By the end of December 2023, the OKKO chain installed solar panels at 122 filling stations, its founder Vitaliy Antonov said.
“In total, solar power plants (with the previously installed ones, we already have 122 of them) this year generated 2 million kWh of electricity and partially covered the needs of filling stations. We also reduced the load on the country’s energy system,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
According to him, in 2023, solar panels were installed at 56 OKKO filling stations, and next year it is planned to install them at 70 more stations. “In other words, we will cover almost 50% of the entire network,” Antonov said.
As reported, in 2022, 65 rooftop solar power plants in the OKKO network generated a total of 1.7 million kWh of electricity, saving the company more than UAH 7 million on energy purchases from external sources.
OKKO filling stations network is a part of OKKO Group. It is one of the largest filling stations networks in Ukraine, with about 400 filling stations.
The majority shareholder of the company is Vitaliy Antonov. Minority shareholders include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The United States has provided Ukraine with a $250 million military aid package, the Pentagon website reports.
“This announcement marks the fifty-fourth tranche of assistance that the Biden administration will provide to Ukraine from the Department of Defense’s stockpile beginning in August 2021,” the statement said.
The new aid package includes additional air defense equipment, artillery ammunition, anti-tank weapons, and other equipment to help Ukraine counter Russian aggression.
In particular, the package includes
– additional ammunition for NASAMS air defense systems;
– Stinger anti-aircraft missiles;
– air defense system components;
– additional ammunition for HIMARS;
– artillery shells of 155 mm and 105 mm caliber;
– optically tracked and wire guided tube-launched missiles (TOW);
– Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank systems;
– more than 15 million rounds of ammunition for small arms;
– explosive ammunition for clearing obstacles;
– spare parts, medical equipment, maintenance and other support equipment.
The Polish government is making efforts to effectively represent the interests of Polish carriers and drivers, which will lead to a weakening and, as a result, an end to the blockade on the Polish-Ukrainian border, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday at a press conference after a government meeting.
“I don’t think we will achieve the maximum demanded by the Polish protesting carriers, but it seems that what can be achieved will allow us to defuse emotions and perhaps quickly lift the blockade on the border. I think we are close to believing that our actions can bring results – both actions in Kyiv and negotiations in Brussels,” he was quoted as saying by polskieradio24.pl.
Tusk also said that after the government meeting, a meeting of the Security Committee of the Council of Ministers was held, during which Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski reported on his visit to Kyiv.
“It confirmed what we all know and feel, that the situation at the front is difficult,” the Prime Minister said.
He noted that “in general, the situation in Ukraine is quite dramatic for various reasons. This requires us to be very active, both in terms of diplomatic and political support, as well as strong cooperation in terms of material assistance to Ukraine,” Tusk emphasized.
As reported, Polish carriers began blockading the Yahodyn-Dorohusk, Krakovets-Korchova and Rava-Ruska-Krebenne checkpoints on November 6, and on November 22, the Oszukana Wieś organization joined the protest and blocked the Shehyni-Medyka checkpoint. Only the checkpoints for empty vehicles and those for light trucks remained outside the blockade.
On December 11 at 14:00 Kyiv time, the head of the Dorohuska Commune dissolved the protest of Polish carriers, and later refused to satisfy a new protest application. However, on December 15, a local Polish court overturned this decision, allowing the protesters to resume the blockade on December 18.
The organizers of the blockade, who demand the abolition of the “transport visa-free regime” for Ukraine introduced with the war, reported that, according to the official permission of the local authorities, it would last until January 3, 2024. However, some checkpoints already have permits to extend it until February, and a new blockade of the Dorohusk-Yagodyn checkpoint, according to Polish media, has been announced until March. The Ukrainian side had hoped for the border to be unblocked after the new government led by Donald Tusk came to power in Poland in mid-December, but so far, the blockade has been lifted only at the Shehyni-Medica checkpoint since December 25.
Interpipe reported that it is currently implementing three investment projects. The largest of them, worth about $40 mln, is the construction of a new pipe heat treatment section. Two more projects are being implemented in the railroad division at the Interpipe NTZ plant in Dnipro.
Nikopol-based Centravis has planned to modernize its pipe-pressing line in the first half of 2024, which will reduce metal waste in the production process. The volume of investments in this project is about $3.5 million.
First Deputy Prime Minister noted that on the day of the visit to the enterprises in Nikopol and Kryvyi Rih these cities had been shelled by the occupants. Therefore, against this background, information about bold investment plans of Dnipropetrovsk enterprises looks particularly impressive.
According to her, metallurgy has always been a fundamental branch of the Ukrainian economy. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the domestic MMC created about 10% of GDP and brought about a third of cash proceeds from all commodity exports. This industry was and still is export-oriented, with more than 80% of metal products shipped abroad.
“The most important thing the government can do now for Ukrainian metallurgy is to ensure unimpeded exports by sea. We have an important achievement in this direction. In September, the first ships with metal traveled through the temporary sea corridor. And in November, we recorded a total increase in exports by sea by 70%. Metal exports are starting to work. This means that metallurgists and miners will have work, and the Ukrainian budget will receive additional taxes. Now we are working on the full unblocking of maritime logistics and launching the mechanism of ship insurance, which is already in place,” Sviridenko summarized, as quoted by the press service.
The company “Biosphere” used the state credit program “5-7-9” and in January 2024 will launch a new shop for tea production, about $20 million has been invested in this project, according to the press release of the Ministry of Economy following the visit of the First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister of Economy Yulia Sviridenko.
It is specified that Sviridenko visited industrial enterprises of Dnipropetrovsk region to get acquainted with production, investment plans and check the effectiveness of state programs to stimulate the economy.
OTP Bank offers small and medium-sized businesses loans for the purchase of equipment with the possibility of reimbursement of part of the costs financed by the bank. Such loans are provided as part of the EBRD’s SME Competitiveness Program in the Eastern Partnership countries.
According to Natalia Kondratchuk, Director of Corporate Finance at OTP Bank: “The purpose of the program is to develop lending aimed at purchasing energy-efficient machinery and equipment by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and investing in energy-saving technologies. In particular, such financing is intended to meet the needs of local agricultural producers to upgrade their agricultural machinery fleet with products of well-known global brands. In doing so, the borrower will be able to claim compensation for part of the costs financed by the bank’s credit facilities.”
The amount of compensation depends on the type of assets acquired and can reach 20% of the loan proceeds. The reimbursement will be made in euros, approximately within a month after the borrower has documented the intended use of the funds and the EBRD has verified the documents.
The average amount of loans under the program is expected to be the hryvnia equivalent of EUR 300 thousand, but the amount of each loan is determined by the details of the investment project, which must be acceptable to the EBRD. The minimum loan term is 24 months and the maximum is 60 months. The loan is secured by a pledge of the purchased equipment, a financial guarantee of the borrower’s owners and additional collateral if necessary. The loan agreement is implemented under the EBRD’s risk-sharing program, so the project to be financed must also meet its criteria.
OTP Bank offers loans with such unique cost compensation to its clients with no more than 249 employees and annual revenues not exceeding the equivalent of EUR 50 million or the currency of the annual balance sheet not exceeding the equivalent of EUR 43 million in UAH equivalent.
The borrower company must have been operating in the Ukrainian market for at least 3 years and meet other requirements set by OTP Bank and the EBRD, including a positive credit history.
