 2024,” the organization said in a statement.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the halo-orbit launch “a testament to the relentless dedication of Indian scientists in conducting the most challenging space missions” and said India will continue to push the boundaries of scientific knowledge for the benefit of humanity.
According to the organization, this halo orbit was chosen to minimize the number of maneuvers to correct it and thereby reduce fuel consumption to keep the observatory operational for a period of 5 years.
The Aditya-L1 observatory is equipped with various payloads for scientific research. It will study the Sun’s photosphere and chromosphere, as well as its upper layer, the solar corona, using instruments to detect magnetic fields and electromagnetic particles, spectrometers and coronagraphs.
Scientists expect to obtain new data that will help understand the causes of coronal mass ejections (ejections of matter from the solar corona) and solar flares, as well as study the space weather and magnetic field near the L1 point.
